Flite Test Design Engagement Challenge

Ok so who’s all gonna be part of the challenge, head count!


  • Total voters
    42

The Fopster

Master member
It's got wheels!
IMG_20201018_182732488~2.jpg
 

bwarz

Master member
So now I've got a question. Prior to the rebuild, the previous frame seemed to glide quite nicely. The new frame flew like she was real tail heavy. I balanced it out, but it was a bit of a pain to balance on the bottom of the wing, so I balanced it upside down. Right on the front ridge. It flew r-e-a-l heavy (had to add quite the weight in front, I wonder why!) Now when I'm doing the last minute cram for Sautrday deadline, I try balancing it right-side-up and the balance point is w-a-a-a-a-y up front. If I balanced it at the same point on the bottom of the wing, it is huge front-heavy. I get the geometry of why, battery placement, weigh in relation to the horizontal center of mass (correct term?). But the nagging question is, should I balance that 20-25% back from the leading edge with it normal orientation? BTW if you didn't read back, I build a P36 (basically a P40 with a short nose and radial engine) - low wing. I'd love to shed some weight and try it, but it's been quite the wet October here and I don't expect too many landings would leave me with much airframe left to fly...

I wonder if I started down to an answer... I checked the FTP40 and the CG is 2" back - but I don;t see them balance it in the video! So balance right-side-up or upside-down??
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
I balance on both the bottom and top side of the wing - it just depends on the plane. Low wing planes I usually balance on the top of the wing.
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Unfortunately I won’t be able to get the finalized plans out by Halloween. I’ll probably have to wait till thanksgiving break so I have time to make adjustments and build a final one for build instructions.
 

bwarz

Master member
So here's the plans as of now. Time has been miserable lately, so I'll add a few notes to issues with the plans. The power pod housing needs modified. It needs to be 5mm higher, so the power pod sits 5mm lower. The bottom of the wing is still a bit long and could be shortened to give more under-camber at the wing tips. There is no power pod in the design, but fits well with the mini pod with a touch of down thrust (i've got about 1.5 degrees) I also had issues with the canopy in Inkscape so there is no design for it as of right now. Other than that, the plans are pretty solid. I mounted the ESC under the motor. The pod housing and front structure could use a little trimming after assembly to get the battery as far forward as possible. I added 12g at the front of the cowl assembly to get better cg balance. I should probably do a build video as the cowl area is a bit interesting to get built. I didn't like it at the time, didn't like it with the last build, but got hosed for spare time in the last month or so, thus design and build hours were darned near non-existent. The plans are various size pages but laid out to best print 8.5x11 so as to minimize page taping.

I had fun doing the Inkscape work, had fun with the plans (they were adapted from balsa plans) and it was exciting to take it up in the air. I just wish the weather would have been more cooperative this fall! If I am lucky enough to get it in the air Saturday morning I WILL have a child do some video. The last few times the little video I had wasn't worth uploading, and the one night that I actually flew it well enough I've no video at all :rolleyes:

My son reminded me this evening about the BV-141, so I'm sure that will come to be sometime this winter. And if I can get an opinion on this plane this weekend (or at least get it in the air myself!) perhaps that will be the kick-in-the-pants to clean up the design and pdfs so someone else can give it a go!

weight no battery 315g
wingspan 29.5" (750mm)
length 21.25" (540mm)
motor 2208 1350kv
prop 7x5E
cg (so far) 40mm back from leading edge
 

