The Reporter

This is an article about my first Bloody Wonder... with a little twist! I decided to make the Bloody Wonder after I pretty much totaled my FT Duster. After watching the videos of Flite Fest 2015 and seeing the massive amounts of Bloody Wonders there I though I would jump on the band wagon and build one for myself. I wanted mine to be a little tougher than just standard foam board so I used a technique to replace the exsisting paper on the foam board with a stronger material. Overall, the project turned out to be fairly simple and easy to do. This is mainly do to the simplicity of the Bloody Wonder build. I think anyone who is looking to build a plane and make it a little tougher with a little extra flare can easily do this project.   

As you can see it is a standard build of the beautiful Bloody Wonder, but with my lack of pilot skills I thought that I would want to cover the plane using the method that Peter often uses. I went to my local hardware store to find the materials to do so. I soon found out that for a college student the polycrylic and craft paper were more than what I wanted to spend. So I headed back home and thought of a new Idea. Newspapers (hince the name) and Modge Podge! If you have been in the craft world very long you probably have heard of Modge Podge. It is basically the same thing as polycrylic. I already had these materials on hand so I thought why not try it out!

I used the same basic techniques that Peter uses to cover his planes. I started by removing the paper off of the foam board by simply grabbing a corner of one of the cut out pieces and pulling it off. I did this to help keep the weight down and also to get a better bond between the newspaper and the foam. I applied the Modge Podge to my delaminated foam and then my newspaper and simply stuck them together. Once I had most of the wrinkles out I then applied Modge Podge to the outside. Although Peter recommends not doing this to the wings I did it anyway. I used this process to even apply the alerions and elevator instead of simply taping them. I did have some problems along the way with the delaminated foam warping but once I completed the process on the other side it flattened out reletively nicely. The new coverings actually did increase the strength of the foam and also made it look really cool!

;For my electronics I am using an old set up from my FT Duster that bit the dust ;).I am pretty sure it is LazerToyz's "Beef" set up for the FT Mustang. I am running a 1300 three cell lipo with plans to upgrade to an 1800 three cell. This set of provides more than enough power to vertical drag race with.

I was worried that my new coverings would add too much weight to the plane but, after my first flight (sorry no videos) I quickly saw why this plane is so popular! It required quite a bit of trim to keep it from rolling, but after that it flew straight as an arrow! I was quickly doing rolls and loops with ease. It can manuver very quickly with the rates dialed up, but can also be very docile. I can putt around below half throttle with ease or I can take it through at very fast low pass. Overall, I was extremely satisfied with this plane. It was a quick and fun build and looks really cool! Hopefuly it will last me a long time.

I highly encourage you to build this plane if you already have not. It is a simple build, easy to fly, and great fun! Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment.