Flite Test - FT Versa Wing - BUILD 

I was a designer before I became disabled. With back issues and very depressed. You guys have reminded me of my childhood.Thank you, since watching and subscribing I have gotten out of bed and built a couple rubber band models. I also bought two heli's that just broke my heart completely.My wife was mad because they wouldn't fly and broke real easy one was a Walkera. This design is wonderful well explained by Josh I've been sharing it with all my engineer buddies.You guys are alot of fun. I like hearing jokes about Duck Dynasty because I'm a big fan and a lover of Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid to let the world in on your faith it's very very cool. I just bought a Traxxas Allias quadcopter can you give me some flight training tips so I don't destroy this and also any mods like some legs and blade and motor protection. I've seen alot of useful info for others like the Hubsun but not so many for this. Thanks and stay cool. Love all 4 of you guys very very much you've become my favorite nerd channel. To think it was guitar and drum center at one time, what's happening to me. Yea I'm a drummer too.

Geeze I made a few of these 8 years ago. Where did the time go. To this day I think this is the all around best plane. Simple, easy to build, durable and flies great.

I just watched this with my 6 yr old. At the end when you flew it he said "wow if flys perfect!" Job well done thank you for all of your work and time you put into this channel.

building this 10 years later, and wow the plans have gotten better over time, but even back then they were still good

Thanks guys.. Another fantastic design. I must say, I had my doubts at first but I dialed in some up elevator and gave it a throw. I couldn't believe how well it flew, and WOW!!! what an awesome roll rate and incredible speed from and 400 watt motor on a 3-cell. Well done guys.. thanks again Flitetest. you guys rock.

You weren't kidding when you said "I am going to draft the plans for this right away" . Josh, "muchos gracias" , congrats on the coalescence of this design . I can't wait to get it underway. I purchased an entire box of the Adams Readi Board (hard to get in Canada), and I am printing the plans as I write this note to you. Got my two power pods left from earlier scratch builds for the FT Versa. The interchangeability of it all! Simply "fantastico".

I visisted my local Hobby Town and boy are some of those people that work there not nice. Josh is so nice. Nice job Josh!

Can we get a .dxf or .dwg version of these plans posted along with the .pdf. Especially for the versa wing but for all of the free plan builds. This will let people with CAD drawing knowledge to reorganize shapes and parts onto different size sheets. Thanks

Josh, You make it look easy. You're a very good teacher. I always learn something when I watch your builds. Thanks, John

We're working on it. Should be up soon.

The power pod build was very easy. Josh does a fantastic job making the blue prints for all these foam builds. So the least I could do was buy the power packs from the store. So I will have the blue wonder with power pod and landing gear, and the pusher with the 'beef' power plant.

I agree. The coffee stir method puts a bend in the push rod. In previous builds they used a tie-wrap, zip-tie etc. to hold the push rod in place (put the zip-tie around the push rod tight enough that it will slide, cut the the zip-tie long enough so that you can push the zip-tie into the foam, cut a slit in the foam, glue, and stick the zip-tie into the foam). I would think that 2, maybe 3, should be more that enough to keep the push rod straight.

so i bought a versa wing and im just watching to like get an idea before i build it, but josh's voice is so calming

I am so glad that you guys created a flying wing kit.

That all depends on how you work the controls. Yes you can fly it lower but you risk crashing more because you have a shorter distance to the ground to correct any wrong manuvers. Here's an idea, buy a bucket seat from the auto junk yard and mount it on a lazy susan on a homemade plywood platform. You can recline it back and not have to work your neck much, you just have to use your feet to pivot yourself. I suggest a Mazda Miata seat, they are really comfortable and ergonomic.

Hi, Scott's. I bought this wing for my store customers to see. It is a hit. Thanks.

Can't wait to see the pusher/FPV build! Thanks guys!

ordered quick build! with pusher mount im so freekin excited!

most of the way through building my sloper version - cheers, going to use it to help train my daughter

Anyone else wish Josh and Bruce would do a channel together? That would be rc heaven.

- Happy to see you guys have the new digs almost done. You need to find some cutting mates, I would hate to see you scatch up that table. :) - Good talcum powder tip. - I will probably go for one of these. - Flitetest builds are entering a level of foam builds :) - Josh is outstanding explaining every nuance of the build.

Nice build Josh, I always wanted to do a wing for FPV and combat but didn't want to have to hot wire cut it from a block of foam. keep up the good work guys. Regards, Pete.

