FT scout crash

[Foamforce]

That makes sense. But I am noticing my plane's nose width is around 1.5 inches. Yours looks to be bigger and matching the size of other photos. Is my plane a bit too small...I am printing the tiled plans on 8.5x11 paper...

The width to the outside at the front measures 1 5/8” wide. My wingspan is 24”, which matches what it says on the plans. Measure your wingspan, what does it come to? If it’s smaller, then maybe you printed with the “fit to page” setting, in which case everything would be a little smaller. That would make it a little harder to fly. If your COG is right it should still fly, but it would be a little more difficult. Bigger planes are easier to fly. Also, if it were scaled down, then your joints would have been difficult to fit because the thickness of the foam wouldn’t have fit easily into the too-small holes made for them on the plans. When you print, it’s best to print from a computer, using Adobe Acrobatl and make sure the “Actual Size” option is checked under the scaling section in the print dialog.

If it did turn out to be a little smaller, I would probably still make a radical adjustment to the thrust angle and see if you can make it fly. But if it doesn’t, I would probably rebuild to make it the right size.

 

[agupt108]

The width to the outside at the front measures 1 5/8” wide. My wingspan is 24”, which matches what it says on the plans. Measure your wingspan, what does it come to? If it’s smaller, then maybe you printed with the “fit to page” setting, in which case everything would be a little smaller. That would make it a little harder to fly. If your COG is right it should still fly, but it would be a little more difficult. Bigger planes are easier to fly. Also, if it were scaled down, then your joints would have been difficult to fit because the thickness of the foam wouldn’t have fit easily into the too-small holes made for them on the plans. When you print, it’s best to print from a computer, using Adobe Acrobatl and make sure the “Actual Size” option is checked under the scaling section in the print dialog.

If it did turn out to be a little smaller, I would probably still make a radical adjustment to the thrust angle and see if you can make it fly. But if it doesn’t, I would probably rebuild to make it the right size.

Ok that makes sense. The wingspan is 13". Now it makes sense why only one servo cut to two holes was barely fitting in the fuselage...thanks!

 

[Foamforce]

Ok that makes sense. The wingspan is 13". Now it makes sense why only one servo cut to two holes was barely fitting in the fuselage...thanks!

Whow! 13? No wonder why you’re having trouble. That’s a micro plane! You found your problem! You can scale a plane down or up, but the smaller you go, the more thrust angle you need.

When you print out next time, take a ruler and measure the scaling guide that is printed on the plans. It should line up exactly.

Since you definitely need to rebuild, you should go with the Tiny Trainer. Good luck, post pics!

 

[agupt108]

Whow! 13? No wonder why you’re having trouble. That’s a micro plane! You found your problem! You can scale a plane down or up, but the smaller you go, the more thrust angle you need.

When you print out next time, take a ruler and measure the scaling guide that is printed on the plans. It should line up exactly.

Since you definitely need to rebuild, you should go with the Tiny Trainer. Good luck, post pics!

Thank you!

 

[Merv]

...Any ideas as to how to have a more succesful flight?

Known
Your plane is tail heavy, move the balance point forward 1/4 inch.
Also throw the plane harder and upwards, 20-30 degrees upwards. Throw the plane like you are trying to throw a football 20 yards. If you can, have a friend throw the plane.

Unknown
You could have one or more controls reversed.
You may have a prop on backwards, if so, you are not producing enough thrust. Make sure the numbers on the prop are facing the direction of travel. If the prop is backwards, thrust will be cut in half.

 

[dap35]

Hmm...so my tiny trainer was a crash too when I did it last month. I am still debating between the scout and trainer for my next build because when I checked my trainer airframe I found the damage to be worse than I had seen it...thank you for the guidance though!

Bigger is easier to fly. Especially if there is any wind at all. I started with a mini scout and quickly moved to a scaled up full size scout.
I also like tail wheels, and any plane that just uses a skid, I add a tail wheel to the rudder if I am going to fly off of something other than grass.

 

[Tench745]

Known
Your plane is tail heavy, move the balance point forward 1/4 inch.
Also throw the plane harder and upwards, 20-30 degrees upwards. Throw the plane like you are trying to throw a football 20 yards. If you can, have a friend throw the plane.

Unknown
You could have one or more controls reversed.
You may have a prop on backwards, if so, you are not producing enough thrust. Make sure the numbers on the prop are facing the direction of travel. If the prop is backwards, thrust will be cut in half.

Plane isn't tail heavy, he says a glide test was successful, but it pulls up with power.
That throw looked very much like what my Mini Scout needs.

The plane was printed under-sized and that is likely the biggest issue.
They already stated that the numbers are facing forward, and going through the video frame-by frame you can tell that prop rotation is correct.

Hmm...so my tiny trainer was a crash too when I did it last month. I am still debating between the scout and trainer for my next build because when I checked my trainer airframe I found the damage to be worse than I had seen it...thank you for the guidance though!

I love my Mini Scout enough that I immediately built another when the first one got too ratty. I haven't flown the Tiny Trainer, so I can't comment about that one.

 

[agupt108]

I think I will stick with the scout then...maybe full size maybe mini! Thank you all for help!

 

[MacClarkNC]

Like you, I consider myself new to rc, after very limited participation for a couple of years. I currently have 2 scouts, 2 mini scouts, 1 tiny trainer and a spit. I tried for a very long time to get more than 20 second flights on the full size scout. Gave up on landing gear, went to hand launch and land in tall grass. Consistent flight came with the trainer. Then back to the scouts and the spit. But the mini Scout for some reason is still the most difficult to fly I think the term twitchy is how it's flight can be described.

 

[agupt108]

Like you, I consider myself new to rc, after very limited participation for a couple of years. I currently have 2 scouts, 2 mini scouts, 1 tiny trainer and a spit. I tried for a very long time to get more than 20 second flights on the full size scout. Gave up on landing gear, went to hand launch and land in tall grass. Consistent flight came with the trainer. Then back to the scouts and the spit. But the mini Scout for some reason is still the most difficult to fly I think the term twitchy is how it's flight can be described.

Then maybe the tiny trainer! I think my progression will be tiny trainer, maybe then the simple cub, and maybe fit a scout in there! Thank you!