*Unofficial* FT Simple Stick

Flion

Member
Everybody else's maiden looks wayyyy better than mine.... Never have flown without dihedral before so it was all over the place.... Now I've got it so I hang it on Tue prop for 10 or so sec before it tips over.... Love it tho... Loads of fun...
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Successful maiden with my Simple Stik. Started with 4s 2200 battery to help c.g. That flight went well. Second flight with 3s was a little 'squirrelly'. All in all, very satisfying. Thnx to @hangar for simple stik plans.

@moke great maiden!!
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
Everybody else's maiden looks wayyyy better than mine.... Never have flown without dihedral before so it was all over the place.... Now I've got it so I hang it on Tue prop for 10 or so sec before it tips over.... Love it tho... Loads of fun...
Keep at it, and you’ll get the hang of it in no time!
 

AIRFORGE

Make It Fly!
Moderator
Successful maiden with my Simple Stik. Started with 4s 2200 battery to help c.g. That flight went well. Second flight with 3s was a little 'squirrelly'. All in all, very satisfying. Thnx to @hangar for simple stik plans.

Hey! That's a maiden from 7 years ago! Time stamp: 2013. How'd you get one before the rest of us?! :unsure: LOL! ;) jk
 

jolfstn74

Active member
I just finished the simple stick last night,my first speed build, and after several hours winding and watching various parts of the build video over and over Josh really is the reincarnation of Bob Ross of Foamcore! I've only been flying MREs, or the RC equivalent.Up to now I've flown the sport cub, now deceased,umx turbo timber, dead. Another umx timber, still with us,a UMX radian, dead. A ragerc Slow stik, dying, a conscendo evolution, slowly being pumelled to death, a xk A800 resurected, & now, the FT Simple Stick! I'm awaiting a xk j3 cub, arriving via slow boat from china, but once it gets here,I will kill it. During the build there were some ups & downs,those bevel cuts are frustrating! This morning I put in my dsmx Orangerx receiver,3s 2.2ah battery,bound it to my HK T-6 tx, had to reverse airleons & elevator, (no aurora lite) & READY TO MAIDEN.....
oh.
its raining.
Forecast is rain for the next 3 days. Of course.
Not going to decorate until I see her fly. Who knows? I may total it on the 1st attempt. Maybe the color changing paint like they did on TKOR: something metallic and holographic-ish.
I'm thinking of a color scheme other than the iron cross, thought admittedly it looks cool,and my RageRC Slow stik has one,it's just, as a jew, I can only decorate with so many German Military insignias before I get demerits.
While it was no balsa wood skeleton build,It's a nice feeling to start with 3 sheets of foamcore and wind up with a plane! A feeling of accomplishment. Thinking either a warbird or wing next, though I'm digging the powered sport gliders, keen to try slope soaring, though likely will lobotomize myself with a 3kg carbon fiber fuselage at 250 mph through the frontal lobe. It's amazing how often my planes attack me. Thought with the beating they get at my hands it's no wonder.
 

Flion

Member
Doing some work on my power pod now... motor ripped on on a nice gentle landing! (Belly landing it as I dont got a runway so I have to belly land it...)
 

AIRFORGE

Make It Fly!
Moderator
I just finished the simple stick last night,my first speed build, and after several hours winding and watching various parts of the build video over and over Josh really is the reincarnation of Bob Ross of Foamcore! I've only been flying MREs, or the RC equivalent.Up to now I've flown the sport cub, now deceased,umx turbo timber, dead. Another umx timber, still with us,a UMX radian, dead. A ragerc Slow stik, dying, a conscendo evolution, slowly being pumelled to death, a xk A800 resurected, & now, the FT Simple Stick! I'm awaiting a xk j3 cub, arriving via slow boat from china, but once it gets here,I will kill it. During the build there were some ups & downs,those bevel cuts are frustrating! This morning I put in my dsmx Orangerx receiver,3s 2.2ah battery,bound it to my HK T-6 tx, had to reverse airleons & elevator, (no aurora lite) & READY TO MAIDEN.....
oh.
its raining.
Forecast is rain for the next 3 days. Of course.
Not going to decorate until I see her fly. Who knows? I may total it on the 1st attempt. Maybe the color changing paint like they did on TKOR: something metallic and holographic-ish.
I'm thinking of a color scheme other than the iron cross, thought admittedly it looks cool,and my RageRC Slow stik has one,it's just, as a jew, I can only decorate with so many German Military insignias before I get demerits.
While it was no balsa wood skeleton build,It's a nice feeling to start with 3 sheets of foamcore and wind up with a plane! A feeling of accomplishment. Thinking either a warbird or wing next, though I'm digging the powered sport gliders, keen to try slope soaring, though likely will lobotomize myself with a 3kg carbon fiber fuselage at 250 mph through the frontal lobe. It's amazing how often my planes attack me. Thought with the beating they get at my hands it's no wonder.

You had me at "but once it gets here, I will kill it." :ROFLMAO: Awesome!
One question...can you tell the story of how you deadified a UMX Radian? :eek:
 

jolfstn74

Active member
You had me at "but once it gets here, I will kill it." :ROFLMAO: Awesome!
One question...can you tell the story of how you deadified a UMX Radian? :eek:
I'm so ashamed. My batteries had different connectors, and I made a universal connector that worked well.... until...I reversed it. Let the smoke out. All the smoke. And fire. Melted the fuselage. DOH!!! I kept the wing. Like antlers. Or my aunt in her urn on the mantle. She always gave me candy. I miss my aunt and my poor Radian.
 

