FT 3D - Scratch Build

Chubbs

Junior Member
Maiden flight report:

I'm happy to report, that the FT3D flies great! My setup is as follows:

CF2822 1200kv motor
Skywalker 20A ESC
4x SG92R 9g servos
(all from valuehobby.com)

9x4.7 prop
OrangeRX 610 receiver
(Hobbyking.com)

Dial the control throws WAAAAAAY down! I had mine set at 30% throw across the board, and it flew about like a normal, though aerobatic airplane. At 100% throws, this thing is just nuts (and my rudder servo was binding). Ailerons especially, I found uncontrollable. I eventually set the high throws at 60% aileron, 65% ele, and 75% rudder, and that's about all I can handle.

I flew with 3 batteries: Zippy compact 1000mah 3s 35C, Turnigy 1300mah 3s 35C, and Zippy 2200mah 3s 20C. I noticed virtually no difference between the 1000ma and 1300ma. Power was adequate, it had enough to hover, but it didn't really have much "punch out" power. Getting out of a hover required some loss of altitude, though very little.

The 2200mah battery actually flew very well, and might turn out to be my favorite, as I'm not a great 3d pilot. With the 2200 it was somewhat nose heavy, which made it really predictable and it flew like it was on rails. It didn't have enough power for unlimited vertical, but it had plenty of power for sport flying and any aerobatic maneuvers you wanted to do (except hovering). The 1300/1000ma batteries are definitely better, but the 2200 makes it a great sport-fly airplane.

My first landing was in the grass, and the landing gear was noticably tweaked just from the nose-over. reinforce the landing gear area with packing tape, as the paper tears easily from the underside of the fuse.

I crashed it once, while attempting my first "blender". Almost pulled out of it, but not quite, and the landing gear ripped off. Again, reinforce with packing tape. I threw it back in the air and kept flying.

Great plane guys, definitely worth the (somewhat lengthy) build. Thanks Flitetest!

20130305_221147_zpsec18d3e6.jpg
 

jackedman

Senior Member
Maiden flight report:

I'm happy to report, that the FT3D flies great! My setup is as follows:

CF2822 1200kv motor
Skywalker 20A ESC
4x SG92R 9g servos
(all from valuehobby.com)

9x4.7 prop
OrangeRX 610 receiver
(Hobbyking.com)

Dial the control throws WAAAAAAY down! I had mine set at 30% throw across the board, and it flew about like a normal, though aerobatic airplane. At 100% throws, this thing is just nuts (and my rudder servo was binding). Ailerons especially, I found uncontrollable. I eventually set the high throws at 60% aileron, 65% ele, and 75% rudder, and that's about all I can handle.

I flew with 3 batteries: Zippy compact 1000mah 3s 35C, Turnigy 1300mah 3s 35C, and Zippy 2200mah 3s 20C. I noticed virtually no difference between the 1000ma and 1300ma. Power was adequate, it had enough to hover, but it didn't really have much "punch out" power. Getting out of a hover required some loss of altitude, though very little.

The 2200mah battery actually flew very well, and might turn out to be my favorite, as I'm not a great 3d pilot. With the 2200 it was somewhat nose heavy, which made it really predictable and it flew like it was on rails. It didn't have enough power for unlimited vertical, but it had plenty of power for sport flying and any aerobatic maneuvers you wanted to do (except hovering). The 1300/1000ma batteries are definitely better, but the 2200 makes it a great sport-fly airplane.

My first landing was in the grass, and the landing gear was noticably tweaked just from the nose-over. reinforce the landing gear area with packing tape, as the paper tears easily from the underside of the fuse.

I crashed it once, while attempting my first "blender". Almost pulled out of it, but not quite, and the landing gear ripped off. Again, reinforce with packing tape. I threw it back in the air and kept flying.

Great plane guys, definitely worth the (somewhat lengthy) build. Thanks Flitetest!

View attachment 8634

sounds like you had some fun.
what did you use to cober your plane it looks like you spray painted it
 

Chubbs

Junior Member
sounds like you had some fun.
what did you use to cober your plane it looks like you spray painted it

Standard cheap-o rustoleum paint. Spray it on very light, and use lots of coats. If you saturate the paper, it will wrinkle up. Lots of thin coats is the key.
 

nunieboy

Member
can anybody help me..
i decided i'd give this puppy a try, and everything is running.. except i don't know if my motor is strong enough.

