FT Scout XL : Flite Fest 2022 Dawn Patrol Challenge

Baron VonHelton · May 27, 2022

wilmracer said:
The blowtorch is your friend

Yankee2003 · May 27, 2022

Tench745 said:
Just so happens I had a 24" piece of 1/8" piano wire in my stock. Now it's some Scout XL gear.
View attachment 226317

Well done Tench745.

SlingShot · May 28, 2022

Tench745 said:
Just so happens I had a 24" piece of 1/8" piano wire in my stock. Now it's some Scout XL gear.
View attachment 226317

Sweet!

Intashu · Jun 5, 2022

My XL scout is nearing completion. Need to do landing gear still and a few minor details are still missing. Took it to the field but an alieron servo failed so I didn't end up throwing it up yet.

Love the wood tail look... Can't suggest it however... I need a 5000mah 3s lipo in the very front to balance it out!

Edit: took it back out and it flew great. Little floaty. Little underpowered on 3s with a 13x4 prop. But not at all bad!

willsonman · Jun 7, 2022

Intashu said:
My XL scout is nearing completion. Need to do landing gear still and a few minor details are still missing. Took it to the field but an alieron servo failed so I didn't end up throwing it up yet.

Love the wood tail look... Can't suggest it however... I need a 5000mah 3s lipo in the very front to balance it out!

Edit: took it back out and it flew great. Little floaty. Little underpowered on 3s with a 13x4 prop. But not at all bad!

I'm a HUGE fan of this. Reminds me of the old Top Flite Elder.

Baron VonHelton · Jun 7, 2022

Intashu said:
My XL scout is nearing completion. Need to do landing gear still and a few minor details are still missing. Took it to the field but an alieron servo failed so I didn't end up throwing it up yet.

Love the wood tail look... Can't suggest it however... I need a 5000mah 3s lipo in the very front to balance it out!

Edit: took it back out and it flew great. Little floaty. Little underpowered on 3s with a 13x4 prop. But not at all bad!

That cowling is near perfect!

Captglvr · Jun 7, 2022

Intashu said:
My XL scout is nearing completion. Need to do landing gear still and a few minor details are still missing. Took it to the field but an alieron servo failed so I didn't end up throwing it up yet.

Love the wood tail look... Can't suggest it however... I need a 5000mah 3s lipo in the very front to balance it out!

Edit: took it back out and it flew great. Little floaty. Little underpowered on 3s with a 13x4 prop. But not at all bad!

Yes the cowl is magnificent! Would love to know your technique.

Intashu · Jun 7, 2022

Captglvr said:
Yes the cowl is magnificent! Would love to know your technique.

I created a couple formers just a touch larger than the size of Spon'z radial and curved a sheet of foam for the main section just kinda curved and cut away whatever didn't fit or make sense. Then starting with a rough cone, formed the back section that brings it into the body. which was really just a bunch of trial and error. I ended up cutting it in half and doing the left and right halves separately to get it to shape correctly. I found some silver tape which matched the chrome paint really well which helped hide the seams. and the very front of it is a one-off 3d printed part I threw together. Most of the technique is just winging the measurements combined with what I learned from building a few dozen planes and how I wanted it to look in the end. It came together better than I thought it would! It was a score finding tape that matches the chrome paint as well. although clearly visible it blends in more than enough to look like it belongs and you can't see it at all while flying.

It's a bit cartoonishly proportioned as the engine is much larger than it should be for "scale" But I kind of like it this way. and the 3d printed radial and additional front weight does help balance out the wood tail which is heavier than if I just went with foam.

I still gotta sort out the landing gear, which will be fixed to the wing since it's removable and the strongest section of the plane. And the little bits and pieces of details it's missing. But I wanted to fly it before going all in on the detail work as occasionally I get carried away and build a plane that simply looks good and flies terrible!

Baron VonHelton · Jun 7, 2022

Intashu said:
I created a couple formers just a touch larger than the size of Spon'z radial and curved a sheet of foam for the main section just kinda curved and cut away whatever didn't fit or make sense. Then starting with a rough cone, formed the back section that brings it into the body. which was really just a bunch of trial and error. I ended up cutting it in half and doing the left and right halves separately to get it to shape correctly. I found some silver tape which matched the chrome paint really well which helped hide the seams. and the very front of it is a one-off 3d printed part I threw together. Most of the technique is just winging the measurements combined with what I learned from building a few dozen planes and how I wanted it to look in the end. It came together better than I thought it would! It was a score finding tape that matches the chrome paint as well. although clearly visible it blends in more than enough to look like it belongs and you can't see it at all while flying.

