I am building my first FT speedbuild Kit! Need help on what electronics I should get.

Stevens4x

New member
Hi,

I am planing to build either the FT mini mustang or the Mini Guinea. I already have servos so I don't need to buy that. I need help deciding which plane I should build first, which one would be easer to build, which would be easer to fly, etc. I also need a list of everything I will need from start to finish.

I appreciate any help.
I built the Explorer and it came out extremely super duper tail heavy. I have to use a huge traxxas 3s 6300 in the nose to balance it. The battery weighs over a pound. Point is I’ve always built balsa planes and it’s nearly impossible to effect weight with ca glue. Which lead me to using way too much hot glue and hot glue is super heavy...so be careful and use it conservatively
 

Arcfyre

Elite member
@CrazyFastFlying In my personal opinion, I would look at a few other models with the intent of scratch building them. FT provides the plans for free, so all you need to do is print off the pages and you have a set of plans. Once those plans are printed you use them as templates on some sheets of foam board from a Dollar Tree store (hence the name Dollar Tree Foam Board or DTFB) and cut out your airplane parts by hand. Scratch building is by far the cheapest way to get into the hobby, and the best part is that it opens up ALL of FT's model inventory, not just the $18 speed build kits. You can scratch build just about every FT plane for less than $10, not including the electronics.

Don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of supporting FT with the purchase of their kits. However, I would hate to see you spend your very limited money on a mustang kit and instantly crash and ruin it. The mustang is a nice plane, but you want some experience under your belt before you fly it. It will test your reflexes.

That being said, I would steer away from the Cub for now. It needs to be built very carefully and lightweight, otherwise it will be a handful to fly. It's kind of a handful anyway in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

As a first scratch build, I would highly recommend a Versa wing built in the tractor configuration with a powerpod. It only needs 2 servos (cheap!) and the powerpod can be moved from model to model as your fleet expands. Its easy to build, as it only has 4 large parts to cut out and a few smaller pieces like spars and winglets. The tractor versa can fly with a wide variety of motors, and is capable of slow, fast, and acrobatic flight. Really its a sweet flying airplane.

Here is a link to Sp0nz's plan index. All the model plans in one spot to download.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/sp0nz-plans-index.17136/
 
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CrazyFastFlying

Elite member
@Arcfyre, Thank you for taking the time to give me that advice, it really changed my perspective on everything.

I don't know if you knew this already, About 2 weeks ago, a friend set me a big box of stuff that he didn't want any more. including:

FT mini guinea speed build kit
FT mini mustang speed build kit
Walkera Devo 7 Transmitter with a receiver
A bunch of 9g servos
12a ESC and 40a ESC
Soldering iron
Battery voltage checker
A bag of motors

So that is why I was asking about the mini guinea and mini mustang, I already had the kits and a lot of the electronics.

Here is a few pictures of most of the stuff he sent me:
DSCN5889.jpg
DSCN5891.jpg
DSCN5893.jpg
 

OliverW

Legendary member
Flight time with the B-pack is about 8 minutes with an aggressive flight. I have no experience with the guinea.
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
I will check what motors I have and I will post ASAP.

I should build the Mini guinea first, right?

I am pretty sure the guinea is more forgiving than the mustang but i will have to check. Looking at the power list for the guinea, here the recommended ESC is 10 or 12 amps. And you will need two ESC's. However you could either throw the 40 amp in on one of the other motors (though i dont recommend this) or buy a second 12 amp ESC. other than that you seem good to go.
 

CrazyFastFlying

Elite member
I am pretty sure the guinea is more forgiving than the mustang but i will have to check. Looking at the power list for the guinea, here the recommended ESC is 10 or 12 amps. And you will need two ESC's. However you could either throw the 40 amp in on one of the other motors (though i dont recommend this) or buy a second 12 amp ESC. other than that you seem good to go.

The only motors that are still good and have all the wires on are these:
DSCN5901.jpg






I think I will have to buy 2 motors and 1 12a ESC.
 

CrazyFastFlying

Elite member
if you wanted to build the mustang you can use the 1806 motor its the small black one with that 12amp esc (white). It should fly fine with the 9g servos.

people are telling me I shouldn't build the mustang yet, They say it is pretty hard to fly.