My Tiny Trainer Build

[buzzbomb]

This thread is not dead! If you've read through this whole mess, remember when I got the second kit from FT, because of the delamination? I used the wings from it, and then had to scratch-build the polyhedral, because I kept screwing them up. I've still got the complete fuselage from that kit!!

My wings are good. I just need a fuse. The rebuild of my TT will be the first of the next four (now maybe five) I have to complete. It will definately be the the quickest. I get to build again, later tonight.

What's her name going to be? "Wallhanger." If she's not on a wall by the time the Get Stupid challenge is over, I'm not trying hard enough!

 

[buzzbomb]

This evening is for building, so I won't be around the Forum, much. I Got the fuse assembled with the servo rods installed. Here's the tail feathers using the hobby iron method.

The elevator took about a minute, and the rudder about thirty seconds. I've got the glue gun reheating as I type, to lay some down, then scrape and and seal the exposed foam. I'm thinking those hinges will outlive the rest of the plane, seeing as how I fly. They took a minute and half combined. Not bad.

I'm mentally toying with the idea of using the iron to seal the outer edges of the parts as well. I think I might just do that.

 

[kilroy07]

I am really digging the iron now. You can nicely round the leading edge and taper the rear. For control surfaces it really seems to stiffen them up quite a bit. Although still not at the point where my planes need to survive years....

 

[buzzbomb]

Not surprisingly, I had a setback. I got everything put together and realized I had used the control rods salvaged from the Mini Scout. Yea. Too short. Rather than just chop up the fuse, Like I did the first time I screwed up the control rods, (see way earlier in this thread. That's where "Frankenstrosity" came from) I utilized some newfound knowledge and judicially applied some rubbing alcohol and an Xacto knife, and partially removed the lower panel from the fuse. Then I replaced the rods. Here's where it's at now.

 

[FDS]

That is looking super sweet! I iron all my edges now.

 

[kilroy07]

That is looking super sweet! I iron all my edges now.

I hope you do join us us trying out this edgy new trend!

 

[FDS]

I am the edge lord...

 

[kilroy07]

I am the edge lord...
View attachment 126352

I really need to revisit the Se.5 and Dr.1.
Thats what I started with and built them pretty sloppily and didn’t have a good experience with them. But that was 2 years ago... hopefully I’ve learned a few things since then.

Great looking build btw!

 

[buzzbomb]

OK. Totally screwed the build. I pushed a little to hard and a little too long last night. The tail was glued so poorly onto the fuse that it was not straight in any direction. I tried to remove it with rubbing alcohol to no avail. I tried the heat gun and melted the fuse and part of the tail. Both were a total loss.

Frustrating? You would think so, but not really (I did have a backup, afterall). The only really frustrating thing about it was the setback in time, because of all the challenges I so geniously threw out, and want to complete so badly!

So tonight I broke open the SpeedBuild TT kit I got to build for my son and guess what? Here we are.

I am sorry to say the perfectionist in me broke out, and I spent an inordinate amount of time ironing the edges of the tail parts. Are they perfect? Heck, no! Are they even close to perfect? Heck, no! Am I happy with them? Heck, yea!

Rather than let the re-rebuild of the TT get me down, I've proven to myself that beyond a shadow of a doubt the ironing method of building DTFB planes is not only repeatable, but I think I'm getting better at it! That's a win!

Why is the fuse still open, you may be thinking. Shouldn't it be all glued together at this stage, so you can install the tail? Yes it should. Then why isn't it? I may be hard-headed and stupid at times, but I'm not an idiot. I CAN be taught! It's currently 1:30 in the morning, I am tired, and I had to walk away from what I wanted to do. It's open so I can take another look at everything, on my next build session, before I start assembling the parts. See? I can be taught!

 

[FDS]

Knowing when to stop in those late night sessions is a skill in itself. Sorry to hear you had to start again. On the bright side you probably paid for several more daft challenge videos on FT with all those speedbuild kits!
Those rolled edges are looking really smart.

 

[kilroy07]

Rather than let the re-rebuild of the TT get me down, I've proven to myself that beyond a shadow of a doubt the ironing method of building DTFB planes is not only repeatable, but I think I'm getting better at it! That's a win!

It really does clean up the edges nicely, doesn't it?!
I don't think I'll ever build another foamboard plane without taking the time (and it does take a bit) either.

See? I can be taught!

You old dog you!...

 

[Kendalf]

Those ironed edges look great! I actually think it's easier to not glue the fuselage bottom until after the tail and servos are installed.

 

[mayan]

the TT struggles as the weight increases

I second this. You can do a lot to the TT but adding weight to it eventually calls it in.

@buzzbomb knowing when to call it a day when building is very important if you build when you are tired most likely your build will get screwed up. I did that recently with the TT/Edge crossover project where I connected the elevator upside down, ripped it off and that's also when I broke that old TT fuselage into pieces too and had to rebuild it; luckily the TT fuselage is easy to build.

 

[buzzbomb]

It may be 3 in the morning local, but I've got this to look forward to flying on Wednesday...

 

[mayan]

That looks really good buddy. I am sure it will fly great too.

 

[buzzbomb]

Cold front moving through the area. Forecast is cold and windy. Sustained winds at 11mph, I'm sure I can expect gusts at much more than that. I really want to fly. What do you all think? At my current skill level if it's suicide I'd rather save the plane and do the Stupid Challenge another day. Or do you think that is doable?

