Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

OK i guess the closesest thing you could relate my plane to is a "Cessna-like" plane, same basic shape, any way I've completed the wing, that was relatively no problem, but now im building the fuselage and now im starting to run into some snags, like I have no idea how to hinge the elevator flap to the stabilizer, I have been answering questions as i go so far. This has been a great learning experience too, anyway , any advice would be appreciated

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

ed , some unanswered questions,first being the sherlock holmes that i am,i have to believe this is a smaller 3 channel plane or else you would have run into this problem with the ailerons,there are many different hinges out there,smaller planes and beginner builders should find the "ca" hinge to work the best,you simply make slots in the balsa with a razor blade or #11 blade and insert the hinge,with a smaller plane try to slot 3 hinges for each side of the elevator,once you have sloted both the stab and the elevator insert all hinges check to make sure they have a snug fit then bend the elevator down exposing the center of the hinge,put two drops of ca glue on them,they will act like a wick,after a couple of minutes tug on the elevator to make sure it took,it is best to do this after covering the model

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

yes your right it is a 3 channel. Could you give some brand names i could ask for at the hobby shop. and finally (ok this is a dumb question) whats CA Glue? :D :confused:

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

great planes makes a good hinge,but you can just ask for ca hinges and they will know.ca glue well the ca stands for a word with about ten letters and nobody can pronounce properly,basicly it is a for of super glue ask your hobby store to show you ca glue

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

thanks for the help i really appreciate it, there was something else i wanted to know, ok after i get the model built and it is ready to fly, how do i tune the engine, and what stuff do i need for my first flight?

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

ed, the questions you are asking are very drawn out and it will take alot more information from your end for me to answer,but i have got a feeling you have never done this before and with that i would like to give you the best advice i can,and that is to find a person who is active in the hobby to help you with the next steps,trying to do this by yourself is not the way to go,i am delighted you got this far but experience is what you need for your plane,time,money and safety,you sound like a smart guy and we need all the smart guys we can get in this sport,ask the local hobby store for someone who can help,we in this sport are always trying to help people get into and stay in the hobby

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

Ed, it sounds like you're putting a lot of effort into this project. We would all hate to see you bring your lovely creation home in pieces after it's first flight. To avoid this, here's what you need to do.

Go to your LHS (Local Hobby Shop) and ask where the local club(s) flys. Then go out there for a visit. Bring your plane with you. There are many things that can be overlooked in the building process that someone with a little more experience can see. You may not want to believe it, but you NEED the help these guys can give! Even if you are a full-scale pilot, chances are 99.8% that you will destroy your plane on the first flight without the help of an experienced R/C flier.

In regards to your hinge question: I also like the CA hinges. CA stands for cyanoacrylic (cyano- [like in cyanide]- Acrylic). It's what the world knows as crazy-glue, but in the R/C hobby, we use several types. The 3 most common are, thin, medium, and thick. I mention this because it is IMPERATIVE that you use THIN CA on the hinges. Crazy-glue is more like medium, so DO NOT USE CRAZY-GLUE from your local K-MArt. Go to the LHS. There you can get the hinges, the THIN CA, and the info on the nearest club.

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

HEY,

BRAINDEAD,

Give us some BIO on the plane you're constructing..

Wingspan,type of wing configuration,Fuselage length,horizontal stab. length,vertical stab. height, engine make and size, and what do you think the overall flying weight of the aircraft is going to be.
Even though it is "SCRATCH BUILT" did you follow some type of plans or schematics??

Way to go!! Step out with the hard work right off of bat.

my first and only "SCRATCHBUILT" was from MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS plans. it is a DICK URAVITCH 325. it came out looking so pretty I could never get the GUTS to fly it.

DESERT RATT

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

Braindead_Ed

Sounds like you're putting a lot of time and effort into that plane. Thats great Good Luck!!!

HOWEVER,

You might want to keep this in mind usually a first or trianer plane ends up destroyed. After getting hooked up with a club you might want to get a trianer kit or ARF and practice on that rather then risk turning your scratch built baby into balsa splinters

Just a thought!!!

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

Ed,

Sounds like you are making a real in-depth, through approach to this project. This is even more reason to hook up with your LHS and local club.

Three are lots of fine points in the building , radio gear set-up and engine break-in that the "old-timers" at a club can help you with. A thorough check-out of a plane before its maiden voyage can sometimes catch and correct problems that otherwise would be fatal in the air.

In our club we work with newcomers and train them to fly using the "buddy box" set-up. This minimizes, but doesn't totally eliminate the possibility of a crash. Believe it or not, flying isn't something you just pick up and do!

