FT Simple Soarer - BUILD

[psguardian]

maiden!

I have been waiting for a motor glider in the FT series! Soo glad it is here. I used black sheets for the wings & put bright green (right) & bright pink (left) bands around the end of the full air foil to assist in orientation & contrast against the white/grey winter skies of the Pacific north west. For control horns I used disposable flossers.

I had to get creative with the power system, because I'm working from a scrap box of wrecked scratch builds. I prefer to glide, but have no high start nor a tow pilot, so I moved the wing back an inch & used the following setup:

The only 1300kv BW I have was defective, so I'm using a 1700kv turning a 7x5E.

The only servos I had avail are the 5gr. Cut the first hole off of the single arm horns & they fit just right. They are strong enough to pull out of a 150ft dive (on this plane), so I'm I'm not worried about not having their 9gr big brothers.

The only 3s I have are 204gr 2200mah turnigy packs, so I an using two 500mah 2s in parallel for a 2s 1000mah.

The moved wing provides me with Bixlers c of g & works wonderfully on glide, unfortunately even with the added down thrust she pitches up hard on WOT. I know it would not do this in it's proper configuration, and accept the quark as the price I pay for not waiting until I can order proper packs.

6min of WOT pulls a perfect 80% from my current setup. My maiden was in high wind where i could barely gain ground upwind, so it was a 6min flight. The next day however... Those six 1min climb outs provided me with nearly 20min in the cold 25°f morning of light breezes.

Thanks flitetest,
~psguardian

 

[rockets4kids]

Although I have not completed the fuse yet, I am *very* impressed with the SS wing. I put it on one of my rather heavy pusher-gliders and it flew amazingly well. Even at some 900-odd grams AUW, it flew on almost no throttle the glide ratio was most impressive. Unfortunately, the plane didn't have much rudder control in one direction (I normally don't touch the rudder on this plane) and I couldn't get out of the way of an oncoming tree.

 

[Bolvon72]

Although I have not completed the fuse yet, I am *very* impressed with the SS wing. I put it on one of my rather heavy pusher-gliders and it flew amazingly well. Even at some 900-odd grams AUW, it flew on almost no throttle the glide ratio was most impressive. Unfortunately, the plane didn't have much rudder control in one direction (I normally don't touch the rudder on this plane) and I couldn't get out of the way of an oncoming tree.

I had the same problem with a glider I built early on in my scratch building, the rudder worked fine on the ground but as air flowed over it the control rod would flex and the surface stayed flat in that one direction. I added some zip tie guides to the rod and all was well.

 

[rockets4kids]

Nope, this was definitely a case of user error. I knew that the throws were not sufficient, and had more travel in one direction than the other when I built it, but I never bothered to fix it because I only fly bank-and-yank. I really should have fixed that before I even put it in the air with a wing without ailerons.

I lost the plane just as the sun was going down so I did not have a chance to retrieve it. I'll have at that tomorrow (first attempt at tree extraction) but if that fails I'll have to chalk this up to an $40 learning experience (cost of electrics on-board.)

 

[rcspaceflight]

I have a question about the Simple Soarer, just out of curiosity. I see that according to Flite Test, the weight is 311grams without battery and the wingspan is 57.7", but I'm wondering what the chord of the wing is. I really want to know what the wing cube loading is. I can calculate all of that out if I know the surface area of the wings and the flying weight. I'm assuming that 311 + battery weight is flying weight, and the surface are of the wings is just the wingspan x chord.

If you really want to know why, I'm working on my own glider and I'm wondering where I should expect to try and get my wing cube loading at. Supposedly it should be under 4, but having something to compare it to would be nice.

 

[psguardian]

Wing cord is 8".
My electronics:
(24gr) Turnigy 2730 - 1700kv motor
(17gr) 7x5 APC Style prop
(25gr) Turnigy multistar 20a ESC
(5gr) turnigy servos
(18gr) 8ch flysky/turnigy RX
(204gr) 3s 2200mah 40c lipo
Mine came in a bit heavy at 400gr (without the lipo). With the heavy pack I don't have unlimited vertical, not like this thing needs it, but with an 80/100gr 1000-1300mah it would.

