So, I've been thinking about building my own rc plane, and I was hoping that some, more experienced, people could give me some advice. I'm looking for some tips and tricks that would help me successfully complete my project. My main idea was to create a high winged plane, mostly because I'm a novice pilot and I need the stability. I am not looking to spend a lot of money, I'm an on a tight budget. The plane will be electric, I don't need it to go fast, again because I'm relatively new to the hobby. If anybody could give me some advice on the the design of a stable plane that will be decently easy to fly. Maybe some materials that would be good to use. Like I had said, this will be the first plane I have built, and I'm not sure what I will need. Thanks in advance for your help.

Your first plane build should definitely not be one you design yourself. Instead the Great Planes ElectriFly PT-Electric Trainer Kit would be a great first build, and it includes the motor. [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJ554&P=0]CLICK HERE[/link]

You will also need:
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKBF4&P=V]Speed control[/link]
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNZC2**&P=7]3-channel radio w/components[/link]
[link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDNY1&P=ML]7-Cell 8.4V 1900mAh NiCd[/link]

second that, any commercial kit is going to be allot less money than your own, it will be designed right and fly great. When I started this hobby, at least when I got to power I got an arf trainer and a cub kit, learned to fly on the trainer while building my second plane. I didn't desighn my own until my 6th plane, I would have never been able to do that without having built several commercial kits to get the real knowledge of what makes a good desighn and what makes a bad desighn. If your worried about money I suggest looking for a local flying club and talk to them, most of the established clubs have trainers and club planes to teach you on, so you be out ama insurance, club dues a gallon of fuel, even if you plan on going electric most clubs still have glow trainers since that what we've been flying for decades. Also people are always selling used stuff in the club, either old guyd die, just being real, or new guys can't hack it and dumb everything for cheap, all the support equipment electric or glow isn't cheap.
[link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx]ama club[/link] put your zip code in here. it'll show you the clubs in your area. There are so many aspects and little things to know about this hobby that very, very few people successfully learn on there own, get some real help.

Agreed. The beaten path is the way to start out. Don't try to be original until at least your third airplane. That is, of course, unless you really like building and repairing (mostly repairing) and wasting money.

I agree with the above posts, but if you are interested in doing electric exclusively, I would use brushless power and Lithium Polymer batteries instead. You will end up with a lighter plane in the end, and then when you progress to the next plane, the components may allow transfer. Also, the radio listed, albeit a good setup for the very beginner, does not have the proper sized servos, and it may be wise to start with a 4-channel, or even a 6-channel. I understand being a beginner and not wanting to jump in the deep end, cost-wise. But if you think this is the beginning of a progressive hobby (read addiction), you will be well served by buying a radio and Electric gear that you can grow into.

If you would like some suggestions for a cost effective Radio/Battery/ESC/Motor solution, please ask.
Curtis

I would advise to go to the AMA plans site or Model airplane News Plan site and the RCM plans site and look at any of the planes you think you would like and build from them. Cheap and someone else has done all the leg work for you. I buy my wood from Lone Star Balsa or Balsa U.S.A. in bulk. For building only one small plane it can cost you more then a kit, the savings don't happen until you start building larger planes then the prices are a lot lower.There are a lot of plans to choose from, the hard part is picking just the plane you want, I always end up with several sets of plans.