FT Storch - perfect RC trainer

Enjoy the FT Simple Storch in the perfect trainer plane configuration. Slow, steady, predictable flight with the cheapest possible power setup that can carry this 1,5m plane is exactly what every first-time RC pilot need.
- hexTronik 24g 1300kv outrunner
- GWS SF 8x4 prop
- Plush 12A ESC
The plane is powered by 1600mAh LiPo battery. It proved to be more than enough in terms of capacity, providing over 20 minutes of flight per one charge. It would not be recommended to use smaller battery because of CG issues; also with total weight in 750-800g range it handles wind gusts pretty well. It may not be the case when having it any more light.
This setup provides roughly one third of recommended power. As a trainer plane, FT Simple Storch does not need any more. Some of the previous flights were flown with motor/ESC/prop combination close to recommended; but it was quite difficult to apply precise and gentle adjustmends on the lower end of power settings range. This "ultra light" setup allows very precise control, resulting in very gentle landings and very dosile low-pass handling. It will not allow for almost any aerobatics (some loops and hammerheads were performed off the camera though), but it's not essential in case of beginner plane. As you can see on the video, current setup makes the plane fly slow and stable, giving a lot of time to apply any corrections any first-time pilot needs. If the need arises, being swappable makes the power setup change really easy anyway.
Scale-looking flight is a nice "happy accident" - with 80W of power, this plane have power to weight ratio similar to planes like Piper Cub. With it's size, it's pretty easy to fly it "like a real plane". Few extra aesthetic touches and it will look wonderful, especially on the pictures. You may follow the link below for few examples:
picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...
This plane was described in much greater detail in the article on flitetest.com page:
flitetest.com/articles/perfect...
Many thanks to the Flite Test crew for this wonderful kit and their whole work providing us with such great designs.
Thanks for watching.

[@TheSquirrelRCchannel]

Beautiful! The best type of flying in my my opinion... low slow relaxed and controlled!

[@bayboos]

Thank you

[@shop970]

Fantastic "picture perfect" flying here! Real nice job all the way around. The plane and the flying. Are very much what we all wish was so easy to achieve. !

[@bayboos]

shop970 Thank you. In fact, it is easy to achieve. FT Simple Storch is a well designed airframe. One just need to build it with patience and diligence, equip with light (and cheap) power setup, keep the deflections of control surfaces low and fly in calm weather. When trimmed out correctly (needs to be done once, and can be done by experienced friend), this plane flies so slow and steady even the first time RC pilot can handle it without much effort. It's a "no-brainer": keep it light, steady and simple; and the plane will reward you with fantastic training experience. Thanks again for your comment; good luck and have fun!

[@mrfixitpa]

Nice looking plane and great job flying it.

[@bayboos]

Thanks. Unfortunatelly, I can't get credits for any of those. The plane was biuld from this kit: store.flitetest.com/ft-simple-storch-speed-build-kit/ and it actually fly mostly "by itself" - as the trainer plane should. The only things I've added are ultra-light power setup and the paint scheme :)

[@ndt7542]

bayboos: hello, i have just seen your video, nice flight, now i want to make a same plane from plan of flite test but i have a question for you if you don't mind. The motor htx 1300kv max thrush with prop 8x4 only more 400gr. Your plane flew very well and it's weight as you said about 700-800 gr. So can u confirm htx 1300kv can fit your plane? any advice for newbie like me? Thanks

[@petercomber196]

Great bit of filming, nice to have the aicraft in focus all the time, well done.

[@bayboos]

Thank you very much, I'll pass your compliments to the camera operator :)

[@Randy_Cox]

The storch is an amazing plane from FT. Mine has flown, landed, crashed so many times and it still flys great.

[@bayboos]

That's true. And that's why I really need to build another one :)

[@johnkarl1181]

Very nice videography! Gorgeous lighting, and I love how large you kept the plane (at the expense of a bit of camera shake. But you avoided the "dot in the sky" so common in these videos). I just ordered my FT Storch kit. Can't wait to build & fly it!

