Newbie from Germany, with questions

Toxic

New member
Hello everybody, I'm Nadim from Germany and a huge fan of Flite Test. I would love to build the ft-goblin. But since I've never built an airplane from scratch, I have a few questions. Unfortunately I haven't found a makerfoam here in Germany that is covered with paper. Only one without. Can you still realize the plans? I would also like to have the goblin a little bigger. Is it possible to enlarge it?

Cheers

Nadim
 

Quinnyperks

Legendary member
Hello everybody, I'm Nadim from Germany and a huge fan of Flite Test. I would love to build the ft-goblin. But since I've never built an airplane from scratch, I have a few questions. Unfortunately I haven't found a makerfoam here in Germany that is covered with paper. Only one without. Can you still realize the plans? I would also like to have the goblin a little bigger. Is it possible to enlarge it?

Cheers

Nadim
I would reccomend a tiny Trainer or a simple cub instead of a goblin. Welcome
 

mastermalpass

Elite member
Yeah the FT Goblin does look a bit agile for a beginner. I second the tiny Trainer, haven't flown one myself, but everyone else on here seems to swear by it - and the videos of seen of it do make it look like a very forgiving plane.

I build with 6mm Depron foam that has no paper on it either. Where a design may specifically require paper to be left on the foam to support the build, I substitute it with strapping tape and that does the job. You can always work around the minor differences in build materials. I've found that if a model looks like a plane, is balanced well and has a good power-to-weight ratio, it will fly well.

Welcome aboard! :)
 

Toxic

New member
Unfortunately it is very expensive to order a kit in the USA and unfortunately there are no dealers here who sell it. Therefore I have to cut the parts myself with my laser cutter. What thickness of foam do you recommend?

I never said I hadn't flown a wing yet. Just never built one from scratch.

And I would just like to have the goblin a little bigger to get a wingspan of 100-120cm.
 

tesseract

Master member
Unfortunately it is very expensive to order a kit in the USA and unfortunately there are no dealers here who sell it. Therefore I have to cut the parts myself with my laser cutter. What thickness of foam do you recommend?

I never said I hadn't flown a wing yet. Just never built one from scratch.

And I would just like to have the goblin a little bigger to get a wingspan of 100-120cm.
I would say 5mm of foam.
 

mastermalpass

Elite member
Unfortunately it is very expensive to order a kit in the USA and unfortunately there are no dealers here who sell it. Therefore I have to cut the parts myself with my laser cutter. What thickness of foam do you recommend?

I never said I hadn't flown a wing yet. Just never built one from scratch.

And I would just like to have the goblin a little bigger to get a wingspan of 100-120cm.

Ah, my mistake! All the flitetest guys use 5mm foam, 'maker foam' and Dollar Tree Foam being the most common names I see. I use 6mm Depron - Dollar Tree are an American outlet. I have acquired Depron from two sources in the UK. It's good stuff, but its availability varies.

Good news, this one on amazon, are based in Italy! Probably easy to get from within the EU and the UK having just left it doesn't seem to be an obstacle either. If you like it, don't buy it all; I want to restock next week! ;)
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Soo.....I've got the Strix Nano Goblin, The Strix Goblin, AND I've built the FT Goblin. (What can I say, I'm a fan of the Goblins!)

I will tell you that the FT Goblin is perhaps my least favorite of the 3, and I'm actually considering handing off the one I made to someone in my RC club, because I don't like the way it flies compared to the actual Strix Goblins. The nose on it is a friction fit nose, meaning it is held in place by the tightness of the nose. If it's cut a little loose, you'll need something like tape or magnets to get it to stay on, which was not one of my favorite things about it.

Also, balance was an issue with it for me. I had to have a 3S 2200 battery as far forward as I possibly could fit it in order for it to balance properly. Might not be an issue with it if you put FPV gear in the nose, but it seemed like it was REALLY sensitive to the CG.

If you want to build it, more power to you, but I would recommend planning to put expo into your build and set up multiple rates, because it can be a very touchy plane. I would NOT recommend it as a beginner plane, that's for certain.
 

Dr. Looping Looie

Elite member
@Toxic I usually import the real FT foam from the US. In Germany, Graupner did the distribution for FT products, but they are out of business now. You can get a few kits from Lindinger or other RC shops, but they are super expensive because of the shipping from the US. If you want to use Foamboard, the FT stuff is the only option, because its much lighter and easier to work with than other options. I've tried Gerstaerker Foamboard, and it sucked. I prefer brown FT over white FT. Foamboard itself is a great building material because its relatively stiff. Its downsides are warping and paper seperating, which makes your planes last not so long. You can also try depron, which is light, but brittle and needs carbon reinforcement to make it stiffer. Than theres EPP, which is very crash resistant, but hard to cut. You need a hot wire to cut it. Also, its surface structure is pretty shitty and creates lots of turbulent flow, which makes your plane easy to fly at slow speeds, but performance suffers.
Im personally moving away from Foamboard, because I dont get planes that last forever out of it. My new material of choice is called Flexi Foam, and its almost unbreakable, but needs carbon reinforcement. Its not easy to cut, but offers great crash resistance. However, I would not recommend it if you don't have access to a Laser cutter or CNC mill.
My recommendation for you would be to look for FT foamboard or FT kits or use depron.
For the airframe, as others said, the goblin is no ideal beginner plane. A good beginner plane has light wing loading, making it slow, a distinctive shape making orientation easy, and the motor and prop in the back which puts the dangerous and expensive parts in a safe spot. Good beginner planes are: FT Explorer or AirC Pirates (also a German) Trainer, FT Bronco with single motor, FT speedster biplane mod, or my Dornier Libelle or Opel Rak 1.