Plane Suggestions...

Barto

Junior Member
I would love to see some better (easier) flying planes that new pilots might be attracted to offered as swappable kits (or at least downloadable plans).

A few examples:

Sig Kadet LT-25 style plane – FT Kadet would be a great 4 channel trainer plane that could easily grow with a new pilot into an FPV platform or tow plane. This plane lends itself to usual swappable series construction techniques. It might not be as sexy looking to a new pilot as a warbird, but market it with a cool color scheme and stress how easy it is to fly compared to a Spitty and I think new pilots would be attracted.

Big Stik/Das Ugly Stik style plane - FT Stik would be a great flying plane to introduce mild aerobatics, looks cool, and lends itself to the usual swappable series construction methods.

PT-19 style plane – FT-19 would be a great first low-wing plane with a pretty decent amount of dihedral. It looks cool while being much less slippery than a fighter.

Warbirds look great and can be a blast to fly, but they have also discouraged a lot of new pilots from continuing in the hobby after initial failures from making a poor selection for a first plane.
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
The FT Old Fogey plans are currently available, but it will soon be offered as a speed build kit toward the end of November (before the end of the 15% off deal). It is a high wing slow flyer that would be suitable for a beginner. Also a mid wing version called the Old Speedster will also become available. They may even have a bundle deal going on. Watch for them in the store.

Rumor has it that Josh is also working on an actual FT Trainer, but I'm not sure if that was the Old Speedster or if it was a completely different plane.
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
I know a few people made swappable trainers and published articles on the Flite Test home page. If you do an article search for "swappable trainer" you'll find them.

I myself have worked on trying to build a swappable trainer. I ran into some problems because my goal was to make it out of a single sheet of dollar tree foam board. But I know if I take that requirement out, I can easily build a great first plane that is easy to build. The plane I build actually looks a lot like the simple soarer, but with the old fogey airfoil to make it a lot easier to build. I kept folding the wings mid-flight because the cord was too small for how long the wings were. I need to either make the wings smaller, or use more foam board.

I think Flite Test is going to keep focusing on building more and more complicated planes. But I know there are a lot of Flite Test fans that create, build, and share their own designs. It's the great thing about their site and forum.
 

Barto

Junior Member
I've seen some great scratch built trainer type planes from other people. I was hoping the FT team might go that direction (or even low wing 4 channel trainer type -think T-28 or PT-19) in kit form. I think lots of first time builders are scared of building from plans and want laser cut kits.
 

Barto

Junior Member
Wow, great minds think alike! The FT Old Speedster is almost exactly what I was thinking of in a low wing trainer. Question: With the amount of dihedral in that Old Fogey wing, are ailerons an option? I would love to see a really slow, easy flying 4 channel low wing plane.

Next, how about a Top Flite Elder/Hobby King Pioneer/Eindecker style plane for the old guys?
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
Question: With the amount of dihedral in that Old Fogey wing, are ailerons an option? I would love to see a really slow, easy flying 4 channel low wing plane.

You could either make an Old Fogey with less dihedral or no dihedral. I think what it has is a little too much for ailerons. You wouldn't get as much self correcting with no dihedral, but the point of a 4channel is to have no self correction.