FT Tutor wing mistake…

[dylanbeaudette]

My son and I have been carefully building the FT Tutor. This is our fourth speed build kit, and we vowed “no mistakes!”. Our first model, the Simple Cub, was kind of sloppy as we had never built with foam board. Our second, the Tiny Trainer, suffered an upside down elevator which meant control rods were not positioned correctly. The third, DR1, had a bad z-bend on the rudder servo causing it to never spring back to center. That said, we’ve had a lot of fun flying / crashing / fixing the TT and DR1!

Now to the Tutor wing: I accidentally glued the main spar to the top vs bottom of the wing (inside of the wing) which lead to a slightly different crease angle on each side of the wing. The result: one side of the wing has a slightly steeper leading edge and is about 1mm longer than the other. Otherwise, the wing looks great. Could a tiny bit of aileron trim solve the asymmetric shape?

 

[Monte.C]

My son and I have been carefully building the FT Tutor. This is our fourth speed build kit, and we vowed “no mistakes!”. Our first model, the Simple Cub, was kind of sloppy as we had never built with foam board. Our second, the Tiny Trainer, suffered an upside down elevator which meant control rods were not positioned correctly. The third, DR1, had a bad z-bend on the rudder servo causing it to never spring back to center. That said, we’ve had a lot of fun flying / crashing / fixing the TT and DR1!

Now to the Tutor wing: I accidentally glued the main spar to the top vs bottom of the wing (inside of the wing) which lead to a slightly different crease angle on each side of the wing. The result: one side of the wing has a slightly steeper leading edge and is about 1mm longer than the other. Otherwise, the wing looks great. Could a tiny bit of aileron trim solve the asymmetric shape?

Hi Dylan. It's real hard to tell without holding it in our hands, and I think that's a very hard question to answer for any of us. I personally would hate to say "Ah, just finish the build. It'll be fine." and then have it never perform the way it should.

The wing looks good from here, and I would think a little aileron trimming would cure the evil, but I can't advise in any definitive way. One other option I can think of is to go get some Dollar Tree foamboard and build the wing again. No harm no foul and you'd feel a lot better about it. With you guys new to flying, it's good to feel that the plane is in top shape to give you the best chance of success.

 

[Timmy]

My son and I have been carefully building the FT Tutor. This is our fourth speed build kit, and we vowed “no mistakes!”. Our first model, the Simple Cub, was kind of sloppy as we had never built with foam board. Our second, the Tiny Trainer, suffered an upside down elevator which meant control rods were not positioned correctly. The third, DR1, had a bad z-bend on the rudder servo causing it to never spring back to center. That said, we’ve had a lot of fun flying / crashing / fixing the TT and DR1!

Now to the Tutor wing: I accidentally glued the main spar to the top vs bottom of the wing (inside of the wing) which lead to a slightly different crease angle on each side of the wing. The result: one side of the wing has a slightly steeper leading edge and is about 1mm longer than the other. Otherwise, the wing looks great. Could a tiny bit of aileron trim solve the asymmetric shape?

I agree with Monte. But one thing is for sure: you will never have a perfect plane, legend has it that if you build a perfect plane it will crash immediately. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, only be afraid of making the same ones more than once (like me)

 

[Piotrsko]

I agree with Monte. But one thing is for sure: you will never have a perfect plane, legend has it that if you build a perfect plane it will crash immediately.

I have proof positive that ugly flies better and longer. People who make perfect planes.... deserve what they get.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

I agree, hard to tell. I am of the mindset just chunk it and it will work itself out, so I am probably not of much help.

I will say that I completely botched the wing of my FT P-40, somewhat in a similar fashion. Not only was it glued on crooked (one wing swept forward, one swept back) I had made a bend or got the spar in wrong, and one wing was bent way differently than the other. It ended up being one of my best flying planes for a long time after a little trim.

I spent a lot of time perfecting this last P-40, and inspite of what everyone else says, it flies great! But I did nuke a flap servo, so it just flies around with the flaps taped up. Turns out it doesn't need them.

 

[billyshaw22]

Every plane is another learning process, I have bult thousands, and (i really do mean thousands) of planes and everyone I have learned something on. I see this as an opportunity to try and learn how to compensate for the building error. At this point trying to fly and see what you get is the up side and the result might be very positive, know that you can always build another wing at the very least. I would finish the build to the instructions and center everything up and basic first flight trim will fix it and not give you any major issues.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Every plane is another learning process, I have bult thousands, and (i really do mean thousands) of planes and everyone I have learned something on. I see this as an opportunity to try and learn how to compensate for the building error. At this point trying to fly and see what you get is the up side and the result might be very positive, know that you can always build another wing at the very least. I would finish the build to the instructions and center everything up and basic first flight trim will fix it and not give you any major issues.

