New to FT Builds - Problem Securing Power Pod

dmaximob

Junior Member
Hi all,

I am new to scratchbuilding and have an issue that has perplexed me. I can't seem to grasp how the power pod is supposed to slide in and be secured in the slots in the foam board AND onto the skewer dowels in the front at the same time.

I built the FT Mustang and really struggled when trying to get the power pod where it is supposed to be. After a bout of tugging and pushing I ended up taking the two front skewers out in order to slide the power pod into the foam board slots. Once in the slots, I inserted the skewers into their spots. This seemed to work fine, but I wonder if it's secure enough in the long term.

The Mustang flew beautifully on the maiden, but pilot error/haste crumpled the airframe on the second flight. As I'm putting together Mustang Version 1.1 I want to get this skewer thing figured out.

I've drawn up a diagram to help visualize what I'm talking about. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • Power Pod Fit.jpg
    Power Pod Fit.jpg
    73.2 KB · Views: 74

dmaximob

Junior Member
You're missing the rear skewer.

I omitted that in the diagram, since once the pod is in place the rear skewer holes will be aligned correctly. My problem is getting the power pod into the final position with the front skewers stationary.
Oh, and I should mention the diagram is kind of a profile view of the longitudinal centerline of the airframe.
 

ruud

Senior Member
Sorry, I misunderstood your question. I thought you were asking how is the power pod kept in place with just the front skewers and the slots.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
DMaxi,

One thing to notice: the skewers in the front and rear are really for alignment, the two sets of tab actually transmit all the force to the frame.

The trick is the holes in the firewall should be cut larger than the skewers, so it slides in at a slight motor-pointing-up attitude until it bottoms out. Then it should rotate (motor down, pod up) and lock into place. The rear skewer goes in the back, and holds the pod up into the notches and all the load bearing should be on the tabs. There's plenty of room between the wing and the mounting plate on all the FT builds to do this, but some are tighter than others.

BTW, Welcome to the forum!
 

dmaximob

Junior Member
The trick is the holes in the firewall should be cut larger than the skewers, so it slides in at a slight motor-pointing-up attitude until it bottoms out.

Okay, that makes more sense.
I'll make my skewer holes more elongated to allow for it to slide in as you described.

I've attached a diagram showing what my current Firewall looks like and what I am envisioning my Firewall needs to look like.
Am I on the right track?
 

Attachments

  • Firewall.jpg
    Firewall.jpg
    19.1 KB · Views: 25
Last edited:

engineer

Senior Member
Certainly. You might be surprised how much tilt you can do with front skewers on the plain circular firewall holes. You only need to tilt 10-15 deg at most to get the fire wall up against the foam, and then level the pod back out and the tabs should just slide in.
 

nerdnic

nerdnic.com
Mentor
I don't use the tabs or the rear skewer and all of my swappable I only use one barbecue skewer through the front section. I don't use the front two alignment skewers because my power pods are larger so my batteries can fit inside and the pod actually sits on the wing so everything is nice and square. The trick is you have to reinforce all the holes with thin plastic that has holes drilled through them that way the barbecue skewer doesn't rip the foam. With this set up even on a hard nosedive the plane will not rip the pod will not rip but the barbecue skewer will break.

And best of all it takes 10 seconds to put the power pod back in and get back in the air.
 
Last edited: