GIANT FT FLYER :D

by twan1997 | March 30, 2014 | (4) Posted in Just Fun

Thank you Josh Bixler and a number of great people in the Rc Community for this awesome/amazing/banana design :D 
before I found out about flitetest, I tried to learn to fly Rc planes on a Beta1400, a glider that's identical to the bixler 1, just a different name , which got smashed terribly, because as easy of a plane to fly as it is, it's still a 4 channel and has some characteristics that arent ideal for a complete beginner like I was. Then Flitetest came along and came out with the amazing FT flyer, also known as the dart from Rcgroups, I'd say 60-70% of my flying skills were learn from that one FT flyer that I built as soon as the plans came out. the thing was nearly indestructable, but it was limited to either indoors or, light calm days outdoors.
So I did something that I think hasnt been done before, I built a 150% unswappable version of the FT flyer, had no plans and im too stupid enlarge the orginal plans and print them out, so I just took my little old FT flyer and multiplied every dimension by 1.5
It took my exactly 10 hours of constant work from the Idea of a huge FT flyer, to a flying FT flyer. 

Everything was built from a weird 6mm blue insulation foam that found locally, it was rather "flimsy" so everything was build with 2 layers, except the wing, which was 3 layers of that weak foam, and it was still a little weak for loops and high-winds, so I added a 6mm carbon tube in the middle to support it, which I think is a little over kill, but eh :P  now it can take up to 25-30km/h winds with no problems what so ever. which is a huge advantage compared to the smaller one, and yea, it's bigger, bigger is always better :D I flew it with a 2650 mAh  3s battery and that gave about 10-15 minutes of flight, but I bet it can carry up to a 5000mAh or more, which will let me fly forreeeeverr :D

So it took it out for another flight today in the sunset, and needless to say, it flew beautifully. I will post a video of it flying soon, as soon as I manage to catch up on my school work :P

Materials :
-blue insulation foam
-some carbon fiber tube
-3mm plywood for the firewall
-and a bunch of duct-tape

 Parts:
-Hextronik DT700 motor on 3s and a APC 11x7 Slow flying prop
-a random 30A ESC I found laying around
-13g metal gear servo for the elevator
-9g hextronik servo (the one flitetest loves so much) for the rudder 
-Turnigy 9X TX&RX

and after editting the article, here's a flight video filmed with an iphone :P 

 

Thanks for reading my article :)

Twan

COMMENTS

Techno16 on May 20, 2014
Does the power pod hold anything more than the battery? If not, you may want to reduce the size of the "power pod" to increase the efficiency of the motor
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suvansh on May 13, 2014
Nice work, for some safety for your iPhone make the mount with wood, see the video for idea, Scratch Built iPhone 4s Mount http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Wm3LoXXyM ..
and you can try this out, you have a nice huge plane, i did this with a 100% FT Flyer, it will be really good with your plane!!
FT-Power Pod Modification (FPV) Under Garage Setup Pictures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq1mhtOU99M
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Grendel on May 21, 2014
I just carved ailerons in my ft flyer :) served by one servo :) Will test it on Saturday.
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twan1997 on May 13, 2014
I just checked it out and it seems like an awesome idea :D but just out of curiousity, how did a little ft flyer carry such a huge under it? like even if it has a powerful motor, it wouldnt maintain the awesome flying characteristics would it??
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suvansh on May 14, 2014
it would (im the proof.. hehehehe).. i just maintained the cg, before doing this i flew this plane a lot to get to know about the flight characteristics...
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twan1997 on May 14, 2014
ow that's cool :D although with the smaller ft flyer, I like to keep it like ultra ultra light , gives it a floaty feel to it
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NoUsername on May 14, 2014
Great job. Love how you made it so big.

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twan1997 on May 14, 2014
thanks :3 bigger is always better :D
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Barend on May 14, 2014
I cant see to well on the photo , is that a kf step on the wing? Well done on the big flyer !
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twan1997 on May 14, 2014
yup :) it's 3 layers of foam and a kfm4 step , ithis airfoil really makes it able to fly even slower and improves high-alpha capabilities :D
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Ron B on May 26, 2014
yours flies better than my 100% flyer
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dholcomb on May 22, 2014
I am just learning to fly and I love my FT Flyer. It is kinda my ace in the hole. So to speak. I was just thinking about building a bigger one when I saw your article. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm off to the building board. :)
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GIANT FT FLYER :D