 

[Hai-Lee]

Cold front moving through the area. Forecast is cold and windy. Sustained winds at 11mph, I'm sure I can expect gusts at much more than that. I really want to fly. What do you all think? At my current skill level if it's suicide I'd rather save the plane and do the Stupid Challenge another day. Or do you think that is doable?

It is your call as always! Saving the plane is a good idea but not flying is not!
At your stage of skill development air time is extremely important. I learned more flying on a bad day than in a month of calm weather. Mind you I learned not only flying skills but also some serious repair skills as well.

If possible you should resurrect one of the crashed birds, (held together with hot glue and tape), and chuck it into the air on bad days just for the flight time! My reasoning is simple - watching the weather reports hoping for a perfect flying day can be akin to either watching the grass grow or watching the paint dry! Avoid extreme weather of course but find a hack to throw in the air on marginal days and save your "Pride and Joy" for the right days!

Just my opinion of course!

have fun!

 

[buzzbomb]

Saving the plane is a good idea but not flying is not!

Yep, that was helpful. Ouch! I think I just sprained my wrist on somebody's helmet! I get what you're saying. The problem is, it's exactly what I said.

if possible you should resurrect one of the crashed birds, (held together with hot glue and tape), and chuck it into the air on bad days just for the flight time!

THAT is good advice! I'm (too quickly) building up a supply of spare parts, and I'll be able to do just that. Only, not later on today. I've got one bird that can fly. It's a hardship for me to go flying. I do it because I love it, but I have to give up a lot else, when I do.

Honestly, I'm just picking on my mate, Hai-Lee. Between my post about the weather and now, I've already made a decision. The batteries are charging. I'll do what I have to do to get out there, and if it's just too windy, then so be it. More than likely, I'll be stupid and throw it in the air, regardless! It's just foamboard, right?! I forget that sometimes.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Yep, that was helpful. Ouch! I think I just sprained my wrist on somebody's helmet! I get what you're saying. The problem is, it's exactly what I said.


THAT is good advice! I'm (too quickly) building up a supply of spare parts, and I'll be able to do just that. Only, not later on today. I've got one bird that can fly. It's a hardship for me to go flying. I do it because I love it, but I have to give up a lot else, when I do.

Honestly, I'm just picking on my mate, Hai-Lee. Between my post about the weather and now, I've already made a decision. The batteries are charging. I'll do what I have to do to get out there, and if it's just too windy, then so be it. More than likely, I'll be stupid and throw it in the air, regardless! It's just foamboard, right?! I forget that sometimes.

Yes it is made of FB BUT it is not JUST FB! It is actually some FB with a lot of time, effort, and cussing, (if you are like me when a problem appears). Save your baby and spend the time building a Frankenstein for bad weather days!

The difference in skill between yourself and mayan at this time is a direct result of the total air time you both have! Flying RC is not difficult, (Heck even I can do it), it is just like anything else practice, practice and then more practice. Sadly in the beginning practice means crashes, (lots of them). I must have crashed my way through about half a ton of FB by now though the last half of that might be what I have given away.

If access to the flying field is somewhat difficult for any reason I would suggest that you start building replacement aircraft for what you fly BEFORE you crash it! If the weather is poor then you end up with many copies of the plane you are flying that you can throw into the air one after the other until you can fly at least one of them well. Repair everything you crash - they make good bad weather planes!

When you have a number of copies, (4 or more), then you can start work building many copies of your next plane! If you find that you do not need many copies because your skill level has improved then make 2 of each plane you build until your crashes become so rare that you cannot remember the last crash that you had. Then you can give away the unwanted copies. I find that there is almost always someone who would like the planes you are finished with, (if not too badly mangled!

Have fun!

 

[buzzbomb]

Yes it is made of FB BUT it is not JUST FB! It is actually some FB with a lot of time, effort, and cussing, (if you are like me when a problem appears). Save your baby and spend the time building a Frankenstein for bad weather days!

The difference in skill between yourself and mayan at this time is a direct result of the total air time you both have! Flying RC is not difficult, (Heck even I can do it), it is just like anything else practice, practice and then more practice. Sadly in the beginning practice means crashes, (lots of them). I must have crashed my way through about half a ton of FB by now though the last half of that might be what I have given away.

If access to the flying field is somewhat difficult for any reason I would suggest that you start building replacement aircraft for what you fly BEFORE you crash it! If the weather is poor then you end up with many copies of the plane you are flying that you can throw into the air one after the other until you can fly at least one of them well. Repair everything you crash - they make good bad weather planes!

When you have a number of copies, (4 or more), then you can start work building many copies of your next plane! If you find that you do not need many copies because your skill level has improved then make 2 of each plane you build until your crashes become so rare that you cannot remember the last crash that you had. Then you can give away the unwanted copies. I find that there is almost always someone who would like the planes you are finished with, (if not too badly mangled!

Have fun!

Wow! Is that how you do it? To me, that's nuts! It's taken me nearly a week to get the re-rebuild of my TT airworthy. I've still got to build a Mini Scout for that challenge, build the DR-1 and build my son a plane. No way I'm building multiples of these. It would be awesome to go out flying with multiple planes, but it's just not going to happen anytime soon. Soon enough, though. Did I mention the planes I am building. Yes. Yes I did! They will just take me awhile.

Unless the wind is super bad, Wallhanger flies later today. I'm going to throw her at max throttle, into the wind and throw hard and high. We'll get some altitude, bring around and then hopefully bring it in and get Stupid for the Challenge. Or crash and die. Always an option.