FT Guinea Pig - BUILD

by FliteTest | February 17, 2015 | (45) Posted in How To

FTScratchBuild-Advanced

After the HUGE success of the FT Mini Guinea we have decided to release it's big brother, the FT Guinea Pig!

If you'd like to build one of these with us you can download the plans below, trace them out on foamboard and get cutting!

FREE PLANS

 

For the first time ever we can say that if you need a solution for your electronics, WE HAVE THEM!!

We now offer Power Packs directly from us, so no more scouring the internet for your parts!

If are are picking up a Speed Build Kit there is also an option to include the required Power Pack. It will automatically add it to your total. 

*** Note, in the above image the motors used are not what's being currently sold with the PowerPack that is shown in the image above this one.  In order to use the motors in the Flite Test PowerPack, you need to add the threaded motor shaft onto the motor.  See the images below for how to do that.

So now that you can EASILY and SIMPLY get your electronics, you'll need to put them to good use! 

For this twin you will need to build two Power Pods. If you've never built one of our swappable kits before, the Power Pod is a quick way to move your electronics from kit to kit. 

The entire pod can be removed and slotted into another swappable. No need to buy multiple electronics. 

We recommend building the two Power Pods first. You can see the Power Pod build video below!

Once you have your pods done, your ready to begin!

First we'll work on the wings.

Step one is to cut a double bevel. Use a boxcutter or razorblade to cut a little beyond a 45° angle on both the aileron...

...and the leading edge. 

To join the wing halves start with a small piece of tape just to hold them together...

...then apply a larger piece of packing tape across the center. 

Now when you flip the wing over there is a hinge. 

Fill that hinge with some hot glue, flatten out the wing, then let dry. 

Next is the spar which we divided into three parts. Two of the parts are are made with an A-fold.

An A-fold means the side cheeks are ABOVE the bottom plate. You may also see etched into other pieces a B-fold, but more on that when we get there. 

Remove the small stripes of foam so you can fold the side cheeks above the bottom plate. Fill the gaps with hot glue, fold and dry. 

The last piece of the spar is this simple fold and glue piece of foam...

...reinforced on the top and bottom with paint sticks. 

Before we glue these pieces in, open up the scores in the wings on either side of where to spar will go.

Glue in the spars with the edges of the foam-only pieces touching these etchmarks. 

There are two long skinny pieces of foam that serve as back spacers. Glue those on the trailing edge of the wing. 

Next, fill the open scores on either side of the spar with some hot glue and slowly fold over the wing. 

The spar should meet parallel on the bottom of the wing.  

Now that the wing has it's shape, fill the leading edge with glue...

...along with the top of the spar. Fold over the wing just like before and let dry.

You'll notice the back spacers are still open. We'll glue these down now. 

Your wing is almost complete!

Cut a bevel just like before, but only on the ailerons. Just fold and score. 

Because this hinge is used a lot we recommend reinforcing with hot glue. Just apply a thin bead right into the hinge...

...then take a scrap piece of foam and drag as much of the excess glue out as you can. This will create a thin film of glue that holds stronger than just the paper alone. 

Lastly take a piece of skewer roughly 6 in (15 cm) long and glue it to the trailing edge. This prevents the rubber bands that hold the wings on from digging into the foam. If you like, you may also cover this with a small piece of tape. 

Now we can start to route the electronics. Insert the servo wirers into the small square holes. 

Connect them to the Y-harness and route through the middle. 

Glue in both of the control horns making sure the holes are directly above the hinge line. 

Insert the push rod through the top hole.

Thread through the linkage stopper and trim the excess rod. DON'T THROW AWAY THE EXCESS! It's still good to use!

Next up are the power pod nacelles. Remove the bits of foam between the sides and bottom. There is also a chunk near the B-fold that needs to be removed. 

Speaking of B-folds, this is where the side cheeks are BESIDE the bottom plate. For reference:

A-fold = sides ABOVE the bottom

B-fold = sides BESIDE the bottom

If you're unsure, just check the diagram. 

