Scratch Built Flying Sheet of Foam Board

A few days ago, my uncle and I were talking about my FT scratch builds,(Specifically about how weak he thought they would be.) and he said that he thought it would be really cool if Flite Test made a single, "plane" sheet of foam board fly. I took this as a challenge...

Here is "THE BRICK" in its early stages

I basically just made an angled version of the nutball. (notice the center line and hole for the hextronic 9g servos)

Here is a view from the front. (also, I did not turn the camera sideways, the pictures just came out that way)

(Here is the picture of my 45 degree rudder hinge)

To start it, I cut off 1 inch from the long side, then cut off 5 inches from the back. Then I flipped it upside-down, measured 5 inches in from both long edges, and did a 50% score cut for the polyhedral. I used a huge text book underneath it to measure the correct amount of polyhedral while I pumped the cavities full of glue. when the hot glue cooled, I put extreme packing tape over the "glue spars." I put plain packing tape over the top of the spars. I measured and cut out a slot for the rudder, and used some of the excess 5 inches from the back to make the rudder.

Then I made it swappable, added the servos, control horns, and push rods, and put the zip-tie-on-the-popsicle- stick-thingy in. I actually didn't have acess to popsicle sticks, so I glued 2 skewers together, and then glued that mess onto the foam board.

Here's a picture of the installed servos with a skewer taped to the thin, bendy, carbon fiber pushrods. I was skeptical at first, but the skewers removed almost all of the flexing.

pushrods, control horns, and linkage stoppers...

The servos got in the way of the back skewer mounting for the power pod, so I improvised, and put another hole in the pod.

Here's the power pod in "THE BRICK."

I was using:

a 1300kv turnigy motor

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__41715__Turnigy_2730_Brushless_Motor_1300kv_US_Warehouse_.html?strSearch=1300kv

a 25A speed controller

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__2163__TURNIGY_Plush_25amp_Speed_Controller.html

1300mAH 3s 20C batteries

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9272__Turnigy_1300mAh_3S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

APC 7x6 props

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=23609

an AR610 reciever and the brand new Dx6

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/dx6-6-channel-dsmx-reg-transmitter-with-ar610-receiver-mode-2-SPM6700

and 2 hextronic 9g servos

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9549__Turnigy_TG9e_9g_1_5kg_0_10sec_Eco_Micro_Servo_EU_Warehouse_.html

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a maiden flight video, but it did fly much better than I thought it would. It actually looked like a plain piece of foam in the air, so I won the challenge that I gave to myself... It lasted long enough for my dad and I to each fly it for a while. Sadly, it did crash as all planes do, and doubly sad was the fact that It broke my motor, so I had to buy a new one.

Thanks for reading, and if you feel that my uncle is wrong, and that FT models are NOT easily broken, please comment. (you can also comment if you have any questions)