The Triplane Tribuild! (Catchy, huh?)

[Vimana89]

Ironically, yes it was! The nose was overweight by several grams and I had a hard time keeping altitude. The DR1 is not supposed to be a rocket, but was absolutely exhilarating to see a triplane shoot across the sky.

I know how to get it balanced, now. After the combat I am definitely revisiting that combination and pushing her to 100% throttle on a straight run. The 10x45 is a "slow fly" prop. It has the opposite effect with the DR1. I guess because it's such a small bird. The big motor probably didn't hurt either.

Found it. Figured the nose was overweight and the prop also probably caused a lot of torque on that little plane. Flew awesome while it lasted though!

 

[buzzbomb]

Maiden compilation up! Nothing too fancy for most for the flying, but there is some low and slow around the 4:00 mark, some brief high alpha between 4:30 and 5:00 or so, and some full throttle loops/stick mashing randomness around 5:25. My first launch was a crash that only broke the prop, and that's in there, but had to cut it before the fffFFFF could be heard building up. Landing could have been a bit smoother, probably needs some gear.

Great flight! The "random stick smashing" is what that plane is all about. It can hold it for as long as you can! The landing? Whatever. Way better than some of mine. I've got the video to prove it. Great flight. Great video. I never got to seriously furball that bird. It's designed and built for it, but I had to strip it for other projects.

I've got over a dozen in the que. There will be a day that I come back and put ailerons on my DR1. Then I'm going to furball the heck out if it!

 

[buzzbomb]

Found it. Figured the nose was overweight and the prop also probably caused a lot of torque on that little plane. Flew awesome while it lasted though!

Yeah, that was a pretty cool experiment!

 

[mayan]

@Vimana89 I have morning runs I have to finish promise to watch your video later though, can’t wait for it.

 

[mayan]

Maiden compilation up! Nothing too fancy for most for the flying, but there is some low and slow around the 4:00 mark, some brief high alpha between 4:30 and 5:00 or so, and some full throttle loops/stick mashing randomness around 5:25. My first launch was a crash that only broke the prop, and that's in there, but had to cut it before the fffFFFF could be heard building up. Landing could have been a bit smoother, probably needs some gear.

Awesome video! Awesome flying! Man you rocked. I think you flew great it flew great. Good job buddy. I say you through in a 3S 1000mah go slow on the throttle and go enjoy 15-17 mins of flight time .

 

[Vimana89]

Awesome video! Awesome flying! Man you rocked. I think you flew great it flew great. Good job buddy. I say you through in a 3S 1000mah go slow on the throttle and go enjoy 15-17 mins of flight time .

Thanks! This one's very unique and a lot of fun! I think I'll probably pick up a 1000 mAh and add some landing gear.

 

[The Hangar]

Awesome video! Awesome flying! Man you rocked. I think you flew great it flew great. Good job buddy. I say you through in a 3S 1000mah go slow on the throttle and go enjoy 15-17 mins of flight time .

Lol - 1000 mah is my smallest battery (other than 150 mah 1s batteries for my champ) and I always buy 9 gram servos so my minis always tent to be way overweight😂

 

[Wildthing]

Lol - 1000 mah is my smallest battery (other than 150 mah 1s batteries for my champ) and I always buy 9 gram servos so my minis always tent to be way overweight😂

My smallest is 1300 3S

 

[hiroshiman]

Can you really fly 15 minutes on a 1000 mAh ? That sounds cool. I thought it was no more than 5 minutes or so, but then I never flew a RC plane
I follow this thread, can't wait to join the triplane owners club, I envy you!

 

[mayan]

Can you really fly 15 minutes on a 1000 mAh ? That sounds cool. I thought it was no more than 5 minutes or so, but then I never flew a RC plane
I follow this thread, can't wait to join the triplane owners club, I envy you!

I kept throttle to when needed only and was amazed myself by the time .

 

[quorneng]

I can assure it is possible with the right plane to fly RC outdoors for longer than 20 minutes on a 1000 mAh battery and I don't mean using lift from a slope or thermals either!
This has flown for 61 minutes under continuous power using just an 850 mAh 3s!

Bank and yank (no rudder) it is pretty light but can easily perform simple roll and loop aerobatics.