[@bayboos]

Thank you. To be honest, I was just flying the plane; the recording was done in 100% by my girlfriend. Let me just point one thing: You probably have no idea how difficult is to film the RC plane with this level of zoom. My girlfriend was capable of doing that only because of over 20 years of experience working as a photographer for an aviation magazine. I don't know anyone else who can keep the plane in the frame for that long - this is REALLY DIFFICULT. Most of the KZbin video makers have almost zero experience in this field; and also most of them are recording alone using "hat cams" rather than dedicated camera operator. Please be forgiving and understanding - they usually do the best they can. Anyway, thanks again for the compliment. I'm neither the professional video maker, nor the experienced RC builder/pilot; but I still do my best to upload videos that are pleasant to watch. I'm happy you liked it.

[@mrfixitpa]

Yes I have one as well and really enjoy flying it. I guess what I meant by nice looking plane is that you still had to build it and add the decals. Nice job :) As far as flying it, there is still some skill level needed especially being a 4 channel. Your landings and movements show that wonderfully. Good job.

[@bayboos]

My previous reply was a little bit on the joke side :) Thank you for the compliment. To be honest, no decals here (except windows, included in the kit); just some red paint, masking tape and two days of time :) But still, the kit comes together so nicely that almost no practical skills are required to complete it. About flying skills: I was practicing on FT Baby Blender and FT 3D - never mastered any of those, but what I've learned is more than enough for the Storch. Also, as explained in the article on FlitetTest.com page, the plane can fly perfectly fine using three channels only - elevator, throttle and ailerons. You can see me doing that on the movie. The article mentioned above can be found here: flitetest.com/articles/perfect-trainer-ft-simple-storch-light

[@christisking1316]

Awe...., Precious Baby Doll!!

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

Magnificent flying Aircraft!! I know this is good Design, but it still takes skill - especially the Landings, which were perfect. Very good flying, and filming!!

[@bayboos]

Thank you! Unfortunately, it's not true that whatever you see on the video requires any extraordinary skills. And that's the whole point! With this airplane, on the calm day, all you need is to keep calm and use tiny stick moves (or limit the deflection of the control surfaces); and it will fly exactly as shown on the video. That's the beauty of this particular design: it will give you a great flying experience even when you don't have much skills, or barely any skills at all! And the landings? Just keep the wings level, reduce power a bit (so the plane will start to descend by itself) and literally wait until it hits the ground. That's it! But the story doesn't end there. The best thing about this plane is that it can take you from the place of "almost no skill at all" and carry you way beyond what you could imagine a training, high wing plane can do. Want some examples? Here they are: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJmwanVjmLCJfrc - some aerobatics, whatever I could to; and kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZauqmZrYq-Ja9U - flying in the strong winds. And that's what requires some skills. Especially the last one. But still, the plane CAN do that; it's up to the pilot whether he or she will want to take this journey and actually learn how to do that. And how to do Perfect Landings in the meantime :) And yes, the filming was great, thanks. I will pass the compliment to the author. Good Luck, and Have Fun!

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

@@bayboos - Thank You for the valuable advice! The Storch Kit is on its way, and I'm excited to get started. The one thing that I've been told, is that as a former USAF Pilot, I'm going to have a bit of a problem adjusting to the differences of RC Flight. I'm going to look at your other Videos now.

[@bayboos]

@@CarminesRCTipsandTricks Nah, I wouldn't worry about that too much. As a former private pilot and glider pilot I had no problems at all, and even I'd say the "real plane experience" let me progress much quicker once I get used to changing perspective. Yet I have to admit, it did nothing for the first difficult thing: learning to fly both away from you and towards you. This one thing was the most challenging, but it's the same for everyone, former pilot or not. You can make it much easier by practicing with RC cars (I see you already do some of that) going fast on a closed course with lots of turns, and going both ways. From my limited experience, RC car drivers who did exactly that (again: going around closed course, and fast) had little to no problems with flying the planes in any direction. Good luck, and have fun!

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

That's true. I never thought of looking at it from the same perspective as RC Trucks!!! Thanks!

[@israelschurek9046]

Thanks for sharing this video. Looks you are professional, in flying the plane and building. Very impressive landing. I will try to build it with 3 Channel. Looks that I can skip the ailrons, so it will be a bit easier. I am a newbie to this area, watched a lot of videos. Yours are awesome. The best! Also I noticed you answered all of the questions in all of your videos. This is very nice. Thanks you. I will ask you in the future in case i will have problems with my build...

[@bayboos]

Thank you for your kind words. No, I'm not professional, nobody pays me for building and flying RC planes. I'm doing this for myself, and - hopefully - for my kids. About the 3ch version of the Storch: no, this plane is not ready to fly without ailerons. It does however fly very nice without using a rudder, and to be honest it does not require flaps. But the ailerons are essential, I would not try to fly this plane without them. Yes, I try to answer all the comments - there are not so many of them after all. If you have any questions, please try to find the answer in my build articles posted on the flitetest.com page - you can find the links in the video description. But if you will not be able to find the answers there, please feel free to ask your questions - I'll be more than glad to help. Good luck, and have fun!

[@israelschurek9046]

@@bayboos Thanks a millions! I appreciate your answers and tips very much. Will read your articles later today. Very interesting.

[@WIBBS75]

Thank you!

[@flightmonkey4225]

She looks really nice !

[@bayboos]

Thank you.

[@flightmonkey4225]

bayboos you know, I did really like the storch at first. But yours is so nice, it inspired me to build one today. It's for my coworker. He's had his first RTF plane for about 6 month wothout success of flight, just crash. I was going to build him a motorized FT simple soarer.Think he'll enjoy this Bird as his first flight. Thanks buddy

[@bayboos]

Flying Monkey In my opinion, the "old school of learning how to fly" is the best one. Trainer plane ("the first plane in your life") should be as slow and steady as possible, while still not hiding anything from you. Rather than using tricks (electronics, powerful engine) it should take you for a ride across all the basics of flight. But it shold also give you the time and control authority to get you out of trouble, without using any magical switches. Many generatios of pilots (both RC and "full scale") followed this path. Trying to invent any other way to learn flight is just like learning how to drive using Ferrari or Corvette - it almost certainly will end bad, even if you have automatic transmission. I believe the Storch is meant to be that "old school trainig plane"; but it can't do that with 800W motor (see the forum thread). It has all the qualities; but only as long as those would not be spoiled with too much weight and too much power. This plane can grow with you, that's for sure; but the starting point for the first-time pilot should be where my Storch is today. After all, I've build it for my 4 years old son... :) I wish your coworker many good flights; I know the plane will not let him down. Stay safe, and have fun!

[@yloveescalade]

thank's for sharring :)

[@bayboos]

+Julien Lehmann You're welcome :)

[@michaelupton1503]

That Storch flies so good it put FT too shame! I don't think their in-house versions flew this good. You have full span flaps? Are the flaps also ailerons? Nice model. Thank You for sharing your video.

[@bayboos]

Thank you. The thing is: it IS an FT speed build kit; and even more: the "old", white board one. I even put an extra effort to build it exactly as Josh B did in the build video. The only difference is that I used extra light power setup: 24g hexTronik motor, giving of a whooping 80w of power. To answer your question: I'm using separate flaps nad ailerons (4 servos in the wing alone), but I set up the radio to make the ailerons work as flaperons with limited flap travel. You can find all the details in the build article I posted on the FT site - the link can be found in the video description.

[@aliberkozderya3112]

Great flying airplane! You have the best videos of this plane. I want to build one but I have a question. How do you power 6 servos? I have a ESC with 3amp 5v build in BEC. Would this be enough?

[@bayboos]

3amp BEC should be plenty for this plane. I was using 2amp BEC and had zero problems with it. Please remember that the servo does not use a lot of power when it does not "work hard", e.g. does not need to move large control surfaces against very fast airflow. This plane does have relatively large surfaces; but it's also flying very slow. Additionally, two of those six servos (namely: the one controlling flaps) does not work at all for most of the time, especially when the plane goes fast - because the flaps are retracted. Good luck with your build, and have fun!

[@aliberkozderya3112]

bayboos Thanks for the help :)

[@mcearl8073]

Looks great, I'm considering buying this speed build kit and the electronics pack, I have a spectrum receiver and a dx5 transmitter, will that be good? This will be my first 4 channel plane, only other flight experience I have is the Champ.

[@bayboos]

billy mccabe I don't know Spectrum Tx/Rx much; but what I can find on the net is enough to fly the Storch. You will not be able to use flaperons or any other complex mixing; neither of those is required. You can still use 5'th channel for regular flaps/ailerons setup. If build light, this plane does not need anything more. For additional info and some useful build tips, you may read the article I wrote about this plane on the flitetest.com page: flitetest.com/articles/perfect-trainer-ft-simple-storch-light Good luck, and have fun!

