This is the build video for my mini wing. It's a sub 250g airplane, and a fun flyer. The build is remarkably simple - and pretty straightforward. I hope you enjoy.
Nice video, good narration. A hot glue tip I've found that you may find useful: if you've glued a joint and have to undo it, a little isopropyl alcohol will release hot glue, and a heat gun will get it liquid again, I've even used a soldering gun to reheat the glue when it's in a tight tricky spot. A few practice pieces on some scrap board will have you up to speed in no time. Have fun
Great tip. I keep a squeeze bottle with isopropyl alcohol on my workbench, and there's a heat gun under my bench. The alcohol is brilliant, it works amazingly well. The heat gun however takes some skill. If I'm not careful, it can impact the foam and deform things. You've got the right idea. Keep the tips coming! Thanks for your comment.
Thank you. I started with quads as well and still have a few. They both scratch different itches in my book. I hope you learn to enjoy fixed wing as well.
Great simple clean build. Can tell a well thought through design with a number of nice design features. Great 3d-printed motor mount design. This is something that Flite Test should have integrated into their foam board designs. (they used flat wood, which could result in thrust angle issues)
Thank you. I spend quite a bit of time and have made hundreds of iterations and evolutions to get here, but I really like how they've turned out. Thank you for your comment.
I've found with the Hv Lipos and good throttle management I can get some good run time out of them. Maybe an extra 5 to 7 minutes even longer in a few gliders compared to a normal lipo of the same Mah rating.
Careful throttle management is key. I seldom fly full throttle, and more frequently fly closer to best glide to maximize endurance. It all depends on your mission, and staying disciplined about your power usage. You've got the right idea. Thanks for your comment.
I may end up doing just that. I never started making videos with that intent - but when work slows down (and the temperature comes down in the garage) I’m leaning towards putting some kits out there. I’ve got a kid with college bills around the corner, and that might help! Thanks for your comment - I hope you’ll continue to find my builds entertaining and inspiring.
Super well designed! The guys at FliteTest would be impressed. Would definitely be interested in plans when available. The sub 250g planes are of interest to me. Where do you find your foam board? Dollar Trees near me no longer carry the lite board. Great video and build!
I'm able to find foam board at Dollar tree. I've got other designs I'm looking forward to documenting when I get home, but as for now I'm stuck on the road. Thanks for your note!
I’ve built them both ways. When I started with KFM, the step was on the top, as usually shown. However I really began to feel after flying them extensively that their lift at this scale was primarily due to AOA, not Bernoullian (sp?) lift - just fly them inverted and see - they fly based on pitch attitude. If you look on the wall behind me, you can see an earlier version of this exact plane with the step on top. Flying both - you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. Thus step placement became a design choice that on different airframes depending on other factors. I’m not willing to accept all I read, and I’m quick to iterate and build and test things that others say will obviously fail - but I’ve got to understand myself why - and so I just try things. I’ve built many planes that in hindsight - are obviously flawed. But with regard to step placement in my designs, it’s very possible that there are advantages in some flight regimes - but I’m not trying to chase the last percent of performance - if I was, I wouldn’t be building from foamboard. So in this case - it really came down to I preferred the looks of the inverted KFM. It looks better hanging on the wall - and still has remarkably good flight performance. Build it both ways and report back. I’m always interested in the results of experiments. Thanks for your comment.
I just discovered and binged your channel! Good stuff but you seriously need to get some plans out there so we can build our own. I’d gladly buy you a cup of coffee (that’s an app if you don’t know) for the SVG or PDF for that thing. Of course just the videos taught me a lot of new things. Looking at your collection it looks like you need to invest in some colored packing tape, a strip or two will add maybe a gram and lots of color. Anyway thanx for the channel and I hope you keep it up.
Thank you for your comment. I'll most likely make kits and plans available, but I'm at work for now, so it's all a process of fitting it into the available hours. We'll get there. Thanks for your comment
There were never any plans. It was something I’ve been working on for a while just for fun. It’s all out of my head. I may end up selling them in the future if folks are interested. This is one of many designs that I’ve created. I’ll share more in the weeks ahead. Thanks for your comment!
I'm using the osmo pocket 3, and I really like the camera. For close up work it's excellent. I picked up the creator combo as the external microphone, battery and compact tripod are excellent. I hope this helps. I'll look at making plans when I get back to the garage. I'm at work for now. Thanks for your comment!
