wedgetailaus
New member
Hi all,
The last few days I've been really inspired by the idea of building some FT designs upscaled to 200%, double size!
I've probably scratch built 10+ FT planes so I have some experience but they were all at 100% size.
I've seen a couple of threads and a bit of info about upsizing around the forum but having never done it before I still have questions! If it's okay I'll just number them off and if there are any someone can answer I would be greatly appreciative. I'll be sure to post my build photos and completed aircraft when they're done!
1. Does doubling size require more than double the number of sheets of foam? On the Monster Planes episode David describes the 200% Spitfire as using 11 sheets. Why does it require more than just double the 4 sheets used on the standard FT Spitfire? Is it just reinforcing parts or am I missing something? Or should it require 4x the sheets because it's twice as long and twice as wide? Why not quadruple the sheets?
2. Wing spars! Should I use foam spars or would ply/carbon be better? If I scaled up a simple cub, mig or something else would a foam spar be okay? How does a single spar work on a plane with dihedral?
3. Calculating thrust. How do I pick a motor and prop? Just use a calculator buy weight and wing area I guess? Get something similar to a plane of equivalent size? Mig3 should be like a Carbon Z T28?
4. servo, pushrod, control horn size. Same as above, should I use a plane of a similar size to guide my choices? I've never used anything beyond a 9g analog servo or FT control horns so there is a lot of new stuff for me to learn in this regard.
5. CG. I heard in an FT video somewhere that upsizing plans will make them more tail heavy. What do I need to be mindful of to reduce the issues here?
6. I understand that a/b folds and tabs will need to be adjusted when plans are resized. Anything else to think about in this area?
Sorry for all the questions. I'm expecting failures and challenges but I thought I'd look to the community for advice to minimize my hiccups!
Cheers!
The last few days I've been really inspired by the idea of building some FT designs upscaled to 200%, double size!
I've probably scratch built 10+ FT planes so I have some experience but they were all at 100% size.
I've seen a couple of threads and a bit of info about upsizing around the forum but having never done it before I still have questions! If it's okay I'll just number them off and if there are any someone can answer I would be greatly appreciative. I'll be sure to post my build photos and completed aircraft when they're done!
1. Does doubling size require more than double the number of sheets of foam? On the Monster Planes episode David describes the 200% Spitfire as using 11 sheets. Why does it require more than just double the 4 sheets used on the standard FT Spitfire? Is it just reinforcing parts or am I missing something? Or should it require 4x the sheets because it's twice as long and twice as wide? Why not quadruple the sheets?
2. Wing spars! Should I use foam spars or would ply/carbon be better? If I scaled up a simple cub, mig or something else would a foam spar be okay? How does a single spar work on a plane with dihedral?
3. Calculating thrust. How do I pick a motor and prop? Just use a calculator buy weight and wing area I guess? Get something similar to a plane of equivalent size? Mig3 should be like a Carbon Z T28?
4. servo, pushrod, control horn size. Same as above, should I use a plane of a similar size to guide my choices? I've never used anything beyond a 9g analog servo or FT control horns so there is a lot of new stuff for me to learn in this regard.
5. CG. I heard in an FT video somewhere that upsizing plans will make them more tail heavy. What do I need to be mindful of to reduce the issues here?
6. I understand that a/b folds and tabs will need to be adjusted when plans are resized. Anything else to think about in this area?
Sorry for all the questions. I'm expecting failures and challenges but I thought I'd look to the community for advice to minimize my hiccups!
Cheers!