If your burned out, do something else, this is suppose to be fun! It does not even have to be RC related.

I agree with an earlier post about giving designing a try. I started with hand drawn plans (not cad) and slowly built a plane (this was 2002). After flying the plane, which flew great, I paid someone (relatively inexpensive) to convert the plans to cad and had a few laser cut kits cut which flew and assembled great. Since then, I've sold close to 400 kits which was never my plan.

The plane you want to design does not need to be complicated, it is very gratifying.

When I start to feel burned out, I go and buy a new tool. Then I just can't wait to try it out, and before I know it, I'm building again.
Btw, just picked up a new drill press and band saw.

Scott

Hi,

I just got the kit I ordered last Thursday. A Top Flite Gold Edition F4U-5 Corsair. Not the Giant but it's little brother. I also have the Giant but want to build something fun and that won't take me forever. I already feel great. It came today and here are some pic's.

Gibbs

I can totally relate to builder burnout. I have built over 400 model airplanes and helicopters, one full scale Fly Baby experimental airplane and 4 ultralights. The last model airplane I built was about 6 years ago, until just recently when I got interested in building again. Now I'm in the middle of doing a Twin Engine Kadet Senior build thread here on RCU.

I built so much and so fast that it became work. I was even building for other people to help pay for my hobby. (Damn, sound like an addiction). I ended up getting out of R/C completely for a few years. I just had to get away from it. But the "call" came back after I happen to stop by the ole flyin' field one day. I got back In helicopters for 2 or 3 years and even bought a couple ARF planes, rather than build. Though I had no pride of craftsmanship in the ARF's, they flew well and kept me flying. I had no plans of building again until a couple of months ago I ran across a thread here on RCU in the beginners column that was talking about the Sig Kadet senior kit. It then evolved into talking about modifying the kits, which there are several at our field flying. Then a fellow pilot posted some pics of the Seniors that he had modified. One of these was a twin Senior Kadet. I was so enthralled by it, I ordered an kit and started building it. I guess it just took something new to spur my interest and this was it.

I still hate sanding, but I make the best of it and do a little at a time. I'm having fun building again!
Hang in there, it will come back. It may take awhile and may even require a break from the hobby all together. The urge to fly never goes away completely. Don't do what I did and sell everything and leave the hobby....I just had to buy all that stuff again...LOL

Rod

NCIS,

I can only say that building a kit and suffering from burn out before completion is something I easily relate to. Although I refuse to start another model before I finish the current project I often need to take time away from the model building for a bit. I have had this happen to me almost every time I start a new build, even when I was young and had so much more time available. I can feel it coming on as I get to areas of the build that I least like to do. Many of the construction steps in the early stages seem to go quickly and much progess is achieved. Then you finish all the easy stuff and are finally challenged with doing those things that take a lot of time and show little result. I have been building an old F8F Bearcat kit made in the 70's and designed by Nick Ziroli. I made several modifications to the kit like adding flaps and full engine cowl, etc. Now, I'm at the point of fiberglassing the wing and fuselage and I admit I've almost come to a dead stop. Inspiration will return, I just need to take a short break. Once again I have been inspired to build another model but my mind says "if you really want to build this new one, then finish the one your working on". It sounds logical but it's tough to follow. As a kid I'd have two or three under construction at one time but really only be working on one of them. By the time I 'd finish one, another would pop into my fancy so the other two under construction would be further delayed.

If I were you NCIS I would not lament over the "burn out", It's fair to say we all suffer from the symptoms. Think of it this way: you've put alot of time into this one your working on, If you start another, you'll put alot more work into it and still have not finished either. Stick with it, enjoy the fun, your almost done. It's better than having two undone and having no fun.

Sledge_78

Sometimes, it helps to set goals. I don't mean deadlines. Figure out what you want to accomplish during a building session. Don't over estimate. Make it something easily achieveable. When that is accomplished, set another one. Before you knw it, you're back in the groove.

Barry, If there wasn't a big lake between us, I'd head down there and give you a hand. Your dilema on the Cub is not unsolveable. It will just take some thought and experimentation.

Remember, it's only balsa. Nothing that can't be fixed !!!

Sanding!! I hate stinking sanding!!![:@] My new shop is too small and my planes are stored in it so I have to sand outside with the parts on my lap. I'm filling and sanding A wing at the moment. Don't you just love it when it slides off your lap and you feel and hear the ribs breaking. [&:]
I have given it A couple of days off and will get back to it when I'm in the mood and the weather clears up A bit. Sanding outside in the wind doesn't help at all.
Just relax and go find something else to do for A while, the plane will be there when you feel like working on it again.

I've got a sure fire solution. Just ask your wife "Honey, is there anything I can do to help you around here or some project you'd like done?"

I guarantee you in no time you'll be sneaking down into the basement to resume that project plane. After, that is -

Doing the dishes
cleaning the catbox
sweeping the stairs
vacuuming the carpets
painting the guest bedroom
washing the dog
cleaning the eaves troughs
washing the cars
balancing the clothes drier
sweeping the chimney
washing the windows
hanging the picture of her great aunt in the hallway
caulking the lanoleum in the kitchen at the sliding doors
dusting the livingroon
washing the garbage cans
trimming the dog
hanging the Christmas lights
(or removing the Christmas lights for the other half of the year)
sweeping out the garage
putting up a bookshelf
finding the coffeetable under the R/C magazines
finishing one of those other six planes in the basement . . .