Yep, laser cut on a CO2 laser. The cuts for the hinges are just done at a faster speed and a reduced power setting. The laser has incredible precision - it just takes time learning your laser and how it works on that material. That said, a laser can do amazing things. Find a local makerspace / hackerspace / STEM center and try one out- that’s how I started. Thanks for your comment!
I buy them off Amazon, but you can find them on Aliexpress as well. Search for 123 blocks. The versions with holes are handy for stacking on top of foam board structures, as they’re light enough they won’t crush the structure beneath. You’ll start with a couple of them - and as you learn how handy they are - they tend to multiply. I’d love to see what you make with them. Thanks for your comment!
Great looking and compact bird! Too interested in plans or kit if you decide to offer! Been considering new build weights, where might I purchase something like the ones you are using in the video? Thanks!
I do most of my design work in Fusion360 for my 3d printed parts, and CorelDraw for my laser cut parts. The laser is a G. Weike LC1290. The laser is a 100W CO2 laser with a Rudia controller driven by Lightburn.
@@usefulaircraft Thank you for the info! That is a sweet laser! I've used 60 and 100 watt lasers on wood and acrylic. Never foamboard. It looks like you cut partially through for some of your stuff. Any trouble keeping it from catching fire or melting?
I haven’t got around to drawing them up - as I’ve only built them for me, and they’re a rather long evolved free form construction. I may need to get around to drawing some up when I have some free time. Thanks for your comment!
You raise a good point, and while I feel one method of e great for finished models, in this case I prefer the foam to the outside as it's on the nose, and I don't always land on smooth surfaces. It's a different styles for different builds. But that said, I usually solve for ease of build, as I'm frequently testing new designs. I'd love to say when I finalize it I'll build it pretty, but I'm more of a form follows function kinda guy, and the impact resistance of another 5mm of foam vs the build time trade off of multiple models? I guess I'm a lazy dude, but either way is cool. I used to build every model perfect, until I flew them. Now, I just love a good flying plane that's easy to build. Either way, I've got some ideas to share in a video working to share my design ideas. I hope I can bring you value, and I thank you for your comment.
I may have to soon enough. I never started this with that goal in mind - it was primarily intended to share back to the community - but the choir of voices asking for more is growing. I’m busy with work (gotta pay my bills) right now - but I’ll add it to the list of things to do when I get more time in the garage. Thanks for your comment!
I noticed you use a battery eliminator rather than a Normal ESC... I presume that's because you have a surplus drone ESC which doesn't have power for the radio. I have surplus ESC like that too. But I can't find a "battery eliminator circuit" with those key words.
The real reason is many of my pylon builds (ESC and motor) get incorporated into builds with flight controllers. Furthermore, ESC's that incorporate the BEC are frequently far heavier as they incorporate a heat sync that's heavier than if they don't incorporate the BEC. I buy my BEC's from aliexpress. They're just 5v power supplies. I'm on my phone, but let me know if you need a link, but honestly they're pretty generic and I usually order 10+ at a time as I build them into all kinds of stuff, and usually very cheap. If you run into challenges finding them, comment again and I'll get an exact link. Thank you for your comment.
Yeah - it get’s a little warm out here, but the winters are nice. I don’t doubt I bungled it - that’s what I get trying to throw out a big word once in a while. Public school education… you know how that goes. Thanks for your comment
Nice video, good narration. A hot glue tip I've found that you may find useful: if you've glued a joint and have to undo it, a little isopropyl alcohol will release hot glue, and a heat gun will get it liquid again, I've even used a soldering gun to reheat the glue when it's in a tight tricky spot. A few practice pieces on some scrap board will have you up to speed in no time. Have fun
Great tip. I keep a squeeze bottle with isopropyl alcohol on my workbench, and there's a heat gun under my bench. The alcohol is brilliant, it works amazingly well.
The heat gun however takes some skill. If I'm not careful, it can impact the foam and deform things.
You've got the right idea. Keep the tips coming!
Thanks for your comment.
Coming from quad fpv. New to fixed wings, lot to learn.. enjoying content .. thank you
Thank you. I started with quads as well and still have a few. They both scratch different itches in my book.
I hope you learn to enjoy fixed wing as well.
Great simple clean build. Can tell a well thought through design with a number of nice design features. Great 3d-printed motor mount design. This is something that Flite Test should have integrated into their foam board designs. (they used flat wood, which could result in thrust angle issues)
Thank you. I spend quite a bit of time and have made hundreds of iterations and evolutions to get here, but I really like how they've turned out.
Thank you for your comment.
Can’t wait for the flight video.
