Baby Blender Gets a Couple of Sweet Upgrades

by jetpackninja | January 9, 2018 | (4) Posted in Just Fun

It took me a while to get around to building the Baby Blender. I've wanted one or something very similar ever since Josh designed the plane for the "Will it Blend episode". I even downloaded and printed the plans and bought dollar tree foam board to make one but never got around to building it.
Fast forward to a few months ago when my son sparked a new interest in RC, we had taken a break for about three years and lost track of a lot of our old RC friends. Jake got fired up and bought a Baby Blender speed build kit. Within a couple of days he had robbed parts from some of his old planes and got some stuff from my spare parts bin including a bigger motor and was ready to fly. A couple of our old batteries survived. His landing gear didn't last long but the plane flew so well and looked so good in the air that I decided I had to have one too!

https://store.flitetest.com/baby-blender-speed-build-kit/

These planes flew great. I tried not to go crazy with mine and build it mostly as recommended but ended up with a bigger motor,  a firewall that I glued up myself and some landing gear from my old Supercub of Love. There might also be some extreme tape and skewers here and there in strategic areas. The gear worked fine but wasn't great for grass or the rough dirt runway that we often fly from. After a few hard landings and failed takeoffs I decided to change a couple of things.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1130715

The new wheels are about the same size as the big old wheels from the supercub but are a lot narrower. They roll well on asphalt and our bumpy dirt runway but haven't tried them in the grass yet

I'm sure the new wheels helped but adding a steerable tail wheel has really improved contol on the take off roll and made a huge difference in my ability to take off successfully.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2333647

The wheel is an old supercub wheel, the wire is the same gauge as the wire that comes with the kit.
The Baby Blender is a beautiful design and a great Speed Build kit.
A few harder landings have made me change the landing gear design and caused me to need a spar for the lower wing set.
I may build a new wing set but this plane just flies too well to mess with.

Favorite comments from the club field:
Is that a Flite Test plane? (yes it is)
Did you build that? (yes I did)
Is that the recommended motor for that kit? (nope, bigger)
Is that made out of cardboard (nope, foam board)
It looks like you glued a paper bag to it! <--Favorite comment so far!

Keep building, flying and experimenting!

HobbyPartz 3010 1100kv motor
10x6 APC or GWSDD prop
MG90S Metal Gear Servos
Orange6 receiver
Re purposed E Flite 30amp ESC
1300mah or 2200mah battery
Optimus Prime head for the pilot on the rudder servo :)

Team JetPackNinja approved!

mine in the air


https://youtu.be/JsDoueXif2I


and Jake's

https://www.facebook.com/jake.t.huffman/videos/10212662361781712/

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNn7Vov153dqFPLuDQdiFNTxvOI5A6WAXbY9VwOjrqXDHL1fiNDLqIszqEa5qf8Yw?key=aG50TE0zUXhZdFgwZ2JZOXVPRUxkQ1pJN3UwUEdB


https://www.flitetest.com/articles/Will_it_Blend_

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/Blender_Plane

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/Baby_Blender_Biplane

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/Baby_Blender_Scratch_Build

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/baby-blender-2-draft

Buy the Speedbuild kit!
https://store.flitetest.com/baby-blender-speed-build-kit/

COMMENTS

TrooperCooper on January 23, 2018
Its hilarious how many people think that it is cardboard... Hilarious but frustrating. One reason why I scratchbuild.
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jetpackninja on January 30, 2018
Yes, but also very rewarding when they see how well it flies.
I honestly think it might be my favorite plane right now!

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jetpackninja on January 9, 2018
Did I say I love this plane? I LOVE THIS PLANE!!!
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Baby Blender Gets a Couple of Sweet Upgrades