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FT foamboard Mini Mustang


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Hi all,

I thought I'd start a little thread about my Flite Test mini Mustang build.

Myself and another one of my flying buddies are having a friendly build off just for fun.

I have built models using foamboard for some time now and only now are some of my flying mates coming to the party! I honestly think my 2016 Rcm&e MB foamboard Ballerina got them interested even though they have seen my other builds in action for a few years.

Anyway.....I am going to build it as close as possible to the FT recommendations,ie. no modifications. This should only be a short quick and simple build, so if anyone is interested, feel free to drop in every now and then.

Rosco
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My boys built the mustangs and the corsair as per the plans. They flew off the board perfectly. The corsair pilot says" you've got to fly it all the way dad, But it's great".

Certainly looks great in the air.

Good luck with yours.
We used motors we had around and servos off eBay I paid about ?1.50 for 5!!!

David
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Hi David,
Cheers, it's good to know that they fly well from someone who's built them.

I'm just going to be using some electrics I've got in my parts box along with some servos that are in there too. The servos are 9g jobbies but I'm sure they'll be ok.

We are building the Mustang because my friend already printed out the plans and he thought the flatter wing would be easier to build for him than the Gull Wing on the Corsair. We might build that next if he's still interested! I've got an 1100mm Corsair that is a really nice flying model. I might just have to fly it to get him keen on the Corsair build!! Cheers Rosco

Edited By Rosco on 22/06/2016 08:02:13

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Rosco,

forgive me if I teach you to suck eggs but...print the plans, cut them out and stick onto the board, cut the board VERY accurately. Build exactly as per plan...add lightness wherever possible.

I cant tell you what motors we used, probably old multi rotor ones. The servos as I said were cheap as chips...cheaper in fact, 5 for a couple of quid on ebay...nice servos actually!

Balance it accurately - I'd urge forward of stated for the first time - and be ready on the sticks!

They look good and fly really well although there are MANY areas where simply improvements might add huge benefits...as you'll see as you progress. I think the FT boys did well with these, I was half tempted with the larger spit myself, as we have lots of board left.

I shall watch with interest.

D

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Thanks for the tips David smiley

I'm especially aware of building things light (as Chris (McG6969) will testify) so I do have my ways of doing things.

I'm down in Australia and the foamboard that I use apparently is different to their stuff and most likely to yours too.

I will actually be using possibly a heavier motor?, a heavier battery than the recommended 3s 800mah, mine will be a 3s 1000mah and the 9g servos are obviously heavier than the ones recommended too (5g) so I will be carrying some extra weight but.................when I remove the paper from the foamboard, according to my calculations, I can lose up to 40% of its weight (I actually calculated 43% during my Ballerina build) surprise

Once again, thanks for the tips yes

@Chris, welcome to the room....pleasure to have your presence, again beer

Rosco

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I've made a start on my build.

I have printed out my plans and transferred them to the foamboard.

I did think about gluing the printed plan to the foamboard as you said you did David but in the end I just used the pin pricking around the outline method (which I've never done before) and did find it easy to follow the pin holes but I did accidentally move the paper plan (only by a couple of mm) and ended up putting holes where they weren't needed! Not to worry though, I'm sure it'll be ok.

One thing that will be different to the way the FT guys build is that I can't fold my foamboard over itself so in areas such as the LE of the wing, I'll just glue the bits together because I can sand it 'round' afterwards.
The same goes for the fuselage assembly.

Another factor in that is that I'll be removing the paper, making it impossible to do the bends without the paper on the outside curve.

Next step is to cut out the foamboard parts and then remove the paper.

I want to weigh the parts first with paper on and then paper off so I can give real world figures on how much weight it has actually removed from the airframe.

Rosco

Edited By Rosco on 23/06/2016 06:23:24

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Hi all again,

Since my last post (approx 1 1/2 hrs?) I've cut out my parts! Working with foamboard really is that quick!!

I think I've got every part cut out so now it's weigh time. Unfortunately, I don't have any scales nearby but when I get my hands on some, I'll be giving it all a weigh before removing the paper.
The paper does not just peel off the foamboard that I use so it is a little bit more work to remove it but regardless, I prefer to remove it anyway.
My technique is to wet the paper and rub it off. It sounds harder than it actually is and being a small model, it really shouldn't take long.

Another thing that I have to do is sort out my electrics. Hopefully I can have them organised by my next post. Because I am building it as per the plans (and for friendly competition sportsmanship, I will be making the removable power pod.

Until next time....

Rosco
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Hi Rosco,

Regarding removing the paper from the foam, it seems that you can use some isopropyl alcohol as well with very good (fast) results.

I've been using it to spray onto a foam board covered with some 'heavy' paper/card where plain water was just inoperant & it went really OK. Just spray onto the board, wait for the alcohol to penetrate, re-spray a little to keep it damp if needed and peel off the paper.

Maybe worth a try on a scrap piece of board?

Hakuna matata

Chris

BRU - BE / CTR Isopropyl Control

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Thanks Chris but unfortunately any liquid that goes onto the paper just gets absorbed and the paper won't 'peel' off, it just tears away in a wet mash.