Fill the gaps with glue and fold up the sides. Be aware of the little tabs sticking out of the bottom now. 

With this B-fold, you will want to remove the papte from this small rectangle Josh is gluing above. Fold it over 180° and repeat on the other nacelle. 

Glue them in with the tabs keying right into the wing. Make sure the B-fold is facing the leading edge. If you pay attention to the circles punched out you won't glue it in backwards. 

Route the remainder of the dires through the wing including the battery harness and the ESC wires. 

Once you are done it should look like this. 

Next we can hook up the Power Pods and make sure our servos are centered. 

If you don't already have one, this Servo Tester is the best way to make sure everything is centered correctly. You can pick one up in our store for less than $10. Worth every penny!

When testing your motors ALWAYS TAKE YOUR PROPS OFF. No sense in hurting yourself or someone else because you wanted to save a few seconds. 

Once everything is centered and spining the right way, secure the power pods with skewers. There will be four holes etched into the nacelles where the skewers should pass through.

Leave about an inch (2.5 cm) left on either side of the skewer and break off the rest.  

Now the wing is complete and you can set it aside. 

The fuselage is next! Essentially this is just a big box, so the assembly isn't too difficult. 

Fold the sides up with a B-fold, and glue them into place. 

There are a few random pieces that look like this in your kit. This is a simple guide for the skewers to pass through. 

There are a few more etched holes similar to the ones on the nacelles where you will secure the nose. Pass a skewer through and glue in the guide.

This makes it a breeze to pass the skewer through the wide fuselage. Repeat with the holes near the tail also. 

Finish off the fuselage with the belly plate. Glue the front squarer half first, then fold the back down and glue. 

This is the battery platform/nose gear housing. Like most of the other pieces remove the small bits of foam between the sides and bottom. 

Glue two small pieces of paint stick over the etched holes. 

Then fold up the sides and front to make something box-like. 

Cut two more bits of paint stick slightly smaller than the ones you glued into the housing. Drill a hole the width of your landing gear wire through both. 

While your at it, drill out your wheels too. 

The bends for the landing gear don't really have any measurments because everyone uses different sized wheels. 

You will end up with something that looks like a question mark. 

Cut off the excess (DON'T THROW IT AWAY!) and secure with a dab of hot glue. 

Thread the nose gear wire through the housing, then through those two extra pieces of paint stick, then again through the housing. 

By gluing those extra pieces to the wire while they are inside it prevents the wire from slipping out either way. 

This slip helps keep the nose piece centered. It's just two simple A-folds. 

Onto the nose! Remove the inside paper from the tip of the nose to the etching. Do this to both sides of the nose. 

Then fold and glue. 

With one side missing paper the foam is extremely easy to mold. Slowly work the foam and bend the tips of the nose towards each other. 

The remainder of the nose looks like a bowtie. Remove the bits of foam around the outside and also the inside paper. 

Fold and glue the small tab on the end. 

Just like the other nose piece, slowly work the foam into a 'C' shape. 

You'll need to coerce the pieces together to line up the curves, but make sure everything fits nicely before you glue. 

Once your happy with the fit, just glue and dry. 

Next is the windshield. 

Remove ONLY the rectangle of paper in the middle of the score lines. 

Slowly work into a curve. 

You'll notice a small tab on one side. Angle it just a hair and it will slip underneath the "bowtie". Check the fit, glue, and trim the excess hanging off the back. 

On the bottom you will see a cut than needs to be extended all the way to the edge and opened up with a skewer. This is for the nose gear wire to slip into. 

Next take the battery platform/nose gear housing and slip it into the nose as far as it will go comfortably. Use a pen or pencil to mark where it meets the edge. 

Use this line as reference when gluing it into the fuselage. 

Now you can also glue in the slip. 

Once those pieces are dry you can install the nose piece. It should simply slip on. As before there are small holes etched into the nose. One pair at the top, one pair at the bottom. 

