Greetings Flite Testers! Check out my scratch built Bloody Wonder. **Vid Update** She's a Ripper!!!

[PJF]

Thought I would make my first post here on the FT forums and show off my first ever foam scratch build. I am no stranger to balsa and iron on coverings but foam is an entirely new animal for me.

After a 15 year hiatus I have suddenly found myself really interested in R/C aviation again.

A couple of folks at work turned me on to Flite Test and it wasn't long before I built a simple Cub from a kit and have been having an absolute blast relearning to fly R/C planes.

Before I stopped flying 15 years ago everything was glow, electric was just starting to make some inroads. You can imagine my surprise at how awesome the current generation of brushless motors are, power for days and no messy oil all over the plane when you are done flying!

I got the urge to build a kit from plans and I decided on the Bloody Wonder.

Since it is loosely based on the Sig Wonder, and I used to have one powered by an O.S. 15 that I flews the wings off, it seemed like a great choice. I sadly left it in the attic of a house my wife and I sold and didn't even realize it for a couple of years. This was the perfect chance to recapture the fun of the Wonder!

I made plenty of mistakes and it is far from perfect but I am not disappointed. I have a grand total of $68.00 invested in it. I bought a reciever to work with my Spektrum radio I purchased with my cub and I am using the same batteries I use in the Cub. Seems like a bargain price for a second plane to me!

Done right at my kitchen table since I no longer have a moedelling workshop. I used Hobby Lobby foam which while heavy seems ridiculously beefy and water resistant to boot.

The more I worked the better my foam cutting skills got. I really need another X-Acto as my index fingers were killing me from cutting this stuff with a single edged razor blade by the time I was done. But here it is mocked up and starting to look decent.

All assembled, painted, and almost ready to fly!

Invasion stripes!

A final beauty shot. I added the little scoop on the fuselage to help drive some more air to the ESC.

I am waiting on some lead stick on wheel weights to show up so I can get the CG correct before I take her up for the first time. As much as I hate to add weight I want it balanced properly for the maiden flight!

I should take it up in the next couple of days, I will report back with how she flies.

Lots more to come from me in the future I hope. I have some balsa projects in the works right now. I have an original Tower Uproar that has sat dormant for the last 15 years. I am awaiting the last of my conversion parts to bring it back to life as an electric. I also have a partially completed Lanier Stinger 1.20 that I am going to finish as an electric.

I am back and hooked on R/C again LOL.

 

[Merv]

Great looking plane.
Welcome to the forums.

 

[Addicted]

Thought I would make my first post here on the FT forums and show off my first ever foam scratch build. I am no stranger to balsa and iron on coverings but foam is an entirely new animal for me.

After a 15 year hiatus I have suddenly found myself really interested in R/C aviation again.

A couple of folks at work turned me on to Flite Test and it wasn't long before I built a simple Cub from a kit and have been having an absolute blast relearning to fly R/C planes.

Before I stopped flying 15 years ago everything was glow, electric was just starting to make some inroads. You can imagine my surprise at how awesome the current generation of brushless motors are, power for days and no messy oil all over the plane when you are done flying!

I got the urge to build a kit from plans and I decided on the Bloody Wonder.

Since it is loosely based on the Sig Wonder, and I used to have one powered by an O.S. 15 that I flews the wings off, it seemed like a great choice. I sadly left it in the attic of a house my wife and I sold and didn't even realize it for a couple of years. This was the perfect chance to recapture the fun of the Wonder!

I made plenty of mistakes and it is far from perfect but I am not disappointed. I have a grand total of $68.00 invested in it. I bought a reciever to work with my Spektrum radio I purchased with my cub and I am using the same batteries I use in the Cub. Seems like a bargain price for a second plane to me!

Done right at my kitchen table since I no longer have a moedelling workshop. I used Hobby Lobby foam which while heavy seems ridiculously beefy and water resistant to boot.

The more I worked the better my foam cutting skills got. I really need another X-Acto as my index fingers were killing me from cutting this stuff with a single edged razor blade by the time I was done. But here it is mocked up and starting to look decent.

All assembled, painted, and almost ready to fly!

Invasion stripes!

A final beauty shot. I added the little scoop on the fuselage to help drive some more air to the ESC.

I am waiting on some lead stick on wheel weights to show up so I can get the CG correct before I take her up for the first time. As much as I hate to add weight I want it balanced properly for the maiden flight!

I should take it up in the next couple of days, I will report back with how she flies.

Lots more to come from me in the future I hope. I have some balsa projects in the works right now. I have an original Tower Uproar that has sat dormant for the last 15 years. I am awaiting the last of my conversion parts to bring it back to life as an electric. I also have a partially completed Lanier Stinger 1.20 that I am going to finish as an electric.

