FT Flyer COMBAT Edition

thingiverse

Do your Powerpods look like picture #2 after a day of flying? Mine certainly do! Maybe I'm having too much fun?! This is my first attempt to make a more survivable powerpod. I added some material to help protect the batteries and motor, using a slot & Tab system similar to the Spear. The idea is that you could build several wing sections and just tear them up and replace in the field in under a minute, as long as the pod was intact. After a couple "nose-ins", our thrust angle became "questionable" at best (see Pic #2). I'm new to this design thing, so if I've made some major mistakes or you can think of a way to improve this, PLEASE let me know! I was on the fence about the "captured" landing gear... Yes, she is a tad heavier, but I'm running 2205s and I never had to go over 1/2 throttle, even now 3/4 gets the job done. Anyway, here's a step-by-step: 1. Gather materials (have the plywood and tabs laser cut (DXF) and print out the NACA Ducts). 2. Bend and form the landing gear (do this first!). I think I used .64" wire (up to 2mm will fit, but that's a tad overkill, I think). 3. Take the pod pieces and assemble around the landing gear (use a rubber band to hold it while you glue with thin CA). 4. If you haven't glued yourself to the pod at least three times, you aren't using enough glue! 5. Glue in Ducts (they drop straight in). Debond yourself when finished. 6. Fill with your choice of electronics (I used red bottom 2205 motors and FlySky receivers). Triangles are for antenna (they're supposed to be 90 degrees from each other, right?). 7. Go ahead and add the wheels at this point (if you haven't already). I used cheap foam 40mm. 8. Build a FT Flyer wing section (servos and all) and attach it to the pod using the slots and tabs (Tabs are sized for 3mm, use some tape if you need a tighter fit). I add two bamboo skewers in the trough of the tail section (against inside walls) to reinforce - works great! 9. You can zip-tie a rubber band to the bottom to make sure it won't "eject" during violent maneuvers. 10. Do a run-up check and go make a memory!! Purely in the interest of science, while testing I chopped the throttle and nose-dived an earlier version straight into the ground from about 60'. While the slots in the foam were lengthened... substantially... it was back in the air without issue! (I was a tad worried about the motor but was good.) Updated April 2018 Version 2 Brought back all the attachment points from the native FT design. This should make it compatible with other designs (I'm looking at you, Bloody Wonder!). Nudged the hole for the power plug to make room for one of the battery tester/beeper as I went from a full-fledged 6-channel receiver to a cheaper model (3 channels and no telemetry). Version 2.5 A few minor tweaks - I am pretty happy with the design now. I've thumped several into the ground with "odd" attitudes (some on purpose, some not...) and as long as they end up right side up, I can usually just stab the throttle and get them back into the air (no "walk of shame here"). Would seriously like some input if anyone has built one...