FT BN Versa Wing- Landing Gear

The Landing Gear

I have always had trouble launching flying wings, this is why I wanted to make a landing gear for my FT Blunt Nose Versa. As I was going through my scrap plane parts, I found two sets of landing gears. I used those landing gears for this modification. Installing and building the landing gear mounts was harder than I expected, but with a little help from hot glue and packing tape I had figured out a way to do it. Overall, the build went pretty smoothly and was a lot of fun. I would recommend this modification to anyone who has trouble launching flying wings or to anyone who is up for a fun project. 

Before

After

The Plane

The plane that I am using for this project is the FT Blunt Nose Versa. This plane has great tendencies and is a lot of fun to fly. This plane is great because it is easy to fly, and creates enough lift to carry a lot of weight. I wanted to put a landing gear on this plane to make it even more Versa(tile). If you are going to use this mod, I recommend installing the Blunt Nose section into you Versa Wing, this will allow you to have enough space to install objects such as landing gears or bomb drops. The FT Blunt Nose Versa is by far the best plane I have ever flown.

The Build

The build was a little harder than I had anticipated, this was because I had little amounts of glue and foam at the time. I recently crashed my HobbyKing Wilga (I have written 2 articles about it) so I wanted to re-use some of the parts from it. I used the sturdy landing gears from the Wilga for this modification. I cut out the front and back section of the landing gear, and then covered them in packing tape to help waterproof and strengthen them. I then made some measurements, and installed the gears into the plane with hot glue. Follow these tips when installing a landing gear on you BN Versa:

Tips For Installing and Building the Landing Gear

• Use a landing gear that is strong enough to support the weight of the plane. You should also use wheels that fit the terrain of your field. If your flield is grassy, use bigger wheels. For this build, I used the landing gears from my totaled Wilga.
• If your landing gear is not sturdy, you can use rudderbands to help strengthen it. I did this on my landing gear and it is extremely effective.
• Use foam/wood in between the gear and plane to help spread out the impact of your landings. 
• Throughout the installation, keep checking the CG. If you do not check the CG, then your plane will most likely be unbalanced after the installation.
• Make measurements during the build. On my installation, I used measurements to make sure that my landing gear was centered on the plane. 
• Install the landing gear a few inches in front of the CG. This will ensure that the plane won't tip over when taking off and landing. 
• Use a lot of glue and tape. It is important to have a secure landing gear, so use a good amount of glue and tape to attach it to the bottom of the plane. Again, before gluing the gear down, make sure that the CG is flat or a little nose heavy.

Conclusion

This project was a lot of fun. The build was a little harder than I anticipated, but the outcome and functionality is amazing. The landing gear is great because it will help many people launch a Flying Wing. This project took me about 1 hour, but it was greatly worth the time. Once the snow clears out, I am hoping to test out this plane and its new landing gear! I hope that this modification will give many people sucess with launching a flying wing! For other helpful FT Versa Mods, check out my article on the FT Blunt Nose Versa, it is tagged below!

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