FT Mini Cruiser BUILD

[fliteadmin]

FTScratchBuild

Here's the step by step instructions to build your own FT Mini Cruiser. More details for this build are listed below in this article and additional links are available for setting up your electronics and components.

The FT Mini Cruiser is the 'twin' additional to the FT Might Minis Series!

The speed build kit shown above features a custom sticker kit available in our store!

The speed build kit (along with many other great products) is available in our online store.
And as always, free build plans are available as a PDF downloads located in the links at the bottom of this article.

These mini twin kits come with foam board wheels, but the cool wheels featured in this build are available in our store as well! CLICK HERE

Before you build this you will need to assemble your Mini Power Pod.

We start with the wing!

Dont forget to bevel the wing, careful not to slice through your paper!

Friends are nice, evenly put pressure on the entire wing.

Bevel the Stabilizer.

Remember, the table is your friend, right Josh?

Josh and Peter showing the wings weight in grams.

Be patient with the posterboard, give it a few minutes to dry.

Creating the rest of the nose.

Joining the wing and fuselage! Be gentle, dont force them together.

Power pods, check!

Servos fit in the wings like a glove on a foot.

Peter checking the length of his ESC's wires.

Gluing the power pods in place.

Putting the wire through the linkage stoppers.

Dont forget to tighten your stoppers!

Getting the board connected to the servos and power pods.

To learn more about setting up your twin motors as well as details for thrust vectoring, but sure to check out the build article for the full size FT Cruiser!

Last but not least, put on your landing gear and props.

Thank you everyone for watching and supporting us here at Flite Test. This has been possible because you and we appreciate growing with you guys. See you guys next time!

FREE PLANS
FT Mini Cruiser [Tiled Plans]
FT Mini Cruiser [Full Plans]

RECOMMENDED ELECTRONICS
All In One Electronics Kit: Lazertoyz - FT MINI POWER/ELECTRONICS PACK
MOTOR (Option 1) - EMAX MT1804 2480KV Brushless Motor
MOTOR (Option 2) - RTF Mini Motor X2204 v2 2300KV
4 Servos (Option 1) - Towerpro SG50 5g Micro Servo
4 Servos (Option 2) - HXT500 6.2g / 0.6kg / .08sec Micro Servo
ESC (Option 1) - Dynam - Dectrum 12Amp ESC w/ 3A BEC
ESC (Option 2) - Suppo 10A Brushless ESC
Battery (Option 1) - Turnigy nano-tech 460mah 2S 25~40C Lipo Pack
Battery (Option 2) - Turnigy nano-tech 460mah 3S 25~40C Lipo Pack
Battery (Option 3) - Turnigy 800mAh 2S 20C Long Lipo Pack
Prop (Option 1) - Direct Drive HQ Prop - 6x3 Black
Prop (Option 2) - Direct Drive HQ Prop - 6x4.5 - Black

Here are some other great articles mentioned in this build video:
DIY Micro FPV Camera setup
http://flitetest.com/articles/diy-micro-5-8ghz-fpv
Beginner Series
http://flitetest.com/articles/beginner-series-choosing-a-plane
Hot Glue Tricks
http://flitetest.com/articles/hot-glue-tricks
FT Cruiser - Build and Supplimental electronics tutorials
http://flitetest.com/articles/ft-cruiser-build

 

[ClearSkiesCalmWinds]

Great to see. Electronics are selling out quickly. What a HIT!!

 

[Fyathyrio]

Which one would be a better choice for fixed wing newb? How much more difficult is it to fly twin engine plane? (Or is it?)

 

[Corbarrad]

Which one would be a better choice for fixed wing newb? How much more difficult is it to fly twin engine plane? (Or is it?)

A twin is not neccessarily harder to fly. The twin engine setup even mostly eliminares torque roll issues you might encounter on a single engine craft.
That said, the cruiser is a four channel with an airfoil wing with twice the thrust available over the scout or speedster.
With a little experience all these features might help you get out of trouble, whereas they might get you into trouble as a complete beginner.

The scout is a quick and easy build, so why not order the electronics for a cruiser and build a scout to start out.
It's an easier buil and won't break the bank or your heart when the time comes.
Once you got your feet wet you got all the time in the world to build your cruiser and transfer the electronics.

