Mini Flite Test Planes

Recently I have been obsessed with smaller planes and decided to try and make some scaled down FT planes. The smaller ones seem to be a tad bit harder to fly than the bigger ones, and take more tweaking, but it is totally worth it when they are done. Some of the advantages of smaller planes are that they are convenient, easy to build, take only 1/2 to 1 sheet of foam, and can be flown indoors. The main disadvantage is that they can't handle the wind.
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First, I did a 75% viggen. I put way too big of a motor on it so you have to throw it straight up, otherwise it will torque roll over and crash! Once it is in the air, it flies just like the normal size viggen. It is really fast 70 mph+, can high alpha, glides ok, and has a incredibly fast roll rate. It has a 1800kv motor from a sky surfer and a 5 inch 3 blade prop. The battery is a 3s 1300.
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The second one I made was a 50% bloody wonder. I didn't expect it to fly very well, but it flew awesome. Once again, it flew just like the Normal sised bloody wonder. I took off the paper on the inside of the airfoil to save weight, but I don't think it was necessary. I also only used half of a spar to save weight.

The third plane I made is a 60% FT delta. This is my favorit to fly because it is quite fast, but yet very easy to fly. The only bad thing is that it can't handle any wind.

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The last mini plane I made is a 50% ft versa wing. This one is AWESOME! it's not super fast or very slow. It also glides ok for how much it weighs and how small it is.

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I use a hobby king 2000kv 10 gram motor for all the planes (except the viggen) with a 5 inch prop. The recommended prop is a 7x5 prop, but it makes the motor incredibly hot after 10 seconds of half throttle. The 5 inch prop barely even makes it warm.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=30925&aff=854261
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I am using a hobbyking 10 amp esc, but it only needs to be a 6 amp esc. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=26491&aff=854261

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For servos, I used 3.6 gram servos for the delta, bloody wonder, versa. I used standard 9 gram servos for the viggen. The 3.6 gram servos are very delicate and strip easily so be careful if you use them. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=33324&aff=854261

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The battery is just a standard nano-tech 300ma 2s. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=36953&aff=854261

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If you decide to make a scaled down ft plane, just know the build process is almost the same as a normal sized one, but you have to make notches for the a and b fold cuts a little bit wider unless you use a different material like 3mm depron. I think Flite Test is coming out with some smaller planes over the winter, so I would recommend waiting for their build videos and plans just to make sure you do it right.
 
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Hotbread

Junior Member
Wow! Those micros look awesome! You used pretty much the same parts that I use! I plan to use the HXT-500 servos and LemonRX DSM2 RX.

I already built my 56% scaled down FT-22. (I started another thread a while back: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?12313-Micro-FT-22-56-scale-down) I sorta messed up the elevons by trying to use the hot glue hinge trick, which ended poorly, and I hadn't had time to cut new and remake.

However, I'm still missing some knick knacks (battery connectors, bullet connectors, etc) from a big order I made at HobbyKing.
That order... unfortunately hadn't arrived since they day I ordered. (July 26)

I will share some photos of my FT-22 once I find some time to parts from my local hobby shop to complete the electronics.(soldering, etc)
 
I also did a 50% f-22. I did the 24 gram blue wonder an a 500ma 3s. It weighed as much as the larger one so it didn't fly to well. Had a ton of power though:)
 

Hotbread

Junior Member
I also did a 50% f-22. I did the 24 gram blue wonder an a 500ma 3s. It weighed as much as the larger one so it didn't fly to well. Had a ton of power though:)

Ohh... That's not looking too bright for my maiden. lol

I made it 56% because the prop slot scales down to just fit the 5" prop. I also feel it's a tad on the heavy side, but was thinking it could be better if I peel off the paper backings... hmmmm
 
Ohh... That's not looking too bright for my maiden. lol

I made it 56% because the prop slot scales down to just fit the 5" prop. I also feel it's a tad on the heavy side, but was thinking it could be better if I peel off the paper backings... hmmmm

I never got mine to fly perfect, but once it was in the air, you could fly it in wide circles. Mine stalled really easily, but it wasn't un-flyable. You need the CG to be perfect on the small planes, so I would check the CG to make sure it is right.
 

herk1

Trash Hauler emeritus
I made a downscaled F-22, also using that HobbyKing 10-gram motor, almost two years ago (and I still have it). Photo attached, side-by-side with my "regular-scale" F-22. I used the original plans from the Dekan F-22 thread on RCG, which is what the original Flitetest F-22 video was based on (the Flitetest video from May 28, 2012 simply linked to the RCG thread to direct people to the plans).

Those original plans at 1:1 scale give a 22-inch wingspan model. I downscaled those plans to 81 percent to give an 18-inch wingspan plane (same as Team_Monkey reported over on Hotbread's Micro FT-22 thread). I picked that size, because I was tailoring the size of the plane to the power capability of that great little 10-gram/2000kv Hextronik motor. I didn't want to go to such a small wingspan that the plane would have too high a wing loading for indoor flight (my main purpose of the downscaled version was for winter indoor-flying season). A smaller scale would have been counterproductive for indoor flight.

