The Birth of the FT/MC Old Racer

The weekend before last would dictate the death of my FT Old Speedster... which turned out to be a great thing!

Another Plane!

Since my last experience, I realized I had to do what I knew I should have done in the first place: build a trainer. Luckily, Flitetest recently released one: the FT Old Speedster. I loved the looks of the plane since the first time I saw it, but was a bit let down by the fact that it was a 3 channel plane (no ailerons). I decided to build it anyway and just add ailerons later, if needed.

First crashes...

It had to happen sooner or later, right?

The Transmitter

The first thing I had to have was a transmitter.

It had to be cheap, programmable, upgradable, cheap, modular, usable as a simulator controller, cheap and preferably compatible with my V911 helicopter. Did I mention cheap?

Maiden flight

Before I get into gear, mods, plane building, etc., lets just fast forward a few weeks and see the result.

It's my first plane's first flight. And short after this video it was my first flight too! I haven't tried to land yet... it was a bit windy and I wanted to bring the plane back home in one piece...

Anyway, it's an FT Spitfire, designed by the awesome folks at FliteTest, who not only sell this plane (and many others) as a kit but also make the plans available for download.

Alfredo Morgado, an experienced RC pilot from the club "Rodas no Ar" (Porto de Mós, Portugal), "volunteered" to test fly the plane.

Apart from the foamcore wheels, which barely survived the first landing, everything worked perfectly.

After this video was shot, Alfredo got the plane in the air again and passed me the transmitter...

:)


Have a safe crash,
Miguel

Let's start flying!

Hi!

I've been interested in planes ever since I can remember.

So it's kind of natural that I've always wanted an R/C plane but, when I was a kid, the only thing reasonably accessible were the control line, circular flying planes. It just seemed to me like a lot of money and effort to just fly around in circles.

Fast forward a few years, and the R/C planes started to become a little bit cheaper. But it was still a lot of money for something that I would surely crash to pieces in it's maiden flight. I was also starting to become a little old for toys.

Then, a few years ago, I saw an amazing video of an R/C plane flying around New York with a camera and a transmitter strapped to it's back. It was the first time I saw an FPV flight. I was amazed. So I started to search for more info and became more aware of what was happening in the R/C world.

A few months ago, I found FliteTest on YouTube. They basically built planes out of foamcore, flew them, crashed them and laughed about it. Then they would just build another and start all over. That seemed fun! They had an amazing collection of planes with a swappable power pod. You may have a single power pod with motor, speed controller and receiver, and then have multiple planes where the only electronics that is actually attached to the it are the 9g servos.
Planes made out of foamcore, barbecue skewers and hot glue? I'm in!

I decided to start really small, just to see if I would get the hang of it. I ordered a V911 micro helicopter and a month or so later I was finally flying! I just loved it!

Lots of research, half a dozen orders and a month or two later I have all the stuff I need to start flying my own foamcore planes!

So lets start building and lets see where this goes...


Have a safe crash,
Miguel