Hello all.
So, I've been doing the multirotor thing for a while and never considered planes as on option. My thought was that they were to complicated, hard to fly and required way to much space, which meant I would need to drive a long way out to find a decent place to fly.
But, on one random day this last summer I found the Flitetest site and got a glimps of how low the entry barrier for flying planes could actually be. And after watching some fpv vids with longer flying times then I was getting with the quad, I was more then intrigued. The first build video I watched was for the FT Versa Wing and I immediately wanted to build one. I had a couple of spare motors lying about from my quad copter as well as a few 9g servos from a camera gimbal I wasn't using anymore, I was most of the way there. So I built one, got all fancy with the colored packing tape and made it look awesome, only to completely destroy it over the next two weekends as I learned how to fly a plane. So I built another, and pretty much did the same thing, except this time I got in a few more weekends. The problem was that I would completely crumple the nose, and after it got too weak it was really hard to keep a battery in there any longer. So I had to come up with something that would stand up to my less then stellar noob flight skills.
I essentially took the plans for the Versa and added 4.5 inches to the middle bit in order to get a snub nose look.
I also filled the leading edge of the wing, infront of the spar, with expanding foam. This will hopefully keep the nose from crumpling and absorb some of the energy from an impact.
I also added a bit of balsa wood over the bottom seam in the center bay as I intended for this to be accessable. I hope this adds a touch of rigidity.
With all the electronics added, sans the low voltage alarm. I have since put magnets in to help keep the door closed and there is a strap that holds the battery down.
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Jeff
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Jeff
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I like the foam filling idea but it would just add too much weight to our already over-heavy Australian foam board,
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I found this online calculator - http://fwcg.3dzone.dk/ - which is very handy. Turns out I was anywhere between 50mm and 80mm aft of where I should be - ouch.
I actually had the GoPro recording at the time so will probably put the footage up somewhere soon - stomach turning stuff it is!
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