[@mcearl8073]

Thanks for the reply, I think I'll give it a try, it seems like it might be a good way to move into 4 channel. I was considering the horizon Sport cub S because it looks almost exactly like the champ that I'm used to but with ailerons but it's very small and for about the same cost I could build this and learn more along the way I'm sure. I'll check out your article for sure.

[@wlouisharris]

billy mccabe Personally I wouldn't recommend the Sport Cub S. I have built the nutball, FT Flyer, and Tiny trainer and they all fly better than the stuff I got from Horizon. The Horizon ultra micros are very light and the parts they equip these w/ break easily and aren't necessarily cheap to replace. The Tiny Trainer is sort of like a smaller Storch and you can build it as a 3 or 4 channel plane.

[@MrBenchy35]

Lets hope mine fly's as good as this one... I'm not far of ready for maidening :).... just in the middle of spray painting it up

[@bayboos]

What can I say... good luck, and have fun! :)

[@mihirpatel9460]

Sir i am new in rc, i just bought coroplast as foam board isn't available, so i have printed design of ft storch in original scale without reducing it so a2212 1400 kv can be enough for that?

[@bayboos]

Coroplast is much heavier than the original foamboard, or even the Depron foam I used for my second Storch. Because of that, a2212 motor (approx. 180w of power) may be too small. Additionally, the Storch made from coroplast will never fly as slow and docile as the original one - it will definitely be much faster. I strongly recommend trying to find a material that is more similar to the original foamboard. It doesn't need to be covered with paper; my second plane is made of Depron foam with no covering at all. Good luck, and have fun!

[@mihirpatel9460]

bayboos can i scale it down to 90-85%?

[@bayboos]

Yes, you can, but I can't tell if it will work. There are some threads on FliteTest forums about scaling the Storch down; and it was generally concluded that this plane does not "like" to be scaled down. But you may still try and be the first one who did that successfully :)

[@mihirpatel9460]

bayboos ohh then that's little bit risky to scale it down, but yeah thank you very much for your kind words 😊 i will surely try for it...

[@sayakbhar]

nice plane. What is the thickness of the Styrofoam used in this kit?

[@bayboos]

Thank you. This plane is not made from styrofoam. It's actually a SpeedBuild kit from the FliteTest store, and it's made from a foam board covered with a paper (sold under many different names, mostly in US). This foam is exactly 3/16 of an inch, which translates to just under 5mm. I also made one from 6mm Depron foam (with no paper) - you can find an article about the conversion under this link: flitetest.com/articles/ft-storch-depron-conversion You can also find some videos (including the latest one) of this plane converted to Depron foam. Good luck, and have fun!

[@sayakbhar]

bayboos Thanks. This will help me a lot!

[@WIBBS75]

Did you mount your battery in the power pod?

[@bayboos]

***** No, the battery is not inside the pod. It's mounted in the usual location: under the power pod, just behind the prop. You can clearly see it on this picture: picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/j88_mo_JuOE3p5REVF-3a9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink There is a hole in the power pod for the cables, and the battery is mounted both with the velcro tape sticked to it and the pod, and the velcro strap atound it.

[@userTJ39780]

Great Flaperon combo. What radio?

[@bayboos]

Thanks. Originally I was using Turnigy 9x, but later upgraded to Taranis Q7

[@userTJ39780]

I tried flying my Storch with a Spectrum Dx5e, and it was pitchy and fast, so it crashed. I have since ordered a Dx6 with expo, so I can keep it under control and use flaperons eventually.

[@bayboos]

Christopher Ieda: I personally don't think "pitchy and fast" can be blamed on the transmitter alone. Especially in case of this particular plane. The Storch doesn't want to fly fast unless it's too heavy and/or significantly overpowered; and when it does fly fast it immediately becomes "pitchy" simply because of large elevator - optimized for slow flight. Please tell me how heavy it was and what motor did you use, if you don't mind; it will tell us if that was in fact the case.

[@survivor194]

I hear a Slavic language spoken. What country and city is your home. I'm writing this in Manhattan, NYC, USA.

[@bayboos]

Good catch. It's Warsaw, the Capital city of Poland. And the language is Polish (obviously).

