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MFE Believer Kit Box
MFE Believer Kit BoxBuild website
Lab 05 Believer Familiarization
Overview
This lab introduces students to the Believer air-frame and its key components. Working in groups of your choosing (3-4 people), you will examine the kit contents, identify structural parts, and connect them to their functions in flight. You will also review two bill of materials (BOM) for electronic systems, describing the purpose of each component. Finally, you will analyze an external build guide to determine how documentation supports the assembly process. Each activity emphasizes teamwork, technical vocabulary, and systems thinking, building a foundation in air-frame familiarization that is essential for future integration, troubleshooting, and UAS operations.
Resources
User Manual
Assembly Guide
Assignment
Air-frame
Introduction
WindRacers use the Believer air-frame as a scaled trainer aircraft before flying the ULTRA. We will be building the believers for student use as well as for WindRacers Safety Pilot training.
Equipment
Reflection:
During lab we got into groups of 5 or 6 and each group got 1 believer box. As we started to open the box we made sure to document the steps necessary to put the believer back in the box properly. The believer had many components we had to account for, including some stickers for labeling and decoration. The right wing had some minor deformation to it, but other than that all other components seemed fine. We noticed how easy it was to put everything together and how intuitive it was without even looking at the build website.
When we put on both of the carbon rods for the wings, it was a bit snug and we needed to spin the rods to allow them to fit better. This technique allowed us to install and remove the wings with ease. The empennage was put on with no issues. All of the compartments fit together flush and it was very satisfying just laying them in. The craftsmanship on the airframe was great, and the only issue was the slight bend in the wing. There was plenty of room in the fuselage for any components and electronics that need to be added later on down the line.
Electronics Familiarization
Introduction
The electronics inside the believer do not come standard. These parts are ordered independently for each type of build. The parts order for our builds is based on WindRacers’ specifications to comply with training standards.
Reflection:
There were lots of components that came with the believer. Little screws, wires, and plexiglass were all included and contained within a plastic bag at the bottom of the box. It was a bit overwhelming seeing all of the components, but once they were sorted, it made more sense. A lot of the components were small parts like latches, hinges and screws, some medium parts like cable connectors and servo wires, and then lastly the big parts like motor covers or battery plates.
My other teammates were tasked with sorting, labeling, and finding the differences between our components and the build website components.
It took them a while to sort everything and labeling even longer, but eventually we had a table set for all of our components
Build Instructions/Blog Breakdown
Introduction
These build instructions for the Believer is one of the most detailed instructions we have for this build. Although these instructions are helpful, the document contains a lot of unnecessary information and uncertainty. Simple instructions are best when working with unfamiliar parts/pieces.
Equipment
Reflection:
The build website was interesting. It was about 50 pages with many pictures and not a lot of explanation. It felt like he was ranting at times, and then he’d drop something thats really important in the middle of his rant then gloss over it with 10 pictures and move onto the next thing.
I was the one responsible for going through the entire thing and trying to translate it into something useful. I think I did an okay job but there were some things that I needed more context on. I think it would’ve been useful to have the trainer there with me, but I could follow along fine with the pictures.
Another bit that was confusing was the flight controller. I didn’t really know what was connecting to it, and the author was more assuming you would know where everything goes, which sometimes left me confused. It wasn’t my favorite at the time, but I think going through it helped me to gain a better understanding of how each component works together. The wiring will definitely be the most difficult part, but I think in total there were only 6 components that need to be wired together.
Overall, the trainer has a lot of potential, and the author gave it a good review, saying how flush everything was when put together, and how stable it is when flying It's a little daunting to think we’re going to have to put it together, but after going through the build, it seems more doable.
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