Prop Foamie Build

talberter

talberter

Member
I picked up the plans for a couple of foamies last night from Louis last night and will be posting pics over the next few weeks. I want to blow them up a little. From 33'' to around 38'' to 40''. Not sure how to do this but, I have a guy I know that owns a copy shop on campus that can figure it out for me.

Plus have to order foam an a zillon other things. Going to use 9mm EPP foam. My YAK 33'' is made from the same material and crashes very well. The YAK now has a few extra oz. of glues than it started out with, but is getting a little brittle from all the CA, Welders glue, and epoxy. I'm the third pilot of this plane. Louis gave it to me one day and told me to learn how to fly it and then give it back, I think, or keep it, or something?????

Stay tuned..........................:gorilla:
 
talberter

talberter

Member
Well here is a picture of the pattern that I had printed out to scale size rather than tape together 25 pieces of 11x8 paper all over the garage floor. The whole idea just seemed to turn me to poo poo. I'm old and don't do floors well. Not to mention I don't get up well either. I'd have to call Louis and have him help me "Cause I can't get up". He wouldn't like that much !!!

I need to figure out some way to stiffen these (and other things) before I cut them out all the way. I'm thinkin 3DHS kit is lookin better all the time, but its not like I have anything better to do at the moment.

Any thoughts on stiffening or backing would be appreciated.......................View attachment 1325
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Here is what I would do. When you get the foam, get some spray glue and glue it to the foam. Once it's cut out, you can remove it and use a little mineral spirits to remove the glue. It doesn't eat the foam, and it doesn't leave a residue after it dries. That is my idea anyway...
 
RandyDSok

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
Cut out the paper template as usual... place that onto poster board like you can get from many hobby / craft shops... and then cut out the poster board. This gives you a durable template you can use many times either for making another foamy or to make repair components for the one you have flying.

I've been reading through a "million" posts looking for the motors that others have used on this size foamy... I've got a list started already covering several of the good quality motors down to the cheapy motors... obviously the better quality motors are getting the rave reviews but some of the cheapy ones are not doing to bad either even though they are a compromise. Luckily this design is pretty forgiving on weight, which is the most common compromise followed by power...

As a guidline.. since I don't yet have the list compiled... A decent 2S motor will weight between 16g to 24g, it will have between 1500kV to 1800kV, output between 75w to 100w with 7a to 10a of current.

The popular battery is the 2S between a 325mah to 650mah with at least a 25c rating.
 
RandyDSok

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
Ok...

Finally finished reading through 295 pages of posts on this size foamy... dang my eye's are tired... lol

I don't have the info compiled yet and really need to get to that.. perhaps tomorrow. There was another subject that I missed covering above in general... something I'm interested in... night flying and adding lights to the airframe.

The best bang for your buck flight-wise on this size of an airframe is certainly the 2S motors I refered to ( and didn't list yet )... but 2S is not a good setup for the LED light strips that are common today... for that you want at least 3S power and this will be added weight in both the lighting system as well as with the 3S batteries.

There are two ways to address this... Use one of the motors better suited for 2S with a 3S battery and then prop down on the prop so you don't over stress the motor... Or get a motor for 3S to begin with ( that has a lower kv rating ) and then prop up when you fly 2S during the daytime. Currently I'm leaning towards the first option since for myself night flying is secondary to the rest...

Ah... got it... build two airframes and setup for each... lol. I need to discuss this with some others that have a bit more experience to get their input I thing...
 
talberter

talberter

Member
View attachment 1360Okay, I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought a sheet of poster board covered foam to cut my templates from. I managed to cut out 3 of the many pieces. It took me 30-45 min to cut them out. I first used spray glue to attach the paper cut outs to the board and then started cutting out after they dried.After doing all that, I was worn out messing with all that glue and the whole process and I had leaned the board against the table coming in from the store and by the time I got ready to use it, it had a bow in it from leaning against the table. ANY WAY here is a pic of what I did so far.

Get back to ya
 
talberter

talberter

Member
It's been awhile but, I finally ordered some foam today for my foamie build. It took forever to find out the proper spec's for ordering the right type. Everyone has an opinion as to what to use it seems and most differ as well. I 've ended up with 6 sheets of 18 x 36, 1.9#, 9mm EPP foam at a cost of $ 10.00 per sheet including shipping and handling. Should be here Friday.....

As soon as I get it cut out, 45 degree the proper parts and paint it, I'll post some pic's.

Sorry for the delay, money has been pretty tight lately .
 
talberter

talberter

Member
I've finished 2 foamies since last post. The Extra 300 and a YAK Junior 28". A couple $ 100.00 and there both in the air. I don't buy cheap stuff on anything that I've taken the time to build, just to end up buying whatever again. I'll end up using Hacker Motors & ESC's, Futaba recievers, and Hi Tech servos. The YAK took about 2 hrs including drying time(medium CA & kicker) and the 300 Extra took a long, long, long time (days) . I would reccomend buying one online. It's really tedious to print off plans, make templates, transfer to foam, and cut out. That's all folks.Extra 300View attachment 1519View attachment 1520View attachment 1521View attachment 1522View attachment 1523
YAK Jr.View attachment 1524View attachment 1525View attachment 1526View attachment 1527View attachment 1528
 
R

Rc-Help Member

I Love This Site!
Some reason your photos are really small for the viewing. Did you make yours out of dollartree foam board or EPP foam? My wife is giving me $300.00 for Christmas so I'm going to Lowes and getting a bundle of the Dow FanFoldFoam. It is 1/4" thick, 48" wide and 50' long. Yep, I can make a lot of foamies out of that. I also made one out of the dollar foam sheets. I'm almost done with it and I will post some pics later, I still got to mount the hardware and then do the maiden flight test.

Looks like you did the kevlar trick on yours too.

Keep on building,
 
RandyDSok

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
TJ used 1.9# 9mm EPP foam... at least on the Extra he cut out

I'm not sure if he used any kevlar or not but I doubt it... TJ, Louis and myself had only discussed using CF for added support... but I've been out of the loop lately. Right about the time TJ got some of his supplies, I got busy with work... finally.
 
talberter

talberter

Member
I think your refering to the carbon fiber rod's in the wing and the struts on the sides, correct ??? I don't know if you could fly one without them. I so it would have to be so tiny it would be a real hand full. Their all a hand full for me..................
 
llommel

llommel

Member
FYI for anyone looking to build a foam cutter. Google "jacobs online nichrome". Excellent information regarding all the components to build a "safe" foam cutter.
 
llommel

llommel

Member
I built a Foamie called a "Tuffy Trainer" which is a pusher prop type. When I tried to maiden it, it nosed dived severely. The motor is mounted with no up or down or right or left angle. The plans did not give any info on this. Anyone know what the angle for the motor mount of a pusher plane should be? Motor shaft pointing up, down right or left. Thanks
 
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