You might have seen in my ft-22 mid thread that I ran some balsa or some light wooden supports down my nose and it seemed to hold up pretty well. Except for a spectator nose dice that broke the wood, light crashes hardly were noticeable...
FT-22... On Steroids
- Thread starter BATTLEAXE
- Start date
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
New project, as much as I really like the FT-22, I have printed off plans for the STEM Alpha at 135% to fit the C Pack and an 8" prop. It will have a 32.5" wing span so it will be considerably larger then the 22 and the design looks substantially stronger.
I will be using this thread for it so you can keep track of my progress. This should be interesting.
I will be using this thread for it so you can keep track of my progress. This should be interesting.
Eager to see this!
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
I got a new plan for the 22/Alpha build. I should call it the A-22. here is a pic of the idea:
This is the bottom section of the nose in place from the Alpha at the same 122% size laid over the 22 wing and tail section at 100%. I narrowed the prop slot to 8 1/2" from 9" to accommodate the pushrods to slide past. At the tail is the new hinge lines drawn out, extending the tail of the fuse by 2" into the original elevons to reduce weighted leverage that caused servo flutter on my previous versions. The hinge line will stop just at the edge of the outside of the fuse where it meets the elevon and the rest of the outer front section of the elevon will act as a counter balance, effectively, once in motion, will look like an elevator (I think that's what they call them). Should be some cool stuff.
This is the bottom section of the nose in place from the Alpha at the same 122% size laid over the 22 wing and tail section at 100%. I narrowed the prop slot to 8 1/2" from 9" to accommodate the pushrods to slide past. At the tail is the new hinge lines drawn out, extending the tail of the fuse by 2" into the original elevons to reduce weighted leverage that caused servo flutter on my previous versions. The hinge line will stop just at the edge of the outside of the fuse where it meets the elevon and the rest of the outer front section of the elevon will act as a counter balance, effectively, once in motion, will look like an elevator (I think that's what they call them). Should be some cool stuff.
bracesport
Legendary member
@BATTLEAXE - another masterpiece - are the side vents open to allow air to the prop in the slot? 
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
It's cooling vents for the ESC and motor. I still have to figure out how I am going to fasten the hatch down, needs to be more room in the battery box for battery removal and replacement. Might have to do some shifting around in there, it's a bit of a tetris game to get the battery in there on CG. And I still have to fasten the Rx in. Other then that it should be good to go
Predictions on maiden... Sketch factor at about 20%, which is a lot better then the Alpha. Maiden always has the unforeseen variables. the one thing I don't want to happen is a LOS, I am pretty confident that if I have an ESC cut out that it will glide to safety, I really don't want to bang up that pretty nose before paint. It should be a little lighter then V1 and V2 of the 22 given I removed a good amount of paper from it, has a larger slot, and I only went with single thickness Vstabs. It should be way more maneuverable then the other versions as well due to the elevon style. Over all I am pretty happy with it
Predictions on maiden... Sketch factor at about 20%, which is a lot better then the Alpha. Maiden always has the unforeseen variables. the one thing I don't want to happen is a LOS, I am pretty confident that if I have an ESC cut out that it will glide to safety, I really don't want to bang up that pretty nose before paint. It should be a little lighter then V1 and V2 of the 22 given I removed a good amount of paper from it, has a larger slot, and I only went with single thickness Vstabs. It should be way more maneuverable then the other versions as well due to the elevon style. Over all I am pretty happy with it
You’ve built the ultimate prop in slot jet buddy! The nose + the rest of the mods just give it a great finish! Nicely done. 👍
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Are we gonna have dueling maidens?! Are you gonna film yours?
Yup - the pressure is on lol😂. I’ll get footage, ideally someone will film for me, but may have to go with a hat cam of some sort.
Next time the whea
oh, too bad. I missed that - did you post anything about the tree encounter?
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
I would have posted the vid if I found the camera. It was pretty comical the way it hit the trees. It was heading for my car and I tried to pull up and add throttle at the same time and it looked like it drifted up and hit the trees belly first vertical up the branches, kinda like a drift car. It didn't look like to much damage until I got up to it and my 3 blade was broken and dented in the nose on the left side pretty good. Considering the hit its still flyable with a minimum amount to fix. Built it like a tank, but it isn't show room pretty any more lol
Last edited:
bracesport
Legendary member
I am thinking I should get a transmitter for my cyclops v3 camera to stream footage regardless whether on the plane or on the hat!
bracesport
Legendary member
man, that is a great maiden - what a rocket - well done! 😁
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Did you see the paint job yet... Being from NZ you might appreciate it.
Tiger Shark
