FT Racer on its way!!

[Tehilah]

Hi all,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for a great site! Wow! I cannot believe I might actually, finally be able to afford flying...!

I taught myself over a long period of time with only my flight simulator. Then I paid for lessons at our local club around 7 weeks ago, and have not had a single session yet.. So....

I have just ordered myself a FT Racer (Slinger) all the way to South Africa! And I cannot wait to get stuck in. I hope my power plant will not be an overkill:

• E-Flight Power 15
• H-King 35A ESC

Please can you confirm that this would work, seeing that it is what i currently have?

Also, what prop should and spinner should I use please? Gonna include the vents on the nose, and the cap style canopy..

Will be sending pics galore. Gonna also try add wheels... lol

 

[Tehilah]

In South Africa already!

Hey guys. Just to let you know my new (and first) kit has already hit the shores of South Africa! Must be somewhere between the airport and our local Post Office...

Cannot wait to get my hands on it!!

 

[Pity_the_fool]

Welcome to the hobby, and good luck with your new addiction . You are definitely jumping in with both feet trying the FT Racer as your first plane. I have some concerns about the motor you have, particularly since this sounds like it may be your first solo flight of a plane you have built. The motor weighs something like 152 grams. The beef package motor Flite Test sells, which has plenty of power for the racer, weighs 70 grams. That is a lot of nose weight that will need to be offset to get the plane to balance. With planes like the racer, mustang, etc. there isn't a lot of room to be pushing batteries aft of the cg, unless you locate them in the power pod. Also with that much weight on the airframe you will have to carry more speed to stay in the air, not something you really want as a beginner. With your maiden flights you want to try and remove all the errors you have control over so everything goes smoothly, a main one of which is balancing the air frame. I imagine the Racer will fly with that motor, but it is overkill. Flite test recommends a 10 X 4.7 prop at the top of the range on the beef package. The motor you have will turn a 13x6.5. on a 3s battery or even a 10X6 on 4s! That would be a rocket! I don't mean to rain on your parade, but just want to see you have success. If I were you I would scratch build the new FT explorer to get your feet wet. Or at the least get a lighter motor, closer to the 70 gram Emax motor from the beef package. The esc seems a little undersized for your motor as a 40-45 amp esc is recommended. Anyhow, good luck with the build, whatever you choose, look forward to seeing how things work out!

 

[CrossedUpChris]

I still haven't taken my racer out for its maiden. I read a lot of threads about peoples being underpowered so i fitted a 700W powertrain with a massive 4s. now i'm terrified of crashing it! it does have nice flaps though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7M_9X733gc

I wish you good luck Tehilah. i started flying about 6 months ago. i got a trainer that was held together by magnets and crashed it a LOT! i would recommend doing this as its much easier to snap a magnet together than rebuild you beloved foamy racer.

 

[Winglet]

Dear Willie,

I'm concerned. Just like Pitty, I sincerely want both of you to be successful and to be in this hobby for the long haul. Pity is trying to politely tell you that this isn't going to work. I will be a little more direct and tell you right up front that you are headed for disaster by using the FT Racer as your first airplane. Time and time again I've seen people select their first airplane based on looks and awesome high speed performance alone. By starting with the Racer, you will just get discouraged. You REALLY need to be building the FT Flyer, Explorer 3 channel or a Tiny Trainer 3 channel. The Racer will make a good 4th or 5th airplane.

A few years ago Josh and Josh produced this excellent video on selecting your first airplane.https://youtu.be/dOziFzntXq4 This video is a little hard to find. I really wish they would feature it on their homepage so that every new visitor would see it and watch it. It really is excellent and well thought out. You need to start with slow and ugly. If you do that you will get to the FT Racer in short order and you will be much more successful and have a lot of fun. Going to the really good looking fast airplane first almost always results in disapointment and a short stay in our hobby. I sincerely wish you the best of luck and lots of fun.