I'm just getting into the flying part of the r/c hobby. Had though I would build a "throw away" plane to learn the basics on...
I began by throwing together a plan off the forums, a half-sheet no-waste 3-channel trainer.
It's pretty rough, the closer you look the more you can see things wrong with it (the wing is off center, the tail boom is crooked, ect...) it glides pretty well though.
Because I didn't like the mistakes I'd made, and the half-sheet also requires some scraps of foam that I didn't have without chopping up my other half-sheet, I started on an FT simple Scout. It went a bit smoother than the first attempt but I still made some mistakes (the turtle shell should be poster board... not a piece of foam backing.)
With 2 airframes complete I figured it was past time to get some electronics to get them in the air. Almost $200 USD later, I believed that I had everything I would need for both of these planes and some wiggle room to grow.
Then I found out i had ordered power pack "C" sized electronics by mistake (2212 motors)... and the forum unanimously agreed that they would be to big for what I'd already built. (Thank you all for your kind advice and patience.)
So I set about trying to figure out what to do with what I'd ordered.
First, I though about what I wanted to build later in my hobbying. This led me to the FT A-10 and the FT KRAKEN.
After some discussion with some of the mentors on the forum, I decided that I should pick a simpler plane to build and fly.
Then I spoke to one of my colleagues, he wanted to build an FT Sea duck, so I considered also building a seaplane. Later he changed his mind and now wants to build an expandable drone platform (firewheel?).
While looking through the c-pack sized plans FT offers, I became interested in fpv capabilities. This led me to look at the larger craft on offer, specifically the FT Cruiser.
So while I am waiting for the motors, ESCs and servo wires to arrive from china, I've been cutting out and gluing all of the components for the cruiser's main assemblies [fuselage, wings, control surfaces, nacelles, and power pods.]
I purchased some 14-3 power tool cord and connectors to run power to the ESCs, it's probably overkill. or if I don't do differential thrust/2 ESCs, it can run power to the 2 motors from the one ESC. Or some combination of the two. Either way, a Y-harness will be built.
So far, this is what I've assembled.
I forgot to put the rear servos in before closing the fuselage so I had to cut an access hatch, but i plan to packing tape the outer surface for durability and moisture resistance so it shouldn't matter much.
Here is the dry fit, sans posterboard parts
I've reinforced all of the control surfaces and most of the leading edges with tape-joints, as well as glue-sealed most of the raw edges.
Bottom line, up-front: its not pretty, but I'll be damned if it doesn't survive a few good crashes.
Just need to add the other 4 servos (ailerons and flaps,) glue everything down, cut the hole in the wing for the wire routing and wait for my 50Amp ESCs (from china) and 8.5x6 props (from master airscrew, cw and ccw) to arrive, before hooking everything up and taking it out to maiden.
So far I've got 2 racestar 2212 1400kv motors, a turnigy 3s 2200mah 20c LiPo, flysky-i6 tx/rx (looking into modding it to 10 channels), 2.75 inch wheels and some smraza 9g servos.
I'm planning to build in the options for everything (FPV/osd, split flaps) but also to start with a throttle limitation programmed in to keep me out of trouble at first.
I began by throwing together a plan off the forums, a half-sheet no-waste 3-channel trainer.
Because I didn't like the mistakes I'd made, and the half-sheet also requires some scraps of foam that I didn't have without chopping up my other half-sheet, I started on an FT simple Scout. It went a bit smoother than the first attempt but I still made some mistakes (the turtle shell should be poster board... not a piece of foam backing.)
With 2 airframes complete I figured it was past time to get some electronics to get them in the air. Almost $200 USD later, I believed that I had everything I would need for both of these planes and some wiggle room to grow.
Then I found out i had ordered power pack "C" sized electronics by mistake (2212 motors)... and the forum unanimously agreed that they would be to big for what I'd already built. (Thank you all for your kind advice and patience.)
So I set about trying to figure out what to do with what I'd ordered.
First, I though about what I wanted to build later in my hobbying. This led me to the FT A-10 and the FT KRAKEN.
After some discussion with some of the mentors on the forum, I decided that I should pick a simpler plane to build and fly.
Then I spoke to one of my colleagues, he wanted to build an FT Sea duck, so I considered also building a seaplane. Later he changed his mind and now wants to build an expandable drone platform (firewheel?).
While looking through the c-pack sized plans FT offers, I became interested in fpv capabilities. This led me to look at the larger craft on offer, specifically the FT Cruiser.
So while I am waiting for the motors, ESCs and servo wires to arrive from china, I've been cutting out and gluing all of the components for the cruiser's main assemblies [fuselage, wings, control surfaces, nacelles, and power pods.]
I purchased some 14-3 power tool cord and connectors to run power to the ESCs, it's probably overkill. or if I don't do differential thrust/2 ESCs, it can run power to the 2 motors from the one ESC. Or some combination of the two. Either way, a Y-harness will be built.
So far, this is what I've assembled.
I forgot to put the rear servos in before closing the fuselage so I had to cut an access hatch, but i plan to packing tape the outer surface for durability and moisture resistance so it shouldn't matter much.
Here is the dry fit, sans posterboard parts
I've reinforced all of the control surfaces and most of the leading edges with tape-joints, as well as glue-sealed most of the raw edges.
Bottom line, up-front: its not pretty, but I'll be damned if it doesn't survive a few good crashes.
Just need to add the other 4 servos (ailerons and flaps,) glue everything down, cut the hole in the wing for the wire routing and wait for my 50Amp ESCs (from china) and 8.5x6 props (from master airscrew, cw and ccw) to arrive, before hooking everything up and taking it out to maiden.
So far I've got 2 racestar 2212 1400kv motors, a turnigy 3s 2200mah 20c LiPo, flysky-i6 tx/rx (looking into modding it to 10 channels), 2.75 inch wheels and some smraza 9g servos.
I'm planning to build in the options for everything (FPV/osd, split flaps) but also to start with a throttle limitation programmed in to keep me out of trouble at first.