I had used that 10-gram motor on many other builds...but before this plane, I only used it with a 2S LiPo. For my little F-22, I wanted to try that motor on 3S for a change, but I still wanted to be able to switch to a 2S, for the lightest possible wing-loading for indoor flight. So for the build, I bought some tiny 2S/180 mAh LiPos, and some 3S/370 mAh. On 2S, I generally use a 6x3 prop with that motor (yes tdozauer7576, that 7x5 they call for must be a typo!), and there was just enough room for a 6" prop in the downscaled F-22's prop slot, including a little buffer space either side. For 3S, after some bench testing, I settled on a 4.5x3 prop. To get the plane to have a good CG balance with the tiny 2S LiPo, I have a patch of velcro on the very tip of the nose of the F-22. And it flew just fine in my club's indoor arena. The velcro for the 3S LiPo is just behind the wing root. On 3S, the plane has unlimited vertical and will hover, same as with my "full-scale" F-22. In fact, the small plane flies very much the same as the bigger one. The AUW of the small plane is 4.4 oz with the bigger 3S LiPo (3.2-oz for the airframe alone, plus 1.3 oz for the LiPo).
 

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I made a downscaled F-22, also using that HobbyKing 10-gram motor, almost two years ago (and I still have it). Photo attached, side-by-side with my "regular-scale" F-22. I used the original plans from the Dekan F-22 thread on RCG, which is what the original Flitetest F-22 video was based on (the Flitetest video from May 28, 2012 simply linked to the RCG thread to direct people to the plans).

Those original plans at 1:1 scale give a 22-inch wingspan model. I downscaled those plans to 81 percent to give an 18-inch wingspan plane (same as Team_Monkey reported over on Hotbread's Micro FT-22 thread). I picked that size, because I was tailoring the size of the plane to the power capability of that great little 10-gram/2000kv Hextronik motor. I didn't want to go to such a small wingspan that the plane would have too high a wing loading for indoor flight (my main purpose of the downscaled version was for winter indoor-flying season). A smaller scale would have been counterproductive for indoor flight.

I had used that 10-gram motor on many other builds...but before this plane, I only used it with a 2S LiPo. For my little F-22, I wanted to try that motor on 3S for a change, but I still wanted to be able to switch to a 2S, for the lightest possible wing-loading for indoor flight. So for the build, I bought some tiny 2S/180 mAh LiPos, and some 3S/370 mAh. On 2S, I generally use a 6x3 prop with that motor (yes tdozauer7576, that 7x5 they call for must be a typo!), and there was just enough room for a 6" prop in the downscaled F-22's prop slot, including a little buffer space either side. For 3S, after some bench testing, I settled on a 4.5x3 prop. To get the plane to have a good CG balance with the tiny 2S LiPo, I have a patch of velcro on the very tip of the nose of the F-22. And it flew just fine in my club's indoor arena. The velcro for the 3S LiPo is just behind the wing root. On 3S, the plane has unlimited vertical and will hover, same as with my "full-scale" F-22. In fact, the small plane flies very much the same as the bigger one. The AUW of the small plane is 4.4 oz with the bigger 3S LiPo (3.2-oz for the airframe alone, plus 1.3 oz for the LiPo).

I really want to make one now! You should make a article on it.
 

Christopher14

Driftin' with the wind...
I have done a 55% FT Racer and Spitfire and they flew very well. The only problem is the wing loading. I do however now have a smaller setup similar to yours, the difference is I am using a 12gram 2900kv motor with a 5x5 TGS sport prop. I think I will do a 60% FT-22.
 
I have done a 55% FT Racer and Spitfire and they flew very well. The only problem is the wing loading. I do however now have a smaller setup similar to yours, the difference is I am using a 12gram 2900kv motor with a 5x5 TGS sport prop. I think I will do a 60% FT-22.

I just started a mini spitfire. Now I really want to male a mini racer!
 

herk1

Trash Hauler emeritus
tdozauer7576 - What type of foam board did you use for your mini-FT-models? And if you still used Dollartree board, did you remove the paper first? On my F-22s (both 1:1 size and downscaled size), I used Depron. Your half-size BW and Versa planes are super-cute! I've been looking for a plane to try out a little HK 5-gram motor that I got a while back (basically looks the same as the Hextronik 10g motor only a bit smaller)...that might be just the ticket!
 
I used the normal DTFB, but I took off the paper on the inside of the airfoils to save weight. I bet you could make a 30 or 40% version with that small motor. That would rock!
 

herk1

Trash Hauler emeritus
No I will shoot for 50%, or maybe even 60%, to keep the wing-area up...because indoor flying season is coming up again, and I will want it to be indoor-capable, so minimal wing-loading will be essential. I have brought many models to my club's winter indoor venue that I hoped would be capable of flying there, but were not. If you have to slow a plane down so much to keep within indoor confines that it gets into pre-stall wing-rock and whatnot, it's no fun. Are you strictly flying your mini-FT-models outdoors?

So I will plan on using a micro (2g) receiver, 1.7g micro servos to go with it, my 2S/180mAh LiPos, and a 5g motor.

I will be very interested to see how much the Flitetest folks downscale their FT models to go with the 10g motor (like they said they were planning to do at the Flitefest Q/A session). If they make them as small as 50%, I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed, expecting to be able to fly them in a gym or something, but due to wing-loading they would be too fast for that. And a lot of people might wonder what the point of downscaling it is if it's not indoor-capable as a result.
 
I think The mini delta would do fine indoors, but all the small planes are quite fast, as you said. I made a 50% speedster that flew awesome, but it was really fast. It was about as fast as the ultra micro habu!