RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Well said about the thread's intent and sharing life's little topics of interest. Yes, drinking wine with a lot of live yeast in it will keep you running to the bathroom for sure. We plan to do our second racking (first was of course from primary bucket to carboy) from carboy to carboy this Sunday. This is the racking were you lose a lot of volume due to all that sediment that came along from the primary bucket. Can't be helped. We are either going to add more raspberry juice to it (will have to put sorbate in and campden to prevent any more fermentation on the new juice added, which we don't want), or we'll just add water. That's why we like to go heavy on the fruit. Adding water won't water things down if you do, but just the same I think we are going to lose perhaps 1 & 1/2 to 2 gallons because there is that much sediment in the 5 gallon carboy. With that much to replace I don't want to just add water, and pure juice might mob the pears and you would only taste the Raspberry, so I'm thinking perhaps 50% juice/50% water might be a nice compromise.

Even those kits for like $35 to $45 are a great way to save money. I'm talking those kits that have all the juice/ingredients and not a hardware kit. Great thing about those is you just dump in this and that when it says to do it. No guessing, hydrometers (which I still haven't used one yet), acid test kits, or other stuff. They test the juice before making the kit, supplying you with the proper amounts of things like acid blend to add to the juice at various points. We might try one of those next. I know if you can pick the fruit for free that's cheapest (like the pears we got), but if you don't have any free fruit by the time you buy the fruit or juice and sugar it's just about the same price as one of those kits (unless you buy the fruit or juice on sale and such). Still, the only thing I don't like about those kits is it takes the mystery and wondering about how things will turn out out of the equation. They are a good way to learn though, and so we might try one next and see how things are done using one of those.

Hope you guys had good holidays.

Oh, and I flew the red dual boomer some yesterday as well. Landing in the snow and slid like twenty feet. Next flight I was about to launch the motor was jamming up losing sync. I think snow got into the vent holes for the ESC I have on the belly from that long snow slide and got the ESC wet. Hoping once it dries out the ESC will work fine again. It's not a motor winding short. If that was the case you'd feel the motor was real hot when you put your hand on it. That's a good way to tell if it's the motor or the ESC.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

By the way, the pic makes the wing look wavey but it's not. Something about the way this website processes the picture for expansion when you click on it makes the thing look like it has ripples in it. I think she's a good looking bird!

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Really nice looking plane Critterhunter. I can't wait to hear of the flight report. Stuff like this, you just cannot justify buying the ARF or Kit, this looks way nicer. I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun to for lazy day's, and it probably is going to be able to handle greater G's, then the kit version of it due to the beefiness of the wings.

Holiday's sucked for me this year, in a new area, so no family to speak of to hang around with "not that I enjoyed hanging with them in the first place", but still, was uneventful. Glad your's was good.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

It was said tongue-in-cheek and sincerely meant to be taken that way :)

I'd be one of the first to speak "off-topic"...

LoL

BJ:)

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Thanks. Since it's my own design it shouldn't have any kit version of it, but I know what you mean. The wing has two carbon arrow shafts joined at the center sunk into it so it can more than handle the stresses such a light plane would put on it. My friend maidened it for me with no problems. He's got way more stick time than me lately so I used caution and had him launch/land it. I took over the sticks in the air some.

I always build heavy with a lot of strength mods. Still used a good bit more of that than I needed in building it but the two carbon arrow shaft fuse allowed me to still build something very light. I didn't have anything in my hangar that was nearly this light in terms of wing loading, not to mention the half glider/half slow stick type design is something I don't have anything like in my line up. It should be a fun plane on those calm days, though it did handle some wind that day without any major problems. I only have one plane with landing gear, my P38, and that plane only survived a few flights before needing some repair which I haven't done yet, so I look forward to some touch and goes and such with this one.