I've tried several methods of removing the paper and the 'rub' method that I have stuck with seems to work best for me. This will sound weird but I find that It is actually quite soothing !!!! Like I mentioned before, it won't actually take me long to do it anyway as the model really is not that big.

By tomorrow I hope to have both paper 'on' and paper 'off' weight' for anyone interested and maybe even have started gluing it up.

Till then beer

Rosco

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Hello all, just a quick one......

I've weighed up my airframe parts and it comes in at a total weight of 139g. That is with the paper on it.

As I will be removing the paper, according to my calculations, it should come in at about 83.4g if I use my conservative figure of 40%.

My actual weight loss on my last test gave me a 43% reduction wich will make it come in at 79.23g to be exact.

I'm curious to know what it will actually end up at and if my calculations are actually correct (I'm no maths genius!)
If it does come in at 84g or less then I'll be impressed.

Let's wait and see. Now for the paper removal part!.......

Rosco
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Hi Chris,
I'm down in Australia and as far as I'm aware, the foamboard varies from country to country. I've not seen the FliteTest foamboard personally but my build off friend has and told me that its paper is like a thick piece of tracing/baking paper and the foam seems to be lighter (more aerated possibly).
I am unable to do the full folds on my models as the paper just tears.

I actually source my foamboard from a local art shop here (in Adelaide, South Australia) called 'Riot' art but the paper does not just peel off like the FT guys seem to be able to do with the US stuff.

Just to give an example of the difference, another local office supply shop (called 'Officeworks') has foamboard that the paper easily seems to peel off of however the foamboard is much more brittle.

I've just removed the paper from the wing top sections (paper removed from both sides of the foamboard) and they have gone from 18g's each, down to 10g's each.

Rosco

Rosco

Edited By Rosco on 24/06/2016 13:29:09

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Hi,

I have made the 'swappable' mustang out of depron as I could not source foam/dlollar board in the uk as a reasonable price. I just used the same basic techniques with uhu. I have covered it with iron on film. Its very very tough and flies a treat. I found with the depron version the folded wing is produces a smooth aerofoil section rather than the 'lumpy' one of the dollar board. I also found that the c0g was much further forward.

Its currently in for a refit have had a number of big crashes due to dodgy electronics. I'm looking forward to building their 3d flier )**LINK**

Have fun with the mini!

nick

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Hello all,
Just another quick one.....

I've weighed up the parts with paper removed and it has weighed even less than my prediction.

The entire airframe foamwork comes in at.......76g.
I'm pretty happy with that.

Now it's time to start putting it all together with some glue.

Rosco
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello all,

Sorry about my lack of posting. To be honest, there didn't seem to be much interest although I must apologize to those of you that did show some.

I have not posted any pictures as it really is a straight forwards build and I'd just be doubling up on what the FT guys have in their Youtube clip.

Anyway, continuing on....

It is now finished!

Today I took the model up for a super quick maiden and quite literally flew for about a minute. She does fly and that is all I was intending on finding out. It actually flew very sedately and stable which I was quite happy with.

It flew straight and level, just one click of up elevator and that was it. Seems like it will be a nice little flying machine!

Now I know she flies, I'll paint it up and perhaps make a vid.

Rosco
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No, don't perhaps make a vid - definitely make a vid! I am very interested in your posts and would very much like to see how you got on. Its good to see that we can get away with not using the dollartree stuff.

Ian

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Hi DP1,

Looks like they can handle a bit of a breeze too! cool

I'm looking forwards to getting mine out for a proper fly. I had an issue with the batteries I was going to use so I've had to make some adjustments and the weight is a little bit more than before so I'm hoping it will still be ok?

I'll put something together Vid wise, when I next fly it. Nice little vid of yours too yes

Rosco beer

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Hi Rosco, yes they handled a very strong, gusty turbulent wind just fine. As they say, it can fly in the wind...can you?

As for weight, fear not. Worst event is a flick stall under 'g'. The mustang seems okay (though when pylon raced can still be induced to flick) whereas the Corsair is a reet buggah. Mind you the Corsair has a lot of aerodynamic issues poor thing!

Treat them with respect and they are fast fun.

We use 850mAh 3S batteries and 1250kv sunnysky motors 'x2212' model, but we only used these motors because we had them lying around. Truth is, if we had 'em, they was agoin' in!

D

D

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I had a spare 5mins today, well, not really but I stopped at the local oval on the way past and took the Mustang up for enough of a fly to start getting a 'feel' for it.

I've got a slightly heavier battery and speedy in it than what I had for its maiden. I did move the battery back a little to compensate for its extra weight but it seemed to be the slightest bit nose heavy. At least I know for the next time I have a fly but besides that, it still flew well.
I even tried some inverted and some pretty loose knife edge. I filmed it all too.

Unfortunately it is a dot in the sky for quite a bit of the filmed flight but I'll slap something together anyway. I enjoy putting vids together too.

Until then,
Happy flying

Rosco

Edited By Rosco on 14/07/2016 13:34:46

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