Hey everyone, I have made my new FT delta and flown it. it was a great step from the flyer as this one has ailerons not rudder. I could do many more stunts which I did (and did crash) so it was very fun to fly.
The only down side was that I had to fly in a tiny space s there was people while the FT Delta being much faster then the Flyer.
Also just letting you know, I made this plane summer 2013 but only now have posted my video and blog.
This is a proposal for a new club at Trinity School where you build and hopefully fly radio controlled aircraft. It involves practical skills, learning to fly, using machinery and tools at a young age. My aim is to improve the interest in engineering and possibly get Trinity School Racing back up and running as I want to be in Formula 1 as an engineer when I'm older.
There is also a youtube channel and a website called FliteTest who's main aim is to get people into the RC aircraft hobby, and especially kids. They have designs, build videos, plane reviews and just fun flights in their video's. They also make sure they use everyday equipment that you can get anywhere. Another positive about them is that they sell speed build kits where you just need to glue together and insert your own electronics. flitetest-youtubeflitetest website
Also, if you take up this hobby it's easy to do, easy to get started, you can do fun flying where you do things like combat, you can compete against each other and get to use new and exciting tools and equipment. Coming from me, a 12 year old boy who goes to Trinity, that sounds like a lot of fun. I'm pretty sure that it will be a hit at Trinity for the boys because of all the fun and how easy it is. I've been making my own planes since I was around 6 (not RC planes though) and I've had loads of fun, learnt a lot and found it easy to get the hang of. This Autumn half-term holiday I've made and flew a plane using a learner design from flitetest in 3 days. An experienced plane builder could probably do it in half an hour (I did have to convert all the measurements that were supposed to be on US letter to the right measurements though).
If this club did "take off," we could make the planes in the DT area using all their tools (I know there was a previous plane making club but here we are just using foam not wood or anything else) and flying them on the school fields or maybe Sandilands while using the buddy system where and experienced pilot could take over the controls at any time in case something goes wrong.
It's easy and cheap to get all the equipment because you only need foam board, a motor, an esc, a receiver, a few servos, a few batteries, a battery charger and a transmitter. This might seem like a lot but you can re-use everything except the foam board unless the piece of equipment brakes. You do need some more materials but they are every day things like wooden BBQ skewers, fibre-glass tape, a glue gun, pieces of wood and piano wire. You can get all the equipment that is made for RC aircraft at websites like www.giantshark.co.uk, www.hobbyking.com and Avicraft who have their shop near by on 15 Chatterton Road, Bromley, Kent. Avicraft also have a laser cutter that they use for cutting foam. Also you can get the foam board at places like...
All this is also very safe, the only dangerous parts are the prop when it's spinning up and the batteries if it hasn't been looked after, mainly because they are Lithium Polymer batteries so they could cause bad fire if they are really damaged. Both of these are unlikely though as you shouldn't be messing around with those things anyway. The prop should be very safe when it comes to breaking it as you should put a prop saver on it which is basically like a small thick rubber band which can let the prop dislodge from the motor but still be attached to it.
Another fact about this hobby is that it's very cheap. If you want to make the whole plane from scratch (not including the tools)with all the electronics like the transmitter, battery, charger and everything else, it would cost up to £150 for a starter model. Mind you you could re-use £140 worth of equipment as long as you don't destroy anything except the foam. I didn't do that when I landed on the motor and obliterated the tiny front bearing but it was fine as the motor only cost £5.
When I was making my plane I did make mistakes. One of the biggest things was that it was was massively tail heavy and we had to put a lot of weight at the front just to get the CG in the right place. In my first flight I didn't know it was tail heavy so I went and flew it with it being very hard to control and impossible to land. I basically went and flew until something broke. My first time flying it I had a short flight and a crash. The second time I went for a long time in the air, went near trees, panicked, tried to land it and crashed. I broke the front bearing in my motor which was tiny and fragile. It didn't matter because things here in this hobby are very cheap and easy to get so it was no biggy. With my second flight I had my CG in the right place but with loads of weight at the front. It was also a windy day which made it even harder to fly. I took off into the wind so I had more lift obviously, but all I really did was hover as I was fighting the wind. The worst thing was that when I did turn round and pick up speed I lost lift and dropped altitude massively.
EquipmentandPrices
Transmitter was £55(reusable)
ESC was £12 (reusable)
Receiver was £10 (reusable)
Battery was £7 (reusable)
Battery charger was £45 (reusable)
2 servos were £10 (reusable)
Blue Wonder motor (put on after the other one broke) was £6 (reusable)
Prop was £1 (reusable
Foam board (1 sheet) was £5 (not reusable on a different plane)
