CWHFSR

Even if it doesn't fly for spit it looks great

What kind of foam are you using? I went to Lowes today and found some blue "Styrofoam" that was about 1/2 inch thick. It didn't have any other sizes... would something like that work?

FlooredCOBRA

Hey thanks!

I used both the blue 1/2'' and 1/4'' foam. The 1/2'' for the main wing and the center outer part of the winglets and the 1/4'' for the rest. The big triangle wings are two 1/4'' sandwiched over 1/4'' to give the thickness at the bottom and middle. I basically made a upside down "T" then glued the other 1/4'' on top of it one on each side.

I am going to make another one using all 1/4''. I plan to keep it smaller so the 1/4 will be stiff enough. Going bigger you have to start reinforcing to get rid of flex. Smaller and simpler will be next.

http://www.elmers.com/crafters/produ...asp?pCode=E425

Not sure what you use but there is a link to the glue I pretty much used all over. That stuff is awesome! Picked it up at Walmart for a few bucks fairly cheap. Just spread glue on each part to be glued blow it dry which is like 2 seconds then hold together and that's it. It is very fast and very sticky, I was surprised how strong and fast it is. The second you lay it down its stuck.

As for flying the Tie Fighter its gona fly!! After all that work I will strap a rocket engine to it if nothing else but it will fly! It is exactly the same as the other just a few things different but the CG and weight feels right on so we gona see.

Ion01

That turned out so much better than I expected! Its incredible! I can't wait for the video.

FirebirdCdr2

Wow, That is a great looking Tie-Fighter Interceptor.

FlooredCOBRA

Hey thanks guys! It was a very fun build. There will be a video for sure soon.

CWHFSR, are you going to make one also? If so I can make some drawings that can maybe help. I dont have a CAD program or anything but I am willing to help out with some drawings. I can measure out some parts if you like and out them down.

I do know that it was very easy to build. It would go much faster if you had a belt sander of some sort so shave the parts into angles. Let me know how I can help.

Oh yeah looking at the pictures it looks like I made the 4 triangle wings about 2'' to tall haha. That can be changed and hey less weight too!!

CWHFSR

You know, I'm kinda torn between this one and the Star Destroyer. I was planning on making that one first because I'm really not that experienced of a flyer (only been going for a couple months) but I'm great with my stryker and hope the SD would be easier to fly.

I do, however, have 3 spare motors and 2 spare ESCs and plenty of battiers. I don't have any spare receivers but that isn't bad. So I plan on building both at some point, just not right now.

FlooredCOBRA

Hmm I may have to take a stab at that Star Destroyer. Good looking ship and bet it would be fun to build also. I would have to buy everything for it electronic wise.

Well when you decide to work on the TF I can lend a hand if you like. It is set up with delta controls and is very easy to fly.

I was looking at mine and I have a problem. I dont have a nose gear. On my other when I landed it would nose over because of the shape. It was no biggy since the motor was behind the front stab. On this one the motor sticks out past the front stab. Trying to think of something to use so it dont break when I land.

CWHFSR

Any chance of being able to get it into a hover before landing? Then you could land it on the butt.

FlooredCOBRA

It can hover but not sure how it would work. On a flat floor if I hold full up or down it can stand on its tail. But ion grass it was to lumpy to stand up even for pictures. I am trying to brainstorm here thinking of ways for a front gear or skid of some sort.

CWHFSR

Well, if you can get it into a hover after flying then it would be easier to get it to land. It doesn't have to stand up on end while landing, just come in slow enough so that it doesn't start doing cartwheels when you touch the ground. With an electric motor you should be able to get the prop to stop fast enough not to damage it, just kill the throttle right as you are touching down.

FlooredCOBRA

Good point. Wonder if I can program a brake in the ESC. That would work perfectly then. I think E-Flights ESC can do that, maybe not sure let me check . That is the only thing keeping me from flying as of right now.

Ion01

Dude, have you had a chance to fly it yet? I have been checking this thread everyday for weeks. How is it going?

FlooredCOBRA

Ion01,

Well I was about to fly then got to reading about my motor set up and put it on hold. I been dying to fly this thing but afraid to burn out my motor. I had a 12x6 on my 450 with 3 cell. From what I was told the 12x6 is to large and can burn out my motor.

I ran it up a few times and tossed it and quickly caught it and it pulled fine and seemed okay. But after reading about my prop size I put it on hold. I swapped down to a 11x5 and been wanting to try it out but it has been so windy here past few days. I may give it a shot here in few if wind dies down. Going nuts wanting to fly it.

Also I started another project. So I am guilty of not only fear of flying it but addiction to building something else. haha I decided to make one of those flying Hydro boats and been occupying my time with that for a few. So the urge has not been so strong since I been working on that. But now that the Hydro is about finished I have a serious bug to fly Something! haha.

Heres a few shots of the boat. Just need to mount the motor and make the top hatch and it should be all set.

Ion01

That is really awesome. I have been thinking about something simple but interesting to make and the boat is a good idea. You did an awesome job! thats a really sleak looking boat!

FlooredCOBRA

Hey thanks. Yeah I thought a boat would be cool and different. I have a lake here and always wanted to try something that takes off from water. This seemed cheap and easy to do.

