(03-Dec-2022, 07:48 PM)Bad Raven Wrote: Because TPU is a totally unsuitable material. Period. 


[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k6HHCc4RhY&t=132s][/url]
EPP own design, Motor was £5  (2212-6T Suppo) , 40A ESC.


Keep the sound up to hear when on/off throttle. Now THAT is a glide, and a rigid, fast reacting wing.

Guess you missed the sarcasm. 

That wing looks nice, I wish I could find a decent price on epp stock like you used to be able to, I contacted all of the foam folks and no one seems to sell EPP. In a metro area of 2 mil. I even tried looking in Austin.... I would even be willing to brave hippies for it.

(04-Dec-2022, 03:25 AM)burkeomatic Wrote: Guess you missed the sarcasm. 

That wing looks nice, I wish I could find a decent price on epp stock like you used to be able to, I contacted all of the foam folks and no one seems to sell EPP. In a metro area of 2 mil. I even tried looking in Austin.... I would even be willing to brave hippies for it.

Guess I didn't want ANY doubt left AT ALL................   Though re: the video, why anyone would trust THAT haircut escapes me..............  

To misquote Tywin Lannister, "now THAT is sarcasm, see the difference?"


In UK I used to buy EPP foam sheet from "flyingwings" who have long ago ceased trading long pre COVID, but a year ago bought a variety for some indoor own designs from "robotbirds", who were selling a range of thicknesses, 3 to 20 mm in fine steps from memory.      (Yup, still listed, though stocks low)

Surely there must be affordable supply in your area?  (yea, I know, don't call me Shirley)

Braving Hippies?  Desperate times indeed.....................

That wing has double flat carbon strip spars, one straight, the other curved, inserted into a scalpel cut top side which creates minimal extra convexity over and concavity underneath, as it was cut as a flat bottom airfoil for convenience.   Two part wing glued together, tips from Correx.

It wasn't a new build back in 2010 and later got a bigger motor and prop to no good advantage, since reverted, and is still on the active list.

(note the state of the art camera used on my cap, that was as good as it got back then in airborne capable keyfob and "Flycamone" (Yuk!) micro cameras!!   )

Anyway, back to original thread purpose, 3D print is a pretty poor way to make a plane, even if you CAN avoid even mild impact landings.

Final fun story, I had a larger EPP delta own design, with nose pod to get CG for a 2200mAh 3S, speeds in three figures. I called it the "Rasp" as that was the noise it made.

One day on a screaming pass it went from red and yellow striping colour to white and then confetti. The motor mount sheared, and the prop angled into the trailing edge, stripping most of the tape covering before chewing into the EPP.  MAJOR!

That was around 1998/1999, was rebuilt with inserted EPP and spackle fille, fine glass sheet and Poly "C" resin covered, then much later given a multi colour rattle can red/orange/yellow flames scheme over and a flak burst black on white scheme under using 3D printed templates. Now THAT is what you use a 3D printer for!!!!!!!!!!  

Oh, and THAT is still on the active list, too

(04-Dec-2022, 08:14 AM)BadRaven Wrote: Guess I didn't want ANY doubt left AT ALL................   Though re: the video, why anyone would trust THAT haircut escapes me..............  

To misquote Tywin Lannister, "now THAT is sarcasm, see the difference?"


In UK I used to buy EPP foam sheet from "flyingwings" who have  long ago ceased trading long pre COVID, but a year ago bought a variety for some indoor own designs from "robotbirds", who were selling a range of thicknesses, 3 to 20 mm in fine steps from memory.      (Yup, still listed, though stocks low)

Surely there must be affordable supply in your area?  (yea, I know, don't call me Shirley)

Braving Hippies?  Desperate times indeed.....................

That wing has double flat carbon strip spars, one straight, the other curved, inserted into a scalpel cut top side which creates minimal extra convexity over and concavity underneath, as it was cut as a flat bottom airfoil for convenience.   Two part wing glued together, tips from Correx.

It wasn't a new build back in 2010 and later got a bigger motor and prop to no good advantage, since reverted, and is still on the active list.

(note the state of the art camera used on my cap, that was as good as it got back then in airborne capable keyfob and "Flycamone" (Yuk!) micro cameras!!   )

Anyway, back to original thread purpose, 3D print is a pretty poor way to make a plane, even if you CAN avoid even mild impact landings.

Final fun story, I had a larger EPP delta own design, with nose pod to get CG for a 2200mAh 3S, speeds in three figures. I called it the "Rasp" as that was the noise it made.

One day on a screaming pass it went from red and yellow striping colour to white and then confetti. The motor mount sheared, and the prop angled into the trailing edge, stripping most of the tape covering before chewing into the EPP.  MAJOR!

That was around 1998/1999, was rebuilt with inserted EPP and spackle fille, fine glass sheet and Poly "C" resin covered, then much later given a multi colour rattle can red/orange/yellow flames scheme over and a flak burst black on white scheme under using 3D printed templates. Now THAT is what you use a 3D printer for!!!!!!!!!!  

Oh, and THAT is still on the active list, too

It may be that the foam people have no interest in selling to consumers. 

Yeah, that dude's homeless Abe Lincoln look went out of style in the 1870s.

It’s hard to find EPP foam anymore.It used to be so easy to get for low cost.

I’d recommend buying a kit perhaps.It’ll come with all the carbon fiber spars,pushrods,music wire for linkage,control horns,hardwood motor mount,etc….
Sometimes the time saved getting a complete kit is worth the extra cost.
Here’s a few flying wings.There’s some other RC forums that may be more centered on flying wing fpv planes?
https://twistedhobbys.com/airplanes/flying-delta-wing/

Oh man, this thing's still going? I've been out of state all week so I figured it would've fizzled out.