Heck, if you like the scout you could then just order one more motor and two servos and be well on your way to starting your hangar.

 

[TimJC]

How useful is the rudder on the Mini Cruzr, or big one for that matter? Considering the mini nature (low weight), and differential thrust, I was surprised to see this as a design decision.

 

[Fyathyrio]

Thanks Corbarrad, sounds like may be my next plane. I've already built and flown a Mini Speedster, finding it a bit annoying in the steady light breeze we have here in SoCal, suspect it's that big sail area of the dihedral. I've got a Storch kit I'm building next week, that looks like it'll resist the wind a bit better and get me used to 4 channel flight.

When using counter-rotating props/motors, would it be better to use reversed motor pods to get opposite angles, or just put the firewall on the straight end of the pods?

 

[Capt_Beavis]

My mini cruiser just arrived, I am going to move the Orange Rx with stabilization from the Storch to the Cruiser and use the new Spektrum receiver from that came with my DX6 in the Storch.

 

[maxi]

how would you build a plane with 6mm foam

and how do you design a plane

 

[airhawk]

top on my build list after my storch but cant put electronics in it cause im buying the c pack single engine but i will save up

 

[Capt_Beavis]

heck Airhawk by the twin C pack with the storch, and then build the full size cruiser, it will probably be cheaper.

 

[airhawk]

true but im already at 124 and i dont want to push heres what i plane to get

 

[SpaceWalker1992]

So I noticed the mini cruiser didn't get much attention, but I wanted to try it out anyways. The fuse is kinda cramped and narrow, but that's just the nature of it, cant help it much. I put micro servo less retracts in it as well as some small FPV gear. will have a video up soon enough. it feels heavy for its size, but it is built more for speed, so I don't think it will effect it too badly.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I hope to finish mine in the next few weeks too. I got side tracked by a friend cutting out a bloody baron for me. I am hoping mine is a good mobius platform.

 

[SpaceWalker1992]

maidened it, and it didn't fly super well. or longer than 1 second. SUPER tail heavy and just heavy in general. have lots of nose weight handy. I decided to put the electronics into a versa wing, make a small kraken.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I had my elevator break loose on my maiden and it hit pretty hard. I got a couple of good flights and landings out of it but I had some kind of brown out that ended in a death spiral and also had the elevator seperate which finally did some damage.

Did anyone else find the gear too short for the 6" props? I am running 5x3x3s now. I have using a 1300mAh 2s but that seems to heavy for it, I will order an 800mAh and a 500mAh this week. It looks great in the air, I just hope I can keep here there.

While the plane feels heavy it is actually quite a bit lighter than my my delta ray, I think the main issue with it is high wing loading, and extra 10% on the wing may do wonders for it.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

the other odd thins is that the THR>>AUX1 mix getting screwed up on my DX6 randomly. I first had it working great with 100/100/0 and Trim on. Now I have to have a 100% offset ( cant remember if it is + or - ) I had to take it out and put it back in to get it running today. I haven't even tried differential yet.

 

[Capt_Beavis]

I made so many mistakes with this build, it is really disappointing. The final straw was trying to fly it at a small park before I had a few successful flights under my belt and I should have waited for an 800mAh battery instead of flying with the 1300.

I took it down wind to land after doing a couple of nice loops and it suddenly would dive, respond, dive, over and over, it was a little breezy and it kept getting down wind, I should have run to get in better range in case it was the RX. It finally got out of control enough I just cut the throttle when it started diving again. I searched and searched. I figured it went into a backyard and went around by the lake to look in only to finally see it floating (Red). I walked to the other side to see if someone would take a boat out to get it for me, but it ended up washing up on shore (in blue) where I could get it.

when I was looking for it asked a group of tween girls if they saw it go down. One asked me if I flew there a lot, when I said yes she said "I love that plane" probably thinking of the delta ray. It was nice to hear though.

 

[airhawk]

wait the cruiser is amphibious. just kidding im not a newcomer to water dismantlement

 

[Capt_Beavis]

this is the first plane I have destroyed in 9 months.

 

[airhawk]

oh wow thats really good i destroy one almost every time i fly