Hello all.
I finally built my first plane.The reason I chose this wing instead of a trainer is because it seemed an easy plane for a first build and a good option to venture out to FPV later and slope soaring. I used foamboards from vortex-rc.com and followed the instructions from FliteTest's build video on YouTube. My friend and I were going to share the 5 sheets of foam to build two Versa wings, so our inexperience coupled with our passion of saving money, made it seem a good idea (at the time). I'll share my experience and difficulties faced during this journey. Which may help someone who might be looking to make a first build a flying wing, to make an informed decision.

First order of business. Ordered the foamboards, printed out the plans. No problems there, foam sheets were a little deformed at the corners but not enough to interfere with the build. The plans will easily fit with a bit of care. I used drawing pins to fix the plans, traced the shapes with a pen and cut the boards. My first cuts were not satisfactory. The foam was catching with the blade. I've found that first making a shallow cut, then a full cut will make cleaner cuts and it was not an issue any longer.

Then I made the aileron cuts, 50% cuts, servo holes etc. Taped the wing parts, hot glued the spar then attached the servo as shown in their video. This is where the first difficulty occured. They attached their servos only using hot glue. I found that to be inadequate. The servos will come loose (I did scratch its surface to make it rough) and it will be a pain to reattach it. I had to cut flaps in the lower wing to reattach it with hot glue. If I ever build this wing again, I will use something to hold it in place, like a strap or ziptie.

If you paid attention to the build video or are experienced, you will have centered the servos, I did too. Despite that, I discovered that if you reset your TX, the servo doesn't necessarily return to the center. It did in my case and I had to adjust it with trims, not too bad but something to keep in mind.



Flaps for servos.

After sanding the wing parts, the body is almost complete except for the final joint at the middle, cutting a slot for the motor mount and the battery.





At this point, I decided to connect the electronics to get an idea about where they will go. I connect up the ESC, receiver, motor and the servos. I also powered it up to see everything is good. Major Problem #2. Motor is not working. It just beeps and vibrates when I push throttle. I was very confused, I thought it was me not being able to calibrate the ESC but I finally found out that one of the connectors was not soldered properly. I got it soldered and it worked perfectly. I was relieved, it can be very discouraging when you don't know what the actual problem is. (BTW, I checked the connections only after someone had posted a similar issue here in the forums, so I'm grateful for that). Attached the motor to the motor mount that I ordered with the foam. Now time to add the pushrods and control horns as the final components.

The next difficulty I encountered was making propers bends pushrods. Not only do they need to be of the proper length, if the bend is sloppy, the pushrod will fidget around and mess with your control. During the ESC problem, I had reset the TX and that only exacerbated the pushrod length problem by de-centering the servos (which I had already glued and had connected their arms). I had to mess with rates settings on the TX to get it right . So if you're a beginner, take note, you want to do this part properly. It is absolutely crucial that your ailerons have at least reasonable throws and servos have enough movement range in both directions before you start messing about with trims and rates in your TX.

And finally, attaching the propeller (and also the winglets)

Finally, I made a slot for the battery inside the body as far up near the tip of the plane as I felt comfortable. The Versa Wing, pusher config. is meant for FPV so its very tail-heavy without any FPV accessories. It is necessary to add some deadweight up front in order to get the CG where it needs to be.



These coins were not enough. I added an equal number on the top surface. When I had balanced it reasonably, I grew skeptical it weighed a little too much than I had expected. Anyway, now time for flight.

So now the moment you've probably been waiting for. The end result. Did it actually fly?

I took it to the field. Children saw the plane and gathered around. I check the elevon controls and decided to see if it glides. I threw it, the grass wasn't tall enough, so the motor mount popped off. How anti-climactic!

The next morning, I took it out again. Skipped the glide test this time. I was nervous as it felt awkward to throw the plane for the first time. I gave it some thottle, and threw it while increasing throttle. The plane went forward and to the side and crashed on launch.  The throw was clumsy, and not in a straight direction, it was too be expected. I tried again this time straighter. But the plane didn't go up. It crashed, tail first into the ground popping out the motor mount.

I tried it a few more times but with the same result. By this time the nose was getting squished and my morale was going down. I surfed the internet for some clues as to what was wrong. Maybe it was underpowered, or tail heavy or just too heavy... I gave up temporarily as I had an upcoming exam.


Then after a week or so, I saw a guy on YouTube holding a flying wing at the tip with the prop facing the ground, then giving throttle to get a feel of the thrust to weight ratio. I tried it too and realised it required ~80% throttle to balance its own weight and just start to go up. I decided that the next time I launch, I'll give it as much throttle as I can.

Next day, I charge my lipo, connect all the wires, bring it to the field. Nervous and skeptical. I gave it as much throttle as I could comfortably give while still holding it then threw it while giving full throttle. It went up. If only I had checked the elevons before launching, it would've been my first successful flight.

Anyway, I got confident that it can fly so now I brought a cameraman and flew it. Hers's a badly shot video showing a failed launch, the successful flight and subsequent crash. Excuse the shaky cam and my bad editing.

Sorry I don't know how to embed videos.

So I believe the reason for the crash was that one of the servos was damaged. I had noticed it before the flight but it was not too substantial. It just skipped a little sometimes and acted funny. I should've replaced it but I was impatient and thought it won't be a big problem.


Afterword:

So, it flew. To be honest, the flying was the easy part. I might even say, the easiest part in all of this. A little trim to the right and it felt perfect. So I'll list all the difficulties I faced.
1) Making good pushrod linkage connections.
2) Launching the plane.
3) Landing the plane.

If you don't have to face #2 and #3 i.e. you have an experienced person to do that for you, I would actually reccommend it, it glides nicely, it is not that fast and it just felt easy. But if you are alone like me with nothing but internet as a guide, then just know that it'll be roughed up and damaged sooner rather than later. And depending on whether you want it to last long and look good (I did, who doesn't?), you don't want it as your first. In my quest to be too frugal, I made it for long term but it's all creased and dented. It will still fly without problems but it's far from being in the condition I had envisioned in my mind. So keep that in mind.

So would I recommend this as a first build? Maybe not. It caused me a lot of worries until it flew and the original decision factors (FPV, saving costs on foam, slope soaring) lost the appeal. I realised I will have to ease into it (I know, everyone advises the same a hundred times but I guess you learn only by doing). FPV and frugality don't go hand in hand, haha. So I'll just be content with flying for now. And for a more pleasant experience of  launching and landing, I have decided to build a simple cub as it can take the same motor and prop. That's all, folks!. Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts.

Forgot to mention the electronics and stuff:

1000mAh 3s lipo
30A ESC
2212 1400Kv BLDC motor
8x4.5 ABS prop
9g servos

All from robu.in. They have the largest range of props I think. I would love to know about other online stores.

Congratulations on getting airborne successfully.
And on a very good build log.

Quote from: DubiousPilot on February 06, 2020, 09:05:21 AM


Sorry I don't know how to embed videos.

Congratulations! Great feeling to watch your creation fly

On another note, avoid flying near transmission and telecom towers. Radio Interference

BTW, it'll be easier if you hold the wing with your fingers on top and your thumb below. 

Congrats for the successful flight.
wings are some tricky to launch, i have failed many times earlier.
its best to launch by your friend
here is my friend launching for me.