Here's Why You Should Own a Flying Wing

by FliteTest | April 6, 2018 | (7) Posted in Just Fun

Flying wings are just great. They're versatile, have fantastic performance and are fun to fly. Everyone should have a flying wing in their collection - that's my personal take on this type of RC plane. Here's why:


1.  They can be built in different configurations


If you want to carry a camera, you can mount your motor as a pusher. If you want to fly the wing line-of-sight, it's a simple matter of setting the wing up in a conventional tractor mode. It's that easy! 


If you're looking for a speed machine, the tractor configuration is quite a good shout. When the Versa Wing was released, Josh Bixler actually entered it in a speed competition. The swept wings cut through the air nicely and lend themselves to going fast. 


2. You can carry lots of gear


One reason why wings are used for FPV so often is due to there payload capacity. Many designs have large areas for storing camera gear, transmitters, extra batteries for longer flights and that sort of thing. If the wing itself is a little lacking on space, you can often add a pod slung on the underside. 


Alternatively, you can widen the wing with a centre section. We did this with the Versa Wing, back in the day. Our newer Dart, Arrow and Spear wings each have centre sections with a ton of room.


3. They're great in the wind 


As you'll see from the above video, wings cope just fine in the wind. As mentioned in our recent article on the best planes for windy days, wings don't have large side profiles to be pushed about by the breeze. This is good news for capturing video. Also, if you build bigger, more mass helps keep your aircraft steady. This Synapse has a wingspan of 120" (300cm).


If you wanted to scratch build a wing of your own design, consider a greater wingspan with more battery weight. It seems a little un-natural to suggest building a heavier aircraft, but simply scaling up the amount of lift in addition to the weight often results in favourable characteristics when it comes to less than ideal weather. 


Do you agree? Are there any other essential aircraft everyone needs to own? Let me know by chucking a quick comment down below! 


Article by James Whomsley

Editor of FliteTest.com

James@whomsley.net

www.youtube.com/projectairaviation

Instagram @jameswhomsley

COMMENTS

Damig on April 9, 2018
Agree!, Fun, Durable, light, I have one ready to crash in FPV mode, when the snow melts here in MINNEsnowTa. Just had a box delivered from FliteTest and I think it has the "Differential Twins H package" in it for the , hmmm, what was it called, Flying wing, noooo, um, Versa, noooo, Experimential Airlines Synapse, nooo, OH, oh, MINI-KRAKKIN.
i am sooo excited. Thanks Gents posting crash maiden soon brother,
da-one, da-first, da-only =MIG=, DaMig
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waterwings on April 10, 2018
Where in Mn are you? I keep a wing in the vehicle at all times. They are great for a quick buzz around whenever you have a few minutes to kill.
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loftbuckley@gmail.com on May 20, 2018
The only disadvantage that I have noticed is the noise level of pusher configurations. I have flown many flitetest models behind my house. Although there is plenty of room for park flyer size aircraft, noise can be an issue, since I live in a subdivision ( with a lot of open space). So, I usually stick to tractor configurations.
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Jackson T on July 5, 2018
I agree, they are VERY noisy! I made a FT Arrow, and I loved it. The noise is the only problem with it, otherwise it is top-notch!
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Here's Why You Should Own a Flying Wing