FTFC21: Build-ruary by Scotto (build skill 2. pilot 1.4?

[Scotto]

Hey Im new to the hobby and forum posting in general. Ive built one plane and loved it and that got the wheels turning wanting to build much more. The foamboard is really fun to work with very cool material. So this is probly too ambitious for me to do 4 in a month but challenge accepted.

1. El Chup... my own take on a Geebee hopelly slow but agile?
2. Curtis F-9C Sparrowhawk from card paper plan scaled up x6
3. FT Duster tapered wings
4. FT Storch

 

[Scotto]

Everyone loves the look of the iconic Geebee. I wanted to try something different just to see and weve been watching Planes alot lately so it just made sense.
El Chup 3 days in...

I want a kind of a ducted prop thing and with normal geebee you got to have a 12in or more prop just to get air past the fat body. But its an excuse to have something fat and not look so out of place. I want it more slow and floaty. Im putting elevons on it for no good reason.
I wish i would have marked at least 90 degree marks on the fuse when it was flat.

I traced a profile of a Clark YH in inkscape, made it 7.3 in long by 1.125 tall which is like 140% thicker. I marked where I wanted to crease or leave flat. Then I measured with a soft tape and transfered those numbers to the fb.
I tried a window screen roller and a soldering iron making creases. I made spars 3/4 tall.

It became obvious I had cut the bottom too short and the spar too tall but Im NOT starting over on that.

This is the motor mount. Its 1in squares 3/16 balsa. Would have been nice to have 1 1/4 but it looks fine.

Got the wings on by tacking the fuse to the table with scrap triangles. I had used the soft tape to mark 4.25 either side of the "weld" which worked out to 2 inches off the table. I thought 2.5 in dihedral looked good so 4.5 in at the tip. Also got the gear started. Again i used inkscape to trace a picture, enlarged and printed. I wish i would have stacked them up and poked a hole for axles BEFORE glueing them on.


Well Id post a maiden video, but it would be a gif lol. I had the throws too extreme for one and i dont think i was pulling straight back on the stick. I realized the wingspan was about a fuselage too wide, so i should probly make them meet in the middle...
I found that a knife attachment in a wood burner is the way to unglue parts, but if you hit foam it will stink bad. I took one wheel pant thing off so I could lay the wings flat and filled in about 2.5 inces with foam and a small paint stick and just eyeballed in some dihedral.

This time I had a cheap stabilizer and I had the roll control going the right way. It flew ok the first time until the stabilizer started over correcting and I actually set it down near 0 ground speed in the breeze on the field. Then I srarted over correcting and I moved the battery back when I turned down the gain. The next ten tosses were almost straight into the ground until it was pretty wrecked and the prop said Im out and came off the shaft. Later I thought maybe tailheavy ? Im an idiot.

I think it would fly ok for a better pilot. It could stand to be a little stubbier and cartonish. The wings look nice and are light but holy cow the flight test way is so much easier.

 

[Scotto]

F-9C Sparrowhawk.
Credit to https://www.ecwid.com/store/kampfflieger/
I took one of the pdfs I bought to inkscape and tiled it sort of at 600%. Kind of a learning process. That inkscape is intimidating at first but a welcome change from the 4 buttons in cricuts software that sent me looking something more.
When I bought a refillable printer ink kit I got sublimation ink not knowing it is for heat transfering on clothes or whatever. So I tried it on ross fb... You can get a faint picture on it without shriveling the foam, but no matter how hot i got it, its not paint. Kinda figured as much but I was just curious.

After seeing how great Duster went together and how bad my first attempt went here-

I am going to try to modify a swapable instead of making it like a paper model.
I got the FT baby blender in inkscape and overlaid the model plans on it and shifted around things grouping and ungrouping and scaling.

This part was tricky. I used blocks trying to stay symmetrical

Top has a little positive incidence relative to bottom.
Formers.

Close but not done. The skin is alot harder than expected. I will post my plans when I find them.

