Help! New builder have parts and ideas but limited skills

[Vimana89]

If youwant to see your ideas realised, you should make some sketches and post them here. If they're interesting enough, somebody will try them.

To me, contra-rotating is just unnecessary expense and compexity. The torque isn't a problem on trainer and fun-fly aircraft, though it could give an advantage on a F3A pattern ship. By all means try it.

Thanks for the advice. I will get to work on a couple of sketches, starting with Kilroy's request for a Convair Pogo, and a round-backed delta almond or tear drop shaped design of my own loosely based on the geobat. There are a couple other more simple builds, and I have been throwing around an idea for a very nice vtol 4 fin xcopter/xplane that uses two pops, a front/top and a rear/bottom and the wings extend down past the bottom prop and leave clearance for it.

 

[Vimana89]

Also, there is one simple build I saw that I really like, it interests me enough to want to reproduce straight up with little or no alterations and it looks easy enough to make and fly. I'll see if I can find the vid again, it is a flite test build something like what to do with your leftover foamboard scraps. The plane was just a simple circle flying wing, a pancake with one little motor. Obviously I wouldn't necessarily have to combine a bunch of scraps like they show in the vid, I could just get the tools to cut the circle myself out of a full piece of foamboard, or have somebody laser cut and send me one. Perhaps there is already a kit for this. Either way, anyone have experience with this type of build?

 

[Vimana89]

here is the video.

 

[SlingShot]

Thank you for the replies, about the advice I expected. I'll try to draw up some nice plans of one or more of my designs and post them. as for the FT kits, some of them do look interesting, but I do really kinda want to add a little twist. I really like the idea of contra rotating props. Would it be terribly difficult to take a nice FT kit such as and fit it with something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/163342234817?

That fancy motor is pretty big. It would be better for the Versa Wing or the Spear.

 

[Vimana89]

That fancy motor is pretty big. It would be better for the Versa Wing or the Spear.

Thanks for the advice, and yeah, somebody mentioned that earlier. As far as using that motor I have been looking at larger kits including the two you listed, but I may put that project on the backburner and try to start with the round pancake flying wing in the "mosaic plane" video, using a standard prop.

 

[Bricks]

My question would be do you understand all the design parameters that make an airplane fly? Wing loading, CG, % of tail surfaces and control surfaces, incidence and it`s relations, weight factors, drag, and on and on. With out understanding how these work developing a working model design is just shooting in the dark.

 

[Vimana89]

My question would be do you understand all the design parameters that make an airplane fly? Wing loading, CG, % of tail surfaces and control surfaces, incidence and it`s relations, weight factors, drag, and on and on. With out understanding how these work developing a working model design is just shooting in the dark.

I have a very basic rudimentary understanding of these things. I built a lot of paper planes as a kid, some off book plans, some of my own design, and I owned a couple rc planes as a teen. I am finding though that you and others who have said the same thing are correct, that the knowledge skill and experience I have will not be enough to start with my own designs. I was recommended to start with a kit, and there were a few I was considering, but I was pretty stubborn and hesitant because I have a high creative drive and like to "go my own way" with stuff.

I'm starting to reassess that and have taken a new approach, and made some compromises. I saw a vid of a cool little plane that really sparked my interest, and found out later is called the "nutball" and there are plans for it. I really like the way it looks and flies just as is without changing anything-it's weird and off the wall but simple and looks like it would be a very fun build to start with and could teach me a lot about building and flying. So that is my plan now, to start with the nutball, and build it straight up according to plan.

That being said, I still have plans to post some rough sketches of some of my own concepts and ideas, but those will be for other people with more experience and skill than me to mess with if they are interested, until I have the skill to attempt building one of my own designs. Also, building with the help of a plan will help me to plan and design better, to make more detailed sketches of my ideas and lay everything out on paper in a more detailed format.

 

[Bricks]

I do not want to sound degrading or anything but when you do your responses could you please break it up into some paragraphs so much easier to read and comprehend.

 

[Vimana89]

I do not want to sound degrading or anything but when you do your responses could you please break it up into some paragraphs so much easier to read and comprehend.

last post fixed, will keep this in mind in the future. Reading particularly long aritcles or paragraphs has never really bothered me in the same way, but I suppose I could see how it might be annoying, and how breaking the paragraphs up would be hepful, so I'll make sure to remind myself to do so when I post from here on out.

 

[buzzbomb]

last post fixed, will keep this in mind in the future. Reading particularly long aritcles or paragraphs has never really bothered me in the same way, but I suppose I could see how it might be annoying, and how breaking the paragraphs up would be hepful, so I'll make sure to remind myself to do so when I post from here on out.

When I read, I read to comprehend. Paragraphs, punctuation, sentence structure and all the other annoying rules of American grammar are all intended to aid in reading comprehension, since there is no voice inflection, body language, etc.

It's being largely bypassed in the digital age, but I think actual understanding of what is written has fallen with it. Thank you for understanding. Most everyone who can with help with your questions will be old school. We need that stuff.

The Nutball? Wow. I can't wait to see vid of that. It is so aptly named! Also, i'd say hold onto your designs. More experienced builders and flyers might be able to do it now, but I think you should do them yourself, later down the road. I can honestly imagine the satisfaction I'd feel, building and flying one of own designs.