I am about to start my first kit after building a couple of ARF's to get started. Other than following the instructions 1,2,3,4... is there any "watch out for" hints. In the two ARF's that I built (4*60 and US 60) I found a couple of points where I did something later in the instructions before the next step. For example, in the US 60, I moved the fuel tank back to just in front of the CG hoping to lessen the nose heaviness. Now I have gone back to where I left off in the instruction book. Any other things to watch out for?

Take the time to look thru the instructions, and parts match.

I usually try to label all parts to L/R or orientation to each section.

Plans are a build on guide but can contract and expand with weather. If a part(s) is slightly off it may be due to this reason"

Have fun and relax, and more suggestions should follow from others.

DanZ

wornboots; Thanks I am still getting used to using RCU. Just after I posted this question I did see the Kit Building Forum and will post there on other questions. For now, I will leave this here so I don't have it posted twice. Thanks for the WX suggestion, I would have never thought of it.

> I moved the fuel tank back to just in front of the CG hoping to lessen the nose heaviness. <

Not a good idea. The lines to the fuel tank should be as short as possible. And if you are counting on the weight of the fuel to rebalance the plane that is wrong- the balance should be done with an empty tank.

Dave Segal

Yes, I do balance the plane using the empty tank. I have just read posts on RCU that the US 60 tends to be nose heavy. We have a club member that moved to the CG on his US 40 without any ill effects.

Finally found it"
What Kit are You building? in your post it sounds like the US 60 was an ARF and used as an example.

one other thing, if possible make a copy of the plans and what I have done before is lightly spray the plans with 3M77 and put the clear painters plastic (.97@wally world) on the copy(little extra work but helps. You never Know who wants plans down the road.

Dan Z

wornboots: You are right, I was just indicating an example of what I have done in a couple of ARF's. In the US 60, I am moving the tank, not to do the balancing, but to reduce the amount of weight shift from back to front or front to back when the tank empties as I am flying. May not be a real problem, but thought anything might I do reduces the need to weight the tail.

Thank's

The US 60 I have no experience with, but building in general has led to many changes, The firewall is a good place to add strength.
I use small dowels, inserted in the firewall thru the fuse sides and epoxied. just one example.

i have 3- 40 size plan's that called for 8-10 oz tank's
ultra stix,hanger 9/ something extra/4*40
i have installed 12 oz in all three
all three preform fine,no problem with take off's
thy are a little nose heavy to trim ,until thy burn off a little fuel
but it can be anticipated,and i fell it worth the effort.

My advise to the first time builder is this: pretend you are playing a game of chess. Always look ahead several moves. You don't want to build yourself into a corner. Read and re-read the instructions several times. Sometimes, even a good kit will have mistakes in the instