Recycle Your Micro Plane to Make a Better One!

by ghostrider03z | January 28, 2015 | (21) Posted in Projects

Lets be honest, we all have dumped a hundred or more dollars in to a nice E-Flite or Hobbyzone indoor plane for it to fly great until it gets smashed when it hits a blade of grass. Honestly, those planes are more brittle than a dried up pine needle.

UNTIL NOW!

Introducing the UMX Cheap N' Easy, a revolutionay new indoor plane that not only flies fantastic and fun, but can actually be FLOWN and CRASH! No way, I know, its hard to believe all of that in one sentence; "UMX," "Indoor plane,"  "Can crash" but its true folks.

 

Now i would post all the pictures and instructions on how to build, but in this case there are way too many dimensions needed to do it, the article would be annoyingly long.

This plane is so good because it is durable, it is easy to make, it flies in a unique way: it loops, rolls, hovers(practically), and has speed. Actually I can fly it in my living room like I do my Night Vapor. Thats how slow and controllable this plane is. So watch the video, let me know if you build it!

It should be noted that though I did come up with the micro version, there is a big version of this plane called the Cheap N Easy, I got my inspiration from that when I built it a long time ago.

Parts:

Brick: http://www.horizonhobby.com/PKZ3352?u...

Motor: http://www.horizonhobby.com/product/a...

If you have an old motor, but need the gearbox: http://www.horizonhobby.com/product/a...
Pushrods: http://www.horizonhobby.com/product/a...
Prop: http://www.horizonhobby.com/product/a...

COMMENTS

Miracle Air on January 28, 2015
Five stars from me! I'm a big fan of the C&E and I have a broken Horizon Champ. Like it!
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RICHGCOOP on January 28, 2015
Thank you. I'm making one now.
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ghostrider03z on January 29, 2015
Sweet! Trim it up a lot for the maiden, it can handle that but it is trimmed down it will probably go like a rocket into the ground.
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RacerX on January 29, 2015
Great idea and nice design. Thanks!
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mjpilot on January 29, 2015
I made one the day it came out. GREAT plane 5 stars.
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Corsair2014 on January 29, 2015
lol love this! Very cool
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llebreknit1 on January 30, 2015
Good write-up. I use the same components and scale down the ft flyer and using either the carbon fiber 'left over' control rods or guitar strings specifically the high E and B string make great lightweight connections. Also makes for a fun FPV platform for the ultra micro camera SPMVA1100.
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Tyflyer on January 31, 2015
Great article I might try to build one have any idea if ember two parts would work thanks.
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ghostrider03z on January 31, 2015
The control rods and servo esc brick would work perfect. The motor on the vapors/embers are significantly weaker than motors in say a champ, so you would need a gearbox and motor from a champ (link in the article). Lucky for you that is a cheap purchase, only about $12.
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Tyflyer on February 1, 2015
Thanks,another quick question do you have any idea if you can get a motor one step bigger but still work well on the same servo esc brick, (as in the esc function). Thanks.
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ghostrider03z on February 1, 2015
If you mean going from ember motor to champ motor, then yes, the esc can handle that. If you mean going from ember motor to a motor on a umx beast, then no, that would require a different esc brick.
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Tyflyer on February 1, 2015
Thanks for all you help,I love the concept of a plane so (cheap and easy) to repair as long as the problem is not in the electronics, thanks again for all your help, great article.
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Tyflyer on February 1, 2015
Continued I think it would be cool to see vertical climb performance if it is possible.
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Theflyingfoam on February 2, 2015
The other day I saw one of those planes flying at a fun fly! it looked like it flew great
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RogueWave on March 24, 2015
Amazing Plane. Built in 45 minutes with leftovers from Spacewalker. 'Chuck' test shows beautiful glide slope. I added a mini cradle for the esc and the battery. Also added supports for the control rods so they don't bend.
Great flyer, and I feel much better putting my spare parts to use....

Thanks

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Itsnorocketscience on May 17, 2015
I see you know how to edit a video... good work! Time to show my friend... he has a lot more crashed micros than me. :D
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Recycle Your Micro Plane to Make a Better One!