2016 Top 10 DIY Planes

2016 was an amazing year for RC and our community of enthusiasts created stunning designs. which have excited and inspired us here at FliteTest. 

We want to highlight a handful of our favorites from this past year. Our list could extend longer than top 10, but then our video would have been several hours long!

10) Kevin Teshner’s Huge SE5 Biplane

This bird was no joke. When Kevin showed up at Flite Fest 2016 with this bad boy, we were awed. The SE5 took an entire box of water-resistant foam and the 3D printed parts added the perfect details.
 

9) BOB built by YouTube’s Remzak 

At Flite Fest 2016, we called the voyage of this build, “The Adventure of BOB.” The engine simply wouldn’t die and was up in the air in every battle.
 

8) 3D Printed P-38 from 3DLabPrint 

Typically RC relies on foam board for designs, but 3D printing has come a long way and we were impressed with how this P-38 flew. It was nothing short of majestic.

7) Dan Sponholz’s Intruder

If you remember the original Intruder from your childhood, you’ll love this bigger version, which is even better than the original. With differential thrusts, this plane could pinwheel and turn on a dime! 

6) FT SeaDuck

Designed by our very own Josh Bixler, his inspiration came from other YouTube users as well as his nostalgia for one of his favorite childhood cartoons, Tailspin. The ease of which this could lift off from the water made this beauty a favorite at Flite Fest. Another cool factoid—Josh built this with his sons!

5) Alpha, Bravo, Charlie

We hold this plane near and dear to our hearts because it was the very first FT STEM School challenge. These 6-8th grade students designed the Alpha, Bravo and Charlie builds to have interchangeable wings and fuselages, which provided them with nine unique models of jets. 

4) FT Arrow

 
A big thanks to Phil Freybot and John Skitzo along with Shawn Morrison and the FT community for taking this design to the next level. We love the FT Arrow because they can be built in only a couple hours with only a few sheets of foam while still having incredible speed.

3) B-17 Project

This massive B-17 was created by Sam and friends who met through the Internet and came together to build it at Flite Fest 2016. Although its maiden voyage wasn’t so pretty, they fixed all initial issues and got it back up in the air to be a part of combat. 
 

2) Huge PBY Catalina by Localfiend

Dale Stratton (aka Localfiend) created this large and in charge PBY Catalina. What intrigued our team was that it has exceptionally smaller motors compared to the size of this plane. The motors were about equivalent of a C-Twin Pack, but flew like a Trainer. 

1) Andre Lou’s Monster P-38

This plane was decked out. With fully functioning fowler flaps and an eight foot wing span, it’s flying was super slow and ultra light. We had the pleasure of having him teach us how to make these flaps, and you can too! Check out how to here.

We have loved seeing all of your planes throughout the year; so make sure you give shoutouts to some of your favorites from 2016!