Which Bloody combat plane should I build?

[Foamforce]

I'm going to start building some combat planes for FF '23. It seems like the Bloody family lineup is the most popular choice, but there are several variants. Which one should I choose, and why? Beyond survivability, I would guess that ease and speed of build is the second most important metric.

Here are some of the Bloody planes I've seen along with a brief summary of each taken from their respective pages.

• Bloody Wonder MkIII
  The FT Bloody Wonder is designed after Bloody Micks' FunBat, which was based off of the Sig Wonder. The original scratch built FunBat is made with a KF step, but our FT Bloody Wonder was created with an actual flat bottom, curved top air foil made from bending the foam over the wing.
• Bloody Baron
  The FT Bloody Baron is designed to be a "combat-buddy" to the FT Bloody Wonder. The planes look like brothers but the Baron features 4-channel control with the addition of a rudder.
• Bloody Rascal
  This plane came from two places. One was to find a happy middle ground between the swappable Bloody Baron and the built-like-a-tank SideWinder. The power pod was removed in favor of a fixed motor mount like the SideWinder but the controls with the single aileron servo were left from the Bloody Baron. The open fuselage bottom allows for easy battery swapping in combat events while still supplying protection by recessing the battery in the fuselage. The shape was loosely based on the Sig Rascal as I’ve always been a fan of that golden age of aviation rounded off look. - Justin Boetsma
• Ugly Wonder
  The Ugly Wonder is another variation of the FT Bloody Wonder. If you have read the build thread or the article for the Bloody Wonder MkIII, you probably already know that I'm a huge Bloody Wonder fan. I have built, flown, and destroyed more of them than I care to count. Flying combat is one of my favorite things to do in the RC hobby. I'm lucky to have a son, brother and nephew to fly combat with from time-to-time. When we flew combat together, everyone was flying a Bloody Wonder. I always thought that it would be cool to have some different looking, but still closely matched, combat planes in the skies together. So, I started playing around with the design of the FT Bloody Wonder.
• XF Bloody Brit
  The XF Bloody Brit is a 3 or 4 channel foam board model aircraft designed for streamer or full-contact combat. It also makes a great all around park/sport flyer. It can be powered with either the Flite Test B or C Power Packs.
• Foam Wonder NOOB/Racer/Angel/Patriot/German/Russian/Standard
  The Sig Wonder is a classic balsa wood and plywood, gas powered model that was designed by Bruce Tharpe in the early 90's and kitted by Sig Manufacturing. Many veteran modelers and RC pilots are familiar with this classic design. My goal in designing the foam board, electric version of the classic Wonder is to introduce this aircraft to a new generation of modelers, and re-introduce it to veteran modelers in a new, modernized, foam board, electric variant.
• VP SideWinder
• Baby Baron
  A smaller Bloody Baron

Short version of my question: Which one is your preferred combat plane, and why? @SP0NZ, I would be remiss if I didn't directly address you on this, since most (all?) of these are your designs. Thanks!

 

[Yankee2003]

I'm going to start building some combat planes for FF '23. It seems like the Bloody family lineup is the most popular choice, but there are several variants. Which one should I choose, and why? Beyond survivability, I would guess that ease and speed of build is the second most important metric.

Here are some of the Bloody planes I've seen along with a brief summary of each taken from their respective pages.

• Bloody Wonder MkIII
  The FT Bloody Wonder is designed after Bloody Micks' FunBat, which was based off of the Sig Wonder. The original scratch built FunBat is made with a KF step, but our FT Bloody Wonder was created with an actual flat bottom, curved top air foil made from bending the foam over the wing.
• Bloody Baron
  The FT Bloody Baron is designed to be a "combat-buddy" to the FT Bloody Wonder. The planes look like brothers but the Baron features 4-channel control with the addition of a rudder.
• Bloody Rascal
  This plane came from two places. One was to find a happy middle ground between the swappable Bloody Baron and the built-like-a-tank SideWinder. The power pod was removed in favor of a fixed motor mount like the SideWinder but the controls with the single aileron servo were left from the Bloody Baron. The open fuselage bottom allows for easy battery swapping in combat events while still supplying protection by recessing the battery in the fuselage. The shape was loosely based on the Sig Rascal as I’ve always been a fan of that golden age of aviation rounded off look. - Justin Boetsma
• Ugly Wonder
  The Ugly Wonder is another variation of the FT Bloody Wonder. If you have read the build thread or the article for the Bloody Wonder MkIII, you probably already know that I'm a huge Bloody Wonder fan. I have built, flown, and destroyed more of them than I care to count. Flying combat is one of my favorite things to do in the RC hobby. I'm lucky to have a son, brother and nephew to fly combat with from time-to-time. When we flew combat together, everyone was flying a Bloody Wonder. I always thought that it would be cool to have some different looking, but still closely matched, combat planes in the skies together. So, I started playing around with the design of the FT Bloody Wonder.
• XF Bloody Brit
  The XF Bloody Brit is a 3 or 4 channel foam board model aircraft designed for streamer or full-contact combat. It also makes a great all around park/sport flyer. It can be powered with either the Flite Test B or C Power Packs.
• Foam Wonder NOOB/Racer/Angel/Patriot/German/Russian/Standard
  The Sig Wonder is a classic balsa wood and plywood, gas powered model that was designed by Bruce Tharpe in the early 90's and kitted by Sig Manufacturing. Many veteran modelers and RC pilots are familiar with this classic design. My goal in designing the foam board, electric version of the classic Wonder is to introduce this aircraft to a new generation of modelers, and re-introduce it to veteran modelers in a new, modernized, foam board, electric variant.
• VP SideWinder
• Baby Baron
  A smaller Bloody Baron

