FTFC19-Build-ruary by basslord1124

basslord1124

Master member
Build Skill: 3.5 to 4 ....done plenty of scratchbuilds and know the FT techniques, also done a few kits. Although it never fails, usually something is a "little off" when I build. :rolleyes:
Pilot Skill: 3 to 3.5 ....good with basic flying and a few maneuvers. Don't do any 3D maneuvers. Do pretty good on a sim with everything from high wing cubs to warbirds (don't normally crash that much). However, sometimes on maidens, I can be a shaky nervous mess. :eek:

Planes (all of these will be scratchbuilt from Adams foamboard):
FT Mini Scout
The Nasty: Custom slim profile 3D-type
FT Bloody Baron
FT Tiny Trainer (for wife and daughter)
 
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basslord1124

Master member
FT-Build-ruary: FT Mini Scout by basslord1124

Plans: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ft-mini-scout-build-mighty-minis
Build Rating: 1...definitely a simple build

I had managed to start on the Mini Scout back in mid December and as of now, she is about ready for a maiden. I picked the plane as it was praised highly on the forums and it looked like a super quick build. For a while I had avoided the smaller planes due to being knocked around by the wind (I started flying using the Hobbyzone micros like the Champ and Sport Cub S and got tired of fighting the wind) but I have slowly started checking them out, especially since these micros operate on 2S and 3S power. Plus they may prove to be good little flyers to take to my wife's aunts house...which is a place we frequent.

I would say total build time, this includes printing and cutting plans, might be 3-4 hours for the plane so far. Worked on it off and on for the past few months. Also, I am deviating from the original design and turning the Scout into a 4 channel instead of a 3 channel. The only issues I ran into were:

1) a later decision to ditch linkage stoppers for just straight wire with Z bends on both ends (I can be bad for making last minute changes lol)
2) I somehow got the rudder and elevator servos reversed. Thought they were installed in the correct orientation but apparently not. This has been fixed by changing the settings in my radio.

Here is some progress of the build:

mini-scout-fuse.jpg


scout3.jpg


scout9.jpg


scout10.jpg


Video of the extremely short maiden...

 
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basslord1124

Master member
FT-Build-ruary: The Nasty: Custom slim profile 3D-type by basslord1124

Plans: No plans, although sorta basing it from this guy (yes it is called "The Nasty"): https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=38834966&postcount=1551
Build Rating: 2....not a lot of pieces involved in the build BUT did some require some mathematics since I didn't have any plans.

After seeing a youtube video of a guy doing some maneuvers with a slim profile 3D RC plane, I thought it'd be a cool thing to check out. It's been on my list for a little while. So it's a slim profile plane which means the fuse, wing, elevator, and rudder are going to be as thick as piece of foamboard. The plans listed above use depron (I think), but I'm going to try a scaled down conversion with foamboard. Figured it'd be good to have a cheap durable 3D plane I can practice advanced maneuvers with.

Update: 2/12/19: Running some calculations to scale it down just a little to fit foamboard. Basically taking off a total length of 8 inches from the fuse and wingspan to accommodate foamboard size. Using this small version of the "Nasty" plans to figure out where my wing slot will be located, etc. Haven't done this kind of math in a while :p (of course I am converting to decimal too). Oh and you get to see my extremely nice handwriting.
0212191620a.jpg


Oh yeah, I found out that the person doing the video of a similar designed plane is none other than @Bayboos !! Here is the link to his video that I watched:


His was more based from the FT3D.

Also, I think I have come to the conclusion I really don't want to call mine "Nasty". Open to suggestions for a name. :D:p

Update: 2/19/19: Finally got a little a tangible start with this guy. Made a few measurement marks then a basic design with a pencil. Then did my cut. Overall I don't think it came out too bad. I think the cockpit area is a little odd but other than that I'm ok with it. Went ahead and cut the bevel for the rudder. Next is to cut the slots for the wing and horizontal stab/elevator and of course design and cut out a basic wing and horizontal stab for it.
fuse.jpg


Update: 3/5/19: So a pretty decent update to the profile plane. It now has a wing! The wing slot is around 9" long so I cut a 9" piece of foamboard and using the full width of the foamboard. Found my center and marked it as you can see in the pics. Went out 1cm on either side of the center and marked there. THEN, I went from those marks to cut my angles. I used the same angles as on the Nasty profile plane. Leading edge was cut at 5° and trailing edge was cut at 15°. Then I went and made 2" ailerons on both sides (hard to see the ailerons in the pic but they are there). Now I just need to glue it and finish the tail and that's it for the airframe side of it. Like everything else I am still waiting on my ESCs and motors. Got plans to also reinforce the wing and fuse...got some thick wire to use for that.


profile_wing.jpg
profile1.jpg



More to come with it as it gets developed...
 

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basslord1124

Master member
FT-Build-ruary: FT Bloody Baron by basslord1124

Plans: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ft-bloody-baron-build
Build Rating: TBA

I was looking for recommendations for a next build, and the wonderful folks here had good recommendations for this one, so here it is.

