Yo!

[ScottSteward]

Scott Steward here,
As of June 2020, I will be five years in the hobby. To keep it short and sweet, I've always been a BNF flier. 2020 is the year I want to change that and become a builder.

Now, I did scratch build an FT Duster a few years ago. Not on my own. With the help of a seasoned builder. Crashed it on the maiden. I'll confess, it was dumb thumbs.

Well, I've chosen the FT Duster as my first build going forward. Even though the first one is still mostly in one piece (though shelved), I wanted to do the duster again for 2 reasons.

1. I wanted to do a build that was familiar to get me on the road to building.

2. I'm an AG plane nut. I also own the Dynam C188. If I could have a garage full of Dusters of all sizes, makes, models and schemes, I would.

That said, I'll use this thread to also show my progress. Started yesterday. Finished the wing today. BTW, when I say "today", I mean "tonight", as I am night worker.

 

[whackflyer]

Welcome to the forums! Your build looks good so far.

 

[Merv]

Welcome to the forums. Great looking plane.

 

[Grifflyer]

Welcome to the forums! Your wing looks really good!

 

[FoamyDM]

excellent start

 

[K3V0]

Welcome! Getting those parts finished and eventually assembled is such a great feeling! I just started getting a nnchipmunk tiled and poster boarded!
What made you want to switch from bnf to building? Since I was a kid I would get excited to see plane kits at the hobby store but I never got into it. These days, I’m always thinking about the next build 😆

 

[ScottSteward]

Welcome! Getting those parts finished and eventually assembled is such a great feeling! I just started getting a nnchipmunk tiled and poster boarded!
What made you want to switch from bnf to building? Since I was a kid I would get excited to see plane kits at the hobby store but I never got into it. These days, I’m always thinking about the next build 😆

I'm really glad you asked that because I enjoy sharing why.

It boils down to one thing that made me finally turn that corner...

- LONGEVITY of aircraft:

As I mentioned, I have a soft spot for crop dusters. When I first started flying, my two dream planes were the FT Duster and the Dynam C188. As I mentioned, I built the FT Duster once with a buddy. My skill level wasn't ready for the roll rate yet so I crashed it on the maiden. Been sitting in my buddy's attic ever since, almost unharmed (amazingly).

Once my skill level got better, I bought some other planes before finally finding a Dynam C188 under my tree (thanks to my awesome wife).

In December (2019), I saw that Motion RC was disconuing the distribution of all Dynam birds. It finally hit me....this plane may (actually......WILL) be completely discontinued eventually. That also means spare parts will eventually go away. It bummed me out to think of that just because of the sentiment I have for AG planes (going back to a couple of childhood events that stick out).

So I said "enough of that worry". I'm building my own. There will be no "discontinued". It's mine. I built it. Even if FT discontinues the kit, I always have the plans. Those never go away. I can repair, rebuild and build new parts as often as I need.

Nutshell: I get tired of seeing great birds get discontinued. There is no such word when you build your own. I see so many guys with stuff in their garage that they will never be able to repair or replace (including myself). Tired of that.

 

[ScottSteward]

By the way, yes. As the blue tape indicates. I am using gorrilla glue rather than hot glue. I know that is blasphemy among the FT community. 😜

It does take much longer to cure but I really like the strength.

 

[Hoomi]

Welcome!

I started with a couple of RTF foamies, followed by a few more PNP with receivers added to bind with my transmitter. My first FT build was the Simple Scout SBK, and if your Duster goes anything like my Scout, it will soon become one of your favorite planes. It amazes me how well these planes fly for such simple designs and materials!

 

[ScottSteward]

Welcome!

I started with a couple of RTF foamies, followed by a few more PNP with receivers added to bind with my transmitter. My first FT build was the Simple Scout SBK, and if your Duster goes anything like my Scout, it will soon become one of your favorite planes. It amazes me how well these planes fly for such simple designs and materials!

Well, as I mentioned. I did scratch build one early on when I started and crashed it (with surprisingly almost no damage....then ignored it (until now).

Here's my conclusion. The FT Duster has one of the most wicked roll rates of any plane I have ever experienced. At the time I tried my first one, I wasn't ready. Now? Not only am I ready, but I can't wait band the sticks around with it.

So with that said, yeah, I think it will be a favorite.

OH.....and as for my old one. Since I did it in yellow....I had an idea. I MIGHT add a wing and make it a biplane AG Cat duster. 😀

 

[Hoomi]

The Scout has a pretty good roll rate as well, so I always fly it on low rates with expo dialed in. Even then, I've said before, it'll still roll over faster than a member of Congress for a deep-pockets lobbyist!

 

[ScottSteward]

The Scout has a pretty good roll rate as well, so I always fly it on low rates with expo dialed in. Even then, I've said before, it'll still roll over faster than a member of Congress for a deep-pockets lobbyist!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[ScottSteward]

Made a LOT of progress on the FT Duster tonight. (I'm a night shift worker so I build my planes overnight too).

 

[Grifflyer]

Looks great!

 

[ScottSteward]

By the way. I meant to mention... I switched back to hot glue. That "gorilla expansion" put a bubble in my wing. Not going to hurt anything. Just annoying.
From now on...The Flite Test way or the highway.

 

[The Hangar]

The build is coming along really nicely! I've been interested in building the duster for a while but I haven't built one yet..

 

[K3V0]

I haven’t had the expanding stuff in the house for a while. But sometimes I run out of HG and desperately start using whatever is at hand. Mostly gorilla glue CA but I bust out the shoe goo occasionally too. That stuff puts out some fumes for sure! We work with what we’ve got brother 😄.

 

[ScottSteward]

More progress. My quality control specialist is looking it over. 🤣

 

[ScottSteward]

I haven’t had the expanding stuff in the house for a while. But sometimes I run out of HG and desperately start using whatever is at hand. Mostly gorilla glue CA but I bust out the shoe goo occasionally too. That stuff puts out some fumes for sure! We work with what we’ve got brother 😄.

I really liked it for the Dynam Duster. I like the strength. And honestly, I liked the strength on this wing and can tolerate the bubble for that trade off. But now??? There's just no way I could use it on the rest. The folds are just too intricate.

 

[The Hangar]

More progress. My quality control specialist is looking it over. 🤣

The build looks great, and I love the cat!