This is also a good point. The wing is easily accessible and easily removed, and not terribly complicated. So there are some other things you can do as well.

1. Trace the wing shape and spars and build a template. You can rebuild infinite wings!

2. Make a completely different wing for it. Youtube "armin wing" and you can learn to make a smooth airfoil wing at whatever length and chord you want to. I actually use this technique on most of my planes. My FT P-40 and my night fury FPV plane both have armin wings, and both fly great. You could even trace the current wing design for the tutor and make a smooth airfoil wing out of that!

In all honesty, I think what makes the tutor special is not the wing, but the fuselage and how it is built. In the grand scheme of things, the wing is a very minor thing to have messed up, since it simply rubber bands to the top of the plane.

Here are some ideas of the smooth airfoil wings. The Kadets (the high wing ones) are probably closest to what you are looking to do. I build most of my wings like this since they are easier and probably fly a little better. FT designs are easily converted to smooth airfoil planes. I did this for the goblin and the FT P-40.

 

[Merv]

...Could a tiny bit of aileron trim solve the asymmetric shape?

Yes, that is what trim does, it corrects for any mistakes. If you build a prefect plane (without any mistakes) it would not need any trim.
The wing looks good to me, I'd go ahead and fly it.

 

[Monte.C]

...inspite of what everyone else says, it flies great!

Duramax lands and says "It flies great!"
Everyone else: "No, it doesn't."
Duramax: It does! It flies great!"
Everyone else: "No really, it doesn't."

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Duramax lands and says "It flies great!"
Everyone else: "No, it doesn't."
Duramax: It does! It flies great!"
Everyone else: "No really, it doesn't."

The squarest plane I agonized over flies great... turns out being a perfectionist on a build pays off instead of slopping it together in an evening like I normally do.

I would rather have a few planes that fly great instead of a bunch of mediocre planes in a state of perpetual repair. But I have enough electronics to build 15 planes to support my old approach.

Ive about come to the assumption that I only need about 3 types of motors instead of the mass amount of different ones I have now.

 

[Aslansmonkey]

First tutor wing i built had some unintended twist in it. It flew with aileron trimming but liked turning right more than left, so I rebuilt the wing. It flies better now.

Try it like you built it. Its the easiest way to know and learn. That wing is simple enough in design for you to rebuild it from scratch if necessary.

 

[Piotrsko]

Ive about come to the assumption that I only need about 3 types of motors instead of the mass amount of different ones I have now.

Ahh grasshopper, you are learning.

Then there is @Monte.C who seems to have an object inserted somewhere unpleasant lately

 

[Monte.C]

Ahh grasshopper, you are learning.

Then there is @Monte.C who seems to have an object inserted somewhere unpleasant lately

Hehe I'm ok with the grass being green and the sky blue. I hope you feel better soon so we can all be friends again.

 

[Piotrsko]

Hehe I'm ok with the grass being green and the sky blue. I hope you feel better soon so we can all be friends again.

Nope I'm old and this is as good as it gets anymore. Now get off my grass.

 

[Monte.C]

Nope I'm old and this is as good as it gets anymore. Now get off my grass.

...because chlorophyll.

 

[RajunKajun59]

My son and I have been carefully building the FT Tutor. This is our fourth speed build kit, and we vowed “no mistakes!”. Our first model, the Simple Cub, was kind of sloppy as we had never built with foam board. Our second, the Tiny Trainer, suffered an upside down elevator which meant control rods were not positioned correctly. The third, DR1, had a bad z-bend on the rudder servo causing it to never spring back to center. That said, we’ve had a lot of fun flying / crashing / fixing the TT and DR1!

Now to the Tutor wing: I accidentally glued the main spar to the top vs bottom of the wing (inside of the wing) which lead to a slightly different crease angle on each side of the wing. The result: one side of the wing has a slightly steeper leading edge and is about 1mm longer than the other. Otherwise, the wing looks great. Could a tiny bit of aileron trim solve the asymmetric shape?

Looks like my Bushwacker wing, FULL SEND. If there are any issues it will trim out no problems.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Looks like my Bushwacker wing, FULL SEND. If there are any issues it will trim out no problems.

So the answer is.... what I was going to say in the first place.

 

[dylanbeaudette]

Thanks everyone! Great tips and lots to learn from. Finished the model just needs paint. Eager to get this thing in the air!

This is by far the largest / heaviest plane we have ever attempted. Starting with a 3S 1300mAh battery but seems like it can accommodate something much larger.

 

[Piotrsko]

Get crazy after you fly it a bunch successfully.

Mantra: build, fly, crash, repeat

 

[Draftman1]

When I was building coroplast planes, Some of them would have a leaning rudder or the wing wasn’t perfectly flat on the saddle. Etc…. But they all flew well, Just go try it, you might be surprised