I’ll have more videos out shortly- I’m back on the road - so I’ve got to make it home first - but there will be more.
Thanks for your comment.
Amazing Job!
Thank you. I appreciate it - I’ve got others to share as well - I’ve just got to find the time when I’m home.
I've found with the Hv Lipos and good throttle management I can get some good run time out of them. Maybe an extra 5 to 7 minutes even longer in a few gliders compared to a normal lipo of the same Mah rating.
Careful throttle management is key. I seldom fly full throttle, and more frequently fly closer to best glide to maximize endurance. It all depends on your mission, and staying disciplined about your power usage.
You've got the right idea.
Thanks for your comment.
Tape over the wire channels would be a good idea before putting Fuselage on.
That's a good idea. Can't deny that.
Thanks for your comment.
Really enjoy the improvements you make with the iterations of your designs, and your thinking behind them. Have you considered selling kits?
I may end up doing just that. I never started making videos with that intent - but when work slows down (and the temperature comes down in the garage) I’m leaning towards putting some kits out there. I’ve got a kid with college bills around the corner, and that might help! Thanks for your comment - I hope you’ll continue to find my builds entertaining and inspiring.
Super well designed! The guys at FliteTest would be impressed. Would definitely be interested in plans when available. The sub 250g planes are of interest to me. Where do you find your foam board? Dollar Trees near me no longer carry the lite board. Great video and build!
I'm able to find foam board at Dollar tree. I've got other designs I'm looking forward to documenting when I get home, but as for now I'm stuck on the road. Thanks for your note!
Looks to me that the KFM foil is on the bottom instead of the top of the wing . Why ?
I’ve built them both ways.
When I started with KFM, the step was on the top, as usually shown. However I really began to feel after flying them extensively that their lift at this scale was primarily due to AOA, not Bernoullian (sp?) lift - just fly them inverted and see - they fly based on pitch attitude. If you look on the wall behind me, you can see an earlier version of this exact plane with the step on top. Flying both - you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. Thus step placement became a design choice that on different airframes depending on other factors.
I’m not willing to accept all I read, and I’m quick to iterate and build and test things that others say will obviously fail - but I’ve got to understand myself why - and so I just try things. I’ve built many planes that in hindsight - are obviously flawed. But with regard to step placement in my designs, it’s very possible that there are advantages in some flight regimes - but I’m not trying to chase the last percent of performance - if I was, I wouldn’t be building from foamboard.
So in this case - it really came down to I preferred the looks of the inverted KFM. It looks better hanging on the wall - and still has remarkably good flight performance.
Build it both ways and report back. I’m always interested in the results of experiments.
Thanks for your comment.
I have built from plans with Step on Top or bottom depending on the designs Author, they fly well both ways.
I just discovered and binged your channel! Good stuff but you seriously need to get some plans out there so we can build our own. I’d gladly buy you a cup of coffee (that’s an app if you don’t know) for the SVG or PDF for that thing. Of course just the videos taught me a lot of new things. Looking at your collection it looks like you need to invest in some colored packing tape, a strip or two will add maybe a gram and lots of color. Anyway thanx for the channel and I hope you keep it up.
Thank you for your comment. I'll most likely make kits and plans available, but I'm at work for now, so it's all a process of fitting it into the available hours.
We'll get there.
Thanks for your comment
you really should publish/sell plans for this plane.
I'm leaning towards doing that.
Thanks for your comment
Where we can find this wing pdf plan .?
There were never any plans. It was something I’ve been working on for a while just for fun. It’s all out of my head. I may end up selling them in the future if folks are interested. This is one of many designs that I’ve created. I’ll share more in the weeks ahead. Thanks for your comment!
The foamtini is a similar design if you haven't seen it.
I'd be willing to buy plans, my buddy has a CNC diode
How about the motor mount?
Brett, i just found your channel. These are excellent videos. What do you film with? And is there a place to find the plans?
I'm using the osmo pocket 3, and I really like the camera. For close up work it's excellent. I picked up the creator combo as the external microphone, battery and compact tripod are excellent. I hope this helps.
I'll look at making plans when I get back to the garage. I'm at work for now.
Thanks for your comment!
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Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
I've found hotglue is heavy and less is more.
Everything in moderation. It does make for a quick and easy build, and can be used to trim CG.
Thanks for your comment.
Murfy’s law caused that servo wire to jump out of position
He's a frequent visitor to my shop some days.
Looks 70/30 to me, I’m going to build it and site you in the build , I do like he design aesthetic you seem to have command of. Keep it up!