Update: 2/12/19. Plans printed and almost taped all the way together.
0212191620b.jpg



Update: 2/17/19 - Hey more Baron progress! Pictured is the wing ready to be cut out of foamboard. Since the pic I have cut the wing out, glued the spar in, cut/beveled ailerons, and about to do the fold over.
0217191030b.jpg


Update: 3/4/19 - Well I know once I got past the flu I'd be back to kicking butt on these builds. Really this one gave me the least trouble. I'll tell you, I'm starting to feel like a natural cutting those curved edges on the ailerons. Only thing really left here (aside from any electronics) is gluing the wing on. I was surprised that the wing for this one is glued...figured it'd be rubber banded.

bb airframe no tail.jpg


bb airframe.jpg


Update: 4/29/19 - There have been some updates since the last time. Servos are officially in and I did the linkages finished over the weekend. Motor/ESC are installed too. Just got a few loose ends to finish up with it, and it'll be ready for a maiden.

scout_link.jpg


Update 6/27/2019 - Well glad to say that the Bloody Baron has seen the skies. So here is the maiden flight video:

 
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basslord1124

Master member
FT-Build-ruary: FT Tiny Trainer by basslord1124

Plans: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/flite-test-tiny-trainer
Build Rating: TBA

Figured this might also be a good time to get this one going. Not so much for myself (although I love building and will be the one building it), but more for my wife and daughter. My wife always has had a bad experience when she tries to fly one of my planes and I would like to take those bad experiences and turn them into good experiences. At this stage, I think she has sort of sworn off of RC planes due to those bad experiences. And really she's been so tied up with our daughter that RC is the last thing on her mind. Really she hasn't flown her drone in a while too. BUT I plan to keep this here for her and our daughter when she gets old enough to try flying. I will more than likely just leave it foamboard white so they can personalize it however they want when the time is right for them to try flying.

Update: 2/12/19: Plans printed, not taped yet.

0212191621.jpg


Update: 2/17/19 - A stack of Tiny Trainer parts taped to foamboard ready to be cut.
0217191030a.jpg


Update: 3/4/19: Between the 2 I worked on this weekend (this one and the Baron), this one was the problem child. Nothing against the design, it was just one of those ones where everything I did resulted in some sort of major/minor issue. It's all right though, I can always rebuild it later...but for right now, I'll accept its imperfections and fly it til it won't fly anymore. I may just keep this one for myself and later rebuild a nicer one for the wifey/daughter to fly and learn on. My wife is in no rush to fly planes anyways.

As for the issues that occurred during this build:
1) I did not realize the dullness of my razor blades and ended up cutting through the paper in some areas (you know where the places where you do an A or B fold and you have that cavity with the layer of paper...yeah I cut through that in places). So in the end, I've got some exposed foam areas.
2) Also cut through the bevel on the elevator (which you can see in the pic). I rarely do that anymore.
3) The tail is crooked and tilts to the right (when looking at it from the front)
4) Had to recut the motor/power nose as I did something silly that made the original one not fit. The new one fits like a glove.

It was mainly the fuse that was the problem child, wing build went pretty smooth. Did the 3 channel wing to start out for training purposes. May do the sport wing later.

TT airframe.jpg


Update: 4/29/19: Well it's been a while, but a lot has happened. Unfortunately I don't have any current pics but will get some soon. Basically the motor/ESC eventually came in after talking with banggood customer service. They made it right, it took a while (like I expected), but no hard feelings. I'll still order from them sometimes. Which actually I am going to end up using my Mini Scout's motor and ESC anyways. So in the end, I came out with a spare motor/ESC. Hey, spare anything is always good! Linkages are done too with the Trainer. Now I just need to balance it, and a few other small things, and she'll be ready to go. I'll post a pic soon, and then hopefully a maiden video soon after.

Update: 6/27/19: It just dawned on me that I haven't updated this thread and the progress with the FT Tiny Trainer. So below is the maiden flight video. The video was released on May 9, 2019 and it is very possible that the actual flight occurred before that (probably a couple days).

 
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Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
Thanks! Honestly, I'll get back to ya on the weight. I would think not much different from stock as I used a lightweight drone motor and 5g servos all around.
Oh they looked like 9g servos so I was wondering how much extra weight they added.
 

basslord1124

Master member
Love the Vid. what do you think happened?

Not sure if its the real cause but the left aileron was not neutral enough. I went through and recentered everything as best as I could. Probably try some glide tests when the weather gets better (getting a lot of rain now). After that I'll try a relaunch.
 

basslord1124

Master member
Oh i ordered a bunch of el cheapo electronics today. Ordered from banggood which is unfortunately slow shipping, but I couldn't beat the price.
 

basslord1124

Master member
More electronics goodies...got some receivers today. Been trying the Headsup Hobby PowerUp DSMX Spektrum compatible receivers. Only used it briefly on the Mini Scout and so far it's doing fine. I just realized I hadn't ordered the motor/ESC for the Tiny Trainer. Crap! May put in an order for those today.
 

basslord1124

Master member
Updates to the Baron and Trainer. Man I need to get cracking, er I mean cutting, on the profile plane. :eek: I'll be honest I'm a little scared to because it'll be the only plane that I have no plans for. It is a straight off the cuff cut and build. No plans to follow for it. Just some basic measurements and hope it turns out ok. Sometimes you get so dependent on those plans.
 

FoamyDM

Building Fool-Flying Noob
Moderator
As I hear it, the important things are
1. the surface alignments (wing elevator rudder), and the balance point. (duh), but the electronics placement is so the balance is easier and a little component weight as possible. high thrust/weight ratios help big on these planes.
I crash every sim attempt I have with these, which is why I'm not attempting one yet.
But I say just go for it! you got this. Cut like the wind.

for me electronics are my nemesis