It's a bit cartoonishly proportioned as the engine is much larger than it should be for "scale" But I kind of like it this way. and the 3d printed radial and additional front weight does help balance out the wood tail which is heavier than if I just went with foam.

I still gotta sort out the landing gear, which will be fixed to the wing since it's removable and the strongest section of the plane. And the little bits and pieces of details it's missing. But I wanted to fly it before going all in on the detail work as occasionally I get carried away and build a plane that simply looks good and flies terrible!

".......A DH2 & an Eindekker had a baby"

Didn't the wood add alot of weight to the tail??

Captglvr · Jun 8, 2022

Intashu said:
I created a couple formers just a touch larger than the size of Spon'z radial and curved a sheet of foam for the main section just kinda curved and cut away whatever didn't fit or make sense. Then starting with a rough cone, formed the back section that brings it into the body. which was really just a bunch of trial and error. I ended up cutting it in half and doing the left and right halves separately to get it to shape correctly. I found some silver tape which matched the chrome paint really well which helped hide the seams. and the very front of it is a one-off 3d printed part I threw together. Most of the technique is just winging the measurements combined with what I learned from building a few dozen planes and how I wanted it to look in the end. It came together better than I thought it would! It was a score finding tape that matches the chrome paint as well. although clearly visible it blends in more than enough to look like it belongs and you can't see it at all while flying.

It's a bit cartoonishly proportioned as the engine is much larger than it should be for "scale" But I kind of like it this way. and the 3d printed radial and additional front weight does help balance out the wood tail which is heavier than if I just went with foam.

I still gotta sort out the landing gear, which will be fixed to the wing since it's removable and the strongest section of the plane. And the little bits and pieces of details it's missing. But I wanted to fly it before going all in on the detail work as occasionally I get carried away and build a plane that simply looks good and flies terrible!

Nice work!

Intashu · Jun 8, 2022

Baron VonHelton said:
Didn't the wood add alot of weight to the tail??

I didn't weight it. but yes. I need a 5200 mah 3s battery all the way forward to balance my bird (or a pair of 2200mah 3s batteries in series) while my Father who build a more traditional one can use a single 2200mah 3s to balance with. I COULD have shifted the wing back when building it, but I wasn't too worried about it. between the added nose weight and already planning to use more battery capacity on board I wasn't worried about it being too heavy to work with. But it absolutely was heavier than just raw foam would have been, specially when adding in the bbq stick cross supports and gluing them in. I could have gone with thinner wood for the 4 main beams as well.. but I was a little worried that they'd break on me if I ever land it too hard. I'm still a little nervous that the tail will rip itself off the body of the plane should I ever crash it!

With the huge wings the scout has however the extra payload weight from batteries to compensate for tail is no trouble at all. It had plenty of power on the new chunky Flitetest motor I have dubbed the "D" because I really think they should release a "D pack" these things SCREAM on 4s in the master series..(see profile photo is example) Although the XL scout needs a higher pitch than a 13x4 to get a little more speed out of it.

I'd argue the Scout is hands down the best Flitetest speed build kit in every size. It just handles really good, is easily modifiable in many ways (I've made a bi-plane out of the normal sized design!) and isn't that hard to fly for all skill levels. you can get stupid sporty with it by turning up the throws, or trim it down to be a good docile flyer.

willsonman · Jun 8, 2022

Intashu said:
I didn't weight it. but yes. I need a 5200 mah 3s battery all the way forward to balance my bird (or a pair of 2200mah 3s batteries in series) while my Father who build a more traditional one can use a single 2200mah 3s to balance with. I COULD have shifted the wing back when building it, but I wasn't too worried about it. between the added nose weight and already planning to use more battery capacity on board I wasn't worried about it being too heavy to work with. But it absolutely was heavier than just raw foam would have been, specially when adding in the bbq stick cross supports and gluing them in. I could have gone with thinner wood for the 4 main beams as well.. but I was a little worried that they'd break on me if I ever land it too hard. I'm still a little nervous that the tail will rip itself off the body of the plane should I ever crash it!

With the huge wings the scout has however the extra payload weight from batteries to compensate for tail is no trouble at all. It had plenty of power on the new chunky Flitetest motor I have dubbed the "D" because I really think they should release a "D pack" these things SCREAM on 4s in the master series..(see profile photo is example) Although the XL scout needs a higher pitch than a 13x4 to get a little more speed out of it.

