How To: Print Flite Test Plans
Introduction
I began creating the free plans for Flite Test in October 2015. The new format for these plans started well before that with a forum discussion started by Balu way back in August 2014. There was a lot of discussion in the forums over how best to reformat the existing plans to make it easier for the scratch builder. The template that I created to make my own plans evolved over time from feedback from the Flite Test community. Most of the feedback that I have received regarding the new plans has been very positive. My main goal is to continue to improve and add value to the free Flite Test plans. One of the most frequently asked questions I get from people regarding the Flite Test plans, is how to correctly print them. In this article I will share what I find works best, including what software and settings to use to achieve the best results. This will by no means be the best possible solution for everyone. The platforms, operating system, hardware and software that abound make it impossible to provide a single solution that will work for all. I hope that you find this a helpful and vauluable resource for printing your model airplane plans.
We will get into the details of how to print shortly. But first, let me give you some important technical information.
Full-Size Plans
If you are going to be printing the full-size plans, you either have access to your own plotter (lucky you) or you are taking them to a print shop and paying to have them printed. People often ask what size they need to plot when they take the PDF to a print service like Staples or Kinkos.
Print Area: 22 x 34 inched (559 x 864 mm)
ANSI D: 22 x 34 inches (559 X 864 mm)
ISO A1: 594 x 841 mm (23.4 x 33.1 inches)
The plans are formatted so that they can be printed in black-and-white and still provide the builder with the important information they need to cut and fold all the parts for the design. Printing in black-and-white will typically cost significantly less than full-size color prints. Each sheet includes a scale in the upper-right corner of the page in inches and millimeters. Measure your printed plans to make sure that the scale is correct before you pay for your prints and leave the store. The full-size plans also include a title sheet and a drawing key. Most builder will choose to print these two pages out on thier home printers. But, if you are having a print service make them, they can be printed on ANSI A (US Letter) or ISO A4 size paper.
Tiled Plans
The actual print area of the tiled plans is 7.5 x 10 inches to accommodate printing on both ANSI A (US Letter) and ISO A4 size paper without any scaling or sizing issues. This allows me to make one set of tiled plans that should work with most home and office printers almost anywhere in the world.
Print Area: 7.5 x 10 inches (190.5 x 254 mm)
ANSI A: 8-1/2 x 11 inches (216 x 279 mm)
ISO A4: 210 x 297 mm (8.27 x 11.7 inches)
Now, on to the how-to...
Printing
The biggest mistake people make when printing the tled plans is to try printing them directly from a web browser (i.e. chrome, safari, explorer, etc.). For most PDF documents, printing from the web browser is perfectly acceptable. However, for printing technical drawings at a precise scale they simply do not give you enough control to achieve the desired results. NEVER print your plans from your web browser. ALWAYS download the files to your device and print them.
Software
There are several software applications available that will open, view and print PDF documents. I always recommend people to use Adobe Reader for printing plans. There are a couple of reason why. First, Adobe owns the PDF format, and their software just works. It's also free for anyone to download and use the viewer. Finally, I've been using it for years and I'm comfortable with it and the setting required to get the best results. You can feel free to experiment with other software if you choose, but I will be giving you directions on how best to print plans with Adobe Reader. If you find other methods and software that work as well or better, please share it. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat Reader DC installed, you can get the latest version here: https://get.adobe.com/reader/
I'm going to assume that you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC installed, you have downloaded the plans that you want to print, and have opened the plans in Adobe Reader.
With the file open select print from the toolbar or the File menu. Adobe will display the following Print dialog box.
Properties - use to change setting specific to your printer such as paper type and print quality. I often print my plans to card stock to make templates. Look for a future article on making card stock templates.
Save ink/toner - this setting can cause unexpected results such as missing lines or text. make sure this is unchecked.
Custom Scale - I have found this setting to give the best, most accurate results for scale. After printing, measure the included scale on one or more of the printed pages to check for accuracy. If you need to make a fine adjustment to get your prints to the correct scale, this is where you will do it.
Choose paper source by PDF page size - Make sure this is unchecked and you have manually selected the correct paper size for your printer. Leaving this checked can cause some minor scaling issues.
Orientation - make sure this is set to Auto portrait/landscape. This setting also centers the print area on the paper. Not using the Auto setting can cause one or more edges of your print to get cropped.
Print the file and measure the scale to be sure that the print scale is accurate. If it's off a little, first double check all the above settings. If they are all set correctly, you can try tweaking the custom scale factor to dial in your printer. A slight variation in scale won't have much of an impact on your builds. However, if the scale is off by 1/8 to 1/4 inch or more, you will not have a very enjoyable build process.
Conclusion
That's it folks. That is the magic formula for printing Flite Test tiled plans. I've had a lot of people ask me to help them with printing issues and 99% of the time these settings resovled them. As I said earlier, with all the different printers, drivers, and operating systems, there is no combination that will work for everyone. That said, these should work for most of you. If not, post in the comments below or ask over on the Flite Test forums. It's a great resource to get answers to your questions.