I've got two EDF/motor power systems that have yet to go into a plane that would fly. I kept building highly experimental platforms for them so as a result I have yet to fly those things in anything. For that reason my next build is going to be EDF powered. Like the stick glider, this platform will also be a half breed. It's going to be a hotliner/glider style plane that falls somewhere between that and a fast pylon racer style plane. Will be throwing some pictures up when I make some progress on that.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

I know what you mean about the holidays. I don't care for them anyway but this year in particular wasn't fun. Long story short I've got two brothers and two sisters. My uncle passed away this past year and had no kids. He had A LOT of money, a lot of property, and some nice cars. Estate was worth well over half a million. Anyway, he had told us in the past that we'd be splitting his estate some day. Turns out the will didn't specify who gets what, but rather put my oldest sister and brother in charge of it to disperse. As a result they both took half and lied to us about their intentions until it was too late to do anything about it. As a result it's split the family apart. I'll never talk to him or her again. They really didn't need the money, while the other three of us did in a big way. Showed me that they cared more about money and having a bunch of toys (the brother bought to Harleys) than the needs of their other brothers and sisters. Life's too short to associate with people like that so they are cut out of my life. I know I never would have been able to enjoy that money in good conscience knowing I was screwing my brothers and sisters like that. I guess they can.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Critterhunter, so sorry to hear about your holiday's, my story is similar, losing my brother due to his need for greed, and he's into crazy new age beliefs to boot, which with the ones he's adopted, tells him it's ok to be utterly selfish. Money really changes people, always for the worse. I don't know who the guy is any more, and same with my parents, always seeking the all mighty dollar, now getting into their old age, you would think they would stop to smell the roses and enjoy the good things in life, the things that matter, not empty pursuit of material gain.

I also lost my uncle earlier last year, he was a really good guy, and after he passed, so did the last remnent of normalcy for it all. It's one of the reasons I moved two states away, just to start over and not subject myself to be near them anymore.

Trust me on the money thing, it's a blessing you didn't get caught up in that one, let them have their misery to share among themselves, at least you know in your heart what matters in life.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Sad to hear that, Critter mate.

Your decency and humbleness is worth more than any money they got...

BJ:)

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Thanks guys. What really burns me about the whole thing is that my uncle had me doing all kinds of errands for him in the last few years leading up to his death. Cutting his lawn, snowblowing the driveway, starting up his generator when the power went out. Yet my brother never could seem to find the time to even go over there to say Hi. So why then would he feel that half of the estate is his and that the rest of us didn't deserve our share? Heck, I even wiped the guy's butt for him when he was too sick to take care of himself.

I had plans for my share. Not to buy things but to pay off some bills and also help a few friends out that could have used some money for situations they were in. I was also going to put new windows on my mom's house for her. Needless to say those two haven't done anything for my mom. My brother is blowing the money on toys because he's very materialistic that way, and my sister from what I hear is holding on to every last dime because she's very tight with money. In fact, her daughter has had to borrow money from my mom because she lost her job while my sister won't even see fit to help her own daughter out.

Reason why I know I wouldn't have done the same thing is because I was tested in a similar situation about five years ago. I was on the farm of a very wealthy man when his farm hand was driving us drunk across the property in a golf cart. I kept telling him to slow down but he didn't, and as a result he wrecked into a dead fall. I ended up with a large branch about the diameter of your thumb going almost completely through my arm. Had to have surgery to repair things. I could have sued the farm owner. Had a friend of the family who is a lawyer keep telling me I could get a cool million for this. Thought about it and then decided otherwise because I wouldn't in good conscience be able to enjoy that money. I'm not that kind of person. So I don't have to sit around and wonder if I would have really let greed take over and screw my brothers and sisters out of money I knew they were supposed to get.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

I'll be starting the build for the EDF Hotliner style plane later today I think. Will have some pictures when progress is made.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Critter, know that you hold the true treasure in your heart and nobody can inherit nor take that away from you.

I finally put in some more work on my plane. I hooked up the servo's , did the dowel thing on the wing/tail feathers, Built a beefy motor mount, and taped up some balast to the nose to see how it's going to test glide before adding and cutting out the areas for the rest of the gear. The COG was pretty easy to figure out, 20% from the leading edge of the wing. I'm using my bigger pack on this one, with the short nose, it needs the weight up front to counter the bulk of the rest of it. It's going to be a floater, probably slightly faster then I was aiming for, but nothing fast at all that would warrant a huge field. I wasn't sure how the airfoil was going to take, it's a new one I carved, and being so dramatic, I thought it might want to take a nose dip due to the curvature, which luckily it did not.

I did stress the airframe a bit with the test glides, have some minor reinforcements to do, but it has proven it's configuration to be quite doable, and quite flyable under 3 mph range without worry of tip stalling. I'll know what it can really do once I mount the motor pack and esc hopefully tomorrow. Will show photo's of it then, so far, not enough to justify a progress shot.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

I did the final test glides on this bird, it can handle a heavy payload while still remaining slow as hell.

