New here from UK

[SteveH]

Hi all,

Discovered Flite Test on YouTube about 2 months ago and was instantly hooked. Always thought RC planes were too expensive for something that is more than likely to crash, so was presently surprised to discover scratch building form foam board.

Well a couple of weeks ago I found the forum and have been nosing around and found the free plans. First two (Goblin and LongEZJ were a bit of a mess so didn’t even both putting electronics in them and they have since been relegated to the bin. Next was a Charlie that I’ve covered in duct tape (no idea if this will make too heavy, will be interesting to find out):

Next I found you could by plans, so I got the Millennium Flerken and decided to paint this one:

Then came a Viggen, I saving up for the electronics for this so still haven’t decided how I’ll decorate this one (realistic or fantasy?):

I got to have a go on a club trainer at my local clubs open day on Sunday which was my first experience flying a real model aircraft. So I’ve taken the plunge and decided to join their club.

So far the build process has been so rewarding and addictive, I’ve just started on the FT Simple Cub that I plan to use as my trainer plane.

 

[Mr NCT]

Hi all,

Discovered Flite Test on YouTube about 2 months ago and was instantly hooked. Always thought RC planes were too expensive for something that is more than likely to crash, so was presently surprised to discover scratch building form foam board.

Well a couple of weeks ago I found the forum and have been nosing around and found the free plans. First two (Goblin and LongEZJ were a bit of a mess so didn’t even both putting electronics in them and they have since been relegated to the bin. Next was a Charlie that I’ve covered in duct tape (no idea if this will make too heavy, will be interesting to find out):

View attachment 239896

Next I found you could by plans, so I got the Millennium Flerken and decided to paint this one:
View attachment 239895

Then came a Viggen, I saving up for the electronics for this so still haven’t decided how I’ll decorate this one (realistic or fantasy?):
View attachment 239897 Wel


I got to have a go on a club trainer at my local clubs open day on Sunday which was my first experience flying a real model aircraft. So I’ve taken the plunge and decided to join their club.

So far the build process has been so rewarding and addictive, I’ve just started on the FT Simple Cub that I plan to use as my trainer plane.

Welcome to the forums and FT. You're traveling the same route most of us did. I had done some balsa gliders but got tired of the expense and time to build. My first FT plane was the LongEZ. It took me an afternoon to build and when I put a dent in my metal barn with it I laughed and built my next plane - a tiny trainer. The number one rule: Have fun!
Be careful and gentle with the Cub, it's not the easiest to fly. Try the scout or, surprisingly, the swappable Spitfire. Both are fun builds and good fliers.

 

[Merv]

Welcome to the forums. Great looking planes.

Duct tape is heavy. I cover all of my planes entirely with colored packing tape. I have 2 sources, at Hobby King it is known as wing tape. At Tape Planet it is known as colored carton sealing tape. Both are inexpensive, lightweight, water resistant, easy to apply and look good.

 

[The Fopster]

If you’re in the UK be careful of “heavy” foamboard. The stuff from Hobbycraft is very strong (which is good…) but also much heavier than the FT stuff (obviously this is a bad thing!). If you build an FT design they will come out tail heavy using this foamboard - best solution is to modify the plans to lengthen the nose a little so you can position the motor and battery further forward to balance at the correct CG point on the wing.
Enjoy the journey!

 

[SteveH]

Welcome to the forums and FT. You're traveling the same route most of us did. I had done some balsa gliders but got tired of the expense and time to build. My first FT plane was the LongEZ. It took me an afternoon to build and when I put a dent in my metal barn with it I laughed and built my next plane - a tiny trainer. The number one rule: Have fun!
Be careful and gentle with the Cub, it's not the easiest to fly. Try the scout or, surprisingly, the swappable Spitfire. Both are fun builds and good fliers.

Ooh Spitefire is a good shout, thanks for the top tip

 

[SteveH]

Welcome to the forums. Great looking planes.

Duct tape is heavy. I cover all of my planes entirely with colored packing tape. I have 2 sources, at Hobby King it is known as wing tape. At Tape Planet it is known as colored carton sealing tape. Both are inexpensive, lightweight, water resistant, easy to apply and look good.

Thanks for the tape suggestions

 

[SteveH]

If you’re in the UK be careful of “heavy” foamboard. The stuff from Hobbycraft is very strong (which is good…) but also much heavier than the FT stuff (obviously this is a bad thing!). If you build an FT design they will come out tail heavy using this foamboard - best solution is to modify the plans to lengthen the nose a little so you can position the motor and battery further forward to balance at the correct CG point on the wing.
Enjoy the journey!

Ah, I am using the stuff from Hobbycraft and would explain why I had to put some stones in the front of the Flerken to get it to balance properly.
I like the idea of lengthening the nose, would never of thought of that and will give it a go. Thanks for the top tip

 

[The Fopster]

Where are you in the UK?

 

[SteveH]

Where are you in the UK?

I’m in Stevenage, Hertfordshire

 

[SteveH]

Charlie got her maiden at the weekend. As I feared, way too heavy with a flight (cough cough) of about 0.1 seconds. Got some scales tonight and she is over twice the recommended weight 😳. Think she may have to become a wall hanger

A general question: if a plane is overweight, what can you do/change (apart from rebuild the right weight) to have a chance of getting the thing to fly? I’m thinking more cells in the battery, but then too many and the ESC and motor will need to change too. I tried googling it and went down a rabbit hole of power to weight ratio and really complicated calculators that are way with my head

In other news, I was excited to find that Elite Models UK sell FliteTest foam board, so I ordered some and started building the Spitfire. Should of read the description more closely, when I got to the first A fold realised it was the thick stuff and not the regular stuff ( which is out of stock just like everywhere else in the UK). So totally off plan I carried on solving many design challenges to get it to work and Fat Betty (as I’m affectionally calling her) is 170% overweight un-painted. Will remove all the out paper I can to reduce a bit of weight but feel I have another wall hanger.

Oh and Mr Flerken is only 130% overweight so I will ask my master test pilot if he thinks that has a chance of flying or not at the weekend when I have my second flying lesson

 

[The Fopster]

The absence of the proper FT foamboard is a challenge. I think your two main options are:
1. Use depron style foam. you can build very light models from the cheap insulation sheet foam from B&Q. That means building from different plans.
2. Use the hobbycraft foam but upsize the FT models to 150% or more. Downside is that motors and batteries at this size cost more.

 

[Crazed Scout Pilot]

Welcome Steve,
I will be happy to help in any way I can.

 

[SteveH]

Thanks all for the useful tips. Looks like build season is here as the weather is not cooperating, but in the process of moving house is going to delay my projects a bit.

Any tips for transporting non-removenable wing planes will be gratefully accepted 😃