Hi,

My name is Grant I live in Australia - Tasmania.

I'm interested in "building" my own remote control airplane
but I'm a bit confused on how I make it remote controlled.

Was going to make the plane myself, just getting the gear I'm a bit confused on what I'd need and stuff.

Grant

Viriio,
I would suggest something like an ARF or a RTF airplane. (can't think of one spacificly, someone please post a list for the man ) ARF = Almost Ready to Fly and RTF = Ready to Fly. The ARF is basicly the fusalage(body) and wings already build and covered for you, you just have to put them together and add in a few other parts. You do need a radio (here comes the answer to the meat of your question).....

The way an RC airplane is well... RC is that when you're building the plane, you put in a little Reciever (sometimes called an Rx for sort) and some servos. The Rx gets a signal from your Remote Control (called the transmitter or Tx for short) and then passes it on to the servo (the little motor that moves whichever control surface it's connected to.) There's usually a servo for the alerons(sp? [sm=lol.gif]), rudder, elevator and throttle. Note: Each servo is on a different Channel. Channels are dictated by the Tx but which little knob you're moving and in which direction. Each channel's number will be clearly marked on your Rx. You can hook it all up together outside of the plane to test it, but here's a warning i wish i had gotten cause it's costing me a LOT of money..........

NEVER turn on your Rx and servos BEFORE you have turned on your Tx....... Transmitter ALWAYS goes ON 1ST! and OFF LAST. Very important. If you power up your Rx (and the subsiquent servos before turning on your Tx, the servos can turn and bump into something inside of them causing damage.) Also...don't.. DON"T run your Tx with the antenna collapces for more than a few minutes, you can burn out something inside there for some reason.

another note....all of those warnings are second hand, but they make sence....... if you turn on your Rx without having your Tx on... that means your servos have power and no control...... now what if for some reason your engine was running and you turned on your servos.... when they twitch it might open your throttle.....causing your plane to possably go bye byes, or hurt someone.... just think about it for a sec .

Ok, back to funner things............. get a trainer . the Hobbico LT-40 comes HIGHLY recommended (this is a kit that you have to build everything for yourself with.... i like that idea cause it makes you better suited to repair jobs cause, well....the fact is you'll most likely crash.....just like i'm most likely to crash )..... it's supposed to fly very stabaly, and land like a feather. Personaly, i'm building the Great Planes PT-40. it's supposed to be a little friskier, but i want that to force me into quick thinking and building instincts. Scratch building your first plane (as your post seems to suggest) might not be a good idea unless you have very good plans.... or are and Aeronautics engineer and have mastered the art of designing a plane,............ but then you have to build it .

Sorry this post is so EXTREMELY sloppy, i'm used to asking the questions...but i wanted to actually comtribute so... feel special, you're the first person i've atleast tried to help .

Cheers and good luck,
Welcome to the club
Rob



edit: PHEW that was long... i just realised that when i saw the preview of it

Grant,
Welcome to RCU and the terrific world of RC flight! It's a great hobby, and there are a lot of good people involved. Many of them stop by here, and a few even live Down Under!

Rob gave you some decent advice and good info, and while I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "building my own", I'll add some advice....

Before you jump into a scratch build project (that most likely won't be fly, unless you're trained for it), spend a bunch of time on this site reading. Beginners is a good Forum for the basics, but if your serious about building your own, try the Design or Aerodynamics forums. (Don't remember the exact names.) Getting the proportions of a plane, the wing plan, wing and stabilizer incidences, engine thrust, and center of gravity right without knowing what you're doing is unlikely.

While the "TLAR" method of design (That Looks About Right) actually works pretty well, you need to have had some experience with planes first.

If you were talking about assembling an ARF, then you're on the right track. (Ask questions first, & READ!)

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. And most of all, HAVE FUN!
Dennis-

Grant, first of all, are there any clubs or hobby stores in your area? Secondly, have you had any kind of model airplane (non-plastic) building experience? If you can find some some help on the clubs or the hobby store near you then great. If you still want to attempt to build on your own I suggest you go get a book on model building and get very acquainted with it. It also never hurts to look at some plans for trainers. Now, if you have never built a wooden model airplane in your life then you are asking for trouble. There are too many factors that must be right for you to have any success at this hobby. Although not impossible, I would suggest you get a kit and start from there. Most kits even give you a good explanation what part of the radio control is made for so you could learn about radio controls, receiver, servos...etc, as you move along building your kit. Otherwise build a high winger with a "clark y" airfoil and very low wing loading.
If you didnt understand anything I said at the end.........go get a kit!

Hey Grant,

Sorry about the rugby the other night mate, still you did beat us Kiwis! I am also interested in starting in R/C and have a plane on the way(got stuck in the courier somwhere up north)
I stumbled on this forum while using google and let me tell you, LISTEN to all the advice you get on here; ther is a great bunch of guys here.