I am back and hooked on R/C again LOL.

Looking good!
Welcome! And, enjoy the forum, @PJF!

 

[PJF]

I had the maiden flight earlier in the week on a very windy day and it sadly ended in a rough landing that bent the prop shaft on the motor. The motors are so cheap I put on a new one that is actually a little hotter than the original.

I got some decent GoPro headmounted footage today. I tried to edit it to get the up close shots. This thing is FAST! However it slows down and will just hang on the prop if you want, but that isn't a whole lot of fun haha. So I really just blasted it around the field and had to force myself to throttle back for the couple of slow flybys in the video.

Check it out below. Best viewed in full screen as this thing is so small and fast it isn't in the frame very long.

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

Thought I would make my first post here on the FT forums and show off my first ever foam scratch build. I am no stranger to balsa and iron on coverings but foam is an entirely new animal for me.

After a 15 year hiatus I have suddenly found myself really interested in R/C aviation again.

A couple of folks at work turned me on to Flite Test and it wasn't long before I built a simple Cub from a kit and have been having an absolute blast relearning to fly R/C planes.

Before I stopped flying 15 years ago everything was glow, electric was just starting to make some inroads. You can imagine my surprise at how awesome the current generation of brushless motors are, power for days and no messy oil all over the plane when you are done flying!

I got the urge to build a kit from plans and I decided on the Bloody Wonder.

Since it is loosely based on the Sig Wonder, and I used to have one powered by an O.S. 15 that I flews the wings off, it seemed like a great choice. I sadly left it in the attic of a house my wife and I sold and didn't even realize it for a couple of years. This was the perfect chance to recapture the fun of the Wonder!

I made plenty of mistakes and it is far from perfect but I am not disappointed. I have a grand total of $68.00 invested in it. I bought a reciever to work with my Spektrum radio I purchased with my cub and I am using the same batteries I use in the Cub. Seems like a bargain price for a second plane to me!

Done right at my kitchen table since I no longer have a moedelling workshop. I used Hobby Lobby foam which while heavy seems ridiculously beefy and water resistant to boot.

The more I worked the better my foam cutting skills got. I really need another X-Acto as my index fingers were killing me from cutting this stuff with a single edged razor blade by the time I was done. But here it is mocked up and starting to look decent.

All assembled, painted, and almost ready to fly!

Invasion stripes!

A final beauty shot. I added the little scoop on the fuselage to help drive some more air to the ESC.

I am waiting on some lead stick on wheel weights to show up so I can get the CG correct before I take her up for the first time. As much as I hate to add weight I want it balanced properly for the maiden flight!

I should take it up in the next couple of days, I will report back with how she flies.

Lots more to come from me in the future I hope. I have some balsa projects in the works right now. I have an original Tower Uproar that has sat dormant for the last 15 years. I am awaiting the last of my conversion parts to bring it back to life as an electric. I also have a partially completed Lanier Stinger 1.20 that I am going to finish as an electric.

I am back and hooked on R/C again LOL.

I dont add loose weights anymore, I get the sticky back weights they use for putting on alloy car wheels to balance tyres. They use a 3M tape which is a pretty good adhesive. I place them on the planes nops until it balances (before removing the backing), you can then select as many individual or srips of weights that you need.

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

Welcome by the way

 

[slowjo]

Thought I would make my first post here on the FT forums and show off my first ever foam scratch build. I am no stranger to balsa and iron on coverings but foam is an entirely new animal for me.

After a 15 year hiatus I have suddenly found myself really interested in R/C aviation again.

A couple of folks at work turned me on to Flite Test and it wasn't long before I built a simple Cub from a kit and have been having an absolute blast relearning to fly R/C planes.

Before I stopped flying 15 years ago everything was glow, electric was just starting to make some inroads. You can imagine my surprise at how awesome the current generation of brushless motors are, power for days and no messy oil all over the plane when you are done flying!

I got the urge to build a kit from plans and I decided on the Bloody Wonder.

Since it is loosely based on the Sig Wonder, and I used to have one powered by an O.S. 15 that I flews the wings off, it seemed like a great choice. I sadly left it in the attic of a house my wife and I sold and didn't even realize it for a couple of years. This was the perfect chance to recapture the fun of the Wonder!

I made plenty of mistakes and it is far from perfect but I am not disappointed. I have a grand total of $68.00 invested in it. I bought a reciever to work with my Spektrum radio I purchased with my cub and I am using the same batteries I use in the Cub. Seems like a bargain price for a second plane to me!

