OK Ill explain my story and see if anyone can help. A good friend of mine past away a while back. He was older and big into rc airplanes.He left me all of his stuff whenhe passed. He had a wrecked telemaster 40 that i have repaired (i believe) that was modified from original plans. He also has a funmaster he had started building but i am unsure of how to follow the plans? He also has another plane he had started building that i do not have the plans for or know what it is. They are all balsa planes. I am a beginner at this stuff and have a lot of questions that i have no one around to answer. My main concern is finishing the telemaster and getting it covered. It was his main aircraft and i would like to make it right for him. I am located in Columbia Tennesse. If anyone is part of the columbia RC club i would really appreciate the help as he was a member.

Sorry about the passing of your friend.

I bet if you went to the club's field or a meeting, you would meet some folks willing to lend a helping hand.

If you are a complete beginner, and are in a position where you could invest a litttle money to get into the hobby, a flight simulator could be a big help. Having a foam trainer like the Apprentice or similar would also be good (I would expect the Telemaster to be easy to fly, but a foamy will take getting banged around better, and is easier to repair).

The Telemaster will do fine as a trainer. If you're really looking to fly, go ahead and follow the advice of joining the RC club and get to know a few of the fellows that he knew. There will certainly be someone who's willing to take a few hours with you on those planes.

Sorry about the passing of your friend...It is good advice to find a club and an instructor to help you for the first while..You planes are going to need setting up ,balance checks etc etc...Also a flight simulator can help a lot for learning to fly..Your instructor can advise you if you like...In my club the guys are a pretty helpfull bunch and it seems like most clubs are like that...Good luck and have fun Ultra sport brotherhood #100 Cub Brother #6 Biker BC

I'm sure the Telemaster would do great as a trainer, but I suggested a foam trainer since the Telemaster has sentimental value, and foam tends to hold up to the mishaps we all have when flying for the first time.

Anyway, keep us posted on how you progress.

Thanks guys for all the help. As soon as i can get some pictures posted of the progress i will. As far as the wrap goes such as a monokote or ultracote is heat gun or the iron better for it? And as far as the spinner for the engine how do i determine the size? Its a super tigre 61? Also the type of prop? If there is another part of the forum that answers these tell me.

Mossy - both Monokote and Ultracote have an adhesive backing that's activated with heat. An iron is used to activate the glue when you have it located where ya want it. The heat gun is frequently used to stretch both kinds of film - that's after you have totally applied the film. MinnFlyer has done some excellent videos on covering. Check them out before you jump into the water. I'll include links shortly.

I think you would be looking at an 11x7 prop for that engine. Spinner size is kind of a personal preference for what looks right with the lines of the plane.

Though shrink covering can be applied with a household iron, a covering iron is easier to handle and shaped better. They also usually have degrees marked on the temp control, which is helpful as setting it to the temp suggested for the covering will get you in the ballpark.

I generally also shrink covering with the iron as I find it easier to control exactly where and how much heat I'm applying. There are times I use a heatgun, though.

Mossyoak54
Welcome to the hobby. Your friend has left you something much more valuable than the planes. However I would join a club and get some help fixxin up the stuff. Doing it right would be a nice way to honor your past friend. Telemasters are great airplanes. But save it for later as new fliers bang up the first couple of planes. A decent cheap trainer won't set you back much. Eventually you will fly your buddy's planes and likely crash one BUT THAT'S OK! Your bud knew that and he'll smile at ya when it happens.
You'll be much happier with the end results if you get help on fixxing the planes and flying them. I would hazzard a guess your buddy was sending you in that direction. The single most important thing to do though is HAVE FUN WITH THEM!

You guys have been great help. Which trainer would you recommend? I seen someone mentioned a foam one. Ive done pretty goon on simulator (havent wrecked yet) but it was just a three channel. I am open to all ideas on what i need. 

If you want a really good trainer that's in kit form, look at the old Sig Kadet Mk II. It's a very well proven trainer made from traditional balsa construction, not light ply. It has a combination die-cut part and many parts that need to be hand cut with a band saw, scroll saw, or copping saw. It's a design from back in the 1970's when you had to build your trainer if you wanted to learn to fly. For power, it uses the inexpensive plain bearing engines (which were that standard of the day back then) vs. ball bearing engines. The OS .40 LA or FP (or even the current .46LA) is the perfect engine for it. This plane will give you a lot of good experience and understanding on the building side, and flies as good as any trainer made today. Plus it probably a bit more rugged that today's ARF trainers, and if it gets banged up, you'll have the plans to make repair parts and know how it was build to facilitate the repairs.

Hogflyer

If you join a club your club instructor will probably have a prefferance of trainers. Other than that the LT 40 is one of many great trainers..Sig Kadet's are an old stand by...The Lt 40 is just a newer version that comes as an ARF or a kit ...There are a lot of ready to fly electric foamy plane out there now that can get you started too..They are cheap and you get every thing you need in one box..There is one called the Champ that seems to work well...I think the best Idea is too find a club and an instructor and let your instructor guide you...The club might even have a club trainer for getting students started....Not all clubs do but some do...Make sure you keep your fingers out of the prop...Have fun..Be prepared to become addicted to a hobby that is more fun than you can imagine...You will never stop learning...There are so many directions that you can go from sport to scale,flying off the water,giant, profile,pattern 3 D 4D ETC ETC Have fun good luck and have fun

I would agree with the suggestion of getting with the club.

As far as foam trainers go, I really like the Apprentice. It is a 15 size electric 4 channel, and it really flies well, is tough, and all parts are available and generally reasonably priced.

From what I've seen it also seems to do better at inverted flight and stuff like that than many of the similar planes on the market, so it can still be fun to fly once you have mastered the basics.

It also has enough power to handle float flying well, and I also use mine to haul a radio controlled sky diver up to jump altitude (micro diver).

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The first picture was the worst. I made my own filler for the crack after it was repaired. I used sig bond and balsa shavings. i Guess that works?
The second and third one is where the corner of the wing was broke. I guess i followed the lines well enough to match.
The fourth picture is my first attempt and ultracote. Just a few wrinkles.
The last one is another repair with same method as first.
Let me know what yall think.

Make sure the area where the sides of the fuse meets the firewall is very strong. If there isn't triangle stock inside, I think I'd add some, with epoxy.

Covering, you generally want to do the bottom of the fuse, then sides, then top. For the wing, do the bottom first. I usually wrap the bottom piece up on the trailing edge, then the top piece wraps over the leading edge.

Maybe I didn't explain that well, but think shingles or lap siding on a house. The idea being having the blast of wind and exhaust oil flowing over the covering overlap, as opposed to being blown at the seam.

Ok i did replace the triangle stock where the firewall is. And the wings are already done the only think i have to wrap is the fuselage from where i removed it to make the repairs. Thanks for the help, i didnt even think about doing the wrap that way but it makes sense.