My first scratch built...and its a Foamie to boot

[n0tzq]

After nearly 30 years in the hobby (mostly offroad racing ( but some carpet) both electric and nitro buggies with sail boats and aircraft experience tossed in over the years)...






I started this FT Flyer build from scratch last Sunday during football. It's my first scratch built and first plane in about 20 years...the last planes being a Balsa USA Stick 40 Plus, a Goldberg Gentle Lady, and a Goldberg Eaglet 50 setup as an electric using an old electric motor from one of my buggies.

Tonight, I finished fitting, made the landing gear, and glued it all together. Total time, including taping together 8x11 sheets of paper to create the plan is about 8 hours from start to this point. The instructions Josh B gives in his video are pretty good but there are some areas that I am concerned about that weren't covered well in the video so hopefully I got it right (or right enough that it won't be disastrous on the first flight LOL).





And now its ready for minwax, paint, and electronics/control assembly. Its nearly 100% scratch built with the wheels being the only thing store bought specific to RC so far. The landing gear is made from an old wire coat hanger and tie wraps for collars which with a plane this light should be sufficient to the task of preventing it (hopefully) being a lawn dart (haven't figured out how to prevent it from being a heater dart tho @ Josh S.) under normal conditions.

Anyone care to guess what color(s) its likely to end up being?


And to make matters worse, I have ANOTHER project I'm in the middle of.....



Yup...a Bat Bone that was orphaned in favor of airplanes by someone before it even had the first screw put into it.

Which lead me to this...just to fill in time while waiting for parts...



And brings me to a suggestion...which probably should be (unless it already has been) posted in the show suggestion section of the forum concerning this little gem of a quad (strictly in my most humble opinion). I have a blast flying this around the house, harassing and being harassed by the cats and getting screamed at by my Conure..



because I'm giving some other "bird" more attention than him.



I curse Josh and Josh (and David and Chad and the entire FT team) for dragging me back into this part of the RC hobby. The shows they do are so entertaining and informative that its made me want to give flying another go ( and with FPV too!) SO... kicking and screaming :black_eyed: tho I may be, I can't wait to go watch more FT videos and for the weather to warm up to the point where I can go fly the FT Flyer after its finished (and the Bat Bone, and probably the Old Fogey..and..well who knows what next).

I will post updates on both the FT Flyer and the Bat Bone as I make progress, as well as any new FT planes I start (likely the Old Fogey next).

Happy Holidays everyone and keep the landing gear side down.

and I welcome all comments and suggestions concerning this particular build and anything RC in general.

Dave
aka n0tzq

 

[n0tzq]

And she's finished and ready for her maiden flight.

Now for my next project....

 

[n0tzq]

Ready for Minwax and Paint.:applause:

 

[Craftydan]

Slick on both accounts, n0tzq, but digging the paint job.

What's the pattern on the bottom?

 

[n0tzq]

If you are asking about the unfinished plane, its the F-22 that Josh and Josh did build/review videos on. I followed the link that Josh B mentioned in the build video and got the plans. Should be the same exact plane they flew in the review.

 

[Craftydan]

Actually was talking about the paint pattern on the bottom of the flyer. Easy to forget a wing gives two canvasses to paint!

 

[n0tzq]

Oh my bad, bottom is same as top but the swappable pod is black.

I'm not an artist so I tend to stay with simple paint schemes. I've painted models like this for nearly 30 years, mostly neon green and yellow, though I think for the F-22 Im gonna go out on a limb and paint it neon yellow and orange. LOL

 

[lonewolf7717]

Really digging the trademark color scheme, I tried that for awhile but after a string of unsuccessful maidens got sorta superstitious about painting my planes till they have proven air worthy.

 

[Craftydan]

artist or not, looks nice!

Might want to keep in mind you'll want dramatically different patterns on top/bottom for the FT22. If you hold the FT flyer inverted you're doing some pretty fancy flying, so it's no problem to keep top/bottom the same. The FT22, however will roll to inverted easily, so at a glance did that roll end upright or upside down? Your colors and patterns will help with that. I tend to go with big solid fields on the top and narrow stripes on the bottom, but everyone has their own taste.

 

[n0tzq]

That's a really good point, Dan. I just finished minwaxing it and waiting for it to dry. I'll have time to think about how to finish the bottom. I may just paint one side one color and the other side the blend from yellow to orange like I usually do. Or maybe the top side will be the front to back (lighter to darker) blend and the bottom will blend to the center (light outside, dark center), I'll figure it out as I go though.

Lonewolf, anything and everything can fly once...if you provide enough propulsion, like rocket engines or out of a cannon. LOL