My Bloody Wonder

iCrash

Member
Hey everyone...
I love building things, and in the last few months, thanks to Flite Test, RC planes are now included.
I've made a few FT Flyers, an FT Delta, and now my current pride and joy, the Bloody Wonder.

I was out at the RC field this past weekend showing off how easy it was to fly the FT Flyer. I then swapped out the power pod into my FT Delta for it's maiden voyage. A few guys were thinking it would just crash and burn asking if I've done things like glide test and stuff like that. I said nope, just double checked the CG and gave it a toss. Beautiful flight! Almost lost it at first because the roll was so quick. :) When I was done I asked, "so, what do you think?" I got one comment that made me think for a second. He said, "flies great, but it's just flying foam board."

So, I got to thinking what can I do so my next build will look less like flying foam board. The Bloody Wonder would be a great plane for my next air frame.

She isn't finished yet, however I'm done working on it tonight. So here is what I've come up with so far. She'll fly as is, however I want it to be as pretty as it can. More work on it tomorrow.
 

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DDSFlyer

Senior Member
Wow, that's looking good! I'd say those guys are just jealous because you didn't shell out hundreds of dollars on a plane... Make sure it balances out with all that color! I think the Bloody Wonder is gonna be my next build now
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
Keep us posted on their reactions to the new plane. I wonder how they would react to the FT Cruiser or Spitfire.
 

Jaxx

Posted a thousand or more times
You will absolutely love that plane once you fly it. I learned to fly with that plane. It handles great in the wind too. Great job by the way. It looks great!
 

eagle4

Member
I love your design scheme on the bloody wonder. this was my first plane. if you put a 3s 1300mah battery in it it becomes a missile :) but it can fly off a 500mah 2s if you want a more in control flight.

You'll find that it can slow down nicely for a gentle landing too. enjoy it. I know I did :)
 

iCrash

Member
I finished the bottom this evening. I wanted to go with something a bit different than the top so it's easy to see when it is flying inverted or not. It should be easy to see from across the RC field. The lighting makes it look a bit orange. It is all either black or red in reality.

BW bottom.jpg BW bottom standing.jpg
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
It does look good! I'm in the process of building one right now. Got my plan plotted last night, which was good. Had some kind of power outage for a couple of hours today that took out the motherboard on one of my desktops, even through a UPS... go figure.
Anyway, have an order in to Newegg and will work on some foam for a few days!
 

iCrash

Member
Thanks everyone.

Good luck Xuzme, I hope to see yours when you are finished. Sorry to hear about motherboard. I've had those go out on me too while on a UPS. I don't believe a UPS protects against surges? I use a line conditioner for my audio recording studio PC and other equipment.

Someone earlier warned about the weight. I currently have the same motor/power pod I put on my FT Flyer and FT Delta. Off the top of my head, I think it's a 1300kv w/ an APC 8x4 prop using 1300mah 3S battery. I set it on the floor with a firm grip and powered it up. It wanted to go vertical, so I have no doubts she'll fly. I have plans to build another power pod with a bigger motor in it. This will be for the BW as well as future planes like the spitfire and others. This will probably happen in 2 weeks.

One strange thing, and I'll probably create a new thread on this, is my servo for Aileron control seems to not be working right. Any clues why? It's giving me 50% in one direction and 100% in the other. I'm using a DX6i transmitter. I reset the model to default and did another bind. Same thing. The control arm on the servo is the same length and the quick connects are in the same holes on left and right. Everything appears to be symmetrical when in the neutral position. Trim is in the middle too.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
are you sure the hinge isn't bottoming out in down elevator? Check the bevel carefully to see if it's clean to the paper. otherwise it'll have to crush the foam to get the full down angle, which might strain your servo trying to get to full throw

Also check for bending in the servo rod. It should naturally pull to full extension, but pushing a rod that flexes will cost you throw. a zip-tie control-rod guide, or stiffening by tying on a bamboo skewer should fix that.
 

iCrash

Member
Crafty Dan, I'm sure it has free movement. When I take the control arm off I can easily move it by hand up and down all the way. Besides that, when I push my transmitter stick all the way in that direction and it only goes 50%. I will then try to push it further with my hand, but the servo is pushing back. It doesn't want to travel past the 50% spot. I verified this without the control rods on the servo too.

Control rods are not bending. Good suggestion, though.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
look at the plastic gear on top (through the case) do any look damaged?
 

iCrash

Member
I'll check it out in the next few days. getting late here and busy weekend. Thanks for suggestions.
 

Flynn

Member
Do you have another servo you could try on that receiver? That's what I would try. If the spare servo works you know it's not in the transmitter program. If it does the same thing, hmm, I would double check every setting. I have a dx6i too. Hope you find the problem.
 

iCrash

Member
Sorry it's been a while since I posted something about this plane and the problems I was having with the servos. I've been busy the last few weeks with work. What little free time I had was spent flying. :)

I finally got to maiden the plane and it was a dream to fly! It became my favorite plane. After the maiden flight I decided that I need to build a second air frame with rudders and symetrical wings to make it a 3D plane. It wasn't very fast, but it was quite menuverable and flew like it was on rails. I had to significantly dial down the elevator as well as the ailerons. Overall Solid plane!

Now, about the servo issue. I had so many things going on it was hard to figure out. It was a combinations of things causing one aileron to move twice as far as the other. First, I was tired the night I posted the messages. Sometimes I get so focused to where I just want to work on something until it is finished. I guess I was quite tired and to the point of being easily confused. I left the project alone for a few days and returned to it with a fresh mind. It turned out to be the following problems at the same time. The first two items were the big factors.
- The servo arm was not molded/cast properly. One side was longer than the other.
- The packing tape was restricting one of the ailerons from having full motion.
- There was too much throw in the ailerons. I had to dial them down to about 40% and it flew perfect.
- Quick connect wasn't adjusted properly. I loosened both quick connectors, centered the servo, then tightened the quick connects.

I am having one other problem I was hoping someone could help with or make suggestions. I'm breaking props and/or bending prop shafts when I land. I come in real slow with near full elevator and throttle off followed by a flare right at the end. The prop is still spinning a bit due to the wind going acrossed it. Should I be programming my ESC for brake to stop the prop from spinning? How do you land your Bloody Wonder? Landing gear?
 

Jaxx

Posted a thousand or more times
Should I be programming my ESC for brake to stop the prop from spinning?


Yes. That's how I have mine set up. You may still break one here and there, but I should help reduce the number of broken props.
 

Wimp

Junior Member
Brilliant looking plane!!! How did you do the Sun-ray design? Tape and cut when it is on the plane?
 
All those planes look awesome, I bought a cheapo airbrush and some walmart paint, I have no artistic skill but I did do a couple planes up that looked ok. The tape looks much faster for stripes and sunbursts, where are you guys getting the tape? all I find at walmart and the craft stores is duct tape I figured that was too heavy. I've seen wing tape on hobby king is that the same stuff?

-Jes