 

[Scotto]

Duster. Regular size but I made the wingspan 40 instead of 30 and tapered them out. I measured from leading edge and divided by 1.5 and marked that at the outside. The spar is still 30 in but 3/8 at outsides. It turned out really easy and folded up nice just took a little extra thinking time.

Everything else went together real smooth. They have done a great job on the plans and Josh Bixler's build video made it pretty fool proof.

I had trouble getting it trimmed. The first flight I was giving it full up and right stick but it still wasnt enough. Then I over corrected on the screws and it nose dived into 10 inches of snow and still broke the prop before I could even get my right thumb on the stick. Days later with a new cheap stabilizer I got it flying after a few crashes in the wet snow, but still didnt get it trimmed before the battery ran out and I skillfully set it down into a post. So its got alot of water damage and just regular damage too. Ill probly just start over.
Next time no flaps and I want to beef up where the landing gear attach because that didnt last very long. I still like the tapered wings though.

 

[Scotto]

FT Storch
I love my micro cub and want something stable and stol but bigger that can handle a breeze. I saw that guys had good reviews for the storch so I went with it.
I had got white and black at the dollar tree and the black actually weighs 10 or 15 grams less so I thought Id do the whole Storch with it.

Im going to need a bigger desk! My glue gun jammed halfway through the wing , but I think I got it.

The Flight test build video makes it easy. I would advise to not work ahead of the video assuming something, you might have to undue it. Also definetly have a backup glue gun warmed up for the wing. The box spar is not symmetrical and I glued the stir sticks on the wrong ends without knowing. I guess I assumed the slight difference was an error in the plan. It still seems strong.
The woven tape hinge looks cool but is very time consuming and probly doesnt make a significant gain in performance. It went together really easy and fast for the size. I havent flown it yet.

 

[Scotto]

This is part of the plan for the Sparrowhawk. Ill probly find something else to change later.

 

[FoamyDM]

@Scotto you have tackled some ambitious projects and done quite well. And you ventured into the world of skins!

Very awesome! You seemed to have managed to complete 4 3/4 of a plane. The sparrowhawk is a complicated bird. Good work I know you will enjoy each of them.

 

[FoamyDM]

Last one like you killed this @Scotto .
I look forward to all the flight vids!

 

[Scotto]

Ok this wasnt ready to fly until this morning, but its the only one of my four planes I really care about now.

I started out with my phone in my shirt pocket. That video wasnt worth posting. Sorry this video probly wont work unless you have fast internet. It warned me it was too high something but I dont know how to change it. This is the first video Ive ever uploaded on the internet.
Maiden video
Anyway I totally expected to crash a few times at least, but she just went right up and flew perfect. I only trimmed one click down elevator. I was completely blown away. I just putted around at about 75% throttle but I was comfortable enough to do a couple loops and rolls but not one handed taking video lol. When the beeper went off I brought her around and landed on the wheels on the runway which I cant even do consistantly with my trainer. Ive never flown a baby blender or anything flight test exept the above duster which i probly butchered but I really think this plane is a gem and easy to fly. It was running a 1800 3s, about a 2214 1000, and 8x6 prop. It took a long time to build but now that ive figured it out i think the next one would be pretty smooth. I want to build another one and try spray glueing the skin on the wings and tail and see how my plans work.

 

[Scotto]

Finally got around to flying the Storch. Camerawoman didnt video. Used the same powerpod as duster and sparrowhawk but tried a 10x8 prop. Should have used this prop on all apparently. The Storch's rudder is kinda small looking but you definetly know when youre not using it. It seemed to not want to turn without it. The landing gear wire should have been two piece instead of 4 like I did on the Sparrowhawk, and the wheels should be much bigger for my tall grass. I should have made this out of white fb to be better with lights so I could fly it at night when all my free time is . It does fly nice though. I like the glide ratio. It could do dead stick landings battery after battery.