CapnBry
Elite member
This has been on my to build list for the past 6 months now, but I was worried about doing the split rear tail with the two pushrods and if I could get that to work. Turns out, that part was super easy, barely an inconvenience. The only part that was a bit of trouble was attaching the posterboard along to the tail. This build has about 40% of it just barely attached, and the other 60% not attached at all. The bottom of the posterboard is on real good though, so it isn't going anywhere. It just doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. Speed wing build with a 3D printed PLA box spar. (my cat for scale)
I'm a big fan of using a hot iron to melt the edges of the FT planes, so I thought I'd give it a try here too instead of cutting it all out with a knife to form the contours for the wing and tail pieces. It worked okish on the wing, where following similar instructions to Nick's I ironed the inside before folding. I had a hard time keeping the trailing edge from splitting open when gluing so there's a bit of some gap on one side. For the tail surfaces, I ironed the contour in after making the folds. This worked great. I also tried it on a spare wing half (oops I made two left wing halves) and that's definitely the way to go. Just fold the wing in half and glue it shut, then come back after with the iron and shape it.
Because I had two thicknesses of paper in the center of each fold (I did not remove any paper from the inside), I decided to make my hinges there, cutting off 45 degree bevels on both the top and bottom of the control surface and leaving the double paper as a hinge. This also worked great, but remember to run glue along the edges and also where the new edges will be once the control surface is cut out. If you don't, the hinge will develop a small gap between the top and bottom inner paper layers and it will act like a spring returning the surface back to center. This puts a little extra strain on the servo, but it doesn't appear to be a problem in the one aileron I neglected to glue properly.
Waiting to maiden for the paint to fully cure. You may notice the wing filet are missing. I thought these were going to be hard to get on but they were super easy too. I did minwax the whole plane before I tried to put them on though so when I came back after letting them cool, they were just sitting on top of the wing with the hot glue fully cooled and flat but not sticking at all. I'll try again once minwax dries-- the solvent in it breaks hot glue down like denatured alcohol does.
FlySky FS-iA6B receiver
30A BLHeli_32 ESC
FliteTest Radial 2212 1050KV motor (B pack)
9x4.7 SF prop (all I have in 9", but will try it and maybe go with 4S on an 8x6)
4x 9g SG90 knockoff servos
3S 1400mAh battery
All up weight 565g (115g battery)
Thanks to Nic for the plans and stellar 2 hour long build video I've seen like 19 times now. Looking to replace my many-times-destroyed-until-floppy FT Mustang as my long term go to aerobatic flyer.
I'm a big fan of using a hot iron to melt the edges of the FT planes, so I thought I'd give it a try here too instead of cutting it all out with a knife to form the contours for the wing and tail pieces. It worked okish on the wing, where following similar instructions to Nick's I ironed the inside before folding. I had a hard time keeping the trailing edge from splitting open when gluing so there's a bit of some gap on one side. For the tail surfaces, I ironed the contour in after making the folds. This worked great. I also tried it on a spare wing half (oops I made two left wing halves) and that's definitely the way to go. Just fold the wing in half and glue it shut, then come back after with the iron and shape it.
Because I had two thicknesses of paper in the center of each fold (I did not remove any paper from the inside), I decided to make my hinges there, cutting off 45 degree bevels on both the top and bottom of the control surface and leaving the double paper as a hinge. This also worked great, but remember to run glue along the edges and also where the new edges will be once the control surface is cut out. If you don't, the hinge will develop a small gap between the top and bottom inner paper layers and it will act like a spring returning the surface back to center. This puts a little extra strain on the servo, but it doesn't appear to be a problem in the one aileron I neglected to glue properly.
Waiting to maiden for the paint to fully cure. You may notice the wing filet are missing. I thought these were going to be hard to get on but they were super easy too. I did minwax the whole plane before I tried to put them on though so when I came back after letting them cool, they were just sitting on top of the wing with the hot glue fully cooled and flat but not sticking at all. I'll try again once minwax dries-- the solvent in it breaks hot glue down like denatured alcohol does.
FlySky FS-iA6B receiver
30A BLHeli_32 ESC
FliteTest Radial 2212 1050KV motor (B pack)
9x4.7 SF prop (all I have in 9", but will try it and maybe go with 4S on an 8x6)
4x 9g SG90 knockoff servos
3S 1400mAh battery
All up weight 565g (115g battery)
Thanks to Nic for the plans and stellar 2 hour long build video I've seen like 19 times now. Looking to replace my many-times-destroyed-until-floppy FT Mustang as my long term go to aerobatic flyer.
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