So I taped up my Versa, fiddled with some balance and tried again. I had to put in full trim elevator up and full throttle. Also I learned to toss it better, the toss into the air is of utmost importance. And it flew!!! It was very squirrelly and sadly I had a major crash. And another and another. And it got all soggy and untapeable. But it gave me inspiration for version II, I will use the same electrics. I have to protect the battery better, both batteries got distorted from the crashes.

VersaIII update. I had a crash in which I tried flying inverted to low and goofed. I fixed it and it's still flying great. I tried the 2200 mah battery. It flew fine but the prop broke on landing so it's better to use the smaller 3 cell that Lazertoyz sells. Also the power pod must be giving it more stability and makes it very easy to launch. I love climbing up high kill the throttle and spiral straight down or give it full up elevator and watch it slow to 0 mph and glide in the upper wind. Fun!

I just built my first Versa Wing from the scratch build plans. Super easy build :) Now I just have to wait til the wind isn't blowing 30 mph so I can fly it...

Nice video as usual! Thinking about it... hot glue does not actually dry, it simply cools and solidifies. If indeed hot glue dried, you could likely unglue it by adding water or the proper solvent, but it's not the case as far as I know :)

You guys are geniuses. I printed your plan on letter paper and from your 6 inch reference, and from the angles that I cut out from junk mail, I can make the wings the proper size and shape. I plan to make a couple of templates out of foam board. The first wing I made perfect lines on the foam board but when I cut it out I cut it crooked. So I have to start all over again. This is going to take me weeks to make, lol

resp, I don't know the answer to your question. But, using a tractor you don't need to add extra ballast. My idea for my next attempt will be to make the power pod with landing gear and let it take off naturally from the parking lot instead of hand launching it. My first three Versas were just to heavy so when hand launching they pretty much went straight to the ground like a brick, unless I used full power. Then they just went crazy with torque twist and didn't fly long.

This plane is 100% awesome. Completely stable and great plane to step up to from a slower plane for FPV. I am running an Eflite370 1360 kv motor W/ 7x5 or 7x6 APC prop, 2650 3 cell up front. CG slightly nose heavy. Makes for perfect stability with no nose weight added. Am getting 25-30 minutes depending on throttle setting. Just be careful how far you go. Easy to go out of range when not used to faster planes. It stays nice and level while in failsafe though :P (I did get it back, don't worry)

I did some test glides in the back yard without power. The CG from the tile plans is off by about a quarter inch. I suppose there is a lot of error when printing the tile plans and taping them together. I think it needs some dihedral built into the wing. And use as light weight motor and battery so you can at least have it fly to give you a chance to adjust the trims.

I found mine at Office depot, but I also use the one direction tape too. They both work very well.

Finished Versa III. It took me 2.5 hours to trace, cut, score and clean the pieces and 3 hours to put it together, counting fiddling time. I used the dollar tree foam and the weight with the power pod and servos, minus the other electronics, is 9.3 oz. I just have to wait to get the blue wonder and the 'beef' power plants.

Fantastic. You explain everything so clearly, Josh.

My Versa is shaping up so well that I may need to get better servos. I have two micro servos from Radio Shack but I think I may need to get hitech miro servos. This plane looks so sharp, I have laid out all the pieces in place so I can see how it is going to look.

Will this plane still work at a very, very downscaled size?

Hi Josh B and all at Flite Test ! Can you help with a cg problem please ? I downloaded and scaled up your FT Versa to 48 " wingspan and your cg works out at 9 " from front. Checking all dimensions with a Flying Wing cg Calculator puts it at 13 " from front !!! HELP ! ! ! Keep up the excellent work you do for us all in the modeling community Guys !!! Best Regards . . . Eddie ( UK Model Flyer ).

cuts in 3:13 reveals YEARS of model building. great video as usual!

Ok I have a scrap piece of foam board I am working with. From my experiment, it is very hard to cut a straight line. I made a simple jig out of a piece of wood that I can screw on a regular razor blade on, it glides along a straight edge to make a relatively straight line. Also I experimented with the aileron. I think putting a strip of plain clear box tape on both sides makes it very secure, instead of putting hot glue on it.

thanks so much you guys ive wanted a cheap combat wing since the delta

Can you get the video up soon for the pusher assembly? My friend and I just finished our wings (they are awesome!) but we want to use pushers for combat and FPV. We want to fly them this weekend really badly. Or, if it still needs some editing, could one of the team reply to this comment with an easy way to mount the battery, motor, FPV gear, etc. Thanks! Keep up the great work!

