Flite Test models

[Steve McIntosh]

As per the title. Has anyone built(OK built is maybe not the right word) any of the Flite Test models. I've just downloaded the tiled plans for the "Bushwacker." Not the most scale of aircraft but for what I imagine they cost and their ease of build they look great fun

[kevin b]

I built a 3d fun flier for one of the other club members (who's a better pilot than me). Good for keeping the grey cells active without using precious balsa. very quick to build, but "different". I may build an EDF jet next. You build them to fly, not to look at.

 

Edited By kevin b on 31/01/2021 14:53:28

[Zflyer]

I have purchased built and flown the mini vector, and downloaded the Bloody Barron plans and have built two of those. They fly really well and are a great hoot.

[Eric Robson]

This is a Flite test P38 I am building at the moment crude but they seem to fly well, If you look on the Warbirds Replicas P51 Mustang thread Richard Wills has one on the last few pages which he is adding extra detail to.

[Steve McIntosh]

I think that looks fantastic and I suspect a lot quicker to get to that stage than a traditional kit

[Eric Robson]

Hi Steve, this is it now, the cockpit canopy and engine cowls are not the ones in the kit.as you can see the wing ends are very crude and the booms have a lot of creases on. If you log onto their site they have quite a range and have some interesting large versions. Now I know how they build up I am going to try one of my own from foam board may be a D.H hornet twin. It only takes a few evenings to get to the  unpainted stage. Unfortunately due to the lockdown I have not been able to fly it .

Edited By Eric Robson on 31/01/2021 16:59:01

[Dad_flyer]

I have built the Simple Storch from the FT kit and the Spitfire (basic, not the master series one) and Legacy from Hobbycraft Westfoam board.

They build quickly and fly well. I always take ages on the control fittings, but that is just my indescicion.

The FT foam is lighter than anything else available in the UK, so you need to bear that in mind if using other foam. FT foam is pretty cheap, but requires postage. I can just nip over to Hobbycraft (not in lockdown obviously) for a few sheets when I need them. The 4-sheet price is reasonable. Even 'heavier' foam gives a pretty light model by normal standards. The Spit is great fun, my abilities would never be enough for a proper scale one.

[GrumpyGnome]

That looks really good Eric!

GG

[Lima Hotel Foxtrot]

Posted by Steve McIntosh on 31/01/2021 14:22:37:

As per the title. Has anyone built(OK built is maybe not the right word) any of the Flite Test models. I've just downloaded the tiled plans for the "Bushwacker." Not the most scale of aircraft but for what I imagine they cost and their ease of build they look great fun

Excellent plane; flies well, interesting design and build process, pretty solid. With the flaps down and a breeze, it will take off almost vertically and sit there in a hover.

[Peter Smith]

I built two Flite Test Simple Cubs. Very easy to build, and easily replaced if crashed. I would post a photo but every time I try the photo appears upside down. If someone can tell me how to sort the problem that would be good.

[Graham Davies 3]

Posted by Peter Smith on 01/02/2021 12:00:15:

I built two Flite Test Simple Cubs. Very easy to build, and easily replaced if crashed. I would post a photo but every time I try the photo appears upside down. If someone can tell me how to sort the problem that would be good.

Annoying, isn't it? I believe this is caused by the camera not correctly defining the orientation. There's a fix of the symptom; but it's still a bit irritating:

Before you upload to this site; find the picture in your gallery, select edit, and then use the rotate tool to go a complete 360 degrees. Then save and close the image. This action adds orientation info to the file and this site can then understand what is obvious to us!

I hope that helps

Graham

[Peter Smith]

Thanks Graham, that worked ok. Good tip, I have noticed the same problem on other sites.

The stripes are cut from solar trim. The black cabin outline is black solarfilm, which sticks very nicely to the foam board.

[philip pember]

have buiilt there masters series corsair, bending foam over edge of board / table etc, flies great on 3s 2200, all a bit crude but no balsa and reasonably quick to put together [build] , think they have changed to white board now from brown as it is supposedly superior and not expensive , no dust ar cyano just hot glue.

