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Author Archives: funkhouser

Scout #1 Pilot Figure

Posted on October 11, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Pilots / Wheel Pants, Models, FT Simple Scout, Tips Leave a comment

The Scout looked unfinished without a pilot figure. So I came up with a solution similar to one I used before with the FT Old Speedster. Check that post out HERE. There is a hole in the foam board that is the top of the fuselage in the cockpit. I used a couple of pieces of foam board to make a base, then cut a slot for the profile pilot head to fit in. You may or may not want to glue the pilot in permanently.

Scout #1 Finished

Posted on October 9, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Flite Test, Models, FT Simple Scout 1 Comment

My FT Simple Scout #1 is finished. I took it out to the field for a photo shoot. Didn’t do a maiden yet. Our October club meeting is coming up next week so I wanted to make sure it was in one piece for the Show & Tell.

2 right front fbf
2 right front fbf

Foam Board Scratch Build Candidate

Posted on August 23, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Scratch Building, Foam Board 3 Comments

The winner of the 2014 SEFF Southeast Electric Flight Festival Best New Aircraft is a model called the Giant Norman. It is a laser cut balsa and plywood traditional build with Monokote type covering and an 84″ wingspan and 12-18 lbs weight. The model was very popular at the time but the designer had many requests for a smaller version, which is how the Normal Norman was born. This one has a 49″ wingspan and is made from EPP foam. Normal is a 3 channel model but there is now a 4 channel version available called the Nifty Norman. This one appears to be a good candidate for a foam board scratch build project. The Giant Norman kit (balsa & plywood) and both the Normal Norman and Nifty Norman (EPP) kits are available at: http://lainesplanes.com/

norman laines planes fbf
norman 2 fbf
norman 1 fbf

Centering The Turtle Deck

Posted on August 17, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Models, FT Simple Scout, Hot Gluing, Foam Board 1 Comment

I was having a hard time getting the turtle deck centered on the FT Simple Scout. Came up with this idea using some foam board scraps and painter’s low tack tape. Mark the centerlines, then it is easy to align the separate turtle deck sections while gluing. And the painter’s tape comes off easily without damaging the poster board.

3 cockpit center fbf
4 firewall center top fbf
5 foamboard jig fbf

Turtle Deck Former – Gluing

Posted on August 15, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in FT Old Speedster, Models, FT Simple Scout, Tips, Hot Gluing 3 Comments

An easy way to keep the front and back of the turtle deck formers square while gluing is to simply use two strips of foam board to align the former.

2 turtle deck former black fbf
2 turtle deck former black fbf

Stick Fuselage Details

Posted on August 13, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Scratch Building, FT Simple Scout 5 Comments

At the point where I am finishing the fuselage. Without the foam board top rear of the fuselage, the back end of the turtle deck has no support. You might add a cross member right where the turtle deck ends. And on the bottom of the fuselage you might cut the foam board to include the tail skid and end at the last cross member.

12 top cross member fbf
11 rear bottom fuse fbf

Control Surface Clamps

Posted on August 11, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Scratch Building, FT Simple Scout 2 Comments

When you are assembling the carbon fiber pushrods and the servo arms, you may find it helpful to clamp the control surfaces so that they are perfectly flat; no up or down and no left or right.

10 rudder clamped fbf
9 elevator clamped fbf

FT Simple Scout External Pushrods

Posted on August 9, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Scratch Building, FT Simple Scout 4 Comments
8 servo w pushrod fbf
8 servo w pushrod fbf

When I built the first FT Simple Scout with the balsa diagonals, I didn’t make slots for the pushrods. The foam board fuse has slots but I thought that I could somehow maneuver the pushrods through all the open spaces between the balsa sticks. I couldn’t find a way to do it. So instead i decided to mount the servos on the outside of the fuselage and use carbon fiber tubes as pushrods.

1 ca zbends fbf
2 miter box fbf
3 servo template fbf
4 template on fuse fbf
5 outline on fuse fbf
6 servo installed fbf
7 servos glued fbf

Make some short Z-bends for each end of the carbon fiber pushrods. Make sure the piano wire is a snug fit in the tubes. Then I used thick CA to fix the Z-bends into the tubes.

If you use a Dremel tool or power saw to cut the tubes you are liable to put some cf dust in the air. You don’t want to inhale that so I use a miter box and hand saw for minimum dust.

The cardboard packing in the servos from FT can be used as a template for cutting the hole in the fuselage. Just extend the opening on each end so that the entire servo with end tabs fits through.

This model is being built as a 3 channel. If you are building the 4 channel version you need to make sure that the servo has room with full aileron down deflection.

The way that the Scout is constructed there is a second layer of foam, the doubler, that you will need to cut through.

The servo arm is in the up position. This makes the line from the servo to the control surface close to parallel to the top of the fuse.

I put the hot glue inside through the bottom of the fuselage. Little bit of a tight fit to get the glue gun nozzle in, but it is doable.

FT Simple Scout External Pushrods Video

Posted on August 7, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Scratch Building, FT Simple Scout 3 Comments

Just a short video to show the action of the external pushrods on the FT Simple Scout.

FT Servo Tester

Posted on August 3, 2019 by funkhouser Posted in Tools, Electrical 1 Comment

The FT Servo Tester looked like a good idea when I bought it over a year ago. The FT youtube video shows exactly how to use it. The tester has been sitting on my bench waiting to be used. So today I went to use it and discovered that the tester that I purchased is not quite the same as the one in the video. No big deal. The pics below show how to use this model.

3 switch fbf
3 switch fbf
1 overview fbf
2 connectors fbf
3 switch fbf

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