FT Old Speedster - BUILD

Ron B

Posted a thousand or more times
scruffy
that is a nice looking speed plane looks like a pylon racer scheme
 

Scruffy

Junior Member
scruffy
that is a nice looking speed plane looks like a pylon racer scheme

Thanks Ron,
To be honest i just "winged" it, I didn't really liked "plane" white.
LOL, I love puns in this hobby :)
On the serious note, I got some tape in the local hobby store and went with the feeling, I am really glad you liked it!
My parts are on the way from Lazertoyz and I am getting really inpatient, I also hope not to fry something as soon as I start assembling it. This is my first build ever. I never had any experience with this hobby which is absolutely stunning.

I found lots of good tips on this forum, so thank you all, and I hope I will be able to contribute too one day.
Cheers

EDIT: Also thanks to trackskid I actually bought the checker board tape.
photo 1.JPG photo 2.JPG
 
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peter97silva

New member
Hi, im new to the hobby. The old speedster would be my first 3 channel plane. Ive build it but it doesn't want to fly. In the ground it doesn't gain speed and in the air it turns left and falls...
Check the video and if you can help me please....
 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
Ive build it but it doesn't want to fly.

Oh, it wants to fly, and it will. I seems as though you are perhaps underpowered? what motor/battery/prop are you using? Looks like a Blue Wonder. You wont have a good chance running that motor with a 2s on this plane. If underpowered, the offset wing will not get enough lift to counteract itself and you'll just roll off to the left and head on down like in the video.
 
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Flynn

Member
Also Pete, I was able to take off from the ground. Once you get the hang of it, it has a very scale looking take off. I would try that too. It looks like you have some nice wheels on it.
 

peter97silva

New member

The setup i used to have is the blue wonder. Now ive exchanged to the one shown in this new video and it has got more than enought power but the plane kept turning left.
I would appreciate any sugestions. ;)
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
I thought the wings were offset to counter this tendency...? Did you build the wings centered or..?
 
I'm a noob some some of what's below is mostly speculation - ANYONE please correct me if I'm wrong, no offense will be taken...

I didn't have very good luck with my speedster either though I think most of my problem was higher wind. It seemed to handle so well in the FT indoor video but mine never did. I did get it to fly but it had the same tendency that your's did I did find that there is sort of a sweet spot on the throttle, not enough and you have similar problems that you're having and too much it would just pitch up. I never took the time to build one but I think the Old Fogey might be a better first build. I'm not sure how having the CG above or below the wing changes a planes characteristics but it makes sense to me that with out enough speed the plane would want to naturally want to "roll over" I don't know how much that contributes to the old speedster's tendency's but I've seen several of Old fogy videos and I don't see what I think is called a tip stall like you see with the speedster. and the CG is below the wing on the Old fogey.

my firsts 10+ attempts ended like yours, usually with broken planes or parts (props). I finally got in the air for a whole battery on 2 planes the FT22 and the bloody wonder, the bloody wonder was supper easy to fly but won't right it's self (so a little challenging). I can't say enough about altitude and speed you don't have to run full throttle all the time but with out the throttle up you won't have enough lift to make your turns and stay in the air. I think those planes worked for me because I had to learn to fly in 10mph+ wind, calm days have been hard to come by. anyway after a couple batteries I was able to fly more and crash less. but ultimately I had to learn to not be afraid to get altitude and throttle up I was so afraid to crash I tried to "take it easy" turns out that was why I was crashing. Also I found a MUCH LARGER area to fly in and that made a huge difference I could let the plane go more where it wanted to and had more freedom about how wide or where I made my turns.

Hand launch that plane at 3/4 throttle at 45 degrees with a good push and see what happens, thats how I got mine in the air.

Good luck. If all else fails try the FT Flyer/Delta. quick builds and easy to fly.

-Jes
 

ViperTech

Member
I have this plane with a Hobby king donkey 1550kv and 8x4 prop, and it will go left all the time! even with the off set wing. I have set my rudder to the right with the physical rod adjuster. On take off I launch at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and as soon as it lifts off I cut back on the throttle and gently gain altitude, I cannot use full power or it will just pull left and the rudder just can't over come the torque. But I have 3 hours of flight time on it and enjoy it! I feel like we are in a wrestling match when I fly it and I always win! I think I will try some right thrust on the motor mount next time out and see if that helps. I love the look of the plane in the air it is just gorgeous, but it is feisty!
 