I flew it for the first time last night and it worked but i need to modify it some. I have spar support but not support for the pontoons from twisting. I did not even think about that. But one pontoon warps down and the other goes up and it rolls. So trying to think of a way to keep that from happeneing. The way it flies now it is a handful but I think a good bit is due to the warping. This is my first build on something like this so no idea what I am doing haha.

I just tried to drive it on the lake and found I have the rea of the boat to low and the water flows over the tail and slows it down a lot. I need to modify that now also. Iooked cool but did not work very well.

As for the Tie Fighter it is still on hold until I figure out my motor issue. And until the wind stops to a crawl. I dont want to wreck it. I did not mind flying the boat so much since it only took a couple of days to make compared to the Tie Fighter.

TowerZach

That's a great looking boat you got there.  How stable is it?  You may be better with a rear motor mount.  What do you think?

FlooredCOBRA

Hey thanks!

Well on the motor mount I just did it the way all the others have done it. It seemed to work for them. Never thought about putting it in the rear.

 As for flying it is a handful at the moment but it flies. The carbon spars I used were to thin and I have a good bit of flex. So when it picks up speed one of the pontoons twist up then causing it to try to roll. I need to hit the hobby shop this weekend and grab another one. I tried it on the water today and it was flexing bad again. Every time it flexed the prop hit the water.

I may need to redo the bottom part because I think I have to much drag too. I dont know anything about boats so making the bottom was a guess and from what I seen on the internet.

Now I just wish the wind would die down so I can try out the Tie Fighter. Its sitting there looking at me wondering when I will ever fly it.

Garrett1234567

hey, back to the topic at hand, how does it fly and wheres some video

FlooredCOBRA

Oops sorry for going off topic. Have so many things going on.

Well as for flying not to good as of now. I tired a few times and I am just under powered. This model has a lot more weight over my previous test model. I gave full throttle and toss upward and it had a slight float then started to descend back down. I did this a few times and running behind it then as it fell i quickly grabbed it back again. I looked like a complete idiot probably like Charlie Brown running with  the kite trying to get it to fly. My battery ended up dieing pretty quickly after a few tries.

When out of my hand it flew fine but I did not want to let it away because of the power. I was at full power and it barely had enough to stay afloat. I am sure if I had just let it go I could have flew it around fine. But I did not like the idea of being wide open and barely having power to fly no reserve. Also I am sure the motor did not like running wide open for that long.

On my test model I pointed nose up gave power and lightly tossed and it started to climb out on its own. I am looking to have the same power on this one then I should be fine. I just didnt want to risk it and end up crashing because of it being under powered. So now I am going to go with a bigger motor and ESC and battery. I was hoping to avoid that due to weight but as it seems I need more power and just have to deal with the extra weight. One plus though is I will be able to move the motor back some with the increased weight so it wont look so funny.

I am right at 32 oz right now ready to fly. I have a E-Flight 450 on it and will go bigger. Maybe a 480 910 kv? I am not looking for crazy power as I dont plan to 3D or hover but do want some on reserve. Its nice to have a little extra or to be able to cruise around at about half throttle or so. Any Ideas anyone?

TowerZach

Look around and find motor/prop combos that will give you more thrust than your wieght.  Here's a sight that I LOVE and get nearly all my electric stuff off of:  http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/StoreFront  they've got all the thrust/speed specs for all of their motor/prop combos so you can find just what you're looking for.  Hope you do.[8D]

FlooredCOBRA

Hey thanks I will check them out. I guess I just need something to pull a 2 pound plane. I was really hoping that the 450 would work but it just aint gona cut it. That is how I been searching for what I need is by thrust and pounds.

Something about running across the field like Charlie Brown just wont work for a Tie Fighter haha.

FlooredCOBRA

Wow I really like that site. Awesome prices and I like how they have the specs. Looking at the 3530-10. I guess they dont have a lower KV though. But from the looks of it I think that may be the one to go with

TowerZach

I know and they're in Wisconsin just like me (except I must pay sales tax)!  You won't be dissapointed.

FlooredCOBRA

Well here is an update. Just got back from the lake with the Hydro I been working on. I strapped on the Thunder Power battery I been using for the Tie Fighter and my E-Flight Edge Bp. The boat barely would run across the grass and water. It was much weaker than the one I been using for the boat. So I pull it off and swap back to the new one and it has huge amount of power difference. Like 2 times as much and they are the same exact rating. The Force is Strong with this one

So for some reason my Thunder Power battery went bad or something not sure what happened to it. So I swap to the battery I been using on my boat and Wham! this thing has some serious power. It has enough to pull it verticle not like yank it up in air but enough to pull out at a good safe rate. I need to see whats going on with the Thunder Power battery kind of weird for it to get weak like that. Makes me wonder if I been flying around with it like that thinking that was all the power it was supposed to have this whole time.

But as soon as that wind dies down I'm going up. Its been long enough and I dont think I can let that thing sit there any longer. Going to try a little later this evenning.

CWHFSR

Well, I've still been looking and now that I've built a star destroyer I feel a little bit better about my building skills

I still having been able to fly ANYTHING in 2 months because my Spektrum Radio fritzed out.  I just got it back from them yesterday (it took so long they gave me a free 6200 receiver ).  Anywho, I need to get back into practice with my stryker, then fly the SD, then I'll look into building one of these