Here you can glue in the remainder of the skewer guides. 

For the landing gear you will see an odd looking rectangle with scores and cuts all over it.

Use the picture above to see which section needs to be removed and the other that needs completely cut off. Save this right most piece!

In the remaining score line, push the rest of the landing gear wire left from the nose in and glue. 

That piece of foam that was completly cut off can now be glued on top. 

Then finish off the landing gear sandwich by folding the entire thing over onto itself. 

This part is optional but we are going to build some wheel pants! You will need to remove the small bits of foam from the two pieces you see above. 

Fold the semi-circle according to the A-fold and B-fold on the piece. 

Remove the paper from the inside of the longer piece. 

Also remove this small tab at the back end. 

Just like the nose, with that paper removed, mold a curve into the long strip and glue onto the curved piece. 

Cut the excess and repeat to create the other. 

When aligning your pants, line them up with the crease of the fuselage. 

We made a line with a ruler just to insure the landing gear is glued straight, and YOU SHOULD TO! It's very important to prevent crabbing during take off. 

 Add a small drop of glue to the wire, install the wheels...

...and finish with another drop of glue. Cheapest wheel collars you can get!

Now go ahead and put on your pants (or don't, it's your build!)

Glue in the battery tray. 

For the tail, cut a bevel like before into the rudder. 

Reinforce with a glue hinge. 

Repeat with the elevator. 

These pieces key together and then key into the fuselage. When you glue, make sure you check for a nice 90° angle. This is very important to keep your plane flying true. 

For maximum strength, glue two skewers to the tail...

...and trim the excess. 

Just like the wing, install the rudder and elevator servos / push rods / and control horns. 

Finish off the tail with these two fins. The smaller half of the fin faces down. 

Next is to hook up everything. Every reciever will be different. Check your recievers manual for it's specific layout. 

The above video has more details for setting up your Differential Thrust in your twin engine.
(That segment start around 13:20)

Now you can thread all your wires through the top of the fuselage and secure the wing with rubber bands. 

If you haven't already you can open up the cargo do to make the elevator and rudder connections. 

Once all the connections are made you can glue your reciever inside. 

AFTER you have checked your motors and control surfaces are working properly, you can put your props back on. 

Center your servos and tighten down your linkage stoppers. 

Here is your throw gauge.

H = High (good for aerobatics and agressive flying)

L = Low (best for relaxed flying and beginners)

Make sure you check your CG and adjust your battery accordingly. 

We hope you have fun running experiments with your Guinea Pig! Make sure you take pictures and video to share with the rest of the Flite Test community. 

Thanks for your continued support and let us know if you have any designs you'd love to see made into a future Speed Build Kit!

FREE PLANS

 

DIFFERENTIAL HELP

COMMENTS

RCPrairieFlyyer on February 19, 2015
What a fantastic build and some ingenious concepts in design. Hope Peter is able to come up with a simple open/close bay door.
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flihghy on March 22, 2015
Peter,

