Trying to make a 3D printed version of the FT-Versa wing similar to Hotwire foam cut variations

[TheDaringPilot]

All 8 pieces of the wing done! Fuselage / gondola too!

Weight without electronics, flat control surfaces, and flat wingtips: (619 grams)

Fuselage was printed in PLA because that part suffers from severe warping. PLA is not as heat resistant but at least the engine firewall will be PETG.

The whole wing is PETG, red and jet gray. Where the wings meet each other with the fuselage you can clearly see significant warping because they are warping in opposite directions which makes it look worse.
I will not be reprinting the warped parts unless something doesn’t fit, or it changes the airfoil. It used an excessive amount of filament and time. I will be filling the warped gaps with either foam putty, hot glue, or only using duck tape to keep the airfoil.

Wingtips and control surfaces will be the same as the original Versa Wing, but made of wood instead of 3D printing. Will be using a 3D printed template as a guide for the wood wingtips.

 

[TheDaringPilot]

Almost done! Flying weight is about 1200g. Wingtips are made. Still working on elevons.

It is a bit tail heavy. I tried to move the battery further forward but there is hardly any room in the fuselage / gondola. It has plenty of thrust so no problem with the 1200g weight. I tested the motor with the aircraft vertical to see if the thrust would counteract the weight. Only roughly 2/3 throttle for it to be neutral weight.

It’s getting really close to Flitefest! I need to have this done by Thursday. If I forget to post again it’s probably because I have too much on my plate. I can’t believe I designed and built this in under 40 days!

 

[TheDaringPilot]

The current CG is here in the photo. The wing has a slightly longer chord (about 1/2”) to the original Versa-Wing and slightly thicker root but otherwise it remains mostly the same.

Please leave any comments or suggestions for the CG!

My concern is the CG is too far back but it’s hard to tell from the Versa-Wing build video. It may be ok. I might just have to add lead sinkers to the front to ensure I still have a plane because of CG.

 

[Mr Man]

Looks great!

 

[Mr Man]

I like the paint 👍

 

[TheDaringPilot]

I like the paint 👍

@Mr Man Thanks! The trim scheme is white duck tape with red and chrome accents, also tape.
Personally I think the wood control surfaces and wood wingtips will look great with this color scheme.

 

[Mr Man]

I like the paint 👍

@Mr Man Thanks! The trim scheme is white duck tape with red and chrome accents, also tape.
Personally I think the wood control surfaces and wood wingtips will look great with this color scheme.

Ok, correction: I like the tape job😂👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

 

[TheDaringPilot]

All done! I added lights for night flying! The lights can be toggled and flickered by wiggling the rudder stick on my radio!

By adding the lights in the front, it helped the CG!

Empty weight is 1010g

With battery it should be about 1250g

 

[bisco]

well done, looks great!

 

[TheDaringPilot]

It flew! It needed a hefty pitch to get airborne. Even while flying at 100% throttle it still showed signs of stalling.
Although the maiden was ok, it crashed on the 2nd flight. I then realized that it needs a more powerful motor. I upgraded the motor to (FT Radial 2218 1180kV) from a (FT Radial 2212B 1050kV). And the prop: (10 x 4.5) from a (9 x 4.5). Stayed on 4s.
It crashed again but I was able to repair it because someone had a 3D printer and could help. I got to fix it twice at FF in one day and it finally flew again on the 4th flight and landed successfully.

GIF of the first flight!

I proved 3D printed aircraft are very repairable at Flitefest in a short amount of time. The same part broke on all of the crashes and it took 3 hours to print per part. Maybe next year Flitefest should have a dedicated 3D printing station since more people have 3DPA! I’d be happy to volunteer at the station!

We unfortunately had to come home, but next year hopefully we will be able to stay longer.