Okie newbie

Theuglycamel

Active member
Hello everyone! New member here and actually just got my first FT kit today. Been flying for almost 30 years but I’m a much better builder than a pilot. My skills have provided me with plenty of (re)build projects. I’ve worked with balsa primarily but I’m excited to see how this turns out. It’ll be my first twin as well so I’m stoked about that. My only question for the masses would be, would a low level intermediate pilot with decades of bad habits be ok with the diff-steering? Or should I tie the motors for the first few crashes? I hate to say, but the steering almost has me more excited than the plane itself... thanks for a great forum!!!
 

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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
Welcome to the forums.
You should be able to handle the differential thrust without any problems.
I'm also a former balsa builder. Foamboard planes are much easier to build and a lot tougher. They will survive a crash that would destroy a balsa plane.
 

Headbang

Master member
Welcome!
I think you will be very happy with your choice! Do not be apprehensive about differential thrust, it makes for some real neat flat turns, but is very tame compared to a 3d planes rudder. The Guinea pig and the sea duck are amazing planes, they slow right down, can be very docile, but also are a fun sport plane when you want them to be.
Good luck!
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
Welcome! I'm very new to the hobby myself, and though I'm not that great a builder yet, I'd say my building and design skills exceed my flying by a decent amount too. Foamboard is probably the easiest and most forgiving material to work with in an otherwise unforgiving hobby. I can't tell you much about differential thrust. The last time I flew an rc plane with differential thrust, (besides the broken down and anemic Tom Clancy C147 Paladin my neighbor recently gave me), was as a teenager in the early 2000's. One of the two planes I flew used differential thrust only and no other controls, and I think had brushed motors. I'll try to find the link, but there was a recent FT article about twin engine planes and how they really aren't as intimidating as people think.

Edit; Here's the link. Hope this helps. https://www.flitetest.com/articles/multi-engined-rc-airplanes-what-you-need-to-know
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Welcome to the forums! :D

Another builder of balsa and foam here! And I'd say you'll have a lot of fun with the differential thrust - I did it with a Mini Guinea Pig and it felt like it could turn around in a plane length. Practice some slow turns a couple mistakes high so you get a feel for how she will stall out before you try to land the first time. Don't want that turn on the base leg to be the last one ;)
 

Theuglycamel

Active member
Thanks for the welcomes and the feedback! Vimana, that wasn't an aero ace was it? I believe I killed at least 4 of those back in my 20s lol. I'd love to have two of em now for my kiddos. Thanks also for the reassurances, I'm definitely going to add the differential now. One thing about this platform, there's almost TOO much you can do with it. I keep catching myself dreaming up more and more oddities to add later on (this may wind up being my first FPV plane too). Hope everyone has a great weekend, and I should have some pics to share of my build by tomorrow evening.
 

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Vimana89

Legendary member
Thanks for the welcomes and the feedback! Vimana, that wasn't an aero ace was it? I believe I killed at least 4 of those back in my 20s lol. I'd love to have two of em now for my kiddos. Thanks also for the reassurances, I'm definitely going to add the differential now. One thing about this platform, there's almost TOO much you can do with it. I keep catching myself dreaming up more and more oddities to add later on (this may wind up being my first FPV plane too). Hope everyone has a great weekend, and I should have some pics to share of my build by tomorrow evening.
I believe it was, in fact, the aero ace or something very similar. Mine broke eventually, I think I have a motor from it laying around somewhere.
 

Headbang

Master member
I was out flying is some nasty wind a few days ago. Differential thrust really made the difference with my seaduck while turning into the wind!
 

Theuglycamel

Active member
I didn't even think about the advantages in wind... and here in OK, it only stops blowing to change direction lol. Finished up the wing last night and thought of another question. I'm counter-rotating my engines, is there a preference to inward or outward rotation? I don't know that there would be any noticeable difference, but since they would act as a gyro maybe inward would produce more stability? Thanks again for all the input!
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
This is an exciting new thread! Right off the bat, and we're talking differentials. Awesome stuff. To answer your question, both props should be pointed forward, and both motors rotating the same way. The props go on with the letters out and the motors should spin counter-clockwise. The differential comes in by applying a different thrust to either motor. All the the thrust of each should still be towards the back of the plane.

If you are counter-rotating your motors, then I guess you'd to have reverse the prop on the one going backwards? Now we're at the end of my knowledge.

Now I'm guessing. You want counter-rotating props to act as a gyroscope to help balance the plane in the wind. My personal opinion? There is no weight in a prop, and the centrifugal force inherent would not be enough to make a difference. With my very limited experience and knowledge, I'm thinking a polyhedral wing, lots of thrust and ailerons to handle the wind.

Hopefully others with more knowledge and experience than I will soon chime in.

That's why I love the FliteTest forum! I can't wait to see video!