Is it possible for you to add the alignment marks to the tiled plans? I have been anxious to build the Guinea Pig but have held off in hopes the tiled plans would be modified. Looks like a really great model and a lot of fun to fly.
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Spacemonkeykj on March 25, 2015
Another fantastic plane guys. I can't decide whether build to the Guinea Pig or the mini version. May as well both! One more thing, please make the mini fold wing plans!!! It would go along great with the Guinea Pig!
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SimFlite on May 13, 2015
I will buy this ones to!! If you change the print sizes to the same as the Spite Fire, Speed Racer,Mustang!!
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motomad on February 22, 2015
GREAT PLANE PETER!!!! I have been a huge fan of both you and flitetest for about 3 years now in fact the first scratch built plane I made was your foam and tape "the twins" since then I have made about 6 of them in all sorts of variations...like ducted fan and flying boat versions,all fly great. When you came out with the mini guinea I built a 150% body and mae a FT Swappable Cub wing on it it flys great also. I was so happy to see you join up with the flitetest crew and I'm sure you will be an asset. Keep up the great work guys, and just remember that it was/is these builds that made me love you and tell all my friends about you...THANK YOU.
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nickschaos81 on February 25, 2015
Omg, please build the mini folding wing plane! It looks like so much fun. Thanks guys, your awesome.
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wigton761 on March 27, 2015
Any idea on when the power pack will be back in stock?
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Battershell on February 18, 2015
Ordered the kit before I even watched the video. Wanted to make sure I got one of the first batches sent out. Thank you all at Flitetest, especially Peter. He is an awesome addition to the team.
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Battershell on February 23, 2015
Ordered on Wednesday the day it came out and got it on Saturday here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thank you again. Great looking kit well worth the money. Found the tires I needed on Amazon. Du bros pack of four for only 6 bucks.
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Jaxx on February 21, 2015
I would like to purchase those exact paint sticks. How the post a like to them of tell us where we can find them.
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serv@ on February 21, 2015
hiii thaks for free buil plans but full size is not printable, so big.
do you have another vesion, please.

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mjrfear510 on February 23, 2015
Hey Guys great plane !! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE THE MINI plane plans that Peter had that came out of the back even if its a free flight paper airplane that falls out and glides by ts self....actually thats a ok idea a couple paper airplanes or foam planes that fall out n glide :) Thanks again guys!!!! cant wait to get the mini and large twin power packs they both should be here tomorrow !!!
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stefanniculescu on February 27, 2015
Sorry for my question : where is the C.G. ? I don't find it on the plans . Thank you .
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Rav on February 18, 2015
Watching the build video now. Thought - for bevel cuts how about drawing a line or doing a very shallow laser cut parallel to the edge. Now we always cut with one end of the blade half way through the foam board thicknesses and the other end along the line. This will not only help monitor our cut consistency but also get perfect angles when required.
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FoamTest on July 15, 2016
An easy way to get perfect bevel cuts is to use a ruler instead of the etched line as mentioned in your post. I hope this helped.
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shadowwalker888 on February 19, 2015
If i do get this model i want it to make it look like and E-2C Hawkeye
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StereotypicalBrit on February 19, 2015
Does anyone know what size sheet of foam board will be required for building from the plans?
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PropSpinner on February 19, 2015
6 sheets of Dollar Tree foam board. They are 20 inches x 30 inches.
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StereotypicalBrit on February 20, 2015
Ok thanks. Thats my easter holiday project sorted...
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spastickitten on February 18, 2015
Good plane thanks for making more and more!
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kilts75 on February 21, 2015
Another great plane
I would like to see Peter's fold wing plane design built
What was the setup for using the Guinea to tow gliders
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Michael9865 on February 18, 2015
Awesome! Thank You for sharing!
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MPS1985 on February 18, 2015
Thanks!!!👍👉✈️
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PropSpinner on February 18, 2015
Beautiful!!!!
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FTprime on February 26, 2015
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MINI FOLDWING
It makes me nostalgic because I used to have a Hobbyzone DeltaRay and from the bottom the folding and the DeltaRay it looks the same!
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Amdaylight on March 4, 2015
Peter,
Not only is the Guinea Pig a great air plane but we need the FOLD WING as a build and a speed kit! Please bug Josh till it happens.
Andre
PS There needs to be a way to edit your comment other than deleting the old one and writing a new comment for when you get fat fingers and push the wrong button like I did.
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xmimothegreatx on April 22, 2015
where can i get this PDF plan???
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SimFlite on May 13, 2015
at the top of this page!
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charleyza on February 19, 2015
Looking forward to adding one of these to my growing fleet! Thank you guys, I appreciate your hard work and constant inspiration!

