North Phoenix. I'm right there with you. Thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoy the content. I've got plenty more to share.

Honestly, I liked how it looked. I built another plane with the same style wing, and it flew great inverted. So I tried building a plane with the wing inverted, and it flew great, and looked better. The plane flies due to Newton, not Bernoulli. It's all Angle of Attack. There are more efficient wing designs, but this plane is so simple and fast to build, and compared to kits that take hours and hours to build, this is a great trade off. Even if you crash it, you could recycle the parts and be back flying that afternoon. Thanks for your comment. I hope you enjoy.

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.

I’ll agree - I’m new to the photography side of this, so I’m learning as I go. Adding to the problem is this particular model is small - really small. It fits on a car seat with room to spare. My larger models are easier to get on video, and to see in general. You’re also right about the splash of color. I usually just use a line of painters tape to mark the underside. It’s cheap and works well. The bulk of my planes are FPV - so many of the above points are moot when you’re looking through the onboard camera, but it seems there’s interest in the sub 250 stuff, so I’m happy to share some of my smaller RC planes. I hope you enjoy. I appreciate your comments. You raise some valid points. Thanks.

I’ve sat through lectures teaching that too, but I’m the type that still wants to test it myself. I think the combination of 3d printing and the laser cutter allow me to build all kinds of planes - some that work well, and many that get recycled, but it helps me really get a feel for a concept when I try it myself. And despite the understanding - sometimes I just build it a certain way just because I think it looks cool. Believe me - not all my decisions are good. I appreciate your point - and it’s got merit. I hope you enjoyed the video nonetheless. Thanks for your comment.

@@usefulaircraft You rock and thank you

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.

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.

I’m glad you enjoy! I should have a few other sub 250 designs to share when I get the time at home to do some building. I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

While it would be easy to put a bigger motor and prop - but this is a very efficient, tiny motor (to easily keep it under 250 grams, and for better endurance) - so it doesn’t have that high thrust to weight ratio. Torque however is still prevalent - so until you get airflow over the wings and stab, the plane is prone to torque roll (roll opposite the direction of the propeller). That said - the plane is slick - so it just keeps accelerating straight and level. For vertical climbs - it’s all energy management - it’s got good penetration, but you’ve got to enter into the maneuver with speed as it will bleed that energy eventually. That said - it’s a really fun plane to fly, as she loves to run, and has great response. I do have other planes I’ve made that have greater than 1:1 Thrust to Weight ratios - and they’re fun too. Just brute force power - but very different flight characteristics. All of them are fun for different reasons. Thanks for your comment.

I’ve got a design or two for flying wings that I may revisit. I started with them, but I found the pusher planks and tractor twins to be better suited for the space requirements of FPV, but I am enjoying the simplicity of RC builds, so I’ll probably go back to trying wings again. I appreciate your comment.

Thank you for your comment. I've got plenty more planes to share. I hope you continue to enjoy.

I’ve never put together plans or instructions - they all live in my head for the most part. Keep an eye on UsefulAircraft.com as I’ll post stuff there when I figure out where I’m going with this. Thanks for your comment.

Thank you, I appreciate your comment.

I browsed some of nerdnic’s builds as you suggested. He’s a craftsman - and his builds reflect that. His spitfire is really cool. That said, I’m not trying to make my planes to look like anyone else’s - I’m more evolving a design to suit the purpose of the build. Furthermore, I really draw from simple, quick build planes. My designs are made so I can pack them small, and carry them with me and build them quickly in a hotel room to stay entertained on work trips. I’m just going in a different direction. It wasn’t always this way -I’ve built up full wings from hand cut rib and glued them onto spars pinned to plans. Iron on covering, and days and days spent building. Life got complicated, kids, work, and my free time diminished, so I came up with simple planes that I could build the night before I went to fly. The style has evolved, and the number of unique parts I’ve always tried to reduce. While I’m not opposed to 3d printing parts, I try to avoid metal, and other materials (I did use CF tubes and strips for a while - but wasn’t in love with CF as I don’t have the tools and safety stuff to mill, grind, cut or make CF layups - as I don’t find the risk/reward worth it for me) - and that’s simply a choice. 3d printed spars turned into popsicle sticks as an experiment - but they’ve worked remarkably well, and they’re cheap - so I’ve used them more often. Interestingly - I used to use separate sheets to build the wings, and I even tried trimming the leading edges to profile them… but then I was reading up on early designs like the old Fokker tri motors - they are built corrugated metal. This led me to discover that the corrugated metal is actually stronger than flat sheets for a number of reasons, and I thought to apply that to the foam board, and I found it not only provided the rigidity -but it also gave a decent leading edge. There are a few builds still on my wall that were somewhere in the middle that had 3d printed leading edge cuffs - and I liked those - but they added another step and another part - all for only a little gain - so I ended up moving onto the simpler folded over wing. All of it is an evolution of a thousand builds in the pursuit of distilling things to the simplest build that results in a good plane. I’ll always appreciate the guys building realistic models and I love stuff like Ramy RC and the like - they’re seriously amazing craftsmen, and I love watching and learning from them - but we’re all on different paths - and hopefully you’ll continue to enjoy my builds. Anyway - sorry to ramble. I appreciate your comment - thank you!

