That plane you have, but never fly

Swanno

New member
Well, over 8 months ago I scratch built the FT Bloody Baron. The reason I built this plane was to have a 4 channel that I could learn to use ailerons with. However, due to the size of the park I was flying in I had stepped towards minis and ended up flying a mini scout most of the time.

I eventually got fed up the amount of people at the park and decided to find a new flying spot. During this time I was having a lot of problems with the mini's everyday was mildly windy and I could never get a smooth flight without contending with gusts of wind which left my mini scout at a standstill on full throttle. (Using the small 1806 emax motor from power pack A, a 800 mah 3s battery and a slightly irresponsible 5x4.5 prop.)

I found a place near my house, although double the distance than to the park there is usually no one there allowing me to fly my larger model(s). I ended up pulling out my Bloody Baron that was sitting in my room with two nice metal gear 9 gram servos (which I was tempted to take out at one point) and a nylon one for the rudder.

Since the plane was made from Australian foam board I had to use a NTM prop-drive 28-26 1200 kv motor turning a 8x6 prop with a 25 amp esc. The esc was perhaps a bit too small and after a short flight it felt very hot so I took the precaution of replacing it with a BL heli 30 amp esc. I was surprised to find that the 30 amp esc actually had a noticeable effect on how the Baron flew. I did break one prop on the first landing but I had one more and was able to put the plane up again for 15 minutes. With a little bit of trim it flew great even in the typical wind I was facing with the minis.

If I changed the power plant to power pack C with a 10x4.5 prop will it perform better?

This was my first proper 4 channel plane with ailerons, although I did modify my mini scout to have ailerons I couldn’t keep it in the air for more than 10 seconds before having to “land”.

Other than the poor landing which resulted in a cart wheel that broke the prop as I mentioned earlier. The Baron flew great and extremely smooth allowing me to make mistakes and recover when learning how to turn. By the end of the second flight which depleted the battery I was pretty confident in my ability to fly this particular 4 channel plane.
Too bad I only had 1 2200 mah on me...

Anyone else got a plane that you never fly?


Baron and scout.PNG
 
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Swanno

New member
I flew the Baron again today however this time I changed my setup to power pack C and found that the slow fly props lose quite a bit of 'punch' in the wind. When I came in to land I broke another prop. I just can't seem to get those landings right. I ended up changing the prop again to a 9x6 which flew great the larger angle of attack on the props cut through the air really well.

I ended up doing several loops and rolls before becoming comfortable enough to try half a loop then roll the plane at the top which worked great. I got a good 15 minutes of flying in before I tried to roll it repeatedly which resulted in a crash breaking the prop again.

I guess I just have to work on the landings now. I was trying to glide it in but due to the extra weight of the foam it doesn't glide as well as the foam Flite Test uses.

If you have any advice it would be appreciated since I only have my friends to fly with and I'm the most experienced in the group which is not saying a lot.
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Hi Swanno.

The Baron, in my opinion is not a plane for learning on. So if you're flying it, and you're new, then you're doing great. I've been flying a while (since the mid 90's) and when I maidened my Baron, it didn't go well. There was a cart wheel and a broken prop.

I don't know about yours, but mine is a rocket ship! I love it, it flies great, it tracks like it's on rails, but it's a fast flying plane. I haven't flown it since October, mostly because I managed to mangle the rudder, and haven't taken the time to rebuild it. Partly because it's too ast for where I have close by to fly.

I'd suggest something like the FT Explorer for a next aileron build. Or even better, the Sportster. I loved my Sportster.
 

kacknor

Build another!
My first flyers were the scratch built FT Nutball and FT Flyer plus a Horizon Blade 200QX quad. I ordered props for all of then by the dozens. Really. 10 pack, 20 pieces, were keyword searches. I still have quite the surplus but don't break props much anymore. Yes, it gets better. Look up "Propsaver" and learn the diameters of your motor shafts. Propsavers are your friends for no wheels or grass landings.

