Mopzilla

I just want to know if I'm abnormal around here.. Everytime I scratchbuild it takes me a LONG time.. especially today, which is another day I have to use 30min Elmer's glue.

brocja01

I'm by no means a master builder, but I think if I didn't have my wife, kid, animals, and work bothering me, I could probably get a whole 1/2a plane (depending on plane), cut and framed up in a weekend. Probably another weekend to cover and fit electronics.

Now with that being said, I couldn't guarantee that the plane would be straight.

beenie

My Feedback: (9)

When I was in college, I could design the plane, including a fairly nice set of plans, build and test fly in less than 2 weeks. Now that I am married with a baby, a house and a job that keeps me away alot, it has taken 8 months for the XF5F and it is not even close to ready to fly.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

My building techniques have changed almost 180 degrees since my return to the hobby. I used to do these marathon building sessions where I'd work on a plane from the time I got up until it was done, skipping meals and not even going outside. Now I seem to enjoy doing a little bit and walking away for a while. I rarely work for more that two hours at a time anymore, usually a half hour here and there.

The other side of that coin is that I get a lot more done in thirty minutes now than I used to fifteen years ago. I think that's due mainly to the fact that I let things percolate for a day or two before doing them, so I know exactly how I'm going to do a given build sequence before I even start it. I actually enjoy the periods when I'm not building, but thinking about how I'm going to build this or that. It's a healthier way to occupy my mind then with all the more stressful stuff I could be worrying about.

small_rcer

Sometimes years!!

Started a Mach None knock off several years ago, maybe 8-10. Got it covered this month. Will have servos, tank and TD 049 installed sometime next month.

Maybe.

Have started cutting ribs and pieces for a DNU. Have built up fin and tail all done. Ribs cut but not finish sanded. Will start a second set of everything in the next week or so. So one may get done before Christmas.

Jim H

tangerine-jack

Interesting topic!

Let me see, well, how long is a piece of string? As long as it needs to be. Depending on the complexity of the model it could be a few days or a few months. I view the hobby as an equation of dollars spent per hours of pleasure, so time is relative. I can build a simple plane from flat balsa to test flight in less than a month between holding down the house, two offices, 4 kids, the wife and 180,642 other daily issues. A more complicated design might take months, but if it takes too long I loose interest and tend not to finish it. That is why I like 1/2A over larger planes, faster building/ less complex.

As rainedav noted, my building techniques have also changed over the years and I have gotten much more efficient in my building time, that comes with doing it over and over, not because I have any talent or skill. My first efforts at scratchbuilding were pretty bad and took a long time, now they are merely average, but faster.

OTOH, what’s the rush? If you want to get into the air today, buy an ARF, if you want to scratch build, then what does time matter?

Wayne C

I started a simple little C/L scratch build in mid April. I tend to have a few highly productive hours every month. In response to the above statment about glue, I tend to use household type products that I keep on hand. Things such as five minute epoxy and brushable superglue. Fits my lifestyle better. Probably have less than ten hours in this project including making plans and building. Wing is finished except for paint. Fuselage is almost done except for paint. Still need to work out landing gear. I'm a sucker for ROG takeoffs. Hope to have it done by late fall.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

It is somewhat of a building aid to have old plans to look at, trouble is most published 1/2A plans feature .15 sized on up mentality. A mix of what you see and hear here, plus looking at the details of how certain things are done on paper will help you formulate your own ideas. I built a lot of rubberbanded wing type planes to get started in scratch building. Keep your first attempts simple. I think what slows down a lot of builders is sweating details that don't count for anything.

1/2Aandbeyond

Hmmm I'm 40, 2 kids and a wife, a house, full time job, a pager, a business cell phone, broken lawn tractor etc. I started Andrew's 1/2A Bipe about 2 weeks before my 2nd son was born, it's about in the same place as it was the day he was born, May 5th, 2005!

That being said and having no idea why I recently bought an .020 on the bay. Like an even bigger knuckle head I came in here to ask whats a good plane/plan for the motor? I am 1/2 way through the job of the Reese little stick. I expect another 2 weeks minimum excluding testing.


Why haven't I finished the Donatelli plane? About 6 months ago I was looking at the (while holding a diaper and a bottle)wing still pinned to the plan/foam and decided half way through I wanted to cut a foam wing for it.

If you get it done in under a year you've done good!

PS
Better yet I started on the 1/2A Fantrainer too, in 2003!

flyswatter

1/2A & B:

That May 5, 2005 was the day my first grandchild (girl) arrived. Good birthday, and best of all the parents can celebrate every year by drinking Margaritas!

Since I am retired, it doesn't take me long to get a little plane done. About one and half weeks from start to the point where it is ready to maiden. That is not working full time on the building.

hogflyer

Lets see, take one Airtronics S-Tee built in 1980. Take said airplane and have it punched in by a buddy on the second flight. The wing and landing gear survived. 2006: the plane now has been recovered with a scratch built fuselage and I just ordered the Berg 7-ch receiver and battery. Guess that puts it a 26 years. And this was a rebuild - the wing was structurally fine.

I've also got a Goldberg Jr. Skylark I started in 1977. I know where the horizontal stab and plans are, but not the rest [&o]. Would this still count? That puts this build at 29 years. Anybody else taken this long or do I win and hold the record ?

I'm a slower builder - take as long as it takes and when it's done its done!

Hogflyer

Wayne C

My dad has a P-51 thats been laying around since the late seventies. He got it ready for covering then got distracted and has yet to finish it. Also it has suffered some hanger rash in the interim so now it needs a few repairs. The passing of time and exposure to attic dust and temperature extremes has aged the balsa wonderfully. If he ever does finish it I think transparent covering would preserve the look.

1/2Aandbeyond

LMAO, I luv it!!

Bipe Flyer

For me, apparently it takes somewhere between 1 day and 5 years - and counting.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

If you try to look at EVERYTHING that needs to be done, the thought process gets overwhelmed with feelings of doom, gloom and failure. If you just look at completing one subassembly at a time, or rigging one control function at a time, and set aside a reasonable amount of time to perform 1 or 2 ozs worth of work on a 12 oz plane per session, then 1 or 2 weeks is plenty of time to build a functional toy, but maybe not for building a family heirloom, or a plane that you plan on donating to the Smithsonian..

cortacesped

I started my Jr. Falcon on April 2005 and expected to finish before the end of the year. I still have the fuselage uncovered and the electronics without install, so I think that the time is still counting. Regards

Claudio