CapnBry
Elite member
Hi guys, I was suggested a FT build video by Youtube's suggestion algorithm just over a month ago and set out the next day to find some DTFB. 24 hours later I had my first FT Arrow gliding around the yard and the avalanche of buying cool new RC hardware began!
I'll cut right to the point for the impatient reader. I grabbed a few sheets of Ross foam board ($0.88) at the local Walmart last week when they restocked and was building a new Arrow last night. The parts didn't fit together quite right, so I grabbed my calibers and measured the thickness of the board, 5.7-5.9mm. I had some half sheets laying around (everyone has a pile of these right?) that I had bought 2 weeks ago and they measure out around 4.7-4.8mm. The weight of one whole sheet, no sticker, is 129g. So the question is if this is the new Ross / Walmart board size or if I got some really weird off stock. A-folds and B-folds don't line up right after removing the foam strips, and it was a real chore to get the wing leading edge folded back on itself.
Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of my first planes, all of which are now in the great foam pile in the sky now. I've never flown an RC plane before, but always appreciated them. My Dad and I built a giant balsa glider when I was a kid which somehow took years to almost complete but never flew, as both of us I think were too worried about crashing it with no flying experience. The FT planes seemed like a great way to learn without worrying about destroying a year's work in 6 seconds of panic. The first was the Arrow, which glided well but would barely go further than it glided once loaded up with electronics and an 2S/1806/6x3 prop.
I then built a FT Tiny Trainer and that was where it was at. First flight was in the backyard, which is about 150ft by 20ft and ended up in a tree about 10 seconds in. Trying to retrieve it, I got stung by a wasp in the face and had a severe allergic reaction.
It took me over a week before I was brave enough to try again and that's where we started making progress. A dozen broken props and warped control surfaces, broken bits patched or rebuilt, and I'm feeling a little more comfortable on the sticks now. I found the 2S/1806/6x3 a little lacking in power too, needing 70%+ throttle to stay in the air. Upsizing to a 6x4 prop made it much more fun to fly and I still only maxed out around 8A. When my trainer hit a tree going 50kph and exploded in parts I switched to the Arrow (see: GPS track ending directly in a tree).
Even with the 6x4 prop the Arrow needed almost max throttle on 2S so we went up to 3S with the 6x3 again and wowie this sucker can fly! The bad part is that I needed to cut some of the wing out to fit the larger battery which made the plane very fragile. One good crash would split the plane in half. Sort of easy to repair but next decent crash it would just split somewhere else. I'm trying to build a new one with some extra reinforcement but I spent 2 hours last night just trying to figure out where to put all the electronics and still haven't decided.
I've also built some micro flyers because SO WEE. Here's the Nickel Pickle, which almost has more weight on the nose than the whole thing weighed (wing+packing tape=19g). I'm definitely having a lot of fun putting together aircraft that actually fly for like $2 in materials or less.
While I'm introducing myself, I'll also ask for advice on what to build. My main most-convenient field is only 300ft x 200ft and surrounded by tall trees so I'd love an even slower flyer than the Trainer so I don't have exactly 7 seconds of flight time edge-to-edge. I also love having the flight controller onboard for getting telemetry back to the transmitter, and blackbox logging, and having fun with stabilized flight modes. Is there a slower-flying Power Pack A or F model that has enough space for all my junk, or should I go to something in a Power Pack C?
I'll cut right to the point for the impatient reader. I grabbed a few sheets of Ross foam board ($0.88) at the local Walmart last week when they restocked and was building a new Arrow last night. The parts didn't fit together quite right, so I grabbed my calibers and measured the thickness of the board, 5.7-5.9mm. I had some half sheets laying around (everyone has a pile of these right?) that I had bought 2 weeks ago and they measure out around 4.7-4.8mm. The weight of one whole sheet, no sticker, is 129g. So the question is if this is the new Ross / Walmart board size or if I got some really weird off stock. A-folds and B-folds don't line up right after removing the foam strips, and it was a real chore to get the wing leading edge folded back on itself.
Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of my first planes, all of which are now in the great foam pile in the sky now. I've never flown an RC plane before, but always appreciated them. My Dad and I built a giant balsa glider when I was a kid which somehow took years to almost complete but never flew, as both of us I think were too worried about crashing it with no flying experience. The FT planes seemed like a great way to learn without worrying about destroying a year's work in 6 seconds of panic. The first was the Arrow, which glided well but would barely go further than it glided once loaded up with electronics and an 2S/1806/6x3 prop.
I then built a FT Tiny Trainer and that was where it was at. First flight was in the backyard, which is about 150ft by 20ft and ended up in a tree about 10 seconds in. Trying to retrieve it, I got stung by a wasp in the face and had a severe allergic reaction.
It took me over a week before I was brave enough to try again and that's where we started making progress. A dozen broken props and warped control surfaces, broken bits patched or rebuilt, and I'm feeling a little more comfortable on the sticks now. I found the 2S/1806/6x3 a little lacking in power too, needing 70%+ throttle to stay in the air. Upsizing to a 6x4 prop made it much more fun to fly and I still only maxed out around 8A. When my trainer hit a tree going 50kph and exploded in parts I switched to the Arrow (see: GPS track ending directly in a tree).
Even with the 6x4 prop the Arrow needed almost max throttle on 2S so we went up to 3S with the 6x3 again and wowie this sucker can fly! The bad part is that I needed to cut some of the wing out to fit the larger battery which made the plane very fragile. One good crash would split the plane in half. Sort of easy to repair but next decent crash it would just split somewhere else. I'm trying to build a new one with some extra reinforcement but I spent 2 hours last night just trying to figure out where to put all the electronics and still haven't decided.
I've also built some micro flyers because SO WEE. Here's the Nickel Pickle, which almost has more weight on the nose than the whole thing weighed (wing+packing tape=19g). I'm definitely having a lot of fun putting together aircraft that actually fly for like $2 in materials or less.
While I'm introducing myself, I'll also ask for advice on what to build. My main most-convenient field is only 300ft x 200ft and surrounded by tall trees so I'd love an even slower flyer than the Trainer so I don't have exactly 7 seconds of flight time edge-to-edge. I also love having the flight controller onboard for getting telemetry back to the transmitter, and blackbox logging, and having fun with stabilized flight modes. Is there a slower-flying Power Pack A or F model that has enough space for all my junk, or should I go to something in a Power Pack C?