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Corbarrad

Active member
I've been thinking about this "turn-left tendency" of the old Fogey for a while.
The left wing has been extended to counter the torque of the motor, but of course it needs airflow to generate that lift.
So right after takeoff, before you have that airspeed the extra weight of the enlarged wing will actually exacerbate that roll left tendency. Also since every sheet of foamboard is a little different that weight issue will be different for every plane.
An idea to rectify that would probably be to tape a few coins to the right hand wing to bring the plane into balance, or close to the balance point.
I haven't built an old fogey yet, but I'm planning on builing one once I get my vacation around easter.
 

Scruffy

Junior Member
Did you guys consider getting a slow fly prop 9x4.7 instead 8x4? It might be a good start.
My electronics is on the way and it will be in hopefully by Wednesday. I'll try to record my maiden flight and let you know how everything goes. I am getting really excited :) This plane is my first plane and it has been built from scratch following the plans posted. I have another one (FT Duster) coming in mail but pre-cut this time from TF.
Good luck with your build guys.
 

HeadInTheCloud

Junior Member
Hello,
so this would be my first scratch build. i have been watching the show for what seams like ages i just have never got around to building my own plane. This ones looks like a beauty!
I need some advice...with the printout plans is it better to print out the tiles or the shrunk down plans? I am not sure how to get the correct measurements; obviously important to get that right. In addition to that i would appreciate some extra tips on the build process (drawing out, measuring and cutting)
Hope you can help. Thanks.
 

Corbarrad

Active member
HeadInTheCloud said:
I need some advice...with the printout plans is it better to print out the tiles or the shrunk down plans? I am not sure how to get the correct measurements;
Personally, I print in "poster" mode from the full plans, with alignment markers activated and about 10mm overlap selected.

For this plane i selected 8 mm overlap because that makes the printout come in 15 sheets per page instead of 18 as would be the case with 10mm.

It's still a pain to align all the parts correctly. I'm trying something new with this one and I'll keep you updated on progress.
 

sneaky

Junior Member
I went to fly my old speedster the other day and noticed that both the wing and the horizontal stab had warped or twisted pretty bad. Does anyone have a good technique for getting the wing straight again. I can take a heat gun to it, but it is kind of hard when the whole thing is twisted.

Thanks!
 

abarton

Member
Just maidened one of my first FT speedbuilds this morning, the Old Speedster. Performed a couple of very short hops off the runway, park baseball diamond, to get a feel for how it handles. Haven't flown a tail dragger since I learned how to fly, about 25 years ago, but got the hang of it pretty quick, a heck of a lot of right rudder. Got it up in the air, nice slow flier, a little more unstable than I expected, it definitely doesn't like the wind. I flew in a slight breeze, and it was very noticeable. Overall had a great first flight, looking forward to many more to come.

Flite Test,
Thank you for all you have done, are doing, and will do in the future for RC flight. IMG_0580.JPG
 

Corbarrad

Active member
Just came home with a set of printed plans, maybe I can build one over the weekend.
I will probably do so if it rains. If it doesn't... to the skies!
 

Corbarrad

Active member
Aand just three months later I actually got around to building one, together with my cousin. was a fun little Sunday project. maybe we'll get around to flying it soon. in the meantime I'm building another one for myself out of some black and gray foamboard that I don't quite trust...
 

crow

Junior Member
Wing fold

I flew my Old Speedster today when it was really a bit too windy and creased a wing. I didn't notice the damage and launched it again and pretty soon the wing folded. It broke in a perfectly straight line right at the reference mark for lining it up with the fuselage. I think the reference mark burned in there weakens the paper, i would recommend putting a piece of tape over them.
 

B-Low

Junior Member
So I built this plane and I noticed some bending in my elevator where it gets thin is causing it to only lift on the right side which makes it go hard left or when going down hats right. Anyone know what to do