Short version of my question: Which one is your preferred combat plane, and why? @SP0NZ, I would be remiss if I didn't directly address you on this, since most (all?) of these are your designs. Thanks!

I like the way you started……”I ‘m going to start building SOME combat planes for FF ‘23.”
I am taking a Bloody Baron, one of Sponz Wonder variants, and an FT Spitfire For combat.
If that isn’t enough I will send up my Ben Harber PT-17 Stearman on Saturday or Sunday. Last year I flew in 3 combats and only lost my Bloody Baron and the XL Scout I built for Dawn Patrol. And quite honestly I could have patched either or both to keep flying more combat.
The wonders and the Bloody Barons are pretty stout. Hard to go wrong with either or both of those.
If you do build a Wonder, the are a bunch of us building NOOB Wonders for a gaggle flight and then entering them in combat. We would love to have you join us.

 

[dap35]

I have built both the Bloody Brit and the VP Sidewinder. The sidewinder is an easier build and flies great. I also like having the enclosed fuselage.

 

[Foamforce]

If you do build a Wonder, the are a bunch of us building NOOB Wonders for a gaggle flight and then entering them in combat. We would love to have you join us.

Sounds great! I’ll join you. Do you have a thread on that? I didn’t find it immediately.

 

[Foamforce]

I have built both the Bloody Brit and the VP Sidewinder. The sidewinder is an easier build and flies great. I also like having the enclosed fuselage.

Cool. I hadn’t looked at the Sidewinder very carefully. I like all the straight cuts. Nice for a plane that might only be used for ten minutes. 😂 I’ll check that out?

 

[Yankee2003]

Sounds great! I’ll join you. Do you have a thread on that? I didn’t find it immediately.

It is part of a group build with Aviation RC NOOB Podcast. There is a discord channel where a lot of FT Forum regulars and podcast listeners share the details.
We got together FF ‘22 with FT Spitfires and had a great time. Another way and opportunity to enjoy FF and meet new people.
The side benefit is that it is another pool of spotters that are eager and available to help keep everyone flying.

 

[SP0NZ]

@Foamforce Really any of the planes from your list will do just fine. Really comes down to personal preference. Or, just build them all!

• The Baby Baron/Brit are a handful to fly if you don't have them dialed in perfectly. They probably won't do any real damage to anything bigger than an EZ, but they won't take much either. They are so small/light they tend to just bounce off stuff and keep right on flying.
• A Bloody (Anything) is a popular choice. You'll see dozes of Barons and Wonders in all the combats at Flite Fest year after year. I plan on finishing and bringing 2 Bloody Barons for combat this year. I'm also leading a couple of Bloody Baron group builds at Flite Fest again this year. One on Thursday, and another on Friday. More details should be forthcoming from Flite Test/Flite Fest on that soon. Would love to see some more experienced builders/pilots join in as it usually all people new to the hobby.
• The SideWinder was my go to for combat at Flite Fest '22. I flew it in almost every combat during the event. It took out a few planes and took some damage to boot. But with some hot glue and tape you can keep one flying for quite a while if you choose too.
• The Bloody Rascal I have no experience with yet. I did work with Justin Boetsma on the plans and gave him my blessing to modify the Baron/SideWinder. It's essentially a Baron with some of the upgrades I added to the SideWinder (including ditching the power pod). Should be a rock solid combat bird.
• The Foam Wonder (Any Variant) is a combat beast. My buddy flew the same one in every single Flite Fest '22 combat event and had at least 5 confirmed kills. Like my SideWinder, the Wonder did need some repairs between sessions, mostly just hot glue and tape. I plan on having at least one, probably more, ready for combat at Flite Fest this year. If I bring a couple, I plan on letting anyone who wants to take one for a test flight get on the sticks. I will be participating with my good friends from the Aviation RC Noob podcast in the NOOB Wonder Jumble (group fly). Any Foam Wonder variant is welcome to join in, but a lot of us will be flying the new NOOB variant I designed with the hosts of the podcast.

 

[synjin]

Not that I don't love Sponz's designs, but the Bloody P-40, enlarged 150%, is a fantastic flier! Never used it in combat...except when the Peregrin Falcon went after my plane. Plans are here: https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/bloody-wwii-baby.37647/