mayan
Legendary member
He is just happy it’s not a design issue 🤣😂🤣😂
The "Simple Stick" - builders thread and plans
- Thread starter The Hangar
- Start date
TooJung2Die
Master member
Sorry about your new Stik. Lots of good lessons to be learned here. It is weird the default low battery alarm is set to go off after you no longer have any control. That's pretty useless. It's only foam. It always sucks to crash but it's less depressing to crash a foamy than a balsa build you spent months on. Good luck with the re-maiden.
Don't give up on me yet, there's still time for that! lol.
OK. So to better feedback (with media):
First maiden (with aforementioned radio failure, no video):
Second maiden: here. Prior to flying again I needed a new prop and had to rebuild the power pod. The firewall was broken and would have added a bit of unwanted side thrust from the first crash. Upon launch, I had a few trim issues to work out but it flew great! Battery alarm went off super early, so landed to take a peek at voltage.
Third maiden (pt.2 really - battery alarm wasn't happy and I landed the second maiden early to check the voltage): here. This is the rest of the first battery. Still flying great, tightened up the trim a bit.
Not pictured: subsequent flying on additional batteries (3S 2200). With voltage checks out of the way I'm believing the timer (5 min). I think I'm getting some flex from my rudder push rod, which I'll reinforce, but otherwise this is a blast to fly. Tracks well, very responsive (I have a ton of expo dialed in, going to reduce that for the next flight), and lands easy. Did some vertical tumbles...its funny to watch it come out of them. A few times it exited with no throttle and a completely level attitude. I just punched the throttle and it never dropped an inch in altitude. It just floated and waited for input.
In one of the videos I note that I have too much down elevator mixed in with the flaps. It needs minimal if any. Flaps probably aren't required anyway, but since I'm belly landing I figure it's best to slow down as much as possible to save the prop.
My only mistake today was flying it at all....grass was a bit moist from recent rain and the humidity was terrible so I'm sure that took its toll on the foam/paper bond. I taped up the entire belly for grass landings - most of this plane's air time won't be next to a paved runway. So hopefully it lasts. But if it doesn't, I'll rebuild it. It's a great plane. Kudos to The Hangar on this one.
First maiden (with aforementioned radio failure, no video):
Second maiden: here. Prior to flying again I needed a new prop and had to rebuild the power pod. The firewall was broken and would have added a bit of unwanted side thrust from the first crash. Upon launch, I had a few trim issues to work out but it flew great! Battery alarm went off super early, so landed to take a peek at voltage.
Third maiden (pt.2 really - battery alarm wasn't happy and I landed the second maiden early to check the voltage): here. This is the rest of the first battery. Still flying great, tightened up the trim a bit.
Not pictured: subsequent flying on additional batteries (3S 2200). With voltage checks out of the way I'm believing the timer (5 min). I think I'm getting some flex from my rudder push rod, which I'll reinforce, but otherwise this is a blast to fly. Tracks well, very responsive (I have a ton of expo dialed in, going to reduce that for the next flight), and lands easy. Did some vertical tumbles...its funny to watch it come out of them. A few times it exited with no throttle and a completely level attitude. I just punched the throttle and it never dropped an inch in altitude. It just floated and waited for input.
In one of the videos I note that I have too much down elevator mixed in with the flaps. It needs minimal if any. Flaps probably aren't required anyway, but since I'm belly landing I figure it's best to slow down as much as possible to save the prop.
My only mistake today was flying it at all....grass was a bit moist from recent rain and the humidity was terrible so I'm sure that took its toll on the foam/paper bond. I taped up the entire belly for grass landings - most of this plane's air time won't be next to a paved runway. So hopefully it lasts. But if it doesn't, I'll rebuild it. It's a great plane. Kudos to The Hangar on this one.
Great flying man! It's great to see somebody else enjoying the simple stick!
FL_Engineer
Elite member
I found I had trouble initially when I was setting my alarm voltage too high. Remember the voltage sags under load so whatever the alarm is reading will be lower than the stabilized voltage. You may want to lower the alarm to like 3.5-3.6v.
Thanks, that was definitely the case. But without any real flight time with this motor/prop/battery combo I was using it just to keep tabs on things. Turns out 5 min on a 2200 3S is about right. For future maidens I'll definitely set it lower - 3.5 seemed about right for the limit, 3.6 for a little extra margin.
I knew there was a third video (2nd battery). Here you go. PS, I am not good at acrobatics. But I try anyway.
I did want to update this quickly because I distinctly remember considering this and am kinda kicking myself for not doing it during the build....
Add a spar or other support to the rudder from the get go along the leading edge or embedded further back. I was getting pretty weak rudder input without any bracing (i.e. not enough for rudder only turns if attempted and knife edges weren't possible). The braces below improved rudder authority considerably, though considering how much I have with the elevator and ailerons the rudder is a bit weak. I wonder if it's the plane's weight?
Anyway, still a lot of fun to fly and despite my best efforts the braces didn't pull loose during testing.
Add a spar or other support to the rudder from the get go along the leading edge or embedded further back. I was getting pretty weak rudder input without any bracing (i.e. not enough for rudder only turns if attempted and knife edges weren't possible). The braces below improved rudder authority considerably, though considering how much I have with the elevator and ailerons the rudder is a bit weak. I wonder if it's the plane's weight?
Anyway, still a lot of fun to fly and despite my best efforts the braces didn't pull loose during testing.
Arcfyre
Elite member
@The Hangar you hit it out of the park with this one.