Attachments

  • Curtis P36 Hawk Plans BJW sheet3.pdf
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  • Curtis P36 Hawk Plans BJW sheet4.pdf
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  • Curtis P36 Hawk Plans BJW sheet2.pdf
    27.5 KB · Views: 0
  • Curtis P36 Hawk Plans BJW sheet1.pdf
    36.5 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:

bwarz

Master member
Unfortunately I won’t be able to get the finalized plans out by Halloween. I’ll probably have to wait till thanksgiving break so I have time to make adjustments and build a final one for build instructions.
How is the build going? I've been keeping an eye out for your build and was looking forward to giving it a go!
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
How is the build going? I've been keeping an eye out for your build and was looking forward to giving it a go!
Shoot, I guess I haven't gotten any video of it flying, have I... It flies amazing though!! Super slow, scale, and gentle! It also flies inverted really well too haha. I let @SquirrelTail and @Samh fly it at huckfest and they both seemed to like how it flew.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
Shoot, I guess I haven't gotten any video of it flying, have I... It flies amazing though!! Super slow, scale, and gentle! It also flies inverted really well too haha. I let @SquirrelTail and @Samh fly it at huckfest and they both seemed to like how it flew.
It flew awesome! I highly recommend it. It is super floaty and sporty and does inverted really well. I didn't want to push it in risk of breaking something lol
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Alright, here’s my half-completed entry! I’ll try to get some flight video up tomorrow.

Grumman F7F Tigercat

Specs:
Twin B or C pack
9x6 props
3s 2200-3300mah (you could go bigger or smaller)

Flight characteristics:
It’s slow and floaty, and is very easy to fly! It has TONS of elevator authority so I dialed that back a lot. The ailerons are maxed out and it makes for nice slow rolls. You can either add a rudder or program in differential thrust. It uses 5 sheets of foam but is a very simple and straight forward build. I’m really happy with how it turned out!
7DF59A64-A4B9-4D6C-B4FF-A6F7D1D4A318.jpeg
2F992BAE-DA80-4307-ADE7-DF9468C21E46.jpeg



PS:
I narrows the fuselage to make it look more scale, and lengthened the canopy to give it a “Razorback” look. Thank you @Timmy for beta building it for me!
 

Phin G

Elite member
Since the master series projects have taken much of Flite Test’s time and there isn’t much focus on fun, boxy, and easy to build planes I was hoping Flite Test would pull through and engage the forum community. My idea is as follows:
Have everyone design their own plane that will be judged in a few different categories. -Performance in a submitted video,
-Professionalism/Looks (can still be boxy and beautiful)
-Ease of build/simplicity of parts to scratch build/cut
Ideally there would be a few categories of builds, Warbirds, Jets, GA, Vintage Aircraft, Aerobatic aircraft, and general just miscellaneous flyers that don’t represent anything. Ideally I think it would be great for the community to have a competitive design/build off every so often and have the winner(s) work with @SP0NZ in making their design a flite test official build. However I think the recognition of being put in an FT video would also be a great winner reward. I have more ideas here but lets work it out below 🤘
Wow I really want to do it however i have only made 1 plane and it looks terrible. I don't know how to do bevel cuts however it would be fun to have a go.
 

Phin G

Elite member
Im thinking of making a Pitts S1S from a modified baby blender plans
But i dont know if it would be to hard so I'll practice on cardboard and then go onto foam board.
 

FlyingWithRyan

Elite member
Yes please thank you so much
Basically with bevel cuts, start with a flat piece of foam
-do a 50% cut or score cut
-fold the piece to open up the score cut (so that both pieces are flat to each other
-take any blade and angle it at the desired angle you want
-angle the blade back too so that the part of the blade youre holding is cutting through the material first and the back of it is finishing the cut if you hold it perpendicular to the foam itll take chunks out instead of smooth lines
-aim for just above the paper for height of the cut and cut an angle into the side of the foam
Boom. An angle had been cut
 

Phin G

Elite member
Basically with bevel cuts, start with a flat piece of foam
-do a 50% cut or score cut
-fold the piece to open up the score cut (so that both pieces are flat to each other
-take any blade and angle it at the desired angle you want
-angle the blade back too so that the part of the blade youre holding is cutting through the material first and the back of it is finishing the cut if you hold it perpendicular to the foam itll take chunks out instead of smooth lines
-aim for just above the paper for height of the cut and cut an angle into the side of the foam
Boom. An angle had been cut
Thank you so much