Today I got 30min in the air with only 7min throttle time, so it carries the weight just fine. The longer you can make your wings the better. Wing area being equal, long span narrow chord wings will provide much better glider performance than short span wide chord. Good luck on your design.

~psguardian

 

[rcspaceflight]

Wing cord is 8".

Today I got 30min in the air with only 7min throttle time, so it carries the weight just fine. The longer you can make your wings the better. Wing area being equal, long span narrow chord wings will provide much better glider performance than short span wide chord. Good luck on your design.

~psguardian

Thanks for all of the information. I found all of it very useful.

 

[CrashRecovery]

Ok I need some help. I've got a speed build kit with a pod running a 1300kv with a. 9x4.5 prop 12 amp esc and well I've used all my batteries and it still won't fly. It's so tail heavy that I tried two 800 2cells and a. 850. 3cell for weight and it's still unflyable. Any thoughts?

 

[psguardian]

Ok I need some help. I've got a speed build kit with a pod running a 1300kv with a. 9x4.5 prop 12 amp esc and well I've used all my batteries and it still won't fly. It's so tail heavy that I tried two 800 2cells and a. 850. 3cell for weight and it's still unflyable. Any thoughts?

I had a similar issue with balance. I moved to a 3s 2200mah 40c turnigy pack & that balanced out.

If you must use lighter packs due to not having heavier ones, or because your power train can't pull the weight, try this.

Move both wing anchor skewers back 3/4"-1"

This will affect flight a bit so you'll need to add some down trim or lean the fire wall down a few more degrees to make up for it. It does allow you to use lighter battery packs though.

~psguardian

 

[CrashRecovery]

I've got a 2200 but I thought it might be too heavy

 

[psguardian]

A 1300kv turning a 9x4.5 on 2s will only give about 10-12oz thrust. The 24gr blue wonder style motors will handle 3s, just don't lay on 100% throttle for more than 30-45sec.

If you jump to 3s use an 8x4 instead.

~psguardian

 

[zoidberg]

Hi all - this glider looks awesome as a first time build; I'm a beginner, looking for an entry point into this hobby. I've looked at some RTF and ARF kits, but before I commit to a costly aircraft, I'd like to learn as much as possible.

I'd like to use this as a learning opportunity and to see if I will enjoy the hobby. Maybe later I will put together a better plane when I've got some hours of building/flying under my belt. I've tried to get parts as close as possible to the specs. After looking around a bit on the HK website I found some alternative choices that are cheaper. For now, I'd like to go as cheap as possible.

Some questions... will these components work on this plane? (all parts from HobbyKing)

Motor: AX 2306N 1300kv Brushless Bell Motor
Servos: Turnigy TG9 9g / 1.7kg / 0.12sec Eco Micro Servo
ESC: HobbyKing Red Brick 30A ESC
Battery: Turnigy 500mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack (this battery is in the spec, but when I click on Josh's link - it takes me to a different product)

The props I will use are the recommended 8x4.5 and also planning on starting with the HK 6-ch T6A radio.

Also... I couldn't find pushrods on the site. Do I need to know what length? or are they a standard item and I just cut them to size?

Thanks in advance!
-Eric

 

[psguardian]

...
Motor: AX 2306N 1300kv Brushless Bell Motor
Servos: Turnigy TG9 9g / 1.7kg / 0.12sec Eco Micro Servo
ESC: HobbyKing Red Brick 30A ESC
Battery: Turnigy 500mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack (this battery is in the spec, but when I click on Josh's link - it takes me to a different product)

The props I will use are the recommended 8x4.5 and also planning on starting with the HK 6-ch T6A radio.

Also... I couldn't find pushrods on the site. Do I need to know what length? or are they a standard item and I just cut them to size?

Thanks in advance!
-Eric

Hi Eric! In it's present form you would need a 3s 1800-2200mah to get the right center of gravity. It's tail heavy. There is a build showing a power pod that is 4" longer than stock floating around the form... This puts the motor/ESC/lipo far enough forward that proper c of g is achievable.