I still have that FT-Flyer. It was made from Elmer's foam and while I dented it a bit, the stuff is tough! Haven't flown it in a long time.

JD
 

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
Ive got quite a selection of planes I do not fly. Mostly because I never put any electronics on them after I bough them. Maybe I should do that.
 

bhursey

The Geeky Pilot
I have a fiber glass balsa glider. More like a hot liner i flew it once in 2003 it was to fast for me at the time and i did not want to destroy it. I guess one day I will fly it again its ready to go.. image.jpg
 

kacknor

Build another!
I have this thing:

20160117_105148.jpg

I learned a whole lot more about fixing it than I ever did flying it for the same reason. Way too fast for me to keep up with at the time, even with the rate and expos dialed back. It's possible I may try it again soon. But not yet. No, not yet.... ;)

JD
 

bhursey

The Geeky Pilot
I have this thing:

View attachment 61709

I learned a whole lot more about fixing it than I ever did flying it for the same reason. Way too fast for me to keep up with at the time, even with the rate and expos dialed back. It's possible I may try it again soon. But not yet. No, not yet.... ;)

JD

Ohh yah when I flew it I did not have exp's or DR's mabey mine will be eaisier now. :p. Still i dont want to distrot my nicest plane..
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
My first FT scratch build and second plane was a versa wing. I flew it two, maybe three separate times at the field. Then I decorated the bottom with some nice artwork only to never take it out again. I moved on to build my first quad, which is the reason I was learning to fly in the first place, and the wing has eluded me since. Now I'm seeing all these FPV wings and races and I'm starting to want to bring the versa back out or build another wing.

VersaArt.jpg
 

JohnRambozo

Posted a thousand or more times
My scratch built H-1 doesn't get out much. I love it, but its so fast, I'm worried it might get away from me at the public park I fly in and that could be very bad.


YJ10jJm.jpg

 

Capt_Beavis

Posted a thousand or more times
The only thing I don't fly are my 1S planes. I don't find them fun most of the time.


For advice on the Baron, try a 1300mAh battery. The lighter weight improves handling and makes for nicer landings.
 

Swanno

New member
About my experiences

Since I changed the motor on the Baron it seems to handle a lot better. The only problem with changing down the setup for lower weight such as a 1300 mah battery is that it would become tail heavy even with a 70 gram motor. I did try using a 1600 mah but since the Australian foam board is much denser than the Readi Board I had to settle on a very heavy setup in order to get the CG right. This sucks because I wanted to use a blue wonder motor.

Thanks for the warning on the Baron being hard to fly... I was going to use it to teach my brother with buddy box which I guess is not a good idea. He has not flown as much as me. He does want an Explorer though so I will make one for him.

I'm not entirely new to flying I started close to this time last year although I made the mistake of getting a F-22 and a Mustang which I knew I would work at the time to get to a level of competence to fly (It's still under my bed). Since it was my first attempt at flying anything other than my little RC helicopter it obviously did not go well and had a few crashes and eventually I was able to do a circle and land but it was too intimidating at the time and I was scared of the motor. So I put that plane away for a while and ordered three Tiny Trainers for myself, my brother and my friend in one package (got to save on that shipping). I ended up flying it pretty well the first time I went out with it but progressively the wind started to pick up over August and I would have to wait 2 weeks at a time to get out.

F22.PNG

Eventually the air frame started to twist and I got some characteristics from it that I really did not like so I tried my second scratch build on the Mini Scout which worked great (the first was a versa wing, it did not go well). I ended up using a 3 cell to get the cg instead of altering the plans to have a longer nose. I flew that for a few months but the wind was still pretty bad and this is where I think I got a lot better at flying. When there were high gusts of wind or just constant wind I took out the scout and managed to fly in it pretty well until I was able to correct for it.

At this point I was several months through just flying 3 channel and I had only tried elevons twice as well as a single day with a pun jet which I knew wouldn't go down well it was just for fun). Since I was still into minis I did build the mini Sportster but due to the additional weight of the Australian foam board this didn't go well. I crashed after like ten seconds and broke the tail...