AIRFORGE

Make It Fly!
Moderator
I'm so ashamed. My batteries had different connectors, and I made a universal connector that worked well.... until...I reversed it. Let the smoke out. All the smoke. And fire. Melted the fuselage. DOH!!! I kept the wing. Like antlers. Or my aunt in her urn on the mantle. She always gave me candy. I miss my aunt and my poor Radian.
:oops: :eek: :cry: :LOL: :ROFLMAO: You're killin' me, Smalls!
 

jolfstn74

Active member
She flew!...ish. I was cowardly with the throttle to begin with,hit the deck a number of times,then finally punched it,made a circuit around the field,a half circuit anyway, went down & split the prop, and my landing gear looks likes James Caan's legs after Kathy Bates decided she doesn't want him moving around quite so much.regarding that 2nd prop in the kit, thank you FliteTest for the spare! I think it would have been easier had I been able to launch off the ground but the grass was too high, but in that brief bit of flying, my control surfaces had the desired effect, and I became convinced of 2 things:
1. I built something that actually flies!
2. I need to paint it and give her a name.
Considering the oversized control surfaces & resulting exaggerated deflection,I'm leaning towards "The Ex Wife" since with even the slightest input she tends to over-react, necessitating a very gentle hand, finesse, and instant correction lest she fly out of control. As for decoration,all matte black with big circles on the wings, instead of the iron cross,the FliteTest gremlin,and a stylized script near the cowling "The Ex Wife" and a line drawing of leona helemsley. Perhaps her countence on the FT Gremlin, unless there's some copywright infringement,or having to pay the Helmsley estate likeness rights.
 
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jolfstn74

Active member
320062_9da0653259cf1cfc85734bac915c96ad.png
Just in case things went caddy-wompus with the first flight, I snapped a photo of how she looked before hand
 

jolfstn74

Active member
So my stik has failed to fly.i broke both props,replaced with a prop from a deceased quad (airplanes aren't the only things I kill) the prop was backwards cw rotation, so I reversed the motor, pitch is more aggressive and the length is 8" instead of 9", but the width is 1/2" wider. Anyway,I give her throttle & an agressive toss, and the way she pitches up made me think: "tail heavy" ,so I used a 4s instead of 3s 2.2ah battery,as far forward as possible and STILL she pitches up, so I taped up to 3 AA batteries to the cowl area, and it made no difference. Control surfaces have limited or no effect, I toss, it pitches up, inverts and nose dives. Sometimes it'll begin to fly, sort of crooked, then it'll nose dive. Not sure how much more abuse the fuselage will take. I'm thinking there are terminal flaws that make the plane unflyable. I had some wings, 30% longer with dihedral, no airleons, thinking it would help, so I attached those and tried 3 channel but it did the same thing. Not sure what to try next. I tried another prop from the same quad who went the original direction,also ordered the same prop that it came with but don't believe it'll make much difference. I'll try posting a video but it's too rainy to do so today. Based on my description, any ideas?
 

Tench745

Master member
So my stik has failed to fly.i broke both props,replaced with a prop from a deceased quad (airplanes aren't the only things I kill) the prop was backwards cw rotation, so I reversed the motor, pitch is more aggressive and the length is 8" instead of 9", but the width is 1/2" wider. Anyway,I give her throttle & an agressive toss, and the way she pitches up made me think: "tail heavy" ,so I used a 4s instead of 3s 2.2ah battery,as far forward as possible and STILL she pitches up, so I taped up to 3 AA batteries to the cowl area, and it made no difference. Control surfaces have limited or no effect, I toss, it pitches up, inverts and nose dives. Sometimes it'll begin to fly, sort of crooked, then it'll nose dive. Not sure how much more abuse the fuselage will take. I'm thinking there are terminal flaws that make the plane unflyable. I had some wings, 30% longer with dihedral, no airleons, thinking it would help, so I attached those and tried 3 channel but it did the same thing. Not sure what to try next. I tried another prop from the same quad who went the original direction,also ordered the same prop that it came with but don't believe it'll make much difference. I'll try posting a video but it's too rainy to do so today. Based on my description, any ideas?
Sounds like you have either an angle of incidence problem on your wing, or need more down-thrust on the motor. My vote is on the down-thrust.
 

moke

Well-known member
just could not get the c.g. close unless I put a 4s 2200 on it, and that was a bit much. Really flew squirrely with 3s 2200 and c.g. still off. So moved the entire wing back about an inch. Will see how that works out, next time out. The c.g. is spot on now with 3s 2200 all the way forward.
20201016_140126 (002).jpg
 
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AIRFORGE

Make It Fly!
Moderator
just could not get the c.g. close unless I put a 4s 2200 on it, and that was a bit much. Really flew squirrely with 3s 200 and c.g. still off. So moved the entire wing back about an inch. Will see how that works out, next time out. The c.g. is spot on now with 3s 2200 all the way forward.
Exactly what I did. Moved it back 1", and all good!
 

jolfstn74

Active member
Sounds like you have either an angle of incidence problem on your wing, or need more down-thrust on the motor. My vote is on the down-thrust.
I'll try it, Ill put washers between the firewall and motor mount on the upper fasteners. Thank you very much! I was feeling badly not having made a flying model. it's not pretty enough to just be a shelf queen.