My third first airplane.

Swimjim

Member
First off, you will crash. That is part of the hobby and it is to be expected. So don't tear yourself up when that happens. Besides, repairing crash damage can be as much or more interesting then building the plane in the first place. I never built a tiny trainer, but I have had good luck with the Storch. Before you buy your first plane though, I would recommend you buy a flight simulator. Preferably one that you can use your radio with. Life is easier with a reset button and you can learn a lot about basic flight and more advanced stuff that way.
Maybe consider buying a plane like the Sport Cub S with AS3X. ( Horizon Hobby) Planes like that have gyro's in them which with the flick of a switch can go from total novice to regular pilot mode. They even have a chicken switch which will cause the plane to fly straight and level regardless of what kind of trouble you get into. The Sport Cub S is a very light plane and will not handle winds well, but it is a great starter. By the way, at least for Spectrum compatible stuff, you can buy receivers with gyro's in them. For instance... https://www.motionrc.com/collection...mx-compatible-receiver-with-6-axis-stabilizer . I use these in a couple planes and they work great. Have fun with the hobby and good luck!
 

Cypress

Member
First off, you will crash. That is part of the hobby and it is to be expected. So don't tear yourself up when that happens. Besides, repairing crash damage can be as much or more interesting then building the plane in the first place. I never built a tiny trainer, but I have had good luck with the Storch. Before you buy your first plane though, I would recommend you buy a flight simulator. Preferably one that you can use your radio with. Life is easier with a reset button and you can learn a lot about basic flight and more advanced stuff that way.
Maybe consider buying a plane like the Sport Cub S with AS3X. ( Horizon Hobby) Planes like that have gyro's in them which with the flick of a switch can go from total novice to regular pilot mode. They even have a chicken switch which will cause the plane to fly straight and level regardless of what kind of trouble you get into. The Sport Cub S is a very light plane and will not handle winds well, but it is a great starter. By the way, at least for Spectrum compatible stuff, you can buy receivers with gyro's in them. For instance... https://www.motionrc.com/collection...mx-compatible-receiver-with-6-axis-stabilizer . I use these in a couple planes and they work great. Have fun with the hobby and good luck!

Great idea with the flight simulator. I will definitely see what I can find there. As for the gyro, It does appear there are ones compatible with my flysky radio :D but they're another $25 so I'll add that to the wishlist for now along with the battery. I'd like to use as much of what I already have as I can...I may regret it as a gyro sounds like a nice thing to have :S

I've seen enough flight test videos to know the phrase 'embrace the crash'. We'll see how that works out in reality but to touch on the long story I don't want to tell: Plane 1: into the only 4-inch-deep puddle of water within miles, completely fried immediately. Plane 2: Directly into a brick wall at fully-panicked speed (was a SAFE trainer but they don't do walls very well)...again the only brick wall within view.
 
Last edited:

evranch

Well-known member
If you're running into walls with SAFE on, I'd recommend some sim time first and foremost. The easiest way to wreck a trainer is by turning towards yourself and not having the instinct to reverse your control inputs. This is totally unintuitive and only buddy boxing or sim flying can get you ready for it. I would recommend sim as you can put in as many hours as you want.

This skill can even be learned on such free and basic simulators as CRRCSim or Picasim. Honestly, Picasim is a pretty good sim either on mobile or on PC, and on your phone can be pulled out in a moment of boredom to crash some planes.
 

Kbat11700

Member
Tiny trainers are pretty accepting of most batteries. Just need to be creative with where you put it for cg reasons.

When you said you ordered the reccomended motor, did you order the flite test power pack they reccomended or what? Power packs are great because you know it will work. But if you have the same motor at least, you can probably get the cg right with other electronics with help.

Good luck! Your in for a treat!
 

Cypress

Member
Tiny trainers are pretty accepting of most batteries. Just need to be creative with where you put it for cg reasons.

When you said you ordered the reccomended motor, did you order the flite test power pack they reccomended or what? Power packs are great because you know it will work. But if you have the same motor at least, you can probably get the cg right with other electronics with help.

Good luck! Your in for a treat!

I ordered the motor separately. I expect hitting the CG won't be too hard, it's just how heavy it is when I get there. I don't want a fast plane. Yet.
 

Javiester

Elite member
I have the TT with a BR2205 2300kv with 6x3 and 2S 800mah
and The Fish with a CF2822 1200kv 9x4.7 slow fly and 3S of 800mah and some homemade batteries 3S 1500mah
I always start the day with the Fish and when I warm up I pass to the TT
 

Cypress

Member
I have the TT with a BR2205 2300kv with 6x3 and 2S 800mah
and The Fish with a CF2822 1200kv 9x4.7 slow fly and 3S of 800mah and some homemade batteries 3S 1500mah
I always start the day with the Fish and when I warm up I pass to the TT

Hah, I hadn't noticed the fish. I kinda like the look of that. No more plane suggestions though because I just added this one to my list and I have too many as it is.
 

Javiester

Elite member
The fish is ugly as lonely
but it flies almost alone and very slowly

it's just like everything in life
we learn to walk by falling
we learn to ride a bike by falling ........
we learn to fly by crashing
the damage depends on the speed at which fences
 

Cypress

Member
If you're running into walls with SAFE on, I'd recommend some sim time first and foremost. The easiest way to wreck a trainer is by turning towards yourself and not having the instinct to reverse your control inputs. This is totally unintuitive and only buddy boxing or sim flying can get you ready for it. I would recommend sim as you can put in as many hours as you want.

This skill can even be learned on such free and basic simulators as CRRCSim or Picasim. Honestly, Picasim is a pretty good sim either on mobile or on PC, and on your phone can be pulled out in a moment of boredom to crash some planes.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll have something to do in the rain tomorrow.
 

Cypress

Member
For batteries I just realized I can solder up a splice connector to put 2 450mah 1S batteries in series. Might be pretty short flight times, but would definitely keep the weight down.
 

quorneng

Master member
Wire and connectors are surprisingly heavy. You might well find there is a significant weight penalty using two 450 mAh 1S compared to a single 2S 450 mAh battery.
 

Cypress

Member
Just an update - Dug through my garage and found another box of old parts a couple days ago, in which there was a gas motor (not interested) and a small landing gear that should be perfect for my trainer! In addition to that, I found that my servos are junk which was disappointing, but just today I got a $25 amazon gift certificate as a pat on the back from work, so 10 new servos are on the way!

Very excited now. I've already started on the fuselage.
 

Cypress

Member
Question: Do some ESC's power the receiver? I seem to be getting that impression from some of the info I've been seeing.

My 2003 crash salvaged 60A ESC has a 3 wire (BK RD WT) connector for the receiver which I assumed was just a signal wire for throttle -- is it possible I don't need my voltage regulator to power my receiver?
 

Cypress

Member
I cranked it out today. The 60A speed controller and cheap servos made things a little tight, but I got it all in. I think it's a few grams heavier than it needs to be but hopefully I can make it work.

Found a way to mount my landing gear using the hole in the belly for hand launches - it plugs right in, straps on with rubber bands, and should hold pretty well, I hope.

Also added a chunk of barbecue skewer to the tail to save on wear as I drag it around with the landing gear.

Other than that, every idea I had ended up being in the video at some point. Love this thing already, going to be sad to watch it crash into a thousand pieces.

I also added a switch for flaps because I am learning and it was fun.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FDS

Cypress

Member
Oh the bad news is, it appears my transmitter (Flysky FS-i6s) can't exactly trim. I guess lesson learned.