FLITE TEST ROCKS!
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Sharky on February 19, 2015
This thing is awesome, thanks guys for your hard work I will get started on it asap which means when it gets here. Really excited! Just the platform I've been waiting for. Look out multi rotor!
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benp101 on February 20, 2015
Hey Guys - will DT750 motors be hoverable?
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giorgiocap7 on February 18, 2015
Amazing job guys, this plane is incredible!!!!!!!!
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garyb2069 on February 18, 2015
Now we just need the folding launch plane got to get one to go with this for some winter time fun flying...lol, i know what my weekend project will be.
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danield on February 19, 2015
Indexing the video at the beginning is great.
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ringo42 on February 19, 2015
Really love the planes but could you please go back to providing the plans in 20X30 format so we can get them printed at our local printers. 64 x 67 just doesn't work.
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SP0NZ on February 19, 2015
I re-arranged the plans for 20x30 and re-tiled them as well. You can get the updated plans from the Build thread here:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?16256-FT-Guinea-Pig-BUILD&p=173792&viewfull=1#post173792
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vptorres on February 20, 2015
Does anyone know what the dimensions are of the paint sticks that the FT Crew are using?
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FixedRotor on February 19, 2015
The build index is a fantastic idea
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Coman on April 1, 2015
Where are the power packs? And I would also like to see peters fold wing
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flihghy on March 11, 2015
Tried printing panel plans. Noticed that the alignment marks were not shown on the printed panel. Did I miss something? How does one align these panels without the alignment marks?
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aidan35 on March 17, 2015
you could try aligning the lines that are on there or use a ruler to draw them in yourself. It is more time consuming but worth it in the end. Sorry if that doesn't help.
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saini_boyz on February 18, 2015
A super Big Thank You.
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stvrob63 on June 8, 2015
Peter, Josh:

The guinea pig reminds me of a seaplane! I live on a lake, and if I could land with confidence on the water, I could fly whenever I wished off my back porch rather than having to drive miles to get out of the woods. What do you think of modifying the fuselage to be a V-hull and perhaps raising the engine pods so they are above the wing rather than under it? Maybe with wing floats under the engine pods?
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Samson on June 10, 2015
You could always just build a floating runway :)
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TuDawgs on September 5, 2015
I was thinking that as well...Look for some PBY plans and mabe you can modify it and then post it for the rest of us...
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ColbePease on June 4, 2015
so instead of making a battery harness, could I just have each motor have their own battery?
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Jasongalyen on June 1, 2015
Was wondering what the chance of getting the drawings made into 20x30 having trouble getting it plotted on the full size that is provided...
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Samson on June 5, 2015
great build so far, however im sortof new and was wondering if i could get some recomendations on what battery, charge, transmitter and receiver to buy and what kind of remote to get? thanks :) its an amazing plane
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BillyBobjones on August 5, 2015
this is an awsome plane!!!!! but i was wondering when do you guys think you will have the power pack back in stock?
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Ruslan_vranov on October 17, 2015
Hello! I'm going to build one, but with some changes. Could you give me some information about Guinea big dimentions?
Fuselage lenght (cm), wingspan, weight (gramms) and thrust angle?
I just want to build an De Havilland Canada DHC-6 with 10x5 props
Thank you!
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icsss on January 3, 2016
I've made mine a quad-engine version :) 2 motors pull and 2 are pushing.
-1900 grams in weight with 2800 differential thrust.
-5000 mAh 3s and flaps.
-All surfaces are laminated.

Thanks Flitetest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glGjRTLxYq4
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BillyBobjones on August 21, 2015
Oh wait a second I forgot to mention something, flite test should be in the dictionary under AWESOME!!!!
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TuDawgs on September 5, 2015
Hey what about instructions for the Turnigy iA6?
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TuDawgs on September 5, 2015
Well, built the FT Storch Scratch last week...this weekend is the guniea pig...You and your team are amazing and offering the plans for free will definately get more people into the hobby...my donation to the FT extra is well worth it!!!
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bluetear000 on October 7, 2015
I had a great time building this plane but unfortunately have not been able to fly it as i am having motor problems.. Any help would be greatly appreciated..
when i power the motors up every thing seems norm, motors and esc all sing there little tune in sync. When I throtle up to about 10% both motors start up anything past that and only one will keep running and the other will stop. I have tried other motors of the same type as well as ESC's and using a y cable and just using an extra chanel.