I'd argue the Scout is hands down the best Flitetest speed build kit in every size. It just handles really good, is easily modifiable in many ways (I've made a bi-plane out of the normal sized design!) and isn't that hard to fly for all skill levels. you can get stupid sporty with it by turning up the throws, or trim it down to be a good docile flyer.

Is the tail made of hardwood? Like bass stringers? If so, you probably could have gotten away with just balsa sticks with the triangulation of the structure you've done.

Yankee2003 · Jun 9, 2022

The tail of my XL is rebuilt and installed. It balances with the two 3s 2200 (parallel) pushed as far forward as I can safely secure them.
All that is left is try to paint match the tail and finish the programming on the radio. So I squeezed in like Indiana Jones sliding under the lowering wall.
Thank you for opening up the build challenge to us new guys. See you in Ohio in two weeks.

Byrdman · Jun 14, 2022

Good afternoon! Been a while, but I wanted to build the Scout XL this week and fly it. Unfortunately, I just tested + for Covid, so looking for a project for the next few nights.

Build question - The assembly of the LE of the wing is different on the plans vs the video for the kit. It looks like the wing is too large for a fold over LE per the plans due to the 30x20 size foambaord. Did you guys bevel them then tape & glue the LE? The plans have the top of the wing and the spar on two pages and the bottom and other stuff on other pages.

Thanks!
Byrdman

SP0NZ · Jun 15, 2022

Byrdman said:
Good afternoon! Been a while, but I wanted to build the Scout XL this week and fly it. Unfortunately, I just tested + for Covid, so looking for a project for the next few nights.

Build question - The assembly of the LE of the wing is different on the plans vs the video for the kit. It looks like the wing is too large for a fold over LE per the plans due to the 30x20 size foambaord. Did you guys bevel them then tape & glue the LE? The plans have the top of the wing and the spar on two pages and the bottom and other stuff on other pages.

Thanks!
Byrdman

Hey, Byrdman. Sorry to hear you have COVID. Hope you are on them mend and feeling better soon.

With regards to the FT Simple Scout XL build, the speed build kit is currently different than the original plans that I posted. I have the new Flite Test design file and I will be updating the plans after Flite Fest. That said, even with the new plans, you will still need to splice/tape the upper and lower wing panels together to fold over the wing. The reason for this is that FT uses 30 x 40 sheets of foam board when they laser cut the kits. Most people only have access to the 20 x 30 foam board typically found on the Flite Test store or at Dollar Tree stores. I typically use a heavy duty clear packing tape. I find that if you lightly scuff the tape you can still get spray paint to stick to it. Hope that helps.

Ligbaer · Jun 15, 2022

My scout xl, I promise it looks better in real life!

Ligbaer · Jun 15, 2022

Ligbaer said:
My scout xl, I promise it looks better in real life!
View attachment 227070

Flight:

Byrdman · Jun 15, 2022

SP0NZ said:
Hey, Byrdman. Sorry to hear you have COVID. Hope you are on them mend and feeling better soon.

With regards to the FT Simple Scout XL build, the speed build kit is currently different than the original plans that I posted. I have the new Flite Test design file and I will be updating the plans after Flite Fest. That said, even with the new plans, you will still need to splice/tape the upper and lower wing panels together to fold over the wing. The reason for this is that FT uses 30 x 40 sheets of foam board when they laser cut the kits. Most people only have access to the 20 x 30 foam board typically found on the Flite Test store or at Dollar Tree stores. I typically use a heavy duty clear packing tape. I find that if you lightly scuff the tape you can still get spray paint to stick to it. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the response. Yes, I'm on the mend and it wasnt too bad, just sore throat and congestion.

That is exactly what I was thinking and I have done this before. I have a half a box of 20x30 sized FT Foamboard. I'm going to put this Scout XL on floats. Should be one of the biggest or about the same size that I've done. The last scaled up plane was Hanger's Simple Stick scaled up 125%.

Thanks again!
Byrdman

SlingShot · Jun 20, 2022

This thing is pretty big. I built the wing and test fitted it to the car.....no way! Sure glad I did that. Will have to wait to marry it to the fuse.

SP0NZ · Jun 20, 2022

Okay, I am as far with my Scout XL build as I'm going to take it for now. I will finish the rest at Flite Fest. Here is a sneak peak of my "Black Knight" Scout XL. I built my prototype with the rattiest old foam board I had laying around. My original plan was to build the SBK for the event and make that one look really nice. But, Keegan hasn't been home at all to build anything, so I'm giving him my XL kit and I'm going to help him build his at the event. So, my ratty "Black Knight" has A LOT of "character" now. It's fitting, just a flesh wound.

Fictional aircraft, fictional livery.