FT warbirds is a great idea! I second the motion. Thanks for the great content.

It is pretty clear what he means, and "dry" has so many fewer syllables than "cools and solidifies." I bet there is some solvent that would dissolve the hot glue, but there might not be much left of the foam board at that point :)

love your patience to teach also can you ship your quick builds to India

I fixed my new battery. I read on the web to try and charge it as NiMh so I did that, and it put enough charge back that I was able to charge it as LiPo. Whewww. I will try and get the motor connectors to work with the esc that I have instead of picking up a new one.

I would recommend a simulator :) Flying in wind is tough when you're just starting out, but I think one of these configured as a pusher would be great, though. The most important thing is that your plane and your pride are resilient, because crashing is an unavoidable part of learning to fly. Accept it. Dust off your pride and your plane and keep trying. It is SO worth it to stick to it and get past the initial hump of learning to fly.

I am having trouble with my FT Versa, just got it in the air today and it was banking HARD to the left and nosing down... i had to fly it back around a few times with the sticks to the right and up... what is the cause of this? both control surfaces look even, could it be the torque of the motor?

For me the solution would be to spring for a new motor/esc/small battery to use with the Versa. But I don't want to spend that kind of money because as soon as I master it I move on to another project. I want to keep using the same electronics combo in all my planes. But my electronics are on the heavy side.

Try out the microjet from Grayson Hobby. With a 30a ESC and 6x4 prop, it runs very cool with lots of power for park flyers. With a 2 cell you can use it for smaller 3D Planes running a 9x5.

Heck I might even get a Bixler for late afternoon cruising.

Also I weighed the foam board that I have. The office max board, what I was using, weighs 5.8 oz and the dollar tree foam board is only 4 oz a board! This model uses almost two full sheets so that is 3 oz I will save using the cheap stuff.

Perfect battery for the Versa, have built 4, all flying with 2200's

try adding a ducted fan and a whole shell with side intakes and an airflow diffuser for the thrust it should make it even safer and when you want to it will be faster

im a total noob to wings, so whats the difference between a pusher and a puller?

That is to glue the paper edges to the foam and seal the foam. The paper tends to separate from the foam and the glue prevents this. I was taping the hinge but the foam board paper really is tough enough by itself to be the hinge. I experimented and the $1 foam board surface paper is almost cloth like, not like printer paper.

that wing is perfect for any swept wing plane, you guys should make a swept wing edf fighter!

Working on building my Versa II. Almost done. The second time you make one it takes half the time as the first. One thing to be careful of is the bevels that you make on the leading edge. Go over it 3 or 4 times so when the wing bends together you get a nice thinner wing as opposed to fatter. Also put plenty of bevel into the elevators so they move downward very freely. I am thinking of cutting a deeper channel for the motor mount so it is closer to the center of gravity for balance without xtr

What's the chance you can make a cutout foam board for the Elerons linkage to eliminate the bend put on them by the straw being taped? I wouldn't think it would interfere with aero, function, or looks but it would keep the servos from working any harder than they have to and they'd have a straight shot to the elerons.

With the right amount of heat, say, from a heat gun or soldering iron, and a bit of care, you can sometimes undo hot glue errors. ;¬)

For the elevon hinge, couldn't you just put some normal packing tape on the top of the hinge? that way you don't have to worry about the glue warming up and sticking it together.

You guys should either make another warbird or twin engine. BTW thanks for these awesome designs

I purchased both dollar tree foam and 20X30 Office Max foam, which is much pricier. The Office Max foam is by far better. It is more ridged and perfectly flat and easy to cut and very light. The dollar tree foam is warped and to flimsy and the paper delaminates way to easy. I made the templates and I cut out all the parts, glued and glued the spars together. If you don't get a quick build kit you need to put the parts together and sand them so they match perfectly.

Have you seen their spitfire? It flies great!

hi josh and josh, first thing i should say is that i love your job. i have seen your videos for a whele and decided to make my flyng wing but the thing is that i will not have servos, remote controls or foam, i´ll have aluminum, a real engine and i will be in it, never flew anything but my bike at 300 km/hr, ha ha culd you give me any hint on how i should get the wing balanced? it has 7 meters of wing span, wing cord of 2.5 meters and weighs about 230 kgs, if i survive the first flite i will post the video and thank you. ha ha

i like to see that wing with 2 moters and wooden frame for it? than i will defenedly by this wing! good job

Freehand bevel a surgeon could admire I bet! LOL! Looks like a Northrop wing I'll build one excellent diy program.

