"DELFER" FT-Delta and FT-Flyer combined

by 81zapper | April 17, 2014 | (21) Posted in Projects

 I am a newbie.I flew the Great Planes PT-Trainer for about 10 mins 20 years ago and that has been the extent of my flying career . Thanks to Flitetest  I have flown the FT-Flyer a total of 7 times with no crashes but was getting board.( I know, I know it takes time and practice ) but I wanted a little more. I built the Delta and flew it for 3 seconds before destroying it. I must be building it wrong as it was the 2nd one and both failed quickly.  The FT Flyer flies so well but I wanted to try ailerons so why not make two planes into one. I took some of the FT-Delta wing design and put it on the FT -flyer tail. added some wing tips for a nicer look and  incase they would help keep it stable

I have a blue wonder 1300 kv motor with a 3s 650mah battery  .and an 18 amp esc and  3 , 9 gram servo's with a 9x4.7 sf prop ( Turns out must of been drawing too many amps as motor was very warm after flying, changed to 8x4 and much cooler now)

I did some glide tests and all looked good. I tried a quick flight as it was quite windy but managed to do a couple of circuits . It was so windy though that it would almost do a complete hover in the wind .

When the wind calms down I am looking forward to getting in some real flights and use this plane as my training vehicle for aileron and rudder control

Update 1 :  Over the weekend the winds were more reasonable and I took it out . Does this ever fly nice . A very minor trimming and it's hands off. It does loops and rolls quite well. Being a small plane it will fly in a small park. Not needing  a lot of space, it is perfect for me.  Looking forward now to hone my flying skills  with this.

Update 2: Have made  15 good flights in now and also added landing  gear to learn  landing  and take off  techneques . This is an excellent trainer for me     Thankyou  Flitetest

Kit is Available if requested. 81zapper@bell.net

 

Below is version II  It has flown once and it was an excellent flight . I used a broken 8x4 prop that I cut down to 7" and it is perfect .I increased the wing area a little to see what it would do different from version I and the result was it will fly slower if needed.  By the way a large tree jumped up and smacked version I

 

 

 

 Measurements

 

- Find this article & others like it at www.FliteTest.com -

COMMENTS

Pumpster on June 4, 2014
Oh that's cool!! Nice work!
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KiwiRCFlyer on June 4, 2014
I can totally empathize with your short lived early flight experiences. Its hard to get out of that early learning curve.
Can't wait to see a video. I wonder how well it will loop and roll. Thanks for sharing.
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81zapper on June 8, 2014
video added sorry about quality
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raphino on June 4, 2014
awesome design! I might gonna build it along if you don't mind! Looks like a cool little thing which I can let my brothers learn to fly with ailerons on! Thanks for sharing!
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81zapper on June 4, 2014
No problem. It has helped me a lot and continues to teach me flying techniques even went to inverted for a few seconds
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raphino on June 4, 2014
The FT Delta gives you anyway some room for some mods. I also did one to make some kind of a Stealth fighter.
http://forum.flitetest.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24556&d=1401714384

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engineer on June 4, 2014
Great job! I've been thinking of doing a similar design for a while now!
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Foam Addict on June 4, 2014
So you made an FT Delta Flyer? :p

JK, that is an excellent design, I'm glad it flies so well!
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oneiwily on June 5, 2014
can you please post the plans for this , or at least some measurements.
it looks like nice plane that I can use to teach my son, mainly because the FT-flyer is dead .. last weekend it had 2 many crushes , and we where thinking on what to build next , the F22 looked like the preferred choice .. until this design :-)
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81zapper on June 5, 2014
pdf drawing is available now ,located after the last picture. It is of version I The tail part is the same build and dimensions as the FT-flyer good luck
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oneiwily on June 5, 2014
Thanks
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Mizzster D Double-a on June 5, 2014
nice design
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felixx on June 5, 2014
NICE!
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dholcomb on June 6, 2014
Nice work. Had the same idea. Posted May 23rd on Twitter @flitetest @wooden_pelican
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petedotnl on June 6, 2014
awesome build. looks like a hammer head shark.

