Sportster Picture and Maiden Thread

[Marty72]

Yeah, Government is something to be feared, IMO.

Yes, Blue and orange would be very nice. Maybe the 3.0?

I'm going all out looking for more fields (maybe some rural neighbors). I may join the club and then I may not.....undecided. I'm deterred but all the government over reach, again, IMO. I'm off the grid and I may stay that way.

Yeah, martial law is just around the corner. If the soccer field wasn't county owned, it would be open. It's ridiculous to close an open field for fears of a bad flu.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Yeah, Government is something to be feared, IMO.

Yes, Blue and orange would be very nice. Maybe the 3.0?

I'm going all out looking for more fields (maybe some rural neighbors). I may join the club and then I may not.....undecided. I'm deterred but all the government over reach, again, IMO. I'm off the grid and I may stay that way.

Yeah, martial law is just around the corner. If the soccer field wasn't county owned, it would be open. It's ridiculous to close an open field for fears of a bad flu.

Off the grid might be a good idea. Thats how i fly.

 

[FL_Engineer]

COngrats on the house / move, sad to hear you had to retire some of the planes though

 

[Marty72]

Now that I have only one house, I'll have a lot more time once I get all the damn stuff I brought from the Fl house integrated into this one. I should have burned it all! Too much stuff. Anyway, I'll be building a lot more now. Not sure if I'll build another Scout, might build some minis, not my favorite but if I have restricted space, that may be what is required. I'd rather run the Sportster and P 40 with 4S but that's way too fast for me on the small field (at least at this point). I'm thinking about a true Red Baron plane, DR 3.

Yes, the selling of the house was time consuming and stressful. The stock market has taken the joy out of the great price I got for the house though.

Let's see how long I can fly this field before I told I can't anymore. Oh yeah, it's th end of winter here, it's not 90 degrees. I love the mild climate here in NC, not to mention the people. It's truly amazing how courteous they are. I forget about that after 6 months in Fl and then after a few days up here, I'm reminded.

 

[FL_Engineer]

Now that I have only one house, I'll have a lot more time once I get all the damn stuff I brought from the Fl house integrated into this one. I should have burned it all! Too much stuff. Anyway, I'll be building a lot more now. Not sure if I'll build another Scout, might build some minis, not my favorite but if I have restricted space, that may be what is required. I'd rather run the Sportster and P 40 with 4S but that's way too fast for me on the small field (at least at this point). I'm thinking about a true Red Baron plane, DR 3.

Yes, the selling of the house was time consuming and stressful. The stock market has taken the joy out of the great price I got for the house though.

Let's see how long I can fly this field before I told I can't anymore. Oh yeah, it's th end of winter here, it's not 90 degrees. I love the mild climate here in NC, not to mention the people. It's truly amazing how courteous they are. I forget about that after 6 months in Fl and then after a few days up here, I'm reminded.

As a native Floridian I can confirm the people here are generally less friendly (that's the nice way to say it). I've spent considerable time "up north" any find the people much more enjoyable. Unfortunately those people are not my family so here I am...

 

[Park Invader]

@Marty72 Marty...beautiful Sportster!

Where did you end up finding the best CG for yours? You made a previous comment that it was somewhere forward of the recommended CG.

Yesterday I began cutting foam on the Sportster, my first FT plane.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

@Marty72 Marty...beautiful Sportster!

Where did you end up finding the best CG for yours? You made a previous comment that it was somewhere forward of the recommended CG.

Yesterday I began cutting foam on the Sportster, my first FT plane.

You will find that the Sportster likes nose heavy and a decent amount of power. It is a big draggy model for the C pack. Probably will work better on 4s

 

[Marty72]

@Marty72 Marty...beautiful Sportster!

Where did you end up finding the best CG for yours? You made a previous comment that it was somewhere forward of the recommended CG.

Yesterday I began cutting foam on the Sportster, my first FT plane.

Thanks.

I've built 2 of them and have a lot of hours on this plane. I settled on 2.0 inches for the CG. Without a Spinner ( used a 2 1/2 inch dubro, 49 grams), you may have a tough time getting to 2.0 inches. Without a spinner, I used 8 quarters, 4 each side (inside) hot glued to the fuse all the way forward. The fuse is really wide, so you can do this and it's out of view. It's a really tough plane and great for belly landings. I think this may be FT most durable plane.

As long as you are in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 you should be fine. At 2.5, I found the plane porpoised a lot and flew really slow. At 2.0, it can be flown fast.

Have fun, and post up pictures and a maiden when you are ready.

 

[Parramon]

I'm pretty much finished with my scratch build of the Sportster. I'd like to see pictures, specs and maidens of other folks Sportsters on here. I searched through the forum, but things are quite sporadic. What prop, motor, cg, ect are you using? What issues have you had?
I'll post up mine in a few.

So post up your Sportsters!

Hi Marty,
Congratulations for your Sporster, good job.
I builded this one two years ago.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/barcelona.55229/#lg=attachment113981&slide=0

 

[Marty72]

Hi Marty,
Congratulations for your Sporster, good job.
I builded this one two years ago.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/barcelona.55229/#lg=attachment113981&slide=0

I really like that, that's pretty damn cool. You've added a touch of bright color for orientation too. Really nice, clean work as well.

 

[Parramon]

I´ve used a Montana Colors (paint for graffiters). The finish of this paint is like satin.

 

[Park Invader]

Thanks.