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=28115 << this is the motor i used

with an 8x4e propeller..

will that motor work or should i get a bigger one?

or should i just get a bigger propeller?

any help would be great. i can't wait to get things in the air

p.s. do i need to trim the tips on the motor so properly fit the propeller?
 
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rogerjiangcf

Junior Member
Originally Posted by nunieboy
can anybody help me..
i decided i'd give this puppy a try, and everything is running.. except i don't know if my motor is strong enough.

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...dProduct=28115 << this is the motor i used

with an 8x4e propeller..

will that motor work or should i get a bigger one?

or should i just get a bigger propeller?

any help would be great. i can't wait to get things in the air

p.s. do i need to trim the tips on the motor so properly fit the propeller?
Depends what are you going to do with the plane. If you want to do full 3D, change the motor to the FT recommended one with 4s. If you are using 3s for your current setup, then the FT3D is more like a sport plane setup. If you use a 4s, I think FT3D will do 3D just fine. All depends on you.
 
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Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
can anybody help me..
i decided i'd give this puppy a try, and everything is running.. except i don't know if my motor is strong enough.

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=28115 << this is the motor i used

with an 8x4e propeller..

will that motor work or should i get a bigger one?

or should i just get a bigger propeller?

any help would be great. i can't wait to get things in the air

p.s. do i need to trim the tips on the motor so properly fit the propeller?

Prop the motor based on the battery. If you are using a 3s bump the prop up to 9X5 or so. A watt meter http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor...attmeter_Voltage_Analyzer_USA_Warehouse_.html is a great tool to narrow down the best combination.
 

jackedman

Senior Member
Bolvon72 you took the word right out of my mouth. and the watt meter is one of the best tools you can buy for when your building a plane or modding an older one
 

jackedman

Senior Member
hey can one of you guys that have this plane finished post a picture were you mounted your rx and wires please
 

nunieboy

Member
OMG THANK YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH FOR THE INPUT!!
i've never owned an rc plane before and i just jumped right into it.
tonight was my first ever flying... completely bad idea. i lost sight of the plane not realizing how fast this thing can go.
after a block i got scared throttled down and crash landed... but MAN THAT WAS FUN!!!!!!
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
hey can one of you guys that have this plane finished post a picture were you mounted your rx and wires please

2013-03-07 23.00.32.jpg

For the 3d I just run the servo wires through the opening in the back, coil and zip tie the slack and leave it loose behind the receiver.
 

strows

Junior Member
Is any one running a Suppo 2208/14 1450kv Brushless Motor and if so what ESC and prop are you using. I plan on running this baby on 3S batteries.

Thanks,
 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
Is any one running a Suppo 2208/14 1450kv Brushless Motor and if so what ESC and prop are you using. I plan on running this baby on 3S batteries.

Thanks,

I love that motor for the fogey and the speedbuild three. I run it with an 18 amp ESC. Anything over an 8x4 on 3s pulls too many amps, it will fly this plane, but that's about it, you won't have the power for anything interesting.
 

strows

Junior Member
I love that motor for the fogey and the speedbuild three. I run it with an 18 amp ESC. Anything over an 8x4 on 3s pulls too many amps, it will fly this plane, but that's about it, you won't have the power for anything interesting.

What kind of setup would you recommend?
 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
I use the NTM and 25 amp plush setup they recommend with a 9x45. This is in hopes of actually being able to fly worth a darn one day. If you just want to cruise around with this plane the Suppo will do fine, but if you want to prop hang, go with the NTM or similar. This is an example of the Suppo 2208 with the 3s and an 8x4 full throttle for the first 2 minutes, It is on an Old Fogey but it'll give you an idea of how it moves a plane maxed out. A 2s will cruise nicely, a 3s will get you where you want to go, I wouldn't put a 4s on it at all.

 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
hello Bolvon72

how hight was that fly ?
nice catch ;)

I have no idea, I wasn't even planning on flying that afternoon, it was a dreary day that suddenly cleared. I was putting the dog out, looked up and thought, "a plane needs to be up there." I would like to get an altimeter that retains the highest altitude, my favorite thing to do is get a plane nice and high and let it come back on no power.
Thanks by the way, I pull the wheels off for the view and the camera lens pokes out of a hole in the fuse. I have to catch to keep the dirt out.
 

Anthemius

Senior Member
My RC goal is to go high in the sky and make images from the sky. that's why I built a kind of glider 59 inch wingspan.for more stability.but it is not yet ready to fly properly. I'm testing (LEARNING).