Done right at my kitchen table since I no longer have a moedelling workshop. I used Hobby Lobby foam which while heavy seems ridiculously beefy and water resistant to boot.

The more I worked the better my foam cutting skills got. I really need another X-Acto as my index fingers were killing me from cutting this stuff with a single edged razor blade by the time I was done. But here it is mocked up and starting to look decent.

All assembled, painted, and almost ready to fly!

Invasion stripes!

A final beauty shot. I added the little scoop on the fuselage to help drive some more air to the ESC.

I am waiting on some lead stick on wheel weights to show up so I can get the CG correct before I take her up for the first time. As much as I hate to add weight I want it balanced properly for the maiden flight!

I should take it up in the next couple of days, I will report back with how she flies.

Lots more to come from me in the future I hope. I have some balsa projects in the works right now. I have an original Tower Uproar that has sat dormant for the last 15 years. I am awaiting the last of my conversion parts to bring it back to life as an electric. I also have a partially completed Lanier Stinger 1.20 that I am going to finish as an electric.

I am back and hooked on R/C again LOL.

nice job : ) SlowJo

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

I had the maiden flight earlier in the week on a very windy day and it sadly ended in a rough landing that bent the prop shaft on the motor. The motors are so cheap I put on a new one that is actually a little hotter than the original.

I got some decent GoPro headmounted footage today. I tried to edit it to get the up close shots. This thing is FAST! However it slows down and will just hang on the prop if you want, but that isn't a whole lot of fun haha. So I really just blasted it around the field and had to force myself to throttle back for the couple of slow flybys in the video.

Check it out below. Best viewed in full screen as this thing is so small and fast it isn't in the frame very long.

I fancy building one now, I would need to scale it up a fair bit though too small for my Mr Magoo eyes to handle.

 

[danskis]

Nice plane and some great flying. You can cut a plastic spoon in half to use as an air scoop.

 

[PJF]

Thank you to all for the warm welcome!


Some specifics for people who might be interested-

The maiden flight was made on a generic 2212 1400KV motor, 30A generic ESC ,and an 8X6 prop that all came as a package from Amazon. That was MORE than adequate for this thing! It was fast and could certainly have taken off vertically if I had tried it. After the wind drove it into the ground and bent the motor I replaced it with a DYS D2830 1300KV motor and 9X4.5 prop and the power now is amazing. For all you young guys that have never flown heavy, underpowered, glow engine balsa models you have no idea how awesome these little brushless powerhouses are! In addition balsa turns into matchsticks much easier than foamboard.

I don't fly with any exponential in my controls and this plane is sensitive to control inputs! It climbs like a homesick angel, dives even faster, and rolls at a rate that I would guess is 720 degrees per second, possibly faster. More improtantly it is just all around good cheap fun!

With my current motor and a 1300mAh 3S battery pack 10 minute flights are easy, if your heart is up to it!


Lessons learned on this plane:

Use a high contrast color scheme so you can tell top from bottom and front from back.

Move the fuselage forward to help get the CG where it needs to be! I had to add 1.5 ounces (52g) of lead under the nose to bring the CG close to the required spot and it is still a bit aft, although it has mega elevator authority.

The Hobby Lobby brand of foamboard is extremely damage resistant. While heavy it is awesome and holds up a lot better than the brown paper backed foamboard, and it is water resistant

With either of the motors I have run you will find very little need for full throttle, in the video I linked most of the flying you see is done at 1/2 to 2/3 throttle. WOT makes this thing turn into a rapidly vanishing dot in the sky

Due to the dimunitive size and sheer speed your maiden flight may be a bit shocking at how fast it gets away from you, especially if you are coming from something like the Simple Cub (which I had been flying a lot until I built the Wonder)

If you build it even remotely square the hand launch will be laughably easy by yourself. Go WOT, give a slight nose up toss and it leaves like a rocket. Be ready to pull the throttle stick back!

Thanks for reading my long post and a HUGE thanks to Flite Test for providing the plans, videos, forums, and inspiration to bring an old guy like me back into the fold.

Happy flying!

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

Great update allways good to read a detailed review it helps others when building, can't beat getting someones actual experience on how a model performs.
love the colour scheme and can't agree enough about choosing the right colours, it makes a big difference between a good flight and loosing your orientation and possibly crashing

 

[Timmy]

Great update allways good to read a detailed review it helps others when building, can't beat getting someones actual experience on how a model performs.
love the colour scheme and can't agree enough about choosing the right colours, it makes a big difference between a good flight and loosing your orientation and possibly crashing

Agreed

 

[Timmy]

I gotta build myself one of these.