Sportster.PNG

I didn't want to use my Baron at the park I was flying at like some of you have mentioned; you didn't want a particular plane getting away from you. At this point I had no idea how it would react and the highest priority for me is safety I don't want to cause any harm and hurt someone else. So when I found my new spot which was a field which is barely used by anyone to fly, the Baron finally got its maiden. After the mini sportster and mini scout with ailerons this was my second proper aileron plane so I was surprised that I was able to fly it. It just flew great maybe the weight of the foam made it slower and easier to fly? It still goes pretty fast but I can only explain it as if it just clicked... I did watch a stick movement videos and the way Josh flew the planes in most of the Flite test videos which I think helped a lot.

The only thing I can suggest to anyone with the Baron is make sure you got the rates and expos dialed in and only use small stick movements. I can warn people from getting the F-22 as a starting plane it was really a bad choice. The Tiny Trainer was probably my first real success. I never did build that aileron sport wing woops...

The plane I didn't want to destroy was the Sportster and well...
 
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LooseBruce

Senior Member
Bloody Baron Prop Breakage

Hi,
Great news on flying your Bloody Baron. I have the Bloody Wonder and the Bloody Baron and have rebuilt them a few times. They fly great and always encourage me to expand my limits resulting in hard landings. I think you should try a prop saver set up, It greatly reduces prop breakage. Also make sure your motor is off when you hit the ground. I almost always glide these planes in for a landing. They fly quite well with out the motor for a few seconds. I also land them in a very tight area so I tend to have to spiral down to a landing. The prop saver is the way to go. Also I use APC type props which are heavier than other types.
And finally this plane WILL fly well with E type props as well as slow fly so consider those. They are worth a try.
LooseBruce
 

Techno

Sunny Day Park Flyer
This thread kind of makes me sad. I have a bunch of planes, including a bix3 which I'll use for FPV in the spring, a Spitfire (which I need to rebuild), a custom cargo plane, and a new thing for trying out 3D. But there's one more, my glider. I got into RC back in the summer of 2013 with my first glider. When I first got my glider, I waited two days just to build it. Then I flew it on the last day possible before school started, and crashed it into a tree after a very impressive first flight (for someone who thought he could fly for an hour with the motor on, just because it was advertised) After I glued the wing back together, I got a smaller plane, which was OK, but not great (high wing loading, bad stall) I'll just skip a Harbor Freight Mustang, what a hunk of trash. By then, it was time for FliteFest 2014, and I built my Spitfire, and had a wonderful time. Since then I've built, crashed, and acquired lots of planes, and I fly them when I can. But this thread made me think back to my glider. I have only flown it once, and crashed it twice; I don't even remember what it flies like, I've never landed it successfully. So thanks to you guys on this thread. Because of this, I'm going to dig up my glider in the spring, and fly it, and land it.
 

Swanno

New member
Day 3

My best wishes to you when you retry your glider Techno. I did the same thing to my versa-copter, have to order some parts...

That cub looks really cool dgrigor02. At the moment I'm flying planes that are pretty much white. All your planes are nicely decorated and I love the color schemes, so unique.

Update on the Baron flying 3rd day in a row. Magically I did not break a prop at all, thank you for the advice. I still need to pick up a prop saver though but I may have to order one, my local Hobby shop caters mainly to RC Cars so there is not a big selection of planes or supplies for planes at all.

I flew the Baron in for the landing and as I flared each time I had the motor at around 20% than stopped it, two gentle landings. I ended up taking my second lipo and used them both. My friend who doesn't fly came to watch and kept asking me to do a barrel roll...

I think he got some good video on his phone but I’m still waiting for him to send it to me.

Do you guys have a short flying season? Here I can usually get away with flying in winter just have to avoid the wind and get some flying in between the rain which is generally pretty easy.
 
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