New here...

[builderdude]

Hey Folks.
I'm new here, but I've been building since about 1972. I realize Flite Test builds a lot of cool flying machines out of foamboard, but balsa is my first love. I think in a lot of cases, foam can be superior to balsa because wood has weight, simple as that. But if it flies, I love it! And that's where I differ from a lot of balsa-only guys. I probably only have about 40 planes, but barely half a dozen are flyable right now, due to various reasons. I also like to design my own planes, and I've got a flying wing on the drafting desk that I'm wrapping up the design on right now too. The prototype was half the size and flew brilliantly, but would tend to disappear if you got it a hundred feet in the air.

This plane you see here is my latest that I finished up. It's actually a design from about 1984 and was a 2 channel slope soarer called the Wyndigo. I built mine as a 4 channel with a motor and a folding prop. The weight penalty for that added capability is only a few ounces, but it doesn't need a slope on a windy day to fly. With all the wind where I live (Texas-New Mexico border), wind is a major issue, which is why I chose this plane to fly in windy conditions. And yes it'll possibly crash some day, but I've gotta stop caring about that because that's just another opportunity to build something.

My name is Tony, but my handle here is builderdude... the same handle I use at RC Groups.

 

[Merv]

...I think in a lot of cases, foam can be superior to balsa because wood has weight...

Welcome to the forums.

I agree, foam has a lot of advantages over balsa. Foam is just tougher. A foamboard plane will easily survive a crash that would have destroyed a balsa plane.

BTW, great looking plane.

 

[LitterBug]

Hey Folks.
I'm new here, but I've been building since about 1972. I realize Flite Test builds a lot of cool flying machines out of foamboard, but balsa is my first love. I think in a lot of cases, foam can be superior to balsa because wood has weight, simple as that. But if it flies, I love it! And that's where I differ from a lot of balsa-only guys. I probably only have about 40 planes, but barely half a dozen are flyable right now, due to various reasons. I also like to design my own planes, and I've got a flying wing on the drafting desk that I'm wrapping up the design on right now too. The prototype was half the size and flew brilliantly, but would tend to disappear if you got it a hundred feet in the air.

This plane you see here is my latest that I finished up. It's actually a design from about 1984 and was a 2 channel slope soarer called the Wyndigo. I built mine as a 4 channel with a motor and a folding prop. The weight penalty for that added capability is only a few ounces, but it doesn't need a slope on a windy day to fly. With all the wind where I live (Texas-New Mexico border), wind is a major issue, which is why I chose this plane to fly in windy conditions. And yes it'll possibly crash some day, but I've gotta stop caring about that because that's just another opportunity to build something.

My name is Tony, but my handle here is builderdude... the same handle I use at RC Groups.
View attachment 255163

Welcome to the fun! Most uf us here identify as refusing to grow up and love our flying toys of all varieties. I agree with Merv, that is a really beautifull plane! I have been building and crashing around here on the forums for 10-ish years and been to Flite Fest five times. The FT community is 2nd to none!

Foam and mostly hot-glue don't always do great in heat, but that is not a problem very often up in Ohio.

Cheers!
LitterBug (here and every other online forum)

 

[builderdude]

It gets incredibly hot here in the summer. But winter days are cold at night and warm during the day, frequently in the 50's or 60's. About the biggest problem here is the wind.

I have built some foamboard planes that flew really great, but you're right, the heat tears them up. The balsa probably does better in the heat, as long as you avoid the plastic heat shrink skin. Thanks on the complements.

 

[LitterBug]

Yeah, we get the winds here. Some days you want the extra weight for stability, especially flying FPV.

Not a windy day for this but you can see how flat it is here:

we fly late in the day when the winds have died down

Here is a good example of how bumpy even a little wind can make flying a lighter plane unsmooth.

Neither of these videos has been stabilized. The first was a bigger heavier plane.

We have stations on both sides of the field. East for the morning, and west for the evening. That lessens looking into the sun. I prefer evening rather than the wet dew in the morning.

 

[builderdude]

Do Y'all have storage issues for your hobby? Because I do. I'm probably about 40 models or so into this and I'm getting to a point where I'm getting pretty good at building. But this creates an increasing problem of where to store them. And my wife is starting to notice. Maybe I'm supposed to crash them and then move on, LOL.

I've got a workshop and I think I'll come up with a method to keep all of them stacked up in racks, floor to ceiling. But before I do that, it'll have to be thermostatically heated/cooled, because it's an out-building now and has lights and power, but that's about it.

By the way, I really like that FPV system you've got there. Pray tell what it is?

 

[LitterBug]

Do Y'all have storage issues for your hobby? Because I do. I'm probably about 40 models or so into this and I'm getting to a point where I'm getting pretty good at building. But this creates an increasing problem of where to store them. And my wife is starting to notice. Maybe I'm supposed to crash them and then move on, LOL.

I've got a workshop and I think I'll come up with a method to keep all of them stacked up in racks, floor to ceiling. But before I do that, it'll have to be thermostatically heated/cooled, because it's an out-building now and has lights and power, but that's about it.

By the way, I really like that FPV system you've got there. Pray tell what it is?

My hanger floweth over... yes, I am an addict of things that fly. (and other things too) I've found the best thing to do is enter a few things into combat at flite fest every year. That usually helps bring the hanger count down. If not, give some away. 😁 Mine are scattered everywhere. I need to purge everything not mine out of my office so they will mostly be in the garage and office. Maybe a few in the basement.

I am using the Walksnail Avatar HD FPV gear. The video I uploaded comes directly from the goggles, so what you see is what I see in the goggles but without the OSD overlay. The goggles record the video after receiving and unencoding, but before adding the OSD. There are tools to add the OSD data to the video if you want. The video and OSD data can also be recorded on the transmitter side, so in the event of a poor video link, the picture is exaclty what the camera saw. The plane with the orange nose can record in 4K. the goggles and transmission link are capped at 1080p. I also have a headtracking and gimbal setup for the orange nosed plane so I can take passengers up and let them look around while I fly LOS. I am looking into HDMI-USB capture devices so the OSD feed can be recorded "as flown" rather than re-rendered. I also have a 12" monitor on the ground so other passengers can see what is in the goggle screen.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[builderdude]

That is so cool. I'm going to have to look for that.

 

[LitterBug]

That is so cool. I'm going to have to look for that.

I have been kind-of documenting my switch to Digital FPV in this thread:

FPV, Going digital! My experience with Walksnail Avatar gear

Hi All! Long time analog FPV flyer here and I have been keeping tabs on a few of the digital FPV platforms out there as they have matured. I have finally broken down and jumped into the game myself, and am going down the CaddxFPV Walksnail Avatar path. The two others I had considered were DJI...

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