ZOOM!

Guy's

I want to let you know that I am not going to start on the new kit until I finish my Cub and send it to be covered by an expert builder and cover man. I have told you I don't cover. He usually takes at least 2 months to get it back to me, he helps everyone. When I get it back I will put the Corsair to the side and do what I love the most. Painting, I use Solartex and then prime, paint, and clear coat it. Then I will install all the gear and take it to the field and fly it. That is when the real satisfaction sets in. After that it's back to the Corsair. This is how I always build. When my plane is off being covered if I have a kit I want to build I put 2 months work on it and then get back to the covered plane.

Gibbs

Every time I get about 1/2 way through a kit I wonder "What the heck was I thinking ??? " and swear I will go ARF next time.
Then it is finished and my addiction kicks in and I start wanting yet another plane.
I browse the usual haunts and look at all the beautiful planes and realize that I just don't want to buy an ARF.
Nothing particularly wrong with ARFs but there is nothing unique about them.
So I get a kit and start building it.
Sometimes it takes forever, with nothing being done for months at a time.
Most of the time this does not bother me since it slows consumption, if I was just collecting ARFs I might have dozens of planes.

I know the feeling [:@]

Hi,

I think the reason I'm burned out is I stopped building in 1985 and started again in December 2005 and have already built 5 planes and am almost done with my 6th. I stopped building in 1985 because of a DIVORCE[:@]. I went through a few bad years. Then in 1994 I got married and now have two 12 year old children, one girl, one boy. No there not twins! I started building again because my son found a kit partially built from 1985 and asked if he could help me build it. I thought yeah this is a great way to bond. Well when I'm done with my Cub I have three waiting to go. One is a 30% Aviation Model's Yak 54 ARF. The other two are the TF Giant Corsair and the TF 1/7 scale Corsair kits. The ARF Yak 54 and The Giant Corsair will both be powered by Zenoah G62 gas engines. I think I need to slow down. I am going to go very slowly on the two Corsairs as I will be doing a lot of modifying. All my planes look and fly excellent so it's not like I'm just slamming them together. I am a perfectionist. Everything has to be perfect or I'm not satisfied and will keep working on it until it is just right. I hope I didn't put you to sleep. Felt good to write this.

Gibbs

I have been 9 months 2 weeks and 2 days getting this WACO YMF (Pica design) to this stage. This is the 4th one of these for me, and I have 10 more kits NIB. I am going to blow one up to 25% over the winter (the parts that is) and will begin building that one next. I used to get burn out, until I settled on one design. Now since I only build WACO's, for some reason that does not happen any longer. I know where I am with the build at all times, and I seem to look forward to coming home and going to the hobby room for an hour or so in the evening. This does not mean that building these has become easy. They all seem to fight becoming a model airplane. They fight in different ways. One may be the wing set from hell, and the next one may have the easiest wings in the world, and the fuselage does not want to cooperate.

Hang tough, it does get better....eventually

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Dang !!! forgot to post the pic. Here tiz.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

Billl,
Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken

Why do you only build Wacos? Do you build them and then sell them? If you don't what the heck do you want so many for? I'm confused.

Gibbs

Burnout? I can relate to burnout!

I was helping a friend who was ill with Lukemia to scratch build a Ziroli F-9F Panther. We started the framing together. Then I took over the fuse and he worked on the flying surfaces. Time was short and every minute I wasn't at work I was building. One weekend I booked 42 hours on the project from Friday afternoon to Sunday night! Unfortunately we didn't get there.

I was so burned out that I quit building and quit flying for over a dozen years. But it comes back to you.

A change in my life got me flying again and then I was building like a maniac. 6 planes in one year and a large Sukhoi going as well. Then I stalled out on the Sukhoi. It's languished for about 8 months while I did other things. It's at that point where every thing is a chore and it's no fun anymore. But it was back at the front of the list.

And that's my secret, make a list. Make a list of every thing you need to do. Make a point of doing something every day or nearly so. The goal isn't to finish but to scratch something off the list. Yeah, they're all pain in the butt items or you wouldn't be stuck there but with the list it's easier to get at least one thing done. If you can't do an item from the list, break them down and add sub items. Pick something and do it. You'll find that item wasn't as hard as you expected and soon the list will be shorter. Then the enthusiasm returns and you're back in the groove!

It took me over half a year to finally get started on that project again. But once I made the list and started working on the list, it's been only a few weeks. Now the Sukhoi is now in the middle of filling and sanding! All that's left on the list after that is cockpit, covering & painting. And I couldn't be more stoked!

To complete the story, the Panther is still unfinished. Unfortunately my friend's eyes were going and the flying surfaces that he built are unusable. But one of the things that I've done during the Sukhoi doldrums is to cut all the parts for the rest of the project. The fuse is completed, with fan and retracts and awaiting flying surfaces. I've got about 3 projects ahead of it and it will probably be a long term spare time project. But before too long I'll be making a list. And once that happens, look out!

Dave

Dave,

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. My Father died from Leukemia that spread tumors to his brain. He went from just having Leukemia in remission to getting weak in one arm. Doctor did an MRI and found hundreds of tumors in his brain. He went from 175 lbs to 65 lbs in 30 days and passed away at home with his family at his side. Well anyway thanks for the encouragement.

Gibbs

Cause I like them. I have sold one, and given a few to friends. The rest, I keep.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1