Foam Dart Bomber: Quick Build & Easy to Fly RC Plane Under 250 Grams
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2024
- I'd like to share a build I've been working on - meet the Porter.
The Porter is a radio controlled airplane that can be built under 250 grams. It's fun to fly as an RC aircraft, or can be used to drop foam darts and learn about ballistics and targeting.
Optional 3d printed leading edge devices provide the opportunity to explore aerodynamics not normally experienced by the average RC pilot. Learn the flight characteristics associated with Leading Edge Slats, or Boundary Layer Energizers. Each takes a different approach to enhance slow speed handling and provide better controllability as you approach a stall.
The Porter is laser cut for precision and reproducibility. It packs small, and builds quick - often in an hour or less with simple tools and hot glue.
Designed and built by a working commercial pilot - the plane makes a great quick build trainer for student pilots - and is an inexpensive way to introduce pilots to skills and techniques that will serve them well as they build future drones, UAS or FPV planes.
For more information - visit UsefulAircraft.com
Specs:
Motor 1407-3500kv
ESC 20amp
BEC 1.5amp
Servos 2x SG90
Battery 850mah 3s
Table of Contents
00:00 Who am I and how did we get here?
01:30 Introduction to the Porter
02:18 Flight Characteristics and overview
03:32 Build details and Bill of Materials
06:16 Leading Edge Slats
08:12 Vortex Generators
09:40 Runcam Attachment
10:50 Foam Dart dropping mechanism
12:15 The Whistle I regret
12:40 Battery life expectations
13:14 Propeller size considerations
16:54 Flight footage - onboard camera
18:18 Foam dart target practice
18:35 Line of Sight flying
20:23 Closing thoughts
Thanks for you time. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
Found ur site today and glad someone is doing a variety of sub250 style planes. As in a few months I will be turning 80 and still flying with the itch to get into foamboard birds I am looking forward to more of ur videos so keep up the great work.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for providing this channel. The sub 249gm airframe is increasingly interesting. You are a good teacher and your experience in
…..full size aviation shows through .
Thank you. I'll have some new stuff out shortly for an interesting project.
I really appreciate the feedback!
I do the drone esc without bec and separate small bec I add too. It works very well. It really does help keep the weight down.
I agree - it's my preferred way, unless all I have in the parts bin is the old combined speed controllers with the giant heat sync. It just depends on how weight critical I am - but going forward, I prefer the separate BEC / ESC for most of my builds.
Just came across your channel....thank you for sharing your expertise and enthusiasm! Look forward to getting hold of your high wing trainer.
Thanks for your note - I'm still trying to figure where I'm going with this - for now I'm enjoying the videos - but when the temperatures come down in the winter, and I've got more time in the garage to put some kits together, we could probably work something out.
Thanks for the video.
You bet
Nice builds with several versions good job i start with filtetest plans and end up with Styrofoam hotwire cut with CNC 4 axis machine. 👏👏
I want to get a hotwire. But I've got to find a place for it. One day.
@@usefulaircraft yes actually it need space 😌
Great video
Thanks dude. I'm working on my next video to show one of my FPV builds. Should have it out shortly.
hey great planes and video. I have to say though, I'm shocked you haven't had pla motor mounts melt, because I changed to petg specifically because I had 2 different planes motors screws melt straight through pla and force me to land without power. I've even had slight melting (but not to failure) with petg motor mounts with 1806 2280kv motors spinning 6x4 props on 3s. I'll have to check out your motor mount design to see if there is something I can learn.
Here in Arizona - I only print my hardware in white PLA. The reflectivity really helps to keep the heat down. I also try to integrate cooling airflow through my planes, and through the motor / mount. If you retain too much heat - it will melt PLA - but if you're careful, and allow for both active (airflow) cooling and good reflectivity - I've had good luck - but I also just don't enjoy flying in the heat of the day when it's 110+.
Thanks for your note.
I AGREE WITH THE PLA COMMENT I RECOMMEND PLA + BY SUNLU ITS A BIT STRONG AND PRINTS A BIT LIGHTER THE REGULAR PLA OR OTHER THINGS IVE TRIED
I’ve used theirs, and they’re good. I’m most frequently using Overture from amazon because it’s cheap and delivered on a schedule.
The biggest key for me is sticking with white. In Arizona a black PLA print will melt and warp in the sun - where as a white print will last a lot longer just due to absorbing less heat.
Either way - keep making stuff!
Thanks for the comment.
Nice workshop ❤
All that fits in a single car garage. It's tight, but it's my favorite place.
nice builds
Thanks dude. I wish the videos were as refined as the planes.
Your plane looks great, watched lot of RC planes, but yours have very original solutions. I like modular idea, small battery very good idea too for a trainer, less mass in case of crash. You use only foam or is it covered with paper or sticker? Do you laser cut? I usually cover with colored sticker, but thought maybe will try one without covering, will be much lighter, but fragile too.
They are laser cut on a CO2 laser. No stickers or tape on the very light build as they have little inertia and land slow. On the faster / heavier builds I do use packing tape on the undersides for added strength where they skid along the grass. On my fastest builds I'll even occasionally make a 3d printed skid plate.
The cost per crash is low with foam board, and I look at failure points and really try to analyze every crash and how to better the structure.
I'll post videos on my other designs, some of those I'm really proud of and I think you may like them.
Thanks for your comment.
You have an awesome style of explaining everything. I am really interested in the flying wing pusher prop style plains mounted on the wall in this video. Do you sell plans for these? Or kits. Laser-Pre-cut?
I'm slowly making videos on most of those planes (and some others). I think at some point I may need to make a store - so that's on the to do list. Get in touch with me through the contact information in my channel description, or through my website, and we can work something out. That said - I am currently on a trip for work - so it may be a week or so before I'm back home.
The planes are cut on a laser cutter, and they're entirely my designs. The laser makes the cuts very precise, which really makes the planes go together quickly. You can see the laser cutter in action in my build video for my plank. Here's a link:
th-cam.com/video/nFtPV9zwMAE/w-d-xo.html
Again - thanks for your comment. I appreciate your feedback as I'm very new to the video making process.
I went to your website but didn’t see any of these available for purchase. Will they be available? Hopefully there will be an option to purchase the dart things too. Those look fun.
Thanks for the note! I haven't yet opened an online store, but it's a work in progress.
Give me a week or so, and I'll have something up on the website. If you need something sooner, email me and we'll work something out.
The dart drop is silly fun. Everyone has a blast with them. I'll have those online as well.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Making videos is new to me, but I'm having fun. There will be more.
Awesome! looks fun, is the foam board laser cut?
Yes. The precision and repeatability of the laser is brilliant.
Could you make a video on lasercutting? 👍
I'll add it to my video list. The laser cutter is an amazing tool. Look for a local hackerspace or makerspace (even some public libraries here in the US) have laser cutters you can use. That is how I got started with them. They're an amazing bit of kit.
how do you feel about the flight characteristics with a flipped kfm2 airfoil ? least thats what the version looks like but compared to a normal made one how does it feel
Honestly they fly very similar - with differences that may be hard to notice - but design advantages are available to me by flipping it upside down. Primarily I’m able to hide wiring behind the step on multi engine builds, and better attach things to the wing due to the geometry of what I was trying for. I used to build up full wings, and try to pay attention to getting the shape right - but the effort required vs the benefits drove me to this design. I think most of the feel comes from the higher average wing loading for my builds vs some of the expansive planes some people compare these to - but again it was a design trade off. I’m a dad, with a kid into sports, a trunk full of their stuff, and my wife’s stuff as well - so a smaller airframe fits into my life right now. Furthermore - the capacity of modern Li-Ion’s make me willing to sacrifice a few MAH/minute, and I still have more endurance than I usually fly.
I’m a lazy man, and these build quick and fly well. Don’t get me wrong - I’ve built up balsa planes and spent countless hours covering and getting them perfect - only to have them crash and never fly again. I’ll take risks with my designs when I know in the event of a total loss - I can rebuild a brand new plane in under an hour. I’m not trying to build the most accurate scale plane on the field - I’m just trying to get out there and fly and try new things in the process.
Thanks for the comment.
@@usefulaircraft ahhhhh man you explained it well i do agree trying to get those perfect airfoils or even half right with all the bending and stuff is insane it seems like magic to me ive tried like 30 times and lost alot of cool looking builds as well. out of those 30 ive had 5 catch air for more then 30 secs lmao .... being 2 with the kfm styles but i appreciate your response i do agree a flipped kfm does look much better and offers the possibility for easier better looking wings so i really do appreciate you man for responding. ive been doing alot of experimenting with 3d printing plane fuses and for some reason my flash forge adventure 5m is with pla + is able to print lighter and better with the same files over my ender3 neo on a smaller size and larger as well .... the expirements are for a body for my late umx timber x atm im testing it in a bf109 and ive been able to keep the fuse at 86.5g so this kfm flipped will be ideal prior i did a bird dog bobber that was even lighter but i was having wing build issues with hotwire and folding methods that resulted in nose dives
What radio are you referring to that cost $60?
I use the RadioMaster Pocket for most of my flying. I do have others - but I love the compact size of this radio.
I do have a larger TX16S when I need the screen - but the pocket wins out for just being so easy to carry and stuff anywhere.
Thanks for the info
Where can we find files to build your planes and 3d print files
As of now - I've not put together kits, as I wasn't putting these out as ads for products - but to share ideas back to the community, and to play around with making videos. But when things cool off in the winter - maybe I'll put together some kits for sale. I frequently upload my 3d design work to thingiverse, but I may need to make a more concerted effort to get stuff out there. I'm on the road for work in the days ahead - but I'll add it to my list.
Thanks for your comment.
Damn ! That was the crazy video I was lookin for thanks sir !🫡