My niece has expressed interest in building an R/C airplane, and we’ve chosen the Blu-Baby as her first build.
Update: On our first test flight, the main wing showed an alarming tendancy to bend upwards under load, so the first order of business was to add some spars – salvaged from a Stryker build – to strengthen the wings.
We also added bamboo skewers to the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer to strengthen it as well.
Planned setup:
- Blue Dow 1/4″ fanfold foam
- 33″ wingspan
- hexTronik 24gram 1300kv outrunner
- (2x) HXT500 5g servos
- OrangeRx R610 Rx
- GWS EP 9×5 propeller
- HobbyKing SS 18-20A ESC (Way too big, but available.)
I’ll update the post as the build progresses.
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- A close-up of the face – eyes, whiskers and tongue
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- It’s a Dalmatian, not a cow!
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- Wing, covered in white packing tape.
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- Bamboo skewer tail supports
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- Wing spar laid into slot in the wing
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- Sanding the glue and foam off the wing spars.
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- Groove pressed into the bottom of the wing.
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- Fully assembled and ready to go
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- Landing gear finished – bent from piano wire.
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- Wing in place
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- Gluing the lower fuselage cover in place.
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- Vertical stabilizer glued in place, control linkages hooked up.
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- Horizontal stabilizer glue in place.
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- The wing in place
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- Bamboo skewers, cut to length and colored black. The wings will attach here via rubber bands.
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- Finished wing
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- Sanding the wing joint
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- A sanding accident left a bit of a ‘bite’ taken out of one wing. We patched it with another bit of foam.
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- Gluing the fuselage top in place
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- There wasn’t enough room for the motor between the fuse halves.
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- It takes tiny fingers to get those servos mounted in there.
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- It’s a tight fit to get the ESC / motor / servos installed.
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- Pilot and mascot regarding the build’s process.
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- Rear bulkhead glued in place behind wing saddle.
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- Fuselage sides glued to the monoblock; ESC and motor installed
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- Control surfaces cut out.
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- Test fitting the parts – pilot looks on.
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- The monobloc is actually made from 4 pieces of 1/4″ foam, laminated together.
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- Parts cut out
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- Blu-Baby plans