Equipment in use

Frsky DX9+
V8FR II
Hobbysky Simonk30A
Turnigy AeroDrive D236/8 1100kv

Thanks in advanced
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AntonioSousa on September 6, 2015
Dear FliteTest Team,
Thank you very much for motivating me to come back to the hobby. Your shows are great.
Actually I built already 10 airplanes most of them from scratch balsa. Due to the enoumerous hours spent build them I'm affraid to fly them. So, they're on my exhibition shelf only.
I've ordered my Guinea Pig last Friday and I'm ancious to get it and start building.
Regards
Antonio
Europe, Portugal
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rickitee on September 25, 2015
I built the ft guinea pig and I love it and it fly's great! I used 1400 kv motors only because it was what I had. I plan to build another one after fly this one for a while. I have an orange radio and next year I would be looking for a new one, something that will last a long time and will fit any situation or configuration. So far I have looked at FrSky Taranis X9D Plus 2.4GHz ACCST Radio & X8R Combo w/ case (Mode 2) and Spektrum DX7 7-Channel Transmitter with AR8000 Receiver and the Hitec Aurora 9X 9-Channel Transmitter with Maxima 6 Receiver. Which one will give me differential thrust or which one would you choose or could you suggest one. rickitee22@gmail.com
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Garreta234 on August 27, 2015
Can this plane fly on the same power setup as the cruiser ?
thanks FT.
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TuDawgs on September 18, 2015
I built this before I even SOLO'd my Storch...did a little work on the corgo bay door tonight...you can see the resaults here... https://youtu.be/ZzgCNgI4KR8 and here... https://youtu.be/vecZqCRvKDk on the actual FT Guinea Pig...may have to go with a stronger servo...I haven't maidened this build yet...maybe this weekend!!! :)
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Davidkrischke@live.com on October 15, 2015
What length of wire is suggested as a minimum/maximum for the ESC's Y harness?
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brudun44 on January 22, 2016
what is the proper CG for this plane? have looked everywhere trying to find that info!
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marvinlange on February 5, 2016
Watch Build Video Fast forward to 1:28:11 he talks about Cg its a small hole next to power pod inner side hope this Helps GOD Bless Marvin
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Sotm on September 14, 2016
Josh since you changed to Emax servos you need to update the cutouts for these servos. The ailerons and the top of the fuselage are too small and must be enlarged. The stab is ok.
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Evan aviation on April 13, 2016
Im looking to buy this plane but i am unsure what battery to use with this as i am a beginner. Please respond quickly as i am looking to buy this quickly!!
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Jhbuxton4 on April 29, 2016
Call and make your order, they are very willing to go over your options with you. Depending on what "set up" you will be using will be the biggest factor.
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Noah770809 on February 7, 2017
Can I use this plane without the differential thrust and just use a y harness and put them in the throttle channel
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timbucstoo on June 20, 2018

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timbucstoo on June 20, 2018

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timbucstoo on June 20, 2018

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Charl Langerman on July 8, 2019
Build mine this past weekend ! WOW ! What a flyer! Super easy build !
Super happy and all this on my first foam board build!

Thank you Flight Test!
Charl Langerman South Africa.
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Robbutler1977 on March 24, 2021

I seen petter made a V-tol version and Josh said they would put out a kit for it. I was looking for this and an episode on how to build and set up a vtol. That would be awesome.
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VonHelton on July 27, 2021
Build video: 56;16 looks like Toothless from "How to Train Your Dragon".
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the maker on July 30, 2021
Hi, what is the chord of the wing ??? thanks
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FT Guinea Pig - BUILD