Oh, and the simplicity of your builds is absolutely the thing that caught my eye. I really love seeing how different people optimize for different design aspects. Every new thing I see is just another tool to use for some specific use case. People actually showing how they build and explaining why they build a certain way is so valuable. It helps us all as a community become better builders.

Awesome to see someone focusing on super simple Sub 250 builds! Glad I found your channel. Gives me some ideas to go with my FliteTest builds, and Strix Nano Goblins.

It would do well in that! It’s really a fun flyer. Thanks for your comment!

Sorry the plane appears small in the videos - but it’s a tiny plane even holding it in your hands. I’m glad you enjoy and maybe you learned something. I’ve got videos to go - I’ve just got to get home to do them. Thanks for your comment.

I love FPV. If you have a look at my other videos, and my builds on the wall of my office - I build a lot of FPV planes. I’ll put more out on the channel as I get the time. I’m currently a DJI O3 guy - with a couple of air units. However, I am intrigued by the Walksnail system - as I see the air units are smaller / lighter. While I could make a “naked” o3 and strip off the case as some do, I’d be wary as that case is also a heat sync, and here in Phoenix - we need all the heat sync we can get. You’re going to love that nano goblin. I’ve got buddies with them, and I’m very interested. I’m actually waiting on the new design that was just on Kickstarter not long ago that’s very similar. The sub 250g thing is a tight squeeze to fit a digital FPV system, Flight controller, and any battery with much capacity. Most of my FPV stuff is over 250g, but it’s something I’ve thought about - it’s just still on the list for now. Thanks for your comment - and I’d love to hear how you like the nano goblin after you get it flying.

@@usefulaircraft Build the FT Goblin and itll be just as great. That thing RIPS

Yeah, I don’t often put markings on my planes - I kinda like the all white aesthetic - but on this plane, you might be right! It’s easy to lose orientation. Thanks for your comment.

​@@usefulaircraftI like bright orange, and only on the bottom of the wing and elevators if you want max help on orientation.

I love the li-ion cells. Don’t get me wrong - Li-Po still has its place in my sub250 stuff - but for my FPV or bigger builds - Li-Ion is my pack of choice. I started off with commercial packs, then tried soldering - and eventually built a spot welder, but then I saw the battery racks, and thought to try them after a particularly bad crash that punctured a cell. Sure, the battery racks weigh more - but the added capacity make it a non issue. For balance considerations - I just charge each cell independently, and monitor their internal resistance and temperatures at charging. If any individual cell draws my concern, it’s trivial to swap it out with a cell more similar to the profiles of the remaining batteries in that pack. I much prefer being able to isolate my cells completely for travel, as it (in my mind) reduces the risk of connected packs (albeit this may only be in my use case in a cramped carry on bag). I do have a few planes that fly off the 21700’s - and some that really benefit from their added capacity, but just be wary that unlike fuel tanks on full size planes, the weight of an empty cell is the same as the weight of a full cell, and it takes fuel to tanker fuel. So in some use cases - you may find that 18650’s could give you a better specific range due to lower cruise power requirements (because of lower overalll weight). But this all depends on if you’re solving for endurance or distance, and would require very exacting power control and testing. Most times - it just depends on the airframe I’ve built, or CG purposes. Either way - we’re really lucky to be flying with these amazing batteries. Cool video, and thanks for the 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!

Thank you!

It’s really easy to over prop a motor. There are some efficiencies gained with larger props, or props with fewer blades, but once the prop is too large, the motor isn’t turning at the speed the ESC is commanding, and you start to see a heat rise that if left unchecked, will eventually burn out your motor (it usually just overheats, and the insulation melts on the windings, and the motor shorts out internally.) I’m not the smartest guy for sizing motors / props, and there are some builds I’ve used larger or multi bladed props that run the risk of burning out the motor - so I don’t always follow best practices. But have a look around online- there are some brilliant folks out there that really seem to enjoy figuring motor / prop combos. If I’m honest - I use a lot of cheap quad motors and props namely because they are inexpensive. You can spend as much money in this hobby as you want. I’m a fan of bulk buying cheaper parts so I can build more planes, and everything gets recycled into other builds unless I really love the design and it gets hung on a wall. Thanks for your comment!

I could not improve upon the work in explaining this that was done by Painless360. Have a watch of this video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poGWm2mZhduAd5Isi=NelKlq8uE-RmeqbG He, and others like him, have forgotten more about EdgeTx / OpenTx than I’ll ever know. I hope this helps - and thanks for your comment!