[Bill Wood]

I am currently building the FT Bushwacker as an introduction to using foam board. My main problem is getting things lined up before the hot glue sets. This has resulted in the back end of the fus being twisted. Would UHU por work instead of hot glue so I can get the tail feathers straight before the glue goes off? I suppose I could try it on some scrap foam board.  I have built the motor pod and fitted the motor and ESC but I intend to fit a 2200mah 3s battery in the fus below the pod.  Does anyone know if velcro stuck to the paper lining would be sufficient or should the surface be lined with something else or any other ideas regarding securing the battery?

[Denis Watkins]

UHU por is perfect for your build Bill

The problem with hot glue is weight

Your efforts with lightweight materials in the build are partially wasted on heavy hot glue

[Lima Hotel Foxtrot]

Hot glue is fine for a small build which you want done quickly, ie the FT Flyer. On larger builds where you have to run a long bead of glue you either need to work really quickly before it cools or get a very hot gun which can melt the foam too easily. It's also really heavy.

 

I've been experimenting with:

CA - too quick, too brittle.

CA gel - some work time, good hold.

Silicone sealant - pain to apply from a sealant gun, heavy, almost too much gap filling, decent hold.

Silicone gel - good hold, good grab, gap fills well, longer cure time.

Aliphatic resin - good grab, good hold, long cure time, way too yellow.

PVA - like aliphatic, but clear.

UHU Por - good grab, good hold, gap fills, foam safe, reasonable cure time, can stay flexible.

 

I have found that using hot glue is good for tacking parts while I use aliphatic on areas I know will not be seen and PVA where I want it to look nice and where I want a long cure time to put a bead in a join and bend to position with enough time to weigh parts down and secure them.

 

I think "crude" is the wrong word to describe these planes. Some are more simplistic than overs, but considering the constrains of foamboard as a medium I think they are remarkably clever designs. They're not crude, they are different.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Lima Hotel Foxtrot
coz

[Bill Wood]

Thankyou Dennis and LHF for your very useful comments. Wish I had known about that before tackling the fus. I have some UHU por, PVA and Aliphatic so I'll give those a try. Just been watching the video of the wing build and with those long glue runs I will not be using hot glue. Thanks again.

[Dad_flyer]

I always use just hot glue. You do need to be ready, and you need long glue sticks and a glue gun that gets enough glue hot. With that I have found it reasonably straightforward to get things in the right position before the glue is hard. 

[Lima Hotel Foxtrot]

As a coda to the above, now that we have had the two hottest days of the year thus far I have discovered that when you leave your foamboard planes in the car the only ones that don't almost fall apart are the ones that don't use hot glue. I have had to reheat and reset the dihedral and tail feathers on more than one model. The planes made with aliphatic and PVA are still fine.

[Bill Wood]

That's useful to know although I try to avoid leaving planes etc. in the car during sunny weather. My FT Bushwacker has now flown - just two short flights before I paint it. Any idea what sort of paint is best for foam board?

[SIMON CRAGG]

4 hours ago, Bill Wood said:

That's useful to know although I try to avoid leaving planes etc. in the car during sunny weather. My FT Bushwacker has now flown - just two short flights before I paint it. Any idea what sort of paint is best for foam board?

I used household emulsion (half empty tins mixed / borrowed from the dump), and treated with polyurethane satin varnish.

[Dad_flyer]

Cheap Toolstation spray paint and spray varnish on this.

Otherwise I have used artist acrylic, which did not help a model that was already tail heavy.

[GrumpyGnome]

Really nice job there DF..

[Lima Hotel Foxtrot]

Very good results with any spray I've used so far on the foamboard from hobbycraft. 

 

Very mixed results on the horrendous FT brown skinned board. 

[Dad_flyer]

That is a point LHF. I have not painted my official brown FT Storch. I did have to do some repairs, adding a skin of cloth with PU varnish. Not water based. That stuck well, I think I lightly sanded first.