 

[Vimana89]

So I got my DR1 flying much smoother now. I've got an 1100 battery that's lighter than my 850's by a hair that fits perfect, and a good amount of down trim on the elevator, plus running 3.7g servos to reduce aft weight. 6x3x2 was too boring for me, didn't really make this baby shine. Right now I've tried Lumenier 5x4x4 to great success, and I'll be testing some HQprops 6x3x3 here shortly. I've also got some Lumenier 6x4x2 "slow fly" that may be a nice high efficiency option. My cowl is gone, got shredded in an accident, and now easier access to receiver so I'm sort of better off without it, this wasn't a "beauty contest" build for me. Video to come👍

 

[Vimana89]

Gotta check the newest vids and upload something to share, but I think I've spent enough time on both props to know what I like more, and that's looking like 5x4x4. 6x3x3 performs mostly as well, but there's slight differences like more noticeable torque and better acceleration and top speed on the 6x3x3, but a bit better spare and static thrust, slow speed envelope, less torque, and a smoother overall feel on the 5x4x4.

 

[Vimana89]

Don't mind the time stamp on my cheapo camera, this is from this morning.

Landings are always a tiny bit of a face plant, so I'm thinking of gear or at least some sort of desert skids. Otherwise, I love this plane! I'm a fan of the DR1 now, and will have a special spot in my hangar for this or at least some form of triplane. Ailerons would make it a bit more interesting, but hard to build on multi wing and more challenging to fly. For RET, this is one of the more interesting planes I've flown, and actually very easy. As someone who loves high alpha, I'm pleasantly surprised and right at home with the DR1's capability in this area. It's just a great, stable, no-brainer slow flyer when it's somewhat dialed in right, that can turn on a dime and maneuver nicely in smaller spaces and patterns.

 

[buzzbomb]

Don't mind the time stamp on my cheapo camera, this is from this morning.

Landings are always a tiny bit of a face plant, so I'm thinking of gear or at least some sort of desert skids. Otherwise, I love this plane! I'm a fan of the DR1 now, and will have a special spot in my hangar for this or at least some form of triplane. Ailerons would make it a bit more interesting, but hard to build on multi wing and more challenging to fly. For RET, this is one of the more interesting planes I've flown, and actually very easy. As someone who loves high alpha, I'm pleasantly surprised and right at home with the DR1's capability in this area. It's just a great, stable, no-brainer slow flyer when it's somewhat dialed in right, that can turn on a dime and maneuver nicely in smaller spaces and patterns.

A wonderful flight! I don't think any of us have high alpha'd the DR1 the way you were doing it. You're right, it seemed to take to it like a natural. My DR1 still lives, it just got stripped for other projects. When I've got a free F pack, I'm going to try to put ailerons on it. That should be a riot!

 

[Vimana89]

A wonderful flight! I don't think any of us have high alpha'd the DR1 the way you were doing it. You're right, it seemed to take to it like a natural. My DR1 still lives, it just got stripped for other projects. When I've got a free F pack, I'm going to try to put ailerons on it. That should be a riot!

Can't wait to see that! I think the Triplane the FT guys pulled out of the boneyard on that one episode had ailerons. My interest in multi-wing has peaked since flying this bird!

 

[buzzbomb]

Can't wait to see that! I think the Triplane the FT guys pulled out of the boneyard on that one episode had ailerons. My interest in multi-wing has peaked since flying this bird!

Oh, I know of one that flies even better.....

 

[Vimana89]

Oh, I know of one that flies even better.....

I'm listening...

 

[buzzbomb]

I'm listening...

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/mini-scout-biplane.76/ I will admit to a little bias.

Here's some recent vids of the bird in action:
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/“fly-as-hard-as-you-can”-challenge.60776/

 

[Vimana89]

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/mini-scout-biplane.76/ I will admit to a little bias.

Here's some recent vids of the bird in action:
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/“fly-as-hard-as-you-can”-challenge.60776/

Ahhh, that one , yeah, awesome plane! I may have to give that a shot, but it's got some stiff competition from @FoamyDM 's tailless bird for the FTFC20 as far as multi wing goes. Plus, there's my "super secret" future multi wing project that @Grifflyer already predicted I'd want to try