(07-Dec-2022, 05:23 PM)Suros Wrote: Oh man, this thing's still going? I've been out of state all week so I figured it would've fizzled out.

I am going to print the saber in PETG, so we will see how it goes. If it is too porky, I will use LW-PLA. 

If you lived near San Antonio, I would have a plane for you. Got some I need to get rid of, just too big to ship once assembled.

(08-Dec-2022, 03:30 AM)burkeomatic Wrote: I am going to print the saber in PETG, so we will see how it goes. If it is too porky, I will use LW-PLA. 

If you lived near San Antonio, I would have a plane for you. Got some I need to get rid of, just too big to ship once assembled.

Let me know how it goes. I won't be touching it until spring rolls around. Nebraska winter is just constant freezing wind, and I can't just hover test a plane in the house.

(07-Dec-2022, 05:23 PM)Suros Wrote: Oh man, this thing's still going? I've been out of state all week so I figured it would've fizzled out.

Nah, too much fun............!!!        

3D printed plane at  its best..........well, fairly typical, anyway??



OK so the launch isn't that great but that feeble a fall to soft ground is hardly a crash and should not have created anything like the damage it did, listen to the long list and weep..............  after 8 hours printing stated (hard to believe, that).

One of my laminated film EPP Slipstreams was once grounded to a dead stop while learning to low level dynamic soar at over 100mph and was justlooked over and re-launched...........its been "in" numerous times at over 40mph over the years, is now well over a decade old, and yet has hardly a scuff to its name!!!!!!!!!

Some people just cannot be convinced, have a look at the Facebook "LIDL Glider" group, and you'll find people STILL being surprised when their 3D printed motor mount melts and collapses. And that is an inherently practical robust foam plane they are adding high failure risk parts to.


Maybe if the 3D printed stuff flew better, I'd be a bit less anti, but it just doesn't.

Not for nothing do I have the RCG strapline "Gravity sucks, Foam rules"

Biased, yes, but only by experience.  

(10-Dec-2022, 02:42 PM)BadRaven Wrote: Nah, too much fun............!!!        

3D printed plane at  its best..........well, fairly typical, anyway??



OK so the launch isn't that great but that feeble a fall to soft ground is hardly a crash and should not have created anything like the damage it did, listen to the long list and weep..............  after 8 hours printing stated (hard to believe, that).

One of my laminated film EPP Slipstreams was once grounded to a dead stop while learning to low level dynamic soar at over 100mph and was justlooked over and  re-launched...........its been "in" numerous times at over 40mph over the years, is now well over a decade old, and yet has hardly a scuff to its name!!!!!!!!!

Some people just cannot be convinced, have a look at the Facebook "LIDL Glider" group, and you'll find people STILL being surprised when their 3D printed motor mount melts and collapses. And that is an inherently practical robust foam plane they are adding high failure risk parts to.


Maybe if the 3D printed stuff flew better, I'd be a bit less anti, but it just doesn't.

Not for nothing do I have the RCG strapline "Gravity sucks, Foam rules"

Biased, yes, but only by experience.  

I'm not saying you're wrong or anything. Part of this hobby, for me, is the experimentation, repair, and inevitable failures. If I get dropped off at the top of a mountain, there's nothing left to climb. There have been some days that I'd intentionally goof up my computer just so I could see if I could fix it.

(11-Dec-2022, 05:55 AM)Suros Wrote: I'm not saying you're wrong or anything. Part of this hobby, for me, is the experimentation, repair, and inevitable failures. If I get dropped off at the top of a mountain, there's nothing left to climb. There have been some days that I'd intentionally goof up my computer just so I could see if I could fix it.

Ha!, yes.  Mountains............the result of nature having a bad day at the office.

The other day a senior person in the place I work/volunteer said, in front of others, that what I did with the school club I run was "nerdy engineering".

There were a few nods and smiles.

So, I pointed out that without us "nerds" they would not be warm, able to communicate to anywhere across the globe, travel more than a horse could manage in a day, keep food eatable for more than a day or so, learn, store and use information in an easily retrievable manner, have any equipment able to repair and maintain life and health, and much much more.

I then said that he trekked and climbed mountains, often in the pouring rain, fog, and cold, perhaps he'd like to highlight what that did for humanity, especially since I could fly up there in far less time and get better and more userful images and data than he could.


It went VERY quiet and people decided they had best be somewhere else.




To OP title..............  I came to Slope Soaring with gliders some 25 years after learning to fly RC planes and after many thousands of hours of powered flight in all its forms. That was possibly with hindsight somewhat of a waste of precious time.

Anyone contemplating RC flight with fixed wing should build a simple flying wing glider, take it to a hill with the wind blowing square up it, and throw it out there. If you don't immediately get hooked, you don't have a soul.  The first time I did I flew low level aggressive aerobatics for 45 minutes in one flight. Good though quad freestyle is, NOTHING beats harnessing the wind for free and making it do what you want in near silence.

Don't think about it.................. do it!

I am printing the saber in petg!

(25-Dec-2022, 06:35 AM)burkeomatic Wrote: I am printing the saber in petg!

Good luck! Looking forward to the result!

Gonna maiden it this weekend! I'll let yall know how it flies.

With the arrival of spring, I've come to realize that I have no idea what US based storefronts are good for fixed wing. GetFPV has a small selection, but it's either mostly or completely out of stock. Anyone care to share where they buy their stuff? I know Banggood has a lot of stuff, but I've been intentionally avoiding them.

Edit: Got it figured out. Probably going to run a ZOHD Dart XL. Have heard nothing but good things said about it. 3D printing experiments will have to wait as my printer is currently out of service. I didn't buy enough stuff to finish my upgrade.