[@malcolmking752]

Beautiful plane! What did you use to paint it? Also, did you take additional steps to insure a light build, or does it do okay with no weight reduction on this power setup? Looks very slow and scale!

[@bayboos]

Thank you. I was using spray paints of various types. Since all spray paints are either eating foam or destroying paper, the key to success it to appy extremely thin layers. It took me the whole day to get this result. I was also using standard masking techniques with masking tape and tons of masking paper. Nothing fancy over here. At the building stage, I did not take any additional steps to make it light. I followed build video and build instructions as closely as I could. However, for some reason the plane turned out to be over 100g lighter than specified in build plans (including recommended electronics); probably because I was trying not to waste the glue too much. After maiden flight with recommended setup, I decided to take it further this way and installed the lightest power setup I had "laying around". That step resulted in additional 50g saving in weight. And that's the whole story. Everything else is just pure fun flying it :D

[@twardysiusiak]

Piszesz o baterii 1600mAh ,ale nie napisałeś ile cel? 3s ?

[@bayboos]

prawdaprostowoczy Tak. Nie wyobrażam sobie zasilania tak dużego modelu mniejszym napięciem; z drugiej zaś strony dbając o ciężar i redukując moc silnika nie miało by sensu używać większego.

[@twardysiusiak]

Ja obecnie staram się ulotnić FT Tiny trainer , ale model jest cięższy niż opisują.Chyba wynika to z zastosowanego materiału - X-FOAM, który jest cięższy od oryginalnego.Masa całkowita ok 380g z baterią. Mam silnik 1806-2280 + prop 6x3 i zastosuje pakiet 3c 700mAh i zobaczę.Na 700mAh 2S nie chciał zbytnio latać A tak na marginesie gdzie latasz?

[@bayboos]

prawdaprostowoczy Do lekkich modeli z FT nie polecam używać X-FOAM, chyba że chcesz zrobić pancerną rakietę. Można z tej pianki robić modele akro i wyścigowe (a nawet combat, choć nikt nie będzie się chciał z Tobą bawić) pamiętając o założeniu napędu wyraźnie mocniejszego niż zalecany; ale w modelach lekkich jak Storch, Trainer i reszta to całkowicie nie ma sensu. Próbowałem. Dodając do tego fakt że X-FOAM wcale nie jest istotnie tańszy od Depronu (nie mówiąc już nawet o "wyrobach depronopodobnych"), uważam osobiście że nie ma się co męczyć. Ale powodzenia życzę :) Mój ostatni model - FT 3D PRO - z baterią 3s/450mAh waży 220g. Lata również na 2s/1000mAh (20g cięższy) co daje ok. 20 minut lotu; ale wtedy nie bardzo chce wykonać zawis. Mam w planie wypróbować Trainera, ale w wersji 125%. Oczywiście z Depronu. Warszawa, Białołęka.

[@twardysiusiak]

bayboos Storch'a też wykonałeś z depronu? Zamawiasz w internecie czy gdzieś w Warszawie kupujesZ?

[@bayboos]

prawdaprostowoczy Ten Storch jako jedyny w mojej flocie jest zrobiony z oryginalnego zestawu "z Ameryki" - kupiłem go między innymi po to aby porównać materiał z tym co mamy dostępne lokalnie. Ponieważ papier znacząco zmniejsza żywotność modelu (model już jest tak krzywy że prawie brakuje trymów), planuję wykonać kopię z Depronu; jednak nie prędzej niż na jesień. Depron kupuję lokalnie, w sklepie którego stronę internetową można obejrzeć pod tym linkiem: www.sklep.modelarnia.pl/ . Arkuszy Depronowych nie opłaca się kupować wysyłkowo jeśli można dostać "na miejscu". Ich rozmiar podbija koszty i dość łatwo o uszkodzenie.

[@simonl7784]

Thanks Bayboos. Nice flying. Does the power let you bail out of trouble.. I run mine with a very powerful setup : 1200Kv 3S 9x6 APC prop. Flight weight with a 1400Mah is about 850Gr. max thrust is over 1Kg. At 10-15% power it flies very gently like yours but if I push it it becomes a beast.. Oh and it can tow 100foot streamers like they are not there. I'd be curious to try it at a super light weight like yours. Where I fly is generally windy. Here's a video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5WboKych5aseNE