aglaser

I am thinking of taking the plunge and building a plane from plans.. I have the basic necessary tools to complete the job and I was just wondering how much wood it will take to complete a 40-60 sized airplane.. Will the plans have the wood requirements on them? Also, if anyone has any advice on a good set of plans to cut my teeth on, let me know!

draftman1

The wood will vary on the plane. Some plans are very limited on onfo. I would use the plans from a kitted plane such as a Sig four star 40 or any good manufacture. most of the free plans have very little info on them.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The problem with Kit plans is that they don't often show templates of all of the parts and others may not be drawn to scale.

My method is to always buy a few extra pieces of wood - the day will come when you will be glad you have some good scraps around!

42etus

My Feedback: (2)

Balsa and altitude, always good to have a little extra of each.
Paul

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

The first thing to do when planning a scratch build is to work out a bill of materials. Sometimes plans will include this but not usually, then you have to do it yourself.

One thing that will effect the amount of wood required is how well you lay out the pieces on the stock balsa. I like to plan the parts layout ahead of time. If you have an electronic copy of the plans it's very easy to cut and paste to try different layouts and maximize wood usage. If you don't have electronic plans, do it with paper. Calculate sheeting requirements, add up all the sticks and make your own bill of materials that you think will build the entire plane. List how many pieces of each dimension you need. Then add maybe 20% more (or more) of the stock pieces like sheeting and sticks in each dimension you need to account for mistakes, omissions and oopsies while building. Be sure to get plenty of extra sheeting.

Then you can order your supplies from a balsa distributor like Lone Star Balsa. You'll get great wood at prices much better than you'd find at a hobby shop. Remember, not all balsa is the same so it's good to have extra so you can pick and choose pieces for particular applications. And the balsa will never go bad. Anything you have left when you're done with this project will be ready for the next project or when you suddenly need to make a repair. And when the price of balsa goes up that box in the closet is like money in the bank.

Dave

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I build from plans, mostly from MAN or RCM, some are just given to me by friends, so far none has ever had a material list. I lay the plans ont on my floor and with a writing pad in hand I start marking what wood is called for or shown used in the build then I always order extra of everything called for. Sometimes a lot more depending on the build. Over time it adds up and always comes in handy for repairs on my own planes and planes of friends. At the moment I'm building a little 60 size pattern plane and I have only had to buy one 1/2 inch thick sheet. Kind of like a free build. Most of my wood has come from Lone Star Balsa. So far I have always gotten very outstanding wood from them but I haven't gotten any yet sense they got back into operation after there big fire. Anyone gotten any now that they reopened??

R8893

My Feedback: (20)

When you do the material takeoff, remember that there is a top and bottom to the wing. And a left and right to the fuselage. Twice as much sheeting as you see on the plans.

MasterAlex

Good advice thus far - you can never have to much wood. As far as a good "teeth cutting" plan, I'd suggest the Ugly Stick. Check out [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=5480239]this[/link]
thread over in the scratch building forurm - Sean did an awesome job.

Also, you can check out CaffeenMan's site (AirField Models). He's an awesome scratch builder and has some detailed tutorials on building the Stick. [link=http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/how_to_articles_for_model_builders/construction/fuselage_construction/index.htm]Here's[/link] a link.

-MA

mikegordon10

It's virtually impossible to buy too much wood. Start stockpiling it. You'll use every bit sooner or later. I buy wood not for a specific build but to re-supply my stash. I bought a display box of Gullows Balsa from a hardware store a number of years back. It was way in the back of the store and partially covered with a tarp. Under the tarp there was a sign that said "All Balsa 75% off". The box was 3' X 3' X 4' with many compartments and different levels It was pretty much full of sheets and sticks. The Gullows wood was hard enough to build a house with but the box was worth as much or more than the wood. I went up front and offered them $35.00 for box and all. They went for it and now I just keep it fully stocked with orders from Lone Star or National Balsa or Balsa USA. Welcome to the world of balsa bashers!

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Free airplane!! Sort of. I'm building this one from left over wood I had in my shop. You can see a few boxes of wood on the floor and standing up on the wall next to the red Extra. The plans were given to me by a fellow here on RCU in the old pattern forum. Nice guy, fun build and the price is right!!