Why do you think they have stopped with the scratch builds? There would be no difference between assembling the speed build kit and the scratch build. These guys are doing a great job at supporting and promoting the RC hobby, and I think it would be a waste of their time to do two build videos for the same plane.

cara vcs são de mais vou acompanhar seus videos direto pois aprendi muita coisa com vcs vou começar a fazer o dust... espero que eu consigo. vejo vc todos os dia na net..obrigado pelas aulas,marcelo brasil-paraná- cambé....

Thanks for the vid and plans. You guys are the best.

Thank you very much for the great plane! Could you please show how to set up the Spektrum dx6i to make it work for this type of plane?

Thats cool. They should build one with a larger wingspan so it could hold more fpv payload.

My next one will be with a blue wonder, I hope I can use my 3S 2200 mah batteries since I have a bunch of these already.

Kidding about quitting. I will have to get an esc that matches this motor.

FYI this isn't the same speed build kit you'd get today. They changed it for easier shipping. Each wing and elevone is now split in two down the cord line. So the wing is in four pieces.

I would like to get a recommendation as to motor, prop, battery and ESC for an FPV setup. I use DragonLink Trx so I like to go further than around the park. Suggestions appreciated.

amo vuestros videos gracias chicos.haceis de mi vida algo especial

the reenforced fiberglass packing tape is not uv friendly it breaks down very quickly. the regular clear packing tape works great

What kind of hot glue is that? Is it the gun that work at higher temperatures or thinner glue?

Sir, What is CG in percentage for this flying wing ? . . . . . Great work Thanks for upload.

Would this work with cardboard

Awesome design, but I think you should have attached the wings with a main spar as well, not just tape and glue. Also, does anyone have any tips on waterproofing foamcore? Cause I often fly when the grass is wet or even over, I just don't want to have to make a new airframe if I crash in the wet grass too many times

If you have built the other planes from scratch, why do you need it for this one? Are the scratch build plans for this in a new and different format, or does someone want to yell for no reason at all?

Hi Josh, just wondering what your thought where on trying to convert this wing into a dlg. Do you think it is possible and if so would you guys be willing to do a video on the build and everything for that? If not do you think that your great minds could make an easy to build and cheap dlg out of foam board? Cheers.

Can we use a 10 * 4.5 prop

Great video guys! I'm still requesting a triplane :) u could do a mini or a micro size I like the wings I've never had one I think I'm gona try it

It would be interesting to see a push and pull version of the versa! How about it Flite test? Also, do you think a MN2206 2000Kv could power one of these with a 7x3 prop? I was thinking of purchasing a versa as my first rc plane. I want to use parts for my quadcopter on the versa until I finish buying all the parts.

Can you fix the link on the end of the video for the pusher set-up. Love the plans. Thanks

hey can i get a diagram of wings with maserment

why not put packing tape on the elevons has a hinge?

Hi guys, i am 13 and i love this hobby and i was wondering if you guys could make a swappable FPV glider with motor and benk and yenk control (dont now if i spelled that correctly, i am from Norway) anyways it would be great if you guys did it. Thanks. Btw, all your videos ar both awesome and helpful;).

hey guys awesome videos! please can you make a foldable wing ? plz i really appreciate it . love from lebanon!

Awesome, I was waiting for this. Also looking forward to pusher build video.

for people in the UK at least, if you cant find the reinforced tape, cricket tape is almost the exact same

So if I get power pack B what kind of speeds would you think I could reach with a pusher setup? And what would you recommend for a high speed motor on the versa?

I want to see a horten rc! when is someone going to put horten foamie?

If you combat this model you will need to be able to change to servos or servo arms. I would rethink this model kit.

The foam board sold at Walmart and craft stores is a different brand, much more expensive, it's heavier and doesn't have the same characteristics. The foam used in all FT designs is sold at Dollar Tree stores for 1$, if you don't have one local you can buy a case of 25 on their website.

Could you show how to create a foldable flying wing I can transport in a backpack, i.e. multiple folds? I have been trying to get the versa converted but I cant make the central part strong enough.

I really like your models and i'm trying to get one. The problem is that i live in Norway and the shipping costs 40 bucks while the kit costs 28. Do you have a coupon code or a discount code? When I visited your site I also noticed something about a additional model and save BIG. I didn't quite understand. I'm a huge fan keep it up! .)

I found some at Frys marketplace. If your on the east coast, its the same thing as Kroger.

excellent master class! Thanks!