I am recently new to r/c .....i been flying for about 4 months. I really enjoyed building my arf trainer.(Supposed to take a week, i was done in 3 nights.) Anyway. I am interested in building a kit but i did that for a small rubber powered plane and never managed to complete it. Is building a full r/c model kit easier due to larger peices, and will I still run into that covering problem? Thanx for any input!!

Glad to see you're interested in building.

The larger pieces of a full size kit are somewhat easier to work with than the teeny-tinys; I build and fly small (.10-.20) stuff and only occasionally get my hand stuck somewhere I shouldn'ta put it... In addition, the quality of balsa kits has increased substantially over the past several years, resulting in parts that are much cleaner and better fitting.

I believe that "that covering problem" is one largely of perception on the part of the builder. Forget the idea that you build a plane, then cover it. Covering is just as much a part of the construction process as cutting, gluing and sanding the balsa. In fact, it may take almost as long to cover your first plane as to "build" it. However, covering can be more forgiving in many ways than the cutting and gluing; although your mistakes will show more, if you really can't stand the way a wing panel, for instance, came out, just heat the stuff up, pull it off and have another go. Just like everything else in this hobby it takes a little practice.

That said, IMHO, you will get a lot more satisfaction from your plane when it's "all yours", and not a one of a million identical others built by some poor gal in Asia who may have never even seen the finished product in the air...

digger

Yep, some beilve that building is the esence of the hobby.
Some beleive that you should build your own planes, so you know how it went together, and how to fix it.
Some (like me) build for the sake of building them!! Why? 'cuze I can!

It is a proud moment when you show up at the felid, and everyone 'Ooohs And Ahhs' over your plane, and that first flight [with minor trim] flies just bee-utifully. It's a really positive feel! Knowing you did it from a box of wood!

In the end, it is YOUR plane, covered in YOUR colors, with YOUR pilot, and although there maybe 5 of the same plane at the feild, YOURS looks the best!!

Sig & Great Planes are great first kits. You'll have no problems, and their manuals are very well written, along with some 'hints & tips' (a really nice touch!)

you did it. I've bought 4 arfs...now it's time for a kit. I can do it....I can do it........

I've repaired major crash damage which included covering so that part doesn't bother me....It's the wing! Is it going to be straight. Will I need to get the ceiling tile and jigs and other stuff. Sure I can handle fuse it's just the wing.

thanks duke

Yep, you CAN do it. Two observations about the wing...

1. A twist is not something you want, but the building surface can handle a little twist as lung as you avoid humps or valleys. I say that because just as your covering can twist a straight wing out of shape, it can untwist a twisted wing into a straight on. Againb, that's not something you really want, but it's also not something you can deal with.

2. If you must have perfection, a jig is not as difficult and exotic a thing as people think. Two 1/4" steel rods and a pair of 2x4 blocks to hold them up makes a fine jig that will assure an amazingly sraight wing at an investment level way ubder five bucks and very little labor at all.

Either way, the plane will fly!