Thank you! I'd love to see what you come up with. For me, the things you create bring the most satisfaction. Enjoy the process
Super cool! Laser cut? What is the process of making those v-groves?
Yep, laser cut on a CO2 laser. The cuts for the hinges are just done at a faster speed and a reduced power setting. The laser has incredible precision - it just takes time learning your laser and how it works on that material.
That said, a laser can do amazing things. Find a local makerspace / hackerspace / STEM center and try one out- that’s how I started.
Thanks for your comment!
Where can I get those weight blocks, awesome content I fly a lot of wings myself and do a lot of scratch built park jets
I buy them off Amazon, but you can find them on Aliexpress as well. Search for 123 blocks.
The versions with holes are handy for stacking on top of foam board structures, as they’re light enough they won’t crush the structure beneath.
You’ll start with a couple of them - and as you learn how handy they are - they tend to multiply.
I’d love to see what you make with them.
Thanks for your comment!
This is a superb workshop that you have. How those metal blocks are called , how can I google and find them?
Have a look on Amazon or eBay for 123 blocks.
You will find them to be a very handy tool for your workshop.
Thanks for your comment.
Really cool.
Thank you!
Great looking and compact bird! Too interested in plans or kit if you decide to offer! Been considering new build weights, where might I purchase something like the ones you are using in the video? Thanks!
I buy the 123 blocks off Amazon. They are a fantastically useful tool for many projects. You'll find a million uses for them.
Thanks for your comment.
I really like your 3D printed parts and laser cuts. What software do you use? Do you have your own laser? Which model?
I do most of my design work in Fusion360 for my 3d printed parts, and CorelDraw for my laser cut parts. The laser is a G. Weike LC1290. The laser is a 100W CO2 laser with a Rudia controller driven by Lightburn.
@@usefulaircraft Thank you for the info! That is a sweet laser! I've used 60 and 100 watt lasers on wood and acrylic. Never foamboard. It looks like you cut partially through for some of your stuff. Any trouble keeping it from catching fire or melting?
Plans?
I haven’t got around to drawing them up - as I’ve only built them for me, and they’re a rather long evolved free form construction.
I may need to get around to drawing some up when I have some free time.
Thanks for your comment!
Any reason you do the nose with the cuts on the outside instead of just peeling the paper (on the inside) and curling it?
You raise a good point, and while I feel one method of e great for finished models, in this case I prefer the foam to the outside as it's on the nose, and I don't always land on smooth surfaces.
It's a different styles for different builds. But that said, I usually solve for ease of build, as I'm frequently testing new designs.
I'd love to say when I finalize it I'll build it pretty, but I'm more of a form follows function kinda guy, and the impact resistance of another 5mm of foam vs the build time trade off of multiple models? I guess I'm a lazy dude, but either way is cool.
I used to build every model perfect, until I flew them.
Now, I just love a good flying plane that's easy to build.
Either way, I've got some ideas to share in a video working to share my design ideas.
I hope I can bring you value, and I thank you for your comment.
Great work. Do you sell the plans? and where to purchase it
I may have to soon enough. I never started this with that goal in mind - it was primarily intended to share back to the community - but the choir of voices asking for more is growing.
I’m busy with work (gotta pay my bills) right now - but I’ll add it to the list of things to do when I get more time in the garage.
Thanks for your comment!
I noticed you use a battery eliminator rather than a Normal ESC... I presume that's because you have a surplus drone ESC which doesn't have power for the radio.
I have surplus ESC like that too.
But I can't find a "battery eliminator circuit" with those key words.
The real reason is many of my pylon builds (ESC and motor) get incorporated into builds with flight controllers.
Furthermore, ESC's that incorporate the BEC are frequently far heavier as they incorporate a heat sync that's heavier than if they don't incorporate the BEC.
I buy my BEC's from aliexpress. They're just 5v power supplies. I'm on my phone, but let me know if you need a link, but honestly they're pretty generic and I usually order 10+ at a time as I build them into all kinds of stuff, and usually very cheap. If you run into challenges finding them, comment again and I'll get an exact link.
Thank you for your comment.
91 degrees! Yikes! Where do you hang your hat? Might want to look up Aesthetic, your pronouncing it incorrectly. I'm an English tutor. 😀Cheers.
Yeah - it get’s a little warm out here, but the winters are nice.
I don’t doubt I bungled it - that’s what I get trying to throw out a big word once in a while. Public school education… you know how that goes.
Thanks for your comment