All the advice you have recieved sounds good so there's not much that I can add.
However which way do you want to go, electric or glow? I am going glow because I cant imagine a true spitfire making no sound at all! If you decide or have decided to go the glow route then you WILL have join a club and get some training help. The club will also provide with insurance and maybe a magazine.
Hope this helps

P.S- If you want to go glow and RTR then check out Hobbico's NEXStar, apparently it's quite good.

if you want a true spitfire, put a ys 110 fours stroke in it. jeese! they stound like a harley when you run them right. transmitters usually range from 2 to 9 channels. there is one servo per channel (there are exceptions in comp radios, i will explain later) the first 6 in order are aileron, elevator, throtle, rudder, and flap. if you go glow and a trainer, (i would highlty reccomend) you will only ned aileron, elevator, throttle and rudder. some people get rid of the aileron even, but i like it better with. so, you need at least a 4 channel radio. there are 4 different major makes of radios. these are the quality ones. there are others, but i wouldn't touch them. futaba and hitec, jr and airtronics. i grouped them on purpose. a a hitec or rutaba reciever will work with a radio made by either of the two. likewise, airtronics and jr work with eachother the same way. everybody makes their basic 4 channel radios. my personal favorite is futaba, but if you are on a budget, go hitec. those two are more readily available too. computer radios are kind of self explanitory. they have small computers in them. they allow you do things like mix surfaces, set adjustable transit values (atv) digital trim, multiple model memory that remembers every litle program about each model, exponential throws, and some even have expandable memory. i personally root for the comp radios. i have an 8 channel one. they are incredibly easy to opperate. a lot of people are shied away because they don't know how to program computers. you don't have to. they area basically a series of yes or no questions and litle side options. they are, however, more expensive. in the way of radios, i would get a used one. i don't normally go used, but with radios, they either work or they don't. also, it is not like an engine, and doesn't really have moving parts to wear out with the exception of the throttle ratchet which is usually a $5 part.

recievers are a little shorter subject. they are what recieve the signals and send the signals to the servos in a pulse width form. (with some exceptions of little things you can buy) there is one servo per channel. you can get a y harness to put two servos in, but youcan not control them individually. they will both opperate the same way. so, if you need 4 channels for your radio, you will also need 4 channels from your reciever. DON'T GO AM! get either fm or pcm. fm is less expensive, and is better for starting out. if you get an fm transmitter, you need an fm reciever. same with pcm. you are gong to want a DUAL CONVERSION reciever. for a gas plane, don't go micro recievers. hitec makes some great recievers.


servos are just litle things that make stuff move. pretty simple. there is a wide veriaty to choosee from. for a trainer, jsut get standard ball bearing servos they are usually around $10-$20.


planes is a subject of arguement. for your first plane, you will need a trainer. a trainer is a light plane with a light wing loading. dihedral (wings point slightly upward) high wing, (wing is on the top) trycicle gear (usually) and a flat botom airfoil. they want to fly strait and level, and land very slowly. for the most part, any plane labeled trainer (not 2nd trainer or things of the sort) will do. just look for those characteristics. there are thousands. you will probably want an arf. if you crash it by chance, you will know how you built it and won't have any surprises, while at the same time, you have a little experiance. you are going to want to get a .40 size trainer. that means it is made for an engine of around .4-.5 cubic inches of displacement. they are also labeled in numbers. that is for a two stroke engine. you don't need a four stroke this early on in the game. two strokes are also a lot cheaper and do the same thing.

engines are not usually cheap. .40 size engines usually range inbetween $50-$200. me personally, on all these subjects, i won't go cheap. i don't care how long it takes, i will save up and get the best i can possibly buy. engines are a subject of great contreversy. there will always be somebody saying that these engines are the best, and these stink while somebody else will say something diferent. unless an engine has a known problem, if you run it right and breakj it in correctly, it will be a great engine. they don't run off gas. they run off a fuel called glow fuel. glow fuel is usually marked with a %. that % means the % of nitromethane in the fuel. more nitro means hotter but more torque (remember, torque, not really rpm. you will notice more power under a heavier engine load) also, there is uaually another %. that is the percentage of oil in the fuel. it is usually either caster oil, castor synthetic mix, or pure synthetic. for two strokes, stay away from pure synthetic. if you just go up to the counter and ask for a gallon of 15%, they will no what you mean and set you up with the right stuff. these engines are not toys. respect their power.

there is a whole different set of jargon like this for electric. i would say go glow, but electric can be cheaper. either way, for a satisfactory set up, it will cost you about $300 minimum for gas and around $300 average for flow. you can go cheaper, but you won't be satisfied with glow if you do. $300 will get you a decent setup for electric.

Hey Grant,

I just remebered something. Go down to your local newsagent and a copy of the Airborne magazine. It has got tonnes of stuff, advice and prices. A great read.

You mentioned you wanted to build a plane. Getting an ARF that might be built right or might not doesn't sound like what you are interested in. If I were you I would go check out any local hobby stores and flying fields. If you don't have any then you need to consider how you are going to learn to fly without an instructor. This means crashing your plane. In this case something like a SPAD(have no experience with) or some other very durable plane might be a good idea. On the other hand I don't know about the wing loading on them, they might be really heavy. To get an idea of good wing loading check out Sigs trainers. Anything that goes heavier will not fly slowly as well. If you have access to a flying field and an instructor I would buy a .40 trainer kit. I've built two planes and owned two ARF's(crap but they were older, 90's) and crashed them all due to lack of instructors. All crashed planes except one ARF were repairable. These turfed really hard to. As far as scratch building a first plane, I wouldn't do it.. Build one from kit first then progress to that.

So basic list:

.40 Trainer kit, LT-25 can take a .40, : ), my kit to build soon
.40 engine, TT GP .42 for me on my next plane
Any 4 channel radio with 4 standard servos

You will need a lot of accesories $$ to build and fly a plane. Supposedly some of the new ARF's are pretty good. If building really isn't your ticket then I would look at them. Building is fun though!