This isn't exactly a beginner build, but it's close. If you're looking for dead simple & quick to get in the air you might wasn't to take this equipment to the ft flyer. It is small & does well with the 3s 500mah lipo. Also the build is much easier.

Have you done any simulator flying, or will you be learning live in the field on this first build of yours?

~psguardian

 

[zoidberg]

ft flyer. It is small & does well with the 3s 500mah lipo. Also the build is much easier.

Have you done any simulator flying, or will you be learning live in the field on this first build of yours?

~psguardian

Thanks psguardian! That is a much better idea!!

I've been reading/browsing the ft website for a few weeks and couldn't figure out which plane to start with; the glider seemed like a good logical choice. I just took a look at the flyer and delta wing video's and I think these are going to be a better starting point.

I've downloaded FMS, RC Desk Pilot and the BMI version as well. I don't have a controller yet, so I'm using a logitech game pad with analog sticks. I can't trim the game pad, so it's been challenging to fly. The electric glider seemed to be the most fun to fly and simplest to control (rudder, elevator, throttle only.)

Cheers,
-Eric

 

[psguardian]

Soaring is great fun once you've got the basics down, that's for sure! Your first plane or three will be much crashed & should be able to fly slow enough that a little league baseball field feels large. Like flying from near to far takes a good 20-30sec before you need to turn it around. Half throttle on an ft flyer should give you that.

Happy flying,
~psguardian

 

[Don]

Hi everybody. I've built the FTSS, with two different fuselages for powered/glider configs. (so far i've only built one wing)
Powered version has a Emax cf2812 8x4 prop 2 cell 1000mAh, 30amp ESC. I have yet to fly the powered configuration.

I built over sized landing gear out of marking flag wire, and InstaMorph. As well as the firewall. (i'll try to take some pictures later today.)

How do you think adding ailerons to this plane would workout? , also, what do you think about the power setup I have?

 

[Corbarrad]

How do you think adding ailerons to this plane would workout? , also, what do you think about the power setup I have?

Well, the prop seems a good match for the motor, the ESC is a bit of overkill, but then again better safe than sorry.
The wieght that sa 30 Amp ESC has over a 20 Amp is pretty negligible. I don't think you will be lacking for thrust, considering it's a powered glider and not a sports plane.

I've thought about adding ailerons, but with the original wing you've got so much stability that ailerons will have a hard time overcoming those inherent forces. They'd have to be relativley big and create a lot of drag while maneuverin, which is not what you want in a sailplane. It might turn out alright for the powered version. I would eliminate the middle break in the wing for an aileron setup, maybe even move the breaks in the outer wing panels a little more to the end of the wing.

 

[Don]

Good ideas all Corbarrad. I flew the glider config the past two days. The first high start I attempted ended with the wing folding. . I forgot to retape it after creating the dihedral , (I recommend reinforcing the center joint of the wing.) But after repairs I got about 8 high starts the next day.
Last night I cut parts for 3 new air-frames. Today i'll do the wings, and tell you how ailerons go if i try them out on the powered config set.

 

[Don]

Hey all~! just got back from flying the SS powered config. Flew great! maybe overpowered a bit. I used the EMax cf2812 with a 8x6 prop on a 3 cell. I didn't check the prop/motor watt/amps but I just flew what I had on hand.

It was my official first time flying a powered scratch build, so I feel good

the first flight my rudder was reversed . . . but I made it down without breaking anything.. after flight 4 or so I crashed into the sand, got a bunch in the motor. it wouldn't even turn at first, but I blew it out and forced it to turn (I needed more flights.) sure enough the motor started working again! and I got maybe 3 more flights before the battery ran out.

side note: when I checked the battery it told me that cell 1 was at 2.78, 2 at 3.6, 3 at 3.7. is this a bad battery?

 

[Craftydan]

you have overdrawn that pack (and a touch puffy I expect), but if it charges back to balance and you can get it to discharge about 20% less and hold balance I'd say it's still good. take it easy on this pack, but you might be able to get good life out of it.