Slow And Steady Wins The Racer!!

mayan

Legendary member
Alright so I told @BATTLEAXE that I want to build the FT Racer and he went along and did the best I could ask for and opened this build thread. Then @FoamyDM opened the Build Ruary challenge again and I had to join this year so I added the Racer to my list. Two days ago I actaully finished building it. I don't have any pictures of the build process and not much to add as I built it stock, expect that the build is pretty simple and straight forward. I like building the stock version first before trying to mod things. One thing that does bother me with this model though is the fact that the wings are not removeable. For folks like me that have limited store room that makes storing a plane this size a bit hard. That is a change I might do any how, but we will see in due time, for now it's sitting on my computer table. Here is a single picture to show the beauty of the bird, which I think was one of my cleanest builds BTW.

661120C3-E6BA-4502-9A9F-E95550D400F4.jpeg

I went with the speed canopy in the end because I was lazy and didn't feel like doing the sligner look which I intially wanted to do.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Alright so I told @BATTLEAXE that I want to build the FT Racer and he went along and did the best I could ask for and opened this build thread. Then @FoamyDM opened the Build Ruary challenge again and I had to join this year so I added the Racer to my list. Two days ago I actaully finished building it. I don't have any pictures of the build process and not much to add as I built it stock, expect that the build is pretty simple and straight forward. I like building the stock version first before trying to mod things. One thing that does bother me with this model though is the fact that the wings are not removeable. For folks like me that have limited store room that makes storing a plane this size a bit hard. That is a change I might do any how, but we will see in due time, for now it's sitting on my computer table. Here is a single picture to show the beauty of the bird, which I think was one of my cleanest builds BTW.

I went with the speed canopy in the end because I was lazy and didn't feel like doing the sligner look which I intially wanted to do.
That does look awesome buddy! When's the maiden?!
 

mayan

Legendary member
That does look awesome buddy! When's the maiden?!
I want to maiden it two days ago :), but it's raining and super windy :(. So probably will have to wait for mid next week when the field dires up a bit and the wind dies out. I'll try to use the time to paint it though :). Plus I got to pull out my Edge 540 and swap it's motor for a new one I got so I can use the C pack that I had on it on this.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I want to maiden it two days ago :), but it's raining and super windy :(. So probably will have to wait for mid next week when the field dires up a bit and the wind dies out. I'll try to use the time to paint it though :). Plus I got to pull out my Edge 540 and swap it's motor for a new one I got so I can use the C pack that I had on it on this.
What's the new motor?
 

mayan

Legendary member
Alright so @BATTLEAXE this is for you, enjoy :).
FT-Build-Ruary: FT Racer Build by @mayan

View attachment 160259

Build Rating: View attachment 160260
Fly Rating: View attachment 160275


Plans: https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/ft-racer.57/

I choose to build this model because ever since I joined the Flite Test family the awesome paint job that the FT team did on theirs made me jealous, regardless the model looked like a fast slick bird that I felt that I must have in my fleet and now I do :).

The build is very straight forward, and comes together quite nice without any complications in the process. This build like the Hawk Hurricane also uses quite a bit of poster board, which like mentioned in the past is something that requires some practice to get prefect. Having said that this is one of the builds which I was the most pleased of. I am a bit disappointed with the paint job though and feel like it's missing something but can't put my finger on what, and too lazy and bummed out about it to actually try figure it out. I built it stock, but when I do build it again there is one thing I would do different and that is put the tail servos in the fuselage. The reason is because this model was hard to balance and seemed tail heavy thus moving the tail servos closer to the CG would help balance the plane. I didn't make the wings removable because I was aiming for speed and on the FT video they explained that this is the reason why unlike the Spitfire this model doesn't have removable wings. I still might try the removable wing mod because it would make it easier for me to store aside the model instead of having it sit on my computer table in the work room.


This model tracks like an arrow and will do anything you tell it to do, but it does require speed to achieve that and stay stable. The plane is slippery, fast and manoeuvrable but unlike the Hawk Hurricane doesn't seem to wing stall as easy which I think is is related to the poster board pieces that are glued to the wing tips on this model. The model can only slow down so much before it will stall on you so just beware of that. This is definitely a fun bird to fly and is highly recommended to those looking for speed. In terms of aerobatics completely capable of everything but not 3D manoeuvres. The wide fuselage of the bird also to put in a big battery like a 4S to achieve even more speed. Most of my flying was done on a low rates 70% deflection and 30% expo and was enough to get the plane to do what I wanted. This is not a plane that I would recommend new pilots to try and fly because it does require experience with fast flying including fast landing. This is a plane that I would recommend one to try after he/she flew at least 5 different types of models successfully.

To sum up my experience this model can be fun for those who can handle the speed and have a big enough area to fly in because the plane does need a place to rip the sky exactly like in the Planes movie taking part in the "Wings around the Globe" air race :). This plane has won a place in my fleet, but next time will be built and painted a bit different :).