As always, if you found this article to be helpful/informative, please take a minute to rate it and/or leave me a comment.
Enjoy the free plans and make some memories!
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It is true that your method can save you a little bit of paper. Because I am only using a 7-1/2" X 10" print area for the tiles there is more wasted white space. This was a compromise to be able to create one set of tiled plans for both US Letter and A4 paper sizes. Using the poster print options will use more of the available print area for your sheet size. The only draw back that I can see to your method vs. using my tiled plans, is that I try to minimize the number of pieces that you actually have to tape together. The parts are arranged on the sheets to use the minimum number of seams for any given part whenever possible. If a part can fit cleanly on a single tile, I will put it on it's own tile even if there would be room to fit it somewhere else on the plans with a seam in it. With your method, you are at the mercy of Adobe creating the seams, sometimes through parts that would not even require one.
That said, if you like that method and it works for you, go for it! The goal is to build and fly a model airplane and make memories with friends and family. How you get there is up to you. :)
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https://help.cricut.com/help/cricut-explore-materials-settings
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Keegan and I will be working on the Air Hogs Intruder over the winter. We are going to start with a smaller 28" version that will use the A & F packs as well as the RS2205 (red bottom) motors. Should be an 80 MPH speed demon. Once that one is done, we'll make the larger version. Hope to have both done by spring.
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You are not the first person to ask to have all the parts (including the duplicates) on the plans. I've been including all of the parts on the Flite Test plans since the release of the FT Sportster and Mini Sportster last November (2015). So, even some of the back catalog plans I've done since then, like the Versa, Flyer and Baby Blender, now include all of the parts in the plans. As I get time, I will go back and update the ones that don't and continue to work on the back catalog. Winter is usually when I have more time to work on that, but it depends on how busy FT keeps me with new releases. Lately, they have been keeping me pretty busy.
You can also check out my artilce on creating templates. I'm not a big fan of using paper plans to cut out parts myself.
http://flitetest.com/articles/make-reusable-templates-from-plans
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I tried using poster and that gave cut marks, but turn pages sideways to make 11x17 inch pages.
Where are the tick marks and center circles for aligning. I must be missing something.
Thanks for your work.
DanD
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Dustin.
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I can't thank you enough for your efforts. The mini Triplane was catching my fancy and I couldn't wait to get back to work for large format printer access. So i found this article.
Guys follow his notes and it works GREAT!. Once I used Adobe Reader to print the scale came out exactly! Sponz I also found the tick marks and center circles were immensely helpful for aligning everything. Great thing to do while recovering from Turkey overdose and watching football.
One thing I would like to know. The FT guys want to have a plane to build in "a few hours" I know that it would be very feasible with a speed build kit. What I would like to know is how long the different planes build from the start of printing planes to maiden take from some of you more experienced builders.
Just another quick note. I have built planes my whole life, I'm 50 now. Because of flight test I was able to get back into the hobby because of the cost and time reduction your work has helped with. AND I am now flying with my nephew, and brother in law, and I am working on one of my daughters to break out the razor blade and start cutting some foam with me.
THANKS FliteTest and SPONZ for your work. It is paying off for me..... well my wallet may not agree! ;)
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Great article. Reading the poster board template article next. Then I will be building my 1st FT speed build kit (Explorer). The FT videos got me interested and now I'm hooked! I've even looked into a STEM program for my girlfriend's cub scouts. This whole this is too cool. Thanks for all the future help I'm gonna need ;-)
TIA
Steve
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One of the biggest problem I had is aligning them up and cutting the foam out of the plans.
Could you tell me if the alignment of the tiles plans improved?
To make it easier to align correctly?
Thank You
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I was wondering if you could teach us how you create these plans. I would really like to be able to generate my own printable designs.
Thanks
Craig
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Thanks to you I was able to order my print jobs at Office Max with the confidence that I would get a good result. The heads up about the cost viz B/W vs. color was very helpful as well.
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You could also use the plans to design your color or trim scheme for the plane and see what it looks like before starting.
Download the plans and open them with Paint program and go WILD.
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P-51, Spitfire & Mig 15 - they are assembled with hot melt glue and use two penneys for ballast.
Ron Hayward email xhayward@msn.com
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I want to discuss a problem which I believe exists in the plans for the Simple Stick. I joined FTCA and downloaded the Simple Stick plans two days ago. The fuselage plan shows A fold but the actual fuselage parts in the FT Simple Stick Kit shows this as B Fold. Josh Bixler's YouTube video building the Simple Stick at 41 minutes, 53 seconds specifically says this is a B Fold. I think the plans should be corrected to show B Fold. But, maybe you know something that I haven't learned yet so please check this and let me know if I am correct or not.
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