Daniel Kezar
Ultimate Cheap Skate
Yeah it’s not my first time with rocks in the motor. I’ll clean them out tomorrow sometime.
tiny tweezers? and needle nose pliers for the tuff buggers?
Yeah it’s not my first time with rocks in the motor. I’ll clean them out tomorrow sometime.
I just take it apart and wash it. Brush less motors are waterproof.
Thanks for the tip, I lost something out of one of the A pack 1806 motors (i think it was a spacer or something) but I can't find it anywhere. And yeah unfortunately I don't have an 8 year old, but I do occasionally have my stepdad and my girlfriend help me with filming.
FT-Build-Ruary: Discovery Design and Build by Foam Test
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Link to the forum with plans here
I choose to finish designing, and of course building, this plane because I wanted to truly design a plane. This project has forced me to finally learn CAD so I can now design other planes. Plus I wanted to see if I could complete the whole design process in a month. I also wanted a small FPV platform to fly around at the baseball field at the end of my street. The smaller it is, and the slower it flies, the larger the small field seems.
Build log
I filmed a build video and am in the process of editing it, unfortunately I can't work on it till Monday so I'll update this when it is done. (I hope a build video will suffice instead of a build log) It was a very strait forward build that can be done in an hour or two. The main difficulty was definitely setting up the servos, but it is very manageable.
Build Difficulty
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Most of the cuts on this are strait, and the fuselage in the only part with curves on it, but that is for increased durability. And uses simple FT techniques to build.
Flight video
This was of V2 ( the first one I build this month) and this was also before the wing was fixed to give it a correct angle of attack, so this one flew a bit worse than 2.1 (the one pictured above) Also can I get bonus points for designing a model and building TWO of them in the Buildruary?
Also here they all are (except for V1, but the first ever build as a chuck glider is there, it's about a year old now)
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Flight Difficulty
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I still haven't maidened V2.1 yet, but it has all of the same modifications that I did to V2, just cleaned up a bit. And in calm weather with the modifications V2 flew great and was easy to fly. Although beware of the touchy rudder, you don't want a lot of throw at all on it because it gets all of the prop-wash and makes it very sensitive. More on that in the episode on the plane later this month/early next month.
Do's
Make sure the wing and tail boom are reinforced, like the build video shows. Save your plans that you print out, this plane is fun and only takes an hour or so for the second build. Make sure you put the servos in upside down, if you don't there is not enough clearance for the prop and the push rods. Build this plane, it is a lot of fun and for $35-$40 for the electronics why not give it a try!
Don'ts
Try and put the servos in right side up (even though the plane sounds much cooler this way don't do it). Also don't confuse the wingtips, they are labeled for a reason, and are opposite if you are using a reverse rotation prop. (if the prop you are using has a "R" on it swap the wingtips) Also do not put a lot of throw on the rudder, I have said it before and I will say it again, it only needs to move the width of the foam. Don't be afraid to approach this as your first scratch build or as your first plane. She is really durable and only takes about 1/4-1/3 of a sheet of foam to build and an hour or two so go for it!
Summary
This whole process was a great learning experience and was very rewarding as a whole. I learned how to make electronic plans to share with others in this great community and was finally able to give back with one of my own designs.
Well that was my very rough estimate, I could probably do it in a half an hour if I am not filming it all. And yes having a girlfriend is awesome, and it’s even better that I got her hooked on planes and rc cars! She is truly awesome!
I don’t know if it can be built with tape alone but you can give it a try, also low temp hot glue is great got that kind of stuff. It doesn’t hold like hi temp but it also doesn’t burn either.
I have heard of people using gorilla glue for foam board planes but it takes a bit to dry.