ORIGINAL: peeper
Greetings,
I have been poking about here for a while, having a general interest in remote control, but now, I have a need for some information.
Please forgive my ignorance and I do realize that I am asking a VERY broad question, but I would like to get hold of a list of parts, common to any RC aircraft, but that are peculiar to RC aircraft and that are likely to need replacing. The goal of this question, which hopefully will explain it better, is to be be able to identify parts for RC aircraft repair or modification from a list of general stuff. So, if there is a particular gauge of wire used almost exclusively for aileron manipulation or a certain kind of glue that holds the thing together.. that's what I would be after.
Also, if I may, is there a list of commonly used frequencies or bands for the RC part?
Peeper, gboulton answered you well for the freq charts so I'll start the list of common replaceable parts
In general all parts are replaceable. It really depends on your skills. What I mean is if the plane has damage to wood then obviously some wood working skills are required. Not extensive but basic skills are enough. Unless you are me and cannot cut a straight line even if the line is drawn and you have a saw that has a laser guide
As far as glues go:
Thin CA (used commonly for CA hinges to install the control surfaces and balsa to balsa wood gluing)
Meduim CA (I use this for tack gluing for trial fitting certain parts)
Thick CA (I used it where I need good penetration for balsa to balsa)
5 minute epoxy (good for items like gluing wood blocks into wheel pants where not allot of strength is needed)
15 minute epoxy (same as 5 minute but better wood penetration)
30 minute epoxy ( Used for higher stress surfaces such as installing the horizontal and vertical stabs, joining wings together and where you want excellent wood penetration)
You have to be careful with epoxy, it can add allot of weight and once fully cured can be a bear to sand. But it is usually very strong
Control linkages:
2-56 metal rods (usually found on planes up to 60 size with some exceptions)
4-40 metal rods (usually found on planes over 60 size with some exceptions)
4-40 carbon fiber/fiberglass rods (usually found on planes 1/4 scale in size and larger)
On glow engines it's not uncommon to find the throttle linkage all the way up to 160 size planes to be a 2-56 rod as it does not have any load on it
On 2-stroke gas engines nylon or carbon fiber rods are the normal for the engine and for maximum strength on the control surfaces carbon fiber, fiberglass control rods are the normal stuff you see, again with exceptions.
Stiffness is the control surface connections is important. Loose connections and high speed can lead to control surface flutter and the very quick destruction of the aircraft. There are other things that contribute to flutter but we are staying in general terms here.
One basic thing to remember is to try to aviod any metal to metal contact. When the engine is running , vibrations can setup RF interference (radio interference) and while flying you can lose contact with the model and crash possibly injuring people. The common check for this is a ground range check.
That's a decent start, I'll let someone else keep going with the list