I want to start off by saying- this Flite Test community is awesome. This was my first attempt at making my own set of plans to share with the community and was definitely having some issues. My first two beta builds ended in complete disaster (and an exhausting climb to the top of a 30' tall tree!).
I decided it was time to see what the community thought and posted my story on the forums... the help came pouring in. The thread is a perfect example of how the members are always willing to contribute whatever they can to help others. You can see the full fourm thread HERE!
A couple other members used their own resources to build this design and after collecting everone's input a general consensuses was determined that the airfoil on the wings were a bit too tall, the vertical stabillizer was a bit undersized and a few other small details were needing to be fixed.
Everything was squared away on the design and here we are. She now flies better than ever.. see for yourself!
BJ- J3 Piper Cub - Plans and Build Instructions:
PLANS:
Build Instructions:
Wing Build: Wing Build Instructions
Fuse Build: Fuselage Build Instructions
Tail Build: Rudder and Elevator Build/Assembly Instructions
Final Assembly: Final Assembly
SPECS:
Wingspan: 40"
Lenght: 25 1/2"
AUW: 510 Grams (w/o battery & with landing gear)
Swappable: YES
Build: Easy / Beginer
Electronics Used in This Build:
Motor: NTM PropDrive 28-26 1200kv 268W
ESC: 30A Turnigy Plush
Servos: HXT900
Battery: Turnigy 2200mAh - 3s 25c LiPo
*Please note: The BJ-J3 Cub is FT Power Pod compatable and all the electronics I have incorporated for this build is perfect match for almost all of the larger FT designs. I have personally used this exact setup with the FT Storch, Bloody Wonder, Versa, Spitfire, Racer and the FT-22. It works great with all of them!
Maiden Video:
Review:
In my personal opinion this model is amazing in many ways. To begin with, this Cub flies fantantastically. Easily capable of mild aerobatics such as loops, rolls and spins. It tracks like an arrow with a good deal of stability. It also has a great speed envelope. You can zip around the skies covering lots of ground quickly, or pull the throttle back and float her around. You should use rudder for coordinated turns, but this design does fly great as a bank n' yank as well.
This design would also make a great first plane, or for somebody in the early stages of learning to fly RC. The build is very straightforward and would be perfect as someone's first. When you take the aerobatic capabilities into account, it makes it a truly fun plane for all levels of experience!
Don't take only my word for it!!! You should build it and see for youself!
"It flew VERY VERY WELL."
-mrstamp80 ~ Posted on forum thread
"The plane flies alot like my umx carbon cub ss."
-jh1985 ~ Posted on forum thread
If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am on the forums under the username: BanditJacksRC.
THANKS FOR READING!!
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hit the "print" button button and it will print 18 pages "tiled" and ready to tape together!
and if you want to build build a GIANT plane just change the size to 200% and get ready to do a lot of taping and trimming!
I hope this helps.
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Thank you, immensely !
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Thanks for the plans and the step by step for this great project. I would like to ask you which push rods, linkage stoppers and control horns you used for this project. I have noticed you used parts from HK, so I am planning to buy the whole electronic package and the parts above.
Thanks in advance for your time,
RoBB
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The push/pull rods are 1mm piano wire. The linkage stoppers I purchased at my local hobby store, but are the same the the flitetest store sells. I believe HK sells them as well (1mm linkage stoppers). And the controll horns I did purchase from the FT store.
Good luck and have fun!
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And more designs are on their way!
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The cub was spray painted with 2 VERY light coats. If you hold the spray can about 8-10" away, and use light coats, you don't have to worrie much abou the foam melting. The decals are printed on regular office paper and glued on with spray adhesive (3M super77)
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as in 200% like the FT spitfire,and am trying to finish the 200% swapable corsair by "filkin",seems the motor and other parts are frozen to the ground in georgia at grayson LOL!
the winter has afected the mail delivery, i'm sure.
I want to see this with 80" wings.
glad to see more people from arizona on the site!
beautiful design!
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i am finding that giant planes are more forgiving and easier to build(just more foam and glue/tape)
plus compared with $1500 for an ARF balsa plane of the same size, it's a steal ,$200 for power system and servos from grayson. it can be made swapable,just 200% power pods made from wood.
if you are new to arizona,you will find that a small window (1500 BTU) AC will be needed,if it is too hot for you to be in there,its too hot for the glue would be my guess.
my workshop is a windowless insulated shed i keep airconditioned as i work out there also,and i use wax that has to be kept at under 80 degrees,is the excuse i give my wife for the extra juice used to live in comfort.
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Your right about this thing holding up. One of my J-3 build i have wrecked MANY times.. and one was reaallyy bad, and it just keeps on chuggin'. haha
Thanks for the interest!s
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Thanks for the plans and instructions. She sure looks beautiful and seems to fly great.
What do you estimate the stall speed is? I would like to underpower it a bit to use it as a trainer plane and yours sure goes too fast for a begginer like me ;)
If it's not "the beef", what other engine would you use?
Cheers and keep up the good work!
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On the build thread MrStamp80 did this build and used a much smaller turnigy brushless motor and it worked great.
I am sure it would fly well with the well known "blue wonder" as well, (i have been wanting to try that out actually) and the lighter weight setup would help a lot with a much slower stall speed.
Thanks!
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It looks like an excellent design, very nicely presented. I'm keen to have a go. Thanks!
Here in Oz our foam is a little heavier and I've had trouble getting the balance right on FT planes. I tend to need a bigger battery to get the CG in the right spot.
Where is your CG? I don't see it marked on your wing.
How far forward to you place the 2200mA battery in your particular build?
Thanks
John
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The CG is pretty much right under the spar. Although I like to balance it a bit nose heavy of that point to be on the careful side. With this design my 2200mAh lipo is placed almost all of the way forward of the PP. There is probably a few mm of extra room for the battery to be moved a bit further forward to accommodate for the heaver FB. I havn't done any exact measurements but the wing load seems great enough to where if you needed to add any extra nose weight you would be okay.
I hope you decided to build it. Its a great flying plane!
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I was wondering why you choose to make the wing thickness less than FT designs (Racer, Dusty) where a 9g servo fits between the foam. You have one side of the foam carved out, why is that?
John
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Nice Build!!!!!!!!
Nathan
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and very very neat and awesome build :)
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just waiting for my exams to finish :l
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can i use 1200kv Bell motor with 18Amp Esc for this build ?
Help
Thanks
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Build plans call for 25.5" length and the video states 35" length which should I use for fuse length? I plan to use rudder and elevator control only as it is recommended for first time flyers is this what is called bank and yank control?
Your plane looks fast in the video is there also some way I can make it a slower flyer to start with until I get the hang of it all maybe motor or prop. recommendations?
Any advice or pointers you can provide would be greatly appreciated, and great job on the buld it looks really good, many thanks
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1st Maiden flight...ground loop. 2nd flight, took off and things looked good turned down wind and throttled back. Turned to come into wind and she stalled and nose dived into the ground. Mental note....thrust is a must, and height above ground is essential when sorting the plane for the first time. Fortunately rebuilding foam is a lot easier than the old traditional build.
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It's a nice looking and good flying plane. I'll try it for my first flight.
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Anyone?
With a Piece of HELP??
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As im at beginner stage, kindly Help me to provide with the Motor mounting, ESC Installation and Battery placement. The Cutting and Assembling job is done.
Thanks in Advance
Sincere Regards
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