First build not going well....
12-28-2018, 09:04 AM
#1
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First build not going well....
Hello Folks, looking for a little guidance. I have caught the rc plane bug, and am attempting my first build. Ive never made anything out of wood before, so its a steep learning curve, but I’m up for it. Anyway, I decided on a Sig Kadet Mark II, and I am in the process of working on the wings. First wing half seemed to go well, but the second half not as much. Several small errors, but you live you learn. Anyway, what I am here looking for help with is the dihedral. The plans call for you to lay one half of the wing flat, and the other half wing tip should be 4” in the air. Well, I Somehow managed to get the angle completely wrong, and for the two halves to fit together the wing needs to be 6” in the air, (seems like a lot....). So, other than building a small bonfire with them, what are my options? Will building it with 50% more dihedral than called for make the plane un-flyable? I know it looks ridiculous, but what else could I do?
Any thoughts are appreciated...
Michael
Any thoughts are appreciated...
Michael
12-28-2018, 09:16 AM
#2
Michael, not a big deal. Cut a rib out of 1/8” or 3/16 balsa and glue it to one wing panel. Taper sand that thick rib until you have the correct angle needed for the proper dihedral. Once done with that you can open up the slot for the dihedral brace and then join the wings as normal.
12-28-2018, 11:02 AM
#3
Do what the previous poster said. Much better to have the wing little longer or shorter than to have the dihedral way out of wack. When i put wing halves together i like to raise each wing panel at the tip the same distance. It seem to work better for me that way.
12-29-2018, 10:57 AM
#4
Most of the old designs back when RC control was iffy..used tons of dihedral. It causes things to be very stable.. With better control surface response people like things that will fly more nimble.. so less dihedral. If you haven't joined the wings already the suggestions above are a good route to go. Or you could cut the inner ribs loose and reset the angles.
If you like building you could build another wing with less dihedral and have a couple different wings to play with.. I don't know they wing chord of your model but you can typically find trainer wings cheap at rc swap meets.
As long as you are having fun you are doing it right
If you like building you could build another wing with less dihedral and have a couple different wings to play with.. I don't know they wing chord of your model but you can typically find trainer wings cheap at rc swap meets.
As long as you are having fun you are doing it right
12-29-2018, 05:39 PM
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Thanks all for the really helpfull replies. I did as suggested and it worked really well. I am having a blast with this, even though im really not that good at it 
. I have bought a few Top Flite kits in hopes of one day of being skilled enough to build them. Gotta start somewhere!
michael
. I have bought a few Top Flite kits in hopes of one day of being skilled enough to build them. Gotta start somewhere!michael
12-30-2018, 08:44 AM
#7
The first flights on a self built plane will make your heart and Adrenalin go off the chart ! hahahahahahah
If you learn how to make strong splices, and cut parts...you can really fix anything on an airframe. Now whether its smarter to fix, or start over is sometimes a good question
Be warned, if you catch the building bug it can be hard to shake..
If you learn how to make strong splices, and cut parts...you can really fix anything on an airframe. Now whether its smarter to fix, or start over is sometimes a good question
Be warned, if you catch the building bug it can be hard to shake..
Last edited by foodstick; 12-30-2018 at 04:44 PM.
12-30-2018, 10:38 AM
#8
Very heartening to all us here to know you "got the bug". Hope your build goes really well and that you get some really good flight instruction in case you haven`t flown anything yet. Please post some picture when you can.
01-01-2019, 01:26 AM
#9
Thanks all for the really helpfull replies. I did as suggested and it worked really well. I am having a blast with this, even though im really not that good at it . I have bought a few Top Flite kits in hopes of one day of being skilled enough to build them. Gotta start somewhere!
michael
. I have bought a few Top Flite kits in hopes of one day of being skilled enough to build them. Gotta start somewhere!michael
01-01-2019, 01:02 PM
#10
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Well, good news/bad news. Good news; I have more tome to build, bad news; I flew my first ever plane (a hh sport cub) into a tree yesterday. Anyway, i had already planned on joining a club and getting some in person training.
I tried poating a picture, but i guess im not allowed yet.
Michael
I tried poating a picture, but i guess im not allowed yet.
Michael
01-01-2019, 01:03 PM
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And, while I agree with you, as you've already said yourself, I would recommend that you don't attempt any the top Flight kits as your next build. I would recommend doing a Sig Four Star first, followed by an Astro Hog. I know, those two kits are similar in many ways to the plane you are working on, which is why I recommend building them first
Michael
01-01-2019, 03:27 PM
#12
You have to have 10 posts before you can post a picture so, yes, you have to wait a bit longer.
As for the GP Cub, it probably would be a plane you can build but I wouldn't try to fly it right away. Cubs are not the easiest plane to fly as I'm sure others will tell you as well.
As for the GP Cub, it probably would be a plane you can build but I wouldn't try to fly it right away. Cubs are not the easiest plane to fly as I'm sure others will tell you as well.
01-03-2019, 08:55 AM
#13
Before I was on RCU and read some of the stuff about Cubs being a little difficult to fly, I bought a Goldberg Anniversary Edition 40 sized Cub. It went together pretty easy and found that it was really easy to fly. I don`t know if it was the Goldberg kit in particular but I didn`t have any of the difficulties in flying it that I read about. It went even better when I decided to put a .61 on it.
I flew it pretty often until I obliterated it on approach when the planes battery power ended and it nosed in hard. Turned out to be a corroded connector.
I flew it pretty often until I obliterated it on approach when the planes battery power ended and it nosed in hard. Turned out to be a corroded connector.
01-03-2019, 10:49 AM
#14
One thing I have noticed in a couple planes I have flown over the years. Some of the planes that get tricky on the ground are much more tamed if you have a motor that will swing a bigger prop. That extra prop wash really helps over the tail when you are building up speed on the ground.
I have converted a few planes to electric. The ones that went to a bigger but slower turning prop seemed to chill out some of the bad habits on a plane that used to turn twice the RPM's with a much smaller prop.
I have converted a few planes to electric. The ones that went to a bigger but slower turning prop seemed to chill out some of the bad habits on a plane that used to turn twice the RPM's with a much smaller prop.
01-03-2019, 11:47 AM
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Thanks for your thoughts on the Cub. I just think ots a cool looking plane, and it looks like a fun build.
Made some progress on the wing, and am looking foreard to to fuse in the coming weeks. Really enjoying the process.
Michael
Made some progress on the wing, and am looking foreard to to fuse in the coming weeks. Really enjoying the process.
Michael