I've built 2 of them and have a lot of hours on this plane. I settled on 2.0 inches for the CG. Without a Spinner ( used a 2 1/2 inch dubro, 49 grams), you may have a tough time getting to 2.0 inches. Without a spinner, I used 8 quarters, 4 each side (inside) hot glued to the fuse all the way forward. The fuse is really wide, so you can do this and it's out of view. It's a really tough plane and great for belly landings. I think this may be FT most durable plane.

As long as you are in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 you should be fine. At 2.5, I found the plane porpoised a lot and flew really slow. At 2.0, it can be flown fast.

Have fun, and post up pictures and a maiden when you are ready.

Thanks for your insights. I'll set it up with the CG at 2 inches for the maiden. It could be over a week until I can fly because of weather but will post pics and video here.

I do want to add a spinner plus I'm experimenting with other building mods to the FT plan.

 

[Park Invader]

Another FT Sportster, 200% monster version, took to the skies for the first time today. I still have work to complete on the removable upper decks but I wanted to see it flying.

Great flyer and she'll be flying again tomorrow! I'll wait for poor flying weather to apply paint.

 

[The Hangar]

Another FT Sportster, 200% monster version, took to the skies for the first time today. I still have work to complete on the removable upper decks but I wanted to see it flying.

Great flyer and she'll be flying again tomorrow! I'll wait for poor flying weather to apply paint.

That’s awesome!! Any video?

 

[Marty72]

Another FT Sportster, 200% monster version, took to the skies for the first time today. I still have work to complete on the removable upper decks but I wanted to see it flying.

Great flyer and she'll be flying again tomorrow! I'll wait for poor flying weather to apply paint.

Wow! That's an awesome looking bird. Another? First I've seen. Please tell us more about the specs and the build. Love to see video.

 

[Park Invader]

I'll make a video and a full post after it gets paint and LEDs in the next 1-2 weeks.

Rough specs from memory.
Wing span: 80 inch, removable
Weight: 13lbs
Motor: Dualsky 4030
Battery: 6s 8000ma
6 inch wheels
Servos: Hitech standard high torque
Glue: Mostly Gorilla followed by epoxy and hot glue

Built using FT foam board with wood reinforcements. Wood and foam spar in the main wings. 1.6 lbs each. I think I could get them to 1 lb each next time. This was my first FT build, first real scratch build not counting delta wings and new I would learn from it.

The maker fb (white) is twice as heavy as the regular fb so I only used the maker fb for wings with double layers on the rudder and elevator. A single layer wasn't strong enough on the tail surfaces for something this size long term. If I used the regular fb on the top of the wings it would probably shave off a pound. I didn't think about it until after they were glued.

When I arrived at the flying to discover 2 of the 3 batteries we still in the garage so I didn't get as much flying as I liked. Tonight I'll fly it again.

I think I need to move the cg back a little. It needed a lot of up trim but I didn't want it tail heavy on the first flight.

It was tough to steer on the ground. A steerable tailwheel would help a lot.

With this size and weight it was smooth flying. Reminded me of flying my old Maxi Joker helicopter that was around 10 lbs. Predictable and a pleasure to fly.

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Another FT Sportster, 200% monster version, took to the skies for the first time today. I still have work to complete on the removable upper decks but I wanted to see it flying.

Great flyer and she'll be flying again tomorrow! I'll wait for poor flying weather to apply paint.

That thing is huge! I want to see video as well. Love this model

 

[Park Invader]

Here's a video a friend shot yesterday of the flight. My daughter is always happy when the plane doesn't crash.

And here's the FT video from last year. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=377922599420084

 

[BATTLEAXE]

Here's a video a friend shot yesterday of the flight. My daughter is always happy when the plane doesn't crash.

And here's the FT video from last year. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=377922599420084

That is awesome! Likes to loop at the end of the roll out. Such a gentle giant

 

[Marty72]

I'll make a video and a full post after it gets paint and LEDs in the next 1-2 weeks.

Rough specs from memory.
Wing span: 80 inch, removable
Weight: 13lbs
Motor: Dualsky 4030
Battery: 6s 8000ma
6 inch wheels
Servos: Hitech standard high torque
Glue: Mostly Gorilla followed by epoxy and hot glue

Built using FT foam board with wood reinforcements. Wood and foam spar in the main wings. 1.6 lbs each. I think I could get them to 1 lb each next time. This was my first FT build, first real scratch build not counting delta wings and new I would learn from it.

The maker fb (white) is twice as heavy as the regular fb so I only used the maker fb for wings with double layers on the rudder and elevator. A single layer wasn't strong enough on the tail surfaces for something this size long term. If I used the regular fb on the top of the wings it would probably shave off a pound. I didn't think about it until after they were glued.

When I arrived at the flying to discover 2 of the 3 batteries we still in the garage so I didn't get as much flying as I liked. Tonight I'll fly it again.

I think I need to move the cg back a little. It needed a lot of up trim but I didn't want it tail heavy on the first flight.

It was tough to steer on the ground. A steerable tailwheel would help a lot.

With this size and weight it was smooth flying. Reminded me of flying my old Maxi Joker helicopter that was around 10 lbs. Predictable and a pleasure to fly.

Wow! That is huge and it flies really smoothly.

So did you find a 200 scale version plan or did you just scale up the Ft prints and figure out the wood spar and double up on your own?

Thanks for all the data, that's nice to see. I didn't expect it to be 13 lbs.

Really awesome! Thanks for sharing. Did you ever build a simple FT scale version?