Hello everyone, I was wondering if any of you could help me. I was wanting to build my own field box this week and I was looking for ideas on size, design, and wood choice. Any comments?


P.S. Sorry about the "CAPS LOCK" before. I didn't know it meant I was yelling.

Aircraft plywood (the kind with lots of very thin plies) is really good for this. I have 2 boxes, neither is ideal but they do the job for now. One is the Goldberg Mini-Tote. You can see a photo of it at:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDJD6&P=0
Length is double the diameter of a fuel jug plus a little slack. It is a couple of inches wider than the diameter of a fuel jug. I really like this box. It holds exactly what I need to fuel and start the engine.

The other is a Hobbico prebuilt:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXL417&P=0
This was my first box. I cannot specifically say why it didn't suit me but I'm happier now that I have the Goldberg box in addition to this one.

Many people use plastic toolboxes available at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. They have some that stack together and have wheels and extended handle that are very popular.

Unless you have a specific design in mind, an off-the-shelf toolbox might be a good starting point. Easy, fast, can be cheap; once youdecide what you like and don't like you could build something.

Use quarter inch or three eights thick plywood for your sides bottom and drawers.
You might want to sit down and draw out some dimensions to work with.
I'd make it at least as wide as a fuel can or bottle and long enough to carry the stuff that you think you'll need. (minimums) props, tools, fuel pump, glow plugs, glow driver or maybe a power panel and battery. Look around at the ones modelers are using and the ones available from the hobby stores, you'll get the idea.

Here is the flight box I am using and I love its ease of transport, and fuctionality.
I was sick of lugging my old flight box to the field. It was HEAVY with the full gallon of fuel, had very little storage (1 drawer) just not very fuctional.

So I went to the Home Depot and purchased this plastic tool box for under $10.00.
I mounted a 40oz fuel tank inside and hooked it up to an electric fuel pump. (No sense of carring around and ENTIRE gallon of fuel)
Power panel mounted on outside of box.
Fuel pump and battery mounted inside of box.
Has plenty of storage for electic starter, glow starte extra props and tools all in one neat and organized place.
Easy to transport weighs about half the weight of the old klunky flight box.

Holy cow RhyanO!! You stole my field box!!! Oh wait, not quite. Mine has the power panel on the front of the box and I am using a 46 oz. fuel tank in mine. The boxes are also fuel proof so you don't need to worry painting the box to fuel proof it. I bought mine at Wllmart for about $10.00. In this case, plastic is better than wood!

Great minds think alike!

This is an awesome field box. I wish I would have thought of it years ago. I can get about 4 flights out of the fuel that I carry inside the fuel box which is about a days worth of flying for me. I figure why carry an entire gallon of fuel on your flight box when you will NEVER use that much fuel in one outing.

I am going to go with a slightly larger box, say 1" wider, and then Ill be able to fit my transmitter inside also. One less thing I have to carry.

Ryan

Thanks for all the great ideas guys! I think I will try one of those plastic boxes from walmart. they look like they could hold everything I need.

jnesbitt82, I'm not a fan of the standard flight box, next time you go to walmart look at the Plano 737 tackle box.

No matter how big of box you buy or build it seems that you will always find a way to run it out of room!

Happened across this post and thought I owuld share mine too....