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Ron B on June 6, 2014
your first scratch build/design turned out nice.
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gregster511 on June 6, 2014
perty cool could you ples make a video of it flying
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81zapper on June 8, 2014
short poor quality video added
thanks for asking
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NoUsername on June 7, 2014
Great job on your design, build and flying. You may have something that could help others with the same concerns you had, thanx.
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81zapper on June 7, 2014
That is exactly why I wrote the article and glad flight test posted it. I was almost at the point of giving up as I was crashing everything I built . My goal was to let other newbies who have no help to keep plugging away at it and maybe this style of plane would help. It sure helped me . I love the hobby once again and have now flown the spit and blender accident free (well so far anyway) Thanks for your comments
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NoUsername on June 22, 2014
Will be attempting to buld your design, would like to know about where the CG was located, or how you figured out where the CG fell. Thanx.

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81zapper on June 23, 2014
CG is 6 " from fire wall using a 650 mah battery . This seems to work well for me. Good luck Let me know how you make out
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Rcgary24 on June 8, 2014
Looks very good , and flys well!!!! GOOD Job! I do notice a couple things that might be worth trying out , it seems to seesaw on turns a little bit , do you have a computer radio? Id try dialing in a lil more expo if you do , and possible a lil more nose weight , just a touch. If im right it should be a lil more docile on turns , and be a lil more stable on landing. Very good job and some plans and/or demensions would be awesome , or the process in how you combined the 2 planes that way we have a place to start. Thanks!!!!! Gary
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81zapper on June 9, 2014
Thanks for the advice however the radio I am using is a 20 year old 72 mhz with no programming It'a all me flying Maybe a new radio would be a nice christmas gift.
In between the last picture and the video is a line that takes you to the drawing with dimensions (delfer measurements)
Thanks again for checking it out
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Kevinjt4 on June 9, 2014
81zapper - i have converted your dimensions pdf file above into full size pdf plans (via Illustrator.) I can email you the pdf file for you to add to your post if you wish. Let me know. - Kevin
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81zapper on June 9, 2014
that would be excellent . Thank you. Maybe other newbies could build it and have successful flights like I have and enjoy the hobby
bentech@bell.net is my e-mail
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Oldmiamicrasher on June 15, 2014
Looks very nice.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a simple question:
CG: Between 25 and 33% of leading edge?
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81zapper on June 15, 2014
Thank you
CG is 6 " from fire wall using a 650 mah battery . I used a 1300 mah but seems to make it too sluggish . If you build it let me know how you make out
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Oldmiamicrasher on June 15, 2014

I have it about 80% finished, still need some more detailed work to do.
Thanks for your prompt reply.
I will keep you posted.
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PKM_UK on June 16, 2014
"A large tree jumped up and smacked V1"- love it! A tree came out of nowhere and ate my Old Fogey too- I had to climb the tree and poke it with a stick to get it back. (Video at http://youtu.be/bnAdPWNXMSw)

Thanks for sharing your measurements, I want to build a foam aileron trainer and this looks like fun.
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81zapper on June 16, 2014
Thanks for the comments.
I have about 20 flights on it now with no issues or trees still flies great and is helping me out a lot .Let me know how you make out if you build it
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PKM_UK on June 17, 2014
Well, in the UK we have no dollar tree foam- my last plane was depron which I bought from a friend who ordered too much. I've got some foamcore which is like 5mm depron with solid plastic backing, strong but quite heavy so I don't know how well it will fly but it will hold up well in a crash :)
I also have access to a laser cutter so can hopefully just laser the parts from your PDF- we'll see how it goes.
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81zapper on June 17, 2014
I wish you all the luck to get it flying. Maybe a little bigger motor would help if it is heavier. As I said I am a newbie but thats what I would try first . Once again good luck keep me updated on your sucess
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babauer on July 1, 2014
Hi,
You've inspired me --
I'm in the process of building this as my first scratch-build.
Could you please add a picture of the underside of the plane?
I'm unclear as to how it all fits together, and how the electronics are laid out.
Thanks!
brian
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81zapper on July 1, 2014
Thanks for your interest . I will take pictures of it apart and the under side and how I have the electronics within the next 24 hrs . Once again thanks
and good luck with it and keep me posted on your success
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81zapper on July 1, 2014
Have added more pictures hope this helps
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babauer on July 4, 2014
Thanks so much! *Very* helpful!
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81zapper

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"DELFER" FT-Delta and FT-Flyer combined