The FT Simple Soarer (SS) is hands down a great plane. As a motor (“E”) glider, however, there are some issues I am sure many of you have already discovered. Below I have collected together some easy modifications to improve the Simple Soarer “E” into a great 2 channel motor glider.
Lets start with the power pod....
With a standard power pod and 24g 1300kv motor the SS required a 1300mah battery as far forward as possible, plus an additional 60g of weight to obtain proper CG! Sure it flew...unhappily and very anemic.
A quick flitetest search brought me to a forum post by trackskid, subject, power pod extensions
An excellent post! Below are a few details to add to the SS power pod mod.
First: Up front a folding prop. A must for any motor glider adds looks and I would hope some improved aerodynamics (although I have no data to back this claim...)
Pic.1. Folding 8x4 prop
Pic. 2. SS with trackskid extended power pod
Pic. 3. Electronics hatch
Second I will be adding a vent hole of some variety for the electronics, it gets quite warm in there.
Next: Down thrust! Josh recommends about 4 degrees in the SS build video. I found and additional few degrees helps immensely to minimize pitch up with throttle.
SailorJohn has a great article regarding down thrust, and how to add it to the power pods.
Because the build of the SS doesn’t utilize power pod tabs I found cutting about 1/4 inch off the firewall end of the power pod obtains 6-7 degrees
Pic. 4. ~6 1/2 degrees down thrust
Pic. 5. A sample of power pod and the cuts used to add down thrust
Pic. 6. Cuts made!
Pic. 7. Final result.
Side note: SailorJohn also has a great video about specialized foam board building tools
One final addition to the power pod is moving the bbq skewers down from the SS fuselage to the power pod. This allows the skewers to go though both the power pod and the fuselage giving the whole structure more support.
Pic. 9. New bbq skewer locations down on the power pod Notice my poor repair of the original hole (above the front skewer)
Pic. 10. Skewer through the power pod and fuselage (the 4 channel 72mhz Rx its so tiny!)
I used extra prop spacers to reinforce the bbq skewer holes. No more foam tears or widening of those holes after rough landings! Just widen the holes with an x-acto knife and tape or glue in the spacers. I saw this technique in a FT article which I am not able to find again so I apologize I can not give credit to the proper person for this idea
As for the rest of the fuselage only one other addition is to use a popsicle stick across the elevator for reinforcement (as seen in a FT build video)
Pic. 11. Elevator with reinforcement (please excuse my sloppy tail feathers, they have been repaired a few times)
I also used CA hinges in my SS although any reinforced joint like a hot glue joint will work (Flitetest build videos)
One final Modification is with the wing. I really like the rubber band on wing. Great for transport, also reduces damage in a crash. I find due to the narrow contact point of the wing to the fuselage, the wing is too floppy (left - right). Stronger rubber bands help, but also damage the foam. The solution is to add spars to help support the wing, but they also need to be: 1. easy to make, 2. removable and 3. flexible in a crash.
To fullfill these three requirements I used a full length bbq skewer (just the pointy end cut off) in the rear rubber band hole. Then used and short rubber band through the wing and around the skewer.
Pic. 12. Skewer is about 11” (~28cm) long
Pic. 13. Holes through the wing about 4 1/4” (10.8 cm) either side of the center line popsicle sticks used to protect the foam
Pic. 14. Rubber bands through the wing.
The skewer flexes quite a bit. The wing remains flexible in relation to the fuselage but the majority of the slop is gone. I find the plane is much easier to control in windy conditions with a more secure wing. Suprisingly it flies pretty much hands off.
Pic. 15. The velcro alows for placement of heavier batteries (>500mah), leaving the belly smooth for landings.
Pic. 16.
Pic. 17. eeek that tail is off center .....
I will try adding foam plyon supports around the rubber bands to improve looks.
Thanks to Flitetest for growing this awesome RC community, and to Josh, David and their team in designing this awesome glider. I hope this article will help others to enjoy the SS as much as I am. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.
I appologize if credit was not given when due. If I missed anyone please leave a comment.
this plane is turning into a group project and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it
oh- I added channel mixing to offset the exaggerated lift with higher speeds...more throttle as master channel and elevator (down) as slave...it really works great when we use the down thrust along with mixing
flew mine this weekend- what a great bird
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Looks much neater than the unsightly spar too.
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