@@usefulaircraft Thank you, followed the link. Regards BobFlyer 4346

Control surface wise - they should be the same. Aerodynamically in full scale aviation, there are some studies about stall propagation in forward swept wings as spanwise flow can tend to move towards the root (however washout must prevent the tips from stalling first otherwise further pitch up will occur), and movement of center of pressure at differing angles of attack and throughout different speeds / Mach can have advantages for certain applications, but they do carry complexity as well (yaw instability), so you really don’t see many (X29, Hansa, S37). At the end of the day - my foam board wing was just something I wanted to build, with an aerofoil unlike what most use (but makes building planes super fast), and the plane flies well, plus I think it looks cool on the wall. I’d love to hear if you build something similar and how you think it flies. Thanks for your comment.

Thank you for your comment! I do have some easy builds that may be suited for guys starting out, I’ve just got to get around and make the videos. My planes may not be the most efficient - as pure aerodynamic dudes will argue their designs all day - but my builds get to the flight line faster than most, and are simple to repair. Don’t get me wrong, I started out cutting ribs out of balsa by hand and gluing them to spars pinned on plans, and I’ve still got my iron for coating wings… but I don’t always miss that. For my tastes, I’d much rather design my planes while I’m sitting in hotels on the road, cut them on the laser, and then be able to build them in an hour or less. To each their own. I like your ideas. Thanks for your comment!

@@usefulaircraft I’ve got a laser, CNC, and several 3D printers (FDM & Resin). I actually got them for other hobby purposes. With seeing the RC airplane and specifically sub 250g foam builds, I felt my workshop tools cry out to me for more attention. Why not right? I look forward to seeing a starting point video from you if you’ve got it in you. I’ve seen others post some as many do with most topics. The styles and knowledge levels don’t grasp me as they tend to be too dramatic for like and subscribe reasons or they just don’t strike a balance with knowledge and good delivery. As I mentioned previously, your style hits my 59 year old no nonsense mentality along with being informative. I’m eager to get on my journey and I’ll keep an eye on your efforts. Thanks for the effort with your channel and know you’re making a difference for others.

Amen! Plus it makes the flying more interesting. Modern radios and an extra servo allow you to explore things like flaperons, crow braking, and all kinds of control mixing. I really appreciate the efforts of the radio developers for giving us the tools to explore this. Thanks 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

Thank you! I’ve wanted to build a hot wire cutter, and a CNC - but I’m really limited on shop space, and my one car garage is very optimized for my current workflow. If I ever got a larger shop - I would LOVE a CNC hot wire cutter (as well as a lathe, mill, proper drill press, Tormach….). Either way - you work with the tools you have. I really appreciate your comment, and I’m jealous of your tools…. I’d love to see your designs as well.

My hotwire just hangs on a wall, they really don't take much room, I use folding tables in my 1 car garage to work off of and have to pack up to park the car. Space is always at a premium! Oh man, a drill press and a lathe would be awesome. But try explaining to the wife that you need 2k more of tools to make proper landing gear for your hobby lol "well yea, I just bend wire now by hand... And yea the planes land fine... But this would be so much better! Imagine tiny shocks!!" Lol

Thank you!

They have their limits, and their challenges - but I’m attracted by their simplicity. Great comment - Thanks!

KZbin comments are great for sharing - but my email is in the channel info - or you can reach out on my website as well. I’m not always the fastest to respond - as it’s family first, then my work, and finally my hobbies - and there are only so many hours in the day, and it doesn’t help when I’m gone for work and come home to a list of assigned projects. I’m sure you can relate. Thanks for your comment. I look forward to hearing from you.

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!

That's a good idea. Can't deny that. Thanks for your comment.

Thank you.

Everything in moderation. It does make for a quick and easy build, and can be used to trim CG. Thanks for your comment.

He's a frequent visitor to my shop some days.

Thank you. I have plenty more to share.

Yep. I've flown it both ways. Works great. I honestly think the wing flies due to AOA, not Bernoulli. I've built up full wings, laser cut aerofoils, minimum weight, all the time spent in getting things perfect. Yet because this wing is so easy to build- I keep coming back to it. It's just fun to fly and quick to build. Thanks for your comment.

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.

Thank you. I hope I can continue to provide value for you and your listeners.

Yep, many of my designs have curved surfaces. But every design evolves differently based on how it's cut. As this part is laid out on the laser, the cuts are on the outer surface. If I was making show pieces, I'd solve for the aesthetic, and she'd have a smooth nose. But I build these to quickly iterate and get out and go flying. I can go from a sheet of foam to a flying plane in under an hour, and that has value to me. Thanks for your comment!

You and Brett should try folding your wing around a V-cut in the foam. That allows a nice leading edge. Add a spar and you have an airfoil. You can even push down on that leading edge while it drys to form a lifting airfoil.

There are some incredibly useful functions when you get into the menus. Thanks for your comment

Edgetx can do anything you can figure out how to program.

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’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.

I come out of full scale aviation, and trim is constantly in motion with power changes. I use the sliders on my TX16S constantly for my pitch trim as it falls easily under my trigger finger and it's great for a fast trim. Flying out of trim is just something we do in my line of work. We're always trimming for hands off flying. The mixing in the radio works great. And the slow up/down really works brilliantly in many situations. I cannot claim credit, but whoever integrated this gave us a tremendous tool. Thanks for your comment.