Okay, so you probably have all this stuff laying around and it won't cost you anything, that's OK too. Mostly it's 3/8 to 3/4 thick styrofoam (thickness doesn't matter much) cut it out with whatever's handy and if you want to get fancy you can sand the leading and trailing edges (flies OK with or without). 24 inch span, 24 inch long, DXA drive, 9x7 to 11x8, 2 or 3 servo's,2A esc, GWS rcvr and 6 to 8 cells. 3 channel with low throws on 6 or 7 cells and a 10x4.7 it flies like a trainer, add rudder for ROG's. 4 channel with the throws maxed out on 8 cells and a 9x7 it gets pretty exciting, that's why I call it the Heart Attack. Have fun!

Mike

Cool

What batteries are you using?

What duration are you getting?

Weight?

Current draw's about 2A. I've flown it on everything from 120 to 720 nimh, durations 3 to 15 minutes depending on the pack and how much you bang it around. AUW's around 6 oz depending on the pack.

would an IPS work ? i dont think it would be enough
Jeff

The DX-A is a version of the IPS.

CAn it do anything like a hover?

Experimented with the larger GWS props (11,12,14 inch). The thrust is there with the 12 if I remember right, and I've had it hanging momentarily. I think if I played with the vertical cg and I was 20 years younger I could probably hold it in. It's such a blast messing with the other stuff it can do (vertical landings, the "Wall" (high speed 180 turn in a fuselage length), outside loops and a bunch of stuff I can't describe) that I haven't spent a lot of time concentrating on a hover.

Mike

Coolness, Mike. Heck, you could even call it a "gift" to your wife. Reminds me of a Mini IFO, and some of Dan Kreigh's tricks to keep it light would probably work.

I've been loving the DX-A, 10x4.7 prop, and 8x300 NiMH on the mIFO.

What's the weight without battery? For reference, my mIFO is a hair over 3oz and goes way beyond hover with above setup.

You could try a one-wheel CF/wire landing gear in the front with 2 CF skids in the back, ala mIFO, to shave a few grams. OK, now we're up to $2.50. Sell your spinner for $.50 to save money & weight, back down to $2.

Elevons + rudder must be really interesting.


-chris

Actually I got the idea based on my IFO and Mike Banke's "Son of Tuit"and sprinkled in some of my own experience. The IFO is easy to lose orientation with and hard to repair. This things red on top and white on the bottom so it's easy to see and if you crack it up Elmers fixes it right up. You can see some of the repairs in the picture. Weights 5 to 7 oz depending on the pack. First flight was on Valentines day a year ago, women get a real kick out of it. The idea with this thing was to keep it super simple, cheap, easy to repair and capable of doing pretty much anything, hence the title of the post "Got $1". That's about what the materials cost. Hope I didn't give anyone the impression I was trying to sell something here.

Mike

Funny, I thought I had seen a similar size heart around here before and wondered if it might be yours. Guess that was you!

So I figure you're around 4oz without the pack? Great weight without any fancy stuff.

The design is great: cheap, easy build, easy fix. Lately, I've been having a hard time breaking my mIFO. If you saw the way I fly it, you'd swear I was trying to kill it.

BTW, I did get the joke... just hope I didn't throw people off with my extra $1.

Oh, and I love the name.


-chris

http://rcguy.tripod.com/valentinecupid.htm

Cool. Basic shape works so well I'm not surprised to see it's been used before (well, not really, a lot of the guys I know wouldn't be caught dead with one of these) too bad, their loss.

Hey, i can make 361 of those nice looking litel plane


Fly man

Anyone want to bet me I can make one in 2 hours...right after i get the foam and ride my dirtbike of course?

Should be able to do it in less than 1 hour. The only piece of wood you need is the motor mount/LG support. And the only reinforcement is a piece of reinforced packing tape that runs full width across the back and doubles as the elevon hinge. Took me more time to make it red than anything else. Gotta get an air brush.

I have coroplast on hand, would that work or would that be too heavy?