Along home brewing the bread yeast is far more forgiving, had my turbo yeast out for a month or two, it's pretty much going to get tossed and it's replacement in the fridge for use,. I opted to leave it on the shelves and it got stale, which is a really bad thing no other brew place will report upon....so it's a first here. Had to edit this thing, the turbo yeast finally started to do it's thing last night, I guess it's having to wait an extra day or two for it to start now, so it's not going to get tossed afterall, lol.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Who hoo, success! I had a run in with a small tree, and a little fine tuning to get it working, mainly trying to trim 3 feet off of the ground since I did the initial tests in a super small area, as under powered as I can get it. This is very much a floater, using the large 1600 mah pack on this bird, which is the heavier I have of my packs, I figured the airfoil would make up for the weight, and it very much did.

I stuck the gear on the outside, not sure if further adjustments are going to be necessary before sinking them all in, will spend some time prettying it up now and recessing the gear. I found the abuse they are going to face is always on the test runs, so I wanted as much foam as possible. The fuse height is perfect, the prop just misses striking the ground. I'm at 1/8th throttle to keep it airborne, I can feel the horizontal stab could use some extra area, not much though, as it sits, I can fly it 2 channel, or 3-4 channel mode, depending upon where I set the elevator at. It had zero tip stall tendencies, which is something difficult to achieve in a low wing configuration.

I'm showing a shot of the plane as well as the sunset today, the weather was perfect for the maiden, perfectly calm, zero wind, I get days often like this, such a stark contrast then from up north.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Hoping this discussion is not yet dead.
I started a build, and did not like it, so I have this 4' simetrical wing, and would like to make this tail boomer.
I have cut and glued 2 1" PIECES OF BLUE FOAM FOR THE FUSE, and carved out a spot for the wing.

The question I have is weither to use the foam 1" thick by 1.5 " 20 " long for the booms, or should I use a couple of carbon fiber arrow shafts. When I put the booms inside the wing, they seemed a little flimsy, thus the arrows. Problem with the arrows is keeping them solid in the wing, and still straight back.


I am hoping to put landing wheels 2 in the wing and one up front in the fuse.
I should be using 3cell, 2800 - 2200mah, with a 2409-12 tower pro mtr.
Will have 2 ailerons servos, and one rudder and one elevator.

Any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all the previous info, its what got me into building this tail boomer.

Terry

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

You can try it with those booms without reinforcment, adding some plastic strapping to the sides of them would be reccomended, or the arrow shafts if you want to spend a bit, either or. Have fun with it, they lock together on 4 sides, so it's a durable set up. I too took a symmetrical wing and turned it into a so as well, so I know it will work.

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RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. About a month ago i cut a good half inch or so of my finger tip off on my middle finger in a snow blower. Doc stitched it back on but still don't know if i get to keep it. See him again tomorrow. Even if he takes it back off i'll still feel lucky. Could have been whole finger or the tip of my index finger. Another guy at emergency room did same thing with a snowblower and lost three, only one of which could be put back on, so i feel real lucky. Right now it's white as cotton so not sure if it stays. Doc said not sewing it back on and shortening finger a bit more to have enough skin to fold over and cover end heals much faster if he does that. my main problem is boredom. can't do much since using that hand is off limits. Guess i picked right time of year because the weather has been real bad here near cleveland for two months anyway. typing one handed also stinks. i'm normaly a very fast typist.

Welcome to the new guy! No, this thread will never die. We learn new things all the time for other builds and share it here. To strengthen booms i used to put arrow shafts in them, glued to a wing arrow shaft for extra strength. Now i still put a shaft in the wing- two, one near leading edge and one near rear, but i just sheet the left/right sides of booms in 1/8th inch balsa. VERY strong! The arrow shaft in wing should just be flush with bottom of wing so the balsa on booms glues/contacts with it. this is a weak spot on this design so make sure you do that. I also sheet right/left sides of fuse with balsa. to sheet fuse/booms just spread a little gorilla glue, tape plus put weight on it until dry, then cut or grind off excess balsa. no need to cut to outline before hand and much less hassle because the balsa would be tricky to line up, so cut or grind off later.