And continue to ask questions. It is the easiest way to learn all the ins and outs of this hobby.

Also, continue to let sknow how you are coming along. We are always glad to help.

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

ok just so i dont really live upto my screen name, here's the scoop, i already own a duraplane trainer ARF thats powered by an O.S. .25 you better believe im gonna fly (and destroy) the trainer first before i take my scratchbuilt plane out for a spin, ok now that i have that out of the way,

the specs on the scratch built, anyway i guess you could say it looks like a cessna, but it has a 48" wingspan, the fuselage is 36" long, the stabilizer is 15" long and the fin, vertical stab or what ever you want to call it is 9" long, the estimated flight weight is going to be somewhere between 5 and 6 lbs. so ill probably put a .46 on it. I weighed the materials when i bought them so thats how i estimated it, anyway ill take some pics of what i have so far and try to put them up, thanks for any help you can give

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

ED,

With 48" span and 5 to 6LBS. it's going to be a pretty high wing loading, IE: HOT. But you already have a trainer to begin with and this one I'm assuming will be down the road and you'll be ready for it.

GOOD LUCK!!

DESERT RATT

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

what exactly do you mean by hot?

any suggestions?

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

In a nutshell.

A light plane with a big wing will practically float along.

As a plane gets heavier or has a smaller wing or both, it has to fly faster to generate the lift to keep it in the air.

As speed goes up, everything happens faster and you have less time to react.

When it comes time to land, you will end up coming in faster also.

That is what I call a hot plane. I'm sure that someone who has a better understanding of aerodynamics can spell it out better.

Take care,

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

thanks for the info klumsy

so anyway im trying as hard as i can to get this aerogloss and tissue covering to work but its just not hapening, how do i apply monokote covering, i know it involves a small iron, but whats the technique?

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

Ed,

I'll risk being annoying and repeat the advice. Even though you have an "expendable" plane ( your Duraplane ) to practice with, find a club and get an instructor. It will not only help you avoid destroying your planes, it will help you learn to fly much faster. When I started out, I was armed with a Duraplane and great disdain for the idea of joining a club. I successfully flew the Duraplane several times ( meaning no major repairs ), but didn't learn very much at all. I finally wiped out the Duraplane on a windy day. After I joined a club and found an instructor, I soloed in a fairly short time, and learned a lot of stuff that I would not have learned flying my Duraplane around in an empty field. Find an instructor.

My only other advice is to put ailerons on your scratch-built plane. Not everyone shares this opinion, but I think it makes the most sense to learn to fly with ailerons. It is not any harder, but it is a little different from flying with dihedral and rudder, and it is better to have independent control of roll and yaw. Just my 2 cents.

banktoturn

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

How much dihederal have you built into the wing? Without it, a rudder-only plane won't work.

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

well just eye-balling it on a flat surface i would have to between 5-8 degrees

scratch built plastic
 

Check out this site www.spadtothebone.com

I have built several from their plans. They tend to be heavier than a balsa plane but they are much more durable. Can you nose in a balsa plane from 50 ft with no damage. I don't think so. I nosed in my spad from 50ft (elevator control was reversed..opps) only broke the rubber bands.

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

how do those kits come, are they already pre-formed plastic?

the plane im building now i made from my own plans, i looked at alot of different designs and took some ideas from some and put some of my own ideas into it, so i will have a completely original plane of my own

spads
 

I think you would really enjoy building spads. They are cheap, you can use your own ideas without it costing you big bucks.

Downside is they tend to be heavier and they aren't the prettiest things flying.

Upside is you won't be afraid to fly them as their cheap and fast to build.

A must if you want to do combat.

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

now im going to assume that the fuse is a hollow rectangular piece of plastic, i looked at some of the designs and they dont really look that bad, but couldn't I just make a fuse out of the sheets of plastic?

or am i out of my mind in even thinking of that?

plastic fuse
 

the original plans show a fuselage made from gutter pipe. I use the plastic folded in a rectangle and have made a removable section of gutter pipe that holds all the servos, fuel, bat, etc. and which the engine mounts to. This can easily slide in and out of multiple fuselages and allows me to quickly go from one plane to another.

I can't tell you how easy this stuff is to work with. I can build 10 planes in the time it takes just to build a balsa wing. I am currently trying to figure out how to build a delta wing. Their are lots of plans on the spad site. good luck :D

Building my first plane from scratch.....HELP!!!
 

Thanks for the info, ill be sure to use it, hey i got another question for you, do you know anything about using fiberglass or know anyone that does?