Ft Explorer (Twin Boom Design) Build Log - Part5

by Jevohn | March 1, 2017 | (5) Posted in Projects

Hi Flite Test Community! 

So here it is! The completed plane. 

After all the dedication it is now time to give it its maiden flight. 

 

Here is the maiden flight 

 

Here is the second flight testing fpv with the plane. 

 

 

Thoughts 

 Overall, The plane flew pretty good. It is very stable ,even without rudder control. Slow flight and glide perfomance is really good. It is really a tough built plane. As seen in the video crashing in the trees, I simply took it out the tree and flew it again. 

 

Ft Explorer (twin boom design) bluild conclusion. 

Over all I enjoyed building this plane. It is something I wanted to try for a long time. Here are some recomendations and future ideas for this plane.

 

Recommendations 

If you would like to take on the challenge and build a similar plane, here are some things I would recommend:

- making booms from carbon fibre rods.

- building with water proof foam board 

- Adding a wooden or carbon fibre spar to wings to prevent flex.

 

Future plans

In the future, I am hopping to add a long range FPV and autopilot system to the plane to do long range flights. I think plane is well built enough to carry the load; especially with the recommendations above. 

I would also like to add flaps for slow flight ( even though it flies exceptionally well at slow flight) , rudder control for better stability and may be landing gears. 

I am honestly surpized that the power set up was able to get the plane up in the air. The power system were some parts i had lying around. I did do some calculations and knew it would work, but was expecting the motor and esc to be working at its limits.  Later on with the other upgrades I would also upgrade the power systems ( servos to metal gear , motor to a bigger motor , bigger esc and battery) to acccomdate the weight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMENTS

N-Duck on March 14, 2017
Dude, you fly like me...right, left, right, up , left, down ,right...oh crap. LOOK OUT FOR THE LIGHT POLE!

But overall good job
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amissall on October 8, 2017
funny!

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Hippogriff on March 14, 2017
This is a super cool build; I think I'll have enough Explorer kit parts sitting around soon that I can try this for myself. Did you find you had to adjust the trim or enlarge the horizontal stab much with the shortened tail section?
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Jevohn on March 14, 2017
Not at all, the horizontal stab is as big as the Ft Explorer Horizontal Stab , it has more surface area because there is no taper like the Ft explorer. Well honestly , the weight and balance would determine whether i needed trim or not. Initially it was nose heavy , I added a little trim. Later on i go the C of G spot on , so i had to add no trim. with out FPV gear on it , it is actually tail heavy , which is a plus because later on, im hoping to add a complete FPV system for long range. It honestly does not lack in any way with a shorter tail, and my reason for shortening the fail because of the fear of flex with wooden booms.
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Ft Explorer (Twin Boom Design) Build Log - Part5