Some don't strenghthen booms and only use clear or extreme strapping tape to cover booms. Fisher does that.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Saucerguy, great looking plane! Big enough ailerons and low wing loading to be a 3D plane if you put a big prop on it, though the tail controls might have to be bigger.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Terry, great motor. it'll be a fast bird, or prop it for torque. that motor will do either. i'd go for torque. i think it will swing a 9 o 10" prop.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Critter,

Sorry to hear about your finger... I always worry about that when using the snowblower, no matter how careful I am. It only takes a second, just like with props on a plane.

Hope you heal well, man.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

That's horrible news to hear about your finger Critterhunter. I hope it recovers, and in spite of it all, you are being positive about it. Thanks for the compliment on the plane as well. I was flying it yesterday and the aileron servo lead popped out, needless to say, it got it's ultimate crash test, damage is minor, it is a good lazy plane to fly around the sky, which was my intention. My next gear I'm getting will be smaller for a light weight 3d plane that will be able to hover and fly in an even smaller area.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Just re-tuned to this thread and read about your encounter with a snow blower, Critter.

Darn bad news - I know what thatls like, having lost the top half inch off my left hand ring finger. Painful, and they bleed like all get-out. Hope you get full recovery and use out of it (mine went a bit lame).

Aaaanyhoo, as you may recall a couple of years ago, I came across this thread and mentioned wanting to build an off-topic twin-turbine 1:10 F-111 out of glass tub rather than foam.

To cut a loooong story short, that fell by the wayside until recently, when I got stuck back into it and decided to peg it back to a glass 1:16 and go for a pair of 90mm fans or thereabouts. I've now cut all my formers (bulkheads) ready for balsa sheeting and then got the idea of testing a few sections by inserting a slab of foam between two adjacent formers, and hot wiring around them to get an idea of how the thing is going to hang together.

To my surprise, the two test sections I cut came out surprisingly well. And I'm sure I could improve the cut with a bit more practice and fine-tuning my wire temp, tension etc.

So now I'm thinking of hot-wiring all sections and joining them together to make a 'foamie fuse'. The foam I'm using is just white building-grade polystyrene I scored from a skip at a building site. But it seems to cut quite well and is nice and light but quite strong too.

I would, of course, have to sand all the wire dings out of the places where the hot-wire went in a bit deep etc, but I reckon I could end up with a reasonable scratch-built fuse.

The question I would like to ask here is what would be a good way to finish/seal the fuse? Paint, finishing epoxy (potentially heavy), or some sort of plastic film? I've heard 'Doculam' mentioned as a plastic film skinning material, and I'm trying to find out more info on it.

Are there any techniques/materials you guys gould perhaps suggest?

BJ:)

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60219 has a thread along liquid sheeting you might want to try out. It seems easy enough to apply.

And yeah, right in line with your concept here, Critterhunter cannot type as he could before, it's up to us to carry this thread while he mends. I hope and pray your finger gets better buddy, I know you have been through a lot, this is just sad to hear of a really good guy having to face yet another hardship and struggle in his life.

So far, we have came a very long way, from day one, bashing out foam with crude sanding blocks, to our now beloved wire cutter systems with sophistication, and now, a myriad of planes, all based upon the inspiration from that original So. design, even heard in another thread on another board, the So, being their very first rc plane. It goes to show, this is a very good way to start out with building and designing foamies, an airframe proven, and this legacy sharing our experiences through out it, with the brotherhood of foam based construction for the masses.

Let this be a testament to what it takes, be it, crude and simple bash to get in the air to elaborate and sophisticated, it's a good design and this is a good way to break into this venue, on a budget with no experience, to those with more refined tastes, it's all good.

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

By the way, what ever happened to Fisher??? He's been AWOL for quite some time!!!

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

<span style="font-family: Arial"><span style="font-size: small">Not sure how I got to this page, but there are some interesting posts and information. I am still looking for more threads about the micro indoor foam planes others have built. At the moment I am interested in the WW1 aircraft the most and wanting to build models to fly with the micro RC in the 1/72 to 1/48 scale range. I think that is near the scale of the micro Albratros I have by Flyzone, but finding receivers with the mini servos can be an issue, unless there are options I am not aware of. I am thinking it would be wise to stay with the 3.7 VDC motors and gear for this small size.</span></span>

RE: Here's A Simple & FREE First Foam Build Plan! (Part 2)
 

Dunno if you've already come across these Rx's, but if not, they might be the answer - or lead you in a direction where you can find an answer.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...dID=SPMAR6400T

The combination 'brick' has the Rx and two linear servos built in, with a couple of extra micro-connectors to run additional micro-servos etc...

BJ:)