SloFly 22 Scratch Build

This is my SloFly 22 I built out of Dollar Tree foam board.  I used plans I found on RC Groups.  I just had to modify them slightly because of the thickness of the foam.  I used the building techniques I learned from the FliteTest scratch build videos.

I thought I would share this because it is a very quick and easy build (cheap too) - also lots of fun to fly.  Definitely not a beginner plane, but intermediate flyers can sharpen their skills on this one.  It can take a crash and if you do manage to damage it beyond repair it is only one sheet of foam.

The video is of the maiden flight.  The wind was gusting so it made it an interesting flight, but I wanted to test it out. 

I was trying to build an indoor flyer and this should work.  Even though it is a SloFly 22 the actual wingspan is 24 inches.  Might be my printer, might be the plans. Fuselage length is 27 inches.  All up weight without battery is right at 7 ounces.

 Components I used:

     Hextronic 24 gram brushless motor 1300KV

     Turnigy Plush 10 Amp ESC

     (3) - 9g analog servos

     Spekrtrum AR6400E receiver

     8x6 SF propeller

     460Mah 3s Lipo

The only change I would make is to mount the rudder and elevator servos forward.  To get the CG right I had to move all the other electronics and battery as far forward as possible.   I plan on trying other smaller batteries and it may be difficult to get the CG right with them.  I marked the CG on the wing at 3 1/3 inches from the leading edge.  This is 1/3 of the way back from the leading edge on my model because the wing is 10 inches wide.

I made the landing gear out of some scrap carbon fiber I had.  The wheels I pulled off a toy from the Dollar Tree.  I could save weight by leaving the landing gear off, but I usually land on an asphalt parking lot and it is hard on foam.  I used decals from Dollar Tree.  I used colored packing tape for the stripes.

Here's a link to the plans:  http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1182455 

The firewall is hobby plywood supported by floral foam (also from Dollar Tree).  I used my home made foam cutter to get the foam to the right size and used polyurethane glue (gorilla glue) to secure it in place.  I find that this foam is very light and very rigid.  I also used it for the motor support on my F22 Raptor and it has held up extremely well.  To secure everything else I used hot glue.