‘NANO Flighty’ is a development of my original NANO publication (see https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3678421). This design includes many improvements that evolved during the design of ‘FOOTY Smoothy’ ( see https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6573318).

NANO Flighty was designed in OnShape and readers/builders are encouraged to look at the Onshape design (see https://cad.onshape.com/documents/72eba576a17fb576ed54519e/w/8fd033ff33725f1646162fbb/e/6303364a340f1b080e9e2d04?renderMode=0&uiState=66af700334f32d3f989aa53b). Use Ctrl+Right Mouse to pan and Alt+Right Mouse to rotate. The design starts in the tab ‘Flighty’ and progresses through ‘Flighty++’ to end at ‘To Print’. ‘To Print’ contains all the parts which can be exported as STL’s.

Compared to the original design NANO Flighty utilises a ‘swing rig’ and a long servo arm to control the rig. It could be used with a conventional rig but overall, this is simpler. This design will be well balanced when sailing as care has been taken to ensure that the ‘center of buoyancy’ and ‘center of mass’ are vertically aligned and that the ‘center of effort’ of the sails is correctly aligned with the hull/foil/rudder.

Printing single wall hulls is difficult and requires special slicer settings. All the useful tips that I can think of are included in the Footy Smoothy comments. MUST READ.

STL’s are included for the ballast bulb which should be filled with lead shot. Fill the ‘Bulb Front’ with shot and glue in a circular piece of card to hold in place. Fill the ‘Bulb Rear’ with shot and then glue the two halves together.

The STL’s are in the orientation that I used although other orientations are possible. ‘Keel’ and ’Rudder’ prints require supports. For the rudder I used 3 tree supports on either side.

The mast and booms use 5mm OD, 3mm ID carbon tubes and 3mm carbon rods are used elsewhere. The mast is fixed/clamped to the hull and the boom rotates on 2 MR105 bearings. The mast top rotates on 2 MR52 bearings around a short length of 2mm carbon rod which is epoxied (or glued) into the top of the mast. 2 or 3 M2 washers act as spacers.

Builders are encouraged to open an Onshape account (free) and make a copy of the design. All the details (dimensions, part numbers etc.) can then be extracted as necessary.

The order of build is as follows: - • Glue the ‘Hatch Frame’ into the ‘Hull Rear’. Use the ‘Clamps’ to ensure a solid join. Cover the ‘Clamp Bottom’ with oil to prevent it sticking. • Glue the two servo mounts together and when dry, glue into the ‘Hull Rear’. Use the ‘Positioner’ to get the servo mount assembly in the correct position. • Assemble a rear block. Sandwich a V623ZZ bearing between 2 ‘Block Cheeks’ and use a M3 screw and nut to hold in place. Then super glue the ‘Block Ring’. • Install an M3 nut into ‘Mainsheet Start’. Tie mainsheet cord/line to the ‘Mainsheet Start’ and use an M3 screw to fix this and the rear block into the ‘Hull Rear’. It’s tricky but can be done. • Glue the two small ‘Seal TPUs’ onto the ‘Hull Rear’. • Assemble another block and fix to the ‘Main Servo Arm’. Glue the arm supplied with the servo into the ‘Main Servo Arm’. • Install the servos and temporarily install the servo arms. • Feed the mainsheet through (i) the main servo arm block (ii) the small hole in the ‘Hull Rear’ /’ Seal TPU’ and (iii) through the rear block. • Assemble the rudder/3mm carbon rod and fix to the ‘Hull Rear’ with the ‘Rudder Arm’. Use a flexible wire push rod to connect the rudder servo arm to the rudder arm. • Install the ‘Mainsheet Brace’ to the ‘hull rear’ using 4 * M2 bolts and nuts. • Glue lengths of Velcro into the right side of ‘Hull Middle’ and onto the battery pack. • Glue the ‘Mast Lock’ to the ‘Hull Middle’ using a temporary length of 5mm tube to ensure correct alignment. • Glue the ‘Hull Front’ to the ‘Hull Middle’ and when set glue on the ‘Hull Rear’ assembly. Glue on the ‘Bow Cap TPU’. • Assemble the bulb/keel and fit to the hull. I suggest building and using the stand at this point. • Temporarily remove the servo arms. Connect the receiver, servos and battery and test with a transmitter. With the servos in the neutral positions re-attach the servo arms and carry out a final test. • Assemble the rig and sails. Mast length 892mm. Use the Onshape design to get approximate sizes. Complete the mast/booms first and then fit the sails. I used a cut down set of Dragon Force sails although making your own sails from 50 micron Mylar is not too difficult. STL’s for battens and corner reinforcements are included. A sail set with reduced area should be used in strong winds • Sail twist is controlled with a topping lift for the main sail and a leach control line for the jib. The tension on those lines, the fore stay and the jib luff line should aim at adequately tensioning the rig while keeping the mast straight and with suitable amounts of sail twist.

CHANGE LOG 16/08/2024 changed the main servo to a 3.5KG unit. JX Servo PS-1171MG https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375430541434 This effects 'Mian Servo Mount', 'Rudder Servo Mount', 'Main Servo Arm' and 'Positioner'. If you wish to use another type of servo then go to Onshape tab Main Servo and edit all the variables with the sizes appropriate to your servo. This will work as long as the servo only has 2 mounting holes. After making any changes export the STL's from 'To Print'. The rudder servo is unchanged - HXT900 or similar. 20/10/2024 For those who struggle to print the keel due to bed size limitations I have added 'Top' and 'Bottom' to the end of the list of STLs. V2 just added. 24/02/2025 Feedback suggests that the bulb weight as built is less than expected. Bulb diameter increased to compensate 28/05/2025 Added improved Hatch which uses a TPU seal. The stl's are at the end of all stl's.