Flew it this morning on a radial B pack with a 2200mAh 3S, and it's a sweet little cruiser. Exactly what I was looking for. I still have to paint it so it matches my .60 size balsa stik, but I just wanted to say thank you for a great design!
Flew it this morning on a radial B pack with a 2200mAh 3S, and it's a sweet little cruiser. Exactly what I was looking for. I still have to paint it so it matches my .60 size balsa stik, but I just wanted to say thank you for a great design!
@Arcfyre - thank you! So glad to hear you like the stick! Be sure to post some pics when you get it painted up!
Arcfyre
Elite member
@Arcfyre - thank you! So glad to hear you like the stick! Be sure to post some pics when you get it painted up!
Had both of my stiks up at the flying field today. @The Hangar's mini stik was the warm up plane, and then I put three packs through the big brother, my balsa .60 size super sweet stik. Both flew great, and it was a perfect morning.
Awesome - such beautiful birds!
ColoFlyer
Active member
So I decided to build The Hangar Simple Stick. I have built 9 or 10 FT planes so it was a reasonably easy build. I cut out the design plans and followed the Flitetest Build Video for the most part, but had to make a few modifications to the airframe to get the CG to balance. Also, I changed the flat bottom wing in the Hangar design to be more like the rounded bottom wing shown in FT Simple Stick video and added plastic hinges instead of beveling the wing, rudder and elevator. I moved the servos inside the fuselage and made them accessible inside the wing opening and added plastic pushrod tube guides for the pushrods. The battery access is through a removable 3d printed panel that is held down by the wing, I will probably modify this at some point so I don’t have to remove the wing to replace the battery. You can also see in a couple of the pictures that I added a second foam board reinforcement layer on the insides of the fuselage above the power pod and below the wing, very similar to what was added to the FT Simple Stick in the video.
Oh and I also installed a Flitetest Aura 5 Receiver.
After it was built, I tried everything to get the CG to balance, but the tail was just too heavy and I could not fit a heavier battery in. I didn’t want to add any extra dead weight to the nose of the plane because that seems pointless, so after thinking it over, I decided to extend the nose. I added a 2.75in or 70mm extension to the front (you can see in one of the pics) and I used 2 short skewers (40mm ea) one on each side glued and pushed inside the foam. If I was to build this plane again, I would just add the extra 70mm to the nose when I cut it out. I might suggest that the plans maybe be looked at for a possible update using this longer nose design to help with the CG, Plus it looks cool . Also, on the plans one of the CG marks is incorrect and you must use the one that is in front of the Spar.
I also added the following 3D Printed parts, if anyone is interested I can post up the STL files for any or all of the parts.
Main Landing Gear
FT Style Motor Mount on the power pod
Back wing reinforcement
Double Servo Tray just behind the power pod
2 Piece Front Battery Cover (designed in 2 pieces for easy printing
Control Horns
Tail Drag
Electronics
Motor Race Star BR2212
30A ESC
9g Metal Gear Servos
Prop 8X6
This plane flew truly amazing ( see maiden flight video) and several of the other pilots came over to see what exactly it was and couldn’t believe it was just a foam board plane. I couldn’t be happier with this plane. If you decide to build it, just add the extra 70mm to the front of this plane when you cut it out, you can always cut of some off if it is too long, but it is hard to add after it is built. Also add the reinforcement to the inside like what you see in the FT Simple Stick Video.
Thanks Hangar for the Plans to a really cool plane!
Oh and I also installed a Flitetest Aura 5 Receiver.
After it was built, I tried everything to get the CG to balance, but the tail was just too heavy and I could not fit a heavier battery in. I didn’t want to add any extra dead weight to the nose of the plane because that seems pointless, so after thinking it over, I decided to extend the nose. I added a 2.75in or 70mm extension to the front (you can see in one of the pics) and I used 2 short skewers (40mm ea) one on each side glued and pushed inside the foam. If I was to build this plane again, I would just add the extra 70mm to the nose when I cut it out. I might suggest that the plans maybe be looked at for a possible update using this longer nose design to help with the CG, Plus it looks cool . Also, on the plans one of the CG marks is incorrect and you must use the one that is in front of the Spar.
I also added the following 3D Printed parts, if anyone is interested I can post up the STL files for any or all of the parts.
Main Landing Gear
FT Style Motor Mount on the power pod
Back wing reinforcement
Double Servo Tray just behind the power pod
2 Piece Front Battery Cover (designed in 2 pieces for easy printing
Control Horns
Tail Drag
Electronics
Motor Race Star BR2212
30A ESC
9g Metal Gear Servos
Prop 8X6
This plane flew truly amazing ( see maiden flight video) and several of the other pilots came over to see what exactly it was and couldn’t believe it was just a foam board plane. I couldn’t be happier with this plane. If you decide to build it, just add the extra 70mm to the front of this plane when you cut it out, you can always cut of some off if it is too long, but it is hard to add after it is built. Also add the reinforcement to the inside like what you see in the FT Simple Stick Video.
Thanks Hangar for the Plans to a really cool plane!
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mmais68569
New member
Where did you get the landing gear ColoFlyer? I sure would like one.
Mike
Wildthing
Legendary member
He 3D printed it
ColoFlyer
Active member
As Wildthing mentioned, I designed and printed it myself. If you have access to a 3D printer or know someone who has one, I would be happy to share the .STL files used to print these items that I used on this plane with anyone that wants them.
@ColoFlyer I’m glad you’re enjoying it! You mentioned something about the maiden video - is there a place I could find that?