Welcome to our forum family! I am very glad that you are here!
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
This is an exciting new thread! Right off the bat, and we're talking differentials. Awesome stuff. To answer your question, both props should be pointed forward, and both motors rotating the same way. The props go on with the letters out and the motors should spin counter-clockwise. The differential comes in by applying a different thrust to either motor. All the the thrust of each should still be towards the back of the plane.

If you are counter-rotating your motors, then I guess you'd to have reverse the prop on the one going backwards? Now we're at the end of my knowledge.

Now I'm guessing. You want counter-rotating props to act as a gyroscope to help balance the plane in the wind. My personal opinion? There is no weight in a prop, and the centrifugal force inherent would not be enough to make a difference. With my very limited experience and knowledge, I'm thinking a polyhedral wing, lots of thrust and ailerons to handle the wind.

Hopefully others with more knowledge and experience than I will soon chime in.

That's why I love the FliteTest forum! I can't wait to see video!

Welcome to our forum family! I am very glad that you are here!
It is highly suggested to use counter rotating props because the motors produce a lot of torque, try flying a mini mustang with an f-pack without the thrust angle.
To answer your question @Theuglycamel , I’m not completely sure myself, in the super bee build video they show them rotating up and towards the fuselage (right wing motor, pilots view, would spin ccw, and the left would spin cw).
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
It is highly suggested to use counter rotating props because the motors produce a lot of torque, try flying a mini mustang with an f-pack without the thrust angle.
To answer your question @Theuglycamel , I’m not completely sure myself, in the super bee build video they show them rotating up and towards the fuselage (right wing motor, pilots view, would spin ccw, and the left would spin cw).
LOL. Boy I seriously missed something, somewhere! Thank you, Paracodespoder!
 

Theuglycamel

Active member
This will definitely be something to test out. I'm going to start out running inboard (this seems to be the norm with scale aircraft). I'm running older ipower 2212 1000kv spinning knock off 10x5.7 drone props (5 bucks for 5 pair! ccw & cw). As soon as I get comfortable with this plane I'll try swapping to outboard to see if there's a difference. Build took a little longer than I thought, but I'm fairly happy with the results so far. Of course most of my delay was just staring at this giant box thinking of all the goddies I wanna cram in there lol. All I'm lacking now is a decent day to maiden. Again, thank you everyone for making a guy feel welcome! I'll post vids of the maiden as soon as the wind dies down.
 

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buzzbomb

I know nothing!
This will definitely be something to test out. I'm going to start out running inboard (this seems to be the norm with scale aircraft). I'm running older ipower 2212 1000kv spinning knock off 10x5.7 drone props (5 bucks for 5 pair! ccw & cw). As soon as I get comfortable with this plane I'll try swapping to outboard to see if there's a difference. Build took a little longer than I thought, but I'm fairly happy with the results so far. Of course most of my delay was just staring at this giant box thinking of all the goddies I wanna cram in there lol. All I'm lacking now is a decent day to maiden. Again, thank you everyone for making a guy feel welcome! I'll post vids of the maiden as soon as the wind dies down.
Nice looking build! I'm really looking forward to the maiden flight. I'm glad you intend to get video. (y)
 

Theuglycamel

Active member
Thank you kindly buzzbomb! There are a few things I wish I could have made a little cleaner (I should have practiced the aileron angle cuts before doing them) but all in all it went together great. I do believe I'm hooked on FT Foamies now. If the weather doesn't clear, I'll go ahead and get some color on it this weekend. Ya'll stay warm!
 

Theuglycamel

Active member
Well yesterday was an atmospheric phenomenon here in NE OK. 50 degrees with 5mph north wind. Maiden went awesome, I've got a short crappy vid here. I'm running high rates, no expo, 50% differential. She did fantastic except for the nose gear collapsing on takeoff (hence the woopties at the beginning). After this vid I did a durability test against a Red Oak and I must say, I'm impressed. Dented the nose and broke a prop, 10 min later I was back in the air. Flew 6 times last night and even with these off brand 2212's she'll hover, invert, knife edge, and crappie flop without breaking a sweat. What's more, if I had differential thrust at 100%, she would fly EXACTLY like the PhoenixRC model (except for the durability settings of course). Anything I tell this bird to do it does it without any bad habits. My only complaint would be how low the tail wants to drag when banking. Takes quite a bit of rudder to keep it level. I'll see how 100% diff thrust helps. Sorry I didn't get the landing, but they've all been very uneventful so far. With this gear setup, it's actually difficult to crap a landing.
I'm going to go with larger gear, a new spring setup for the nose gear, and work on the drop hatch linkage next. We're back to rain again here so I should have a few days to get the details finished up. I do believe she's earned her name badge and a few more stripes. I've got a few more threads started on this plane so I'll try to link them all together with this vid.