FTFC20 Wind Puff designed by Dr, Looping Looie

[Dr. Looping Looie]

The maiden video is done!

Maybe Im a little excited, but this plane is just awesome!
Sorry for that the plane is out of frame for most of the landings.

 

[TooJung2Die]

It was perfectly named. It flies incredibly well. It flies like a paraglider! I think you are really on to something with that airfoil for slow fliers. Congratulations!

 

[FoamyDM]

Talk about STOL except this is an SSTOL (Slow and Short Take Off and Landing)!
I wonder how this air foil would do on something else slow like an Old Fogey, mini scout, or the Burgess Dunn Flying Wing

Great job on a somewhat complicated build.

 

[Vimana89]

The maiden video is done!

Maybe Im a little excited, but this plane is just awesome!
Sorry for that the plane is out of frame for most of the landings.

Beautiful work! Must have missed this in my alert feed at a time it was swamped with updates or I would have watched it sooner! That is a great choice of pilot, definitely a fan of Iron Maiden. The landing gear came out incredible. That was super sketchy flying a plane like that in so much wind, but you managed, and the landing was great. I can't wait to see this fly around on a calm day and see some more of those smooth take offs and landings

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

I added a few extra details!

I added this handdrawn instrument panel, and I tried to keep it as realistic as possible. We got a speedometer, altimeter, variometer, compass, navigation, FLARM and radio. I took a little inspiration from the full scale glider Im flying.

Glider pilots will recognize this very simple but useful instrument. Its a simple string that helps coordinating the turns. If the air blows the string to one side, the airplane is flying a little sideways, which means less efficient.

I also replaced the stick and added a throttle lever.

The stick moves using these two 5g servos.


I also added a few useful things that help with folding the plane together. Its now a ONE piece airplane, which means that you dont have to worry about loosing parts like screws, but its also a toolless assembly!

The skewers securing the leading edge of the wing are held in the plane by strings so you dont loose them. Inside, the holes are reinforced with plywood.

The wing struds are held on to the wing because they were really annoying in transport mode.

The wing just sits on these skewers, which is extreamely helpful to prevent the wings from unfolding while transported.

 

[whackflyer]

@Dr. Looping Looie you are an expert designer! I love this plane! Will there be plans?

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

@Dr. Looping Looie you are an expert designer! I love this plane! Will there be plans?

Thanks!
I already uploaded plans. You can find them in post #12 in this threat, but at this point, they only include the main foamboard parts. Im going to update them soon, then they will also include the wood and metal parts!

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Flew it another time and it was great! I still wasnt able to try more than just takeoff and landing, but it did great. I also must say that it feels very underpowered. Maybe a different prop can solve this. But it makes even the power to weight ratio and climb rate feel scale.

I also added brakes. They worked, but got destroyed pretty quickly, so I removed them again.

I added two servos which make the stick move along with the elevator and ailerons, which looks just super cool!

And I added this little instrument which indicates the angle of attack and actually works!

Theres going to be better weather tomorrow, then I want to record another video!

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Second flight video! This time, I could capture it better, and I was able to get some impressive footage!

I also want to give it a winter camo paint job, make the pilot a little better and maybe add lights.

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Here are some pictures for you: