Open Source RC

So, there's a new (to me) thing about building diy scratch built foam aircraft..

A number of sites I could reference, especially rcgroups.com, have a ton of information, but I digress, time to make it personal.

I, like many occasional hobby enthusiasts, bought an aircraft on sale and bound it to my transmitter, try 1, 10' and nose into the dirt after the rollover.  Try 2, maybe about 2' further, and since I gave it extra throttle, it's now busted.  There goes $65 goodbye, or is it?

The donor aircraft was a ParkZone F27Q Stryker 180, it's a 180 3000 rpm 2s brushless rig, that can push the stryker up to about 60mph..

However, with the right fan on the front of it, it can also get a whole new lease on life, being pretty lightly used..

In comes rc groups.. some guy who goes by the name "MIT KID" posts some plans, in CAM format, for cutting 3mm depron foam into a few patterns.. add a little CA glue, some tape, maybe some plastic wrap, and you've got a home built 'foamy' 3d aircraft.. huge control surfaces, 15mph top speed with a little junker motor, not really even particulary aerodynamic, but did I mention huge control surfaces?

Loosely patterned after the famous "Yak 54", it costs $22.50, including shipping from a guy who basically just cuts them for people.

Larger ones for around $40 can be had and you add a 280 brushless motor and esc/servos and do tail stands all day..

Crash 'em?  They weigh jack, pretty hard to break.  Heaviest thing on the plane is the battery, and your primary CG placement change.  If they do break, foam-safe CA glue will literally bond anything in the aircraft, and it still flies.

The Stryker motor needs to get converted to a puller, instead of a pusher by changing two wires, and the propeller gets changed for a proper puller prop that's larger and it's a whole new plane.  The motor mount for the stryker can be trimmed with a dremel pretty easily and made to mate right up to the front.

Similar ones in the 280 size from Parkzone sell for $200.  The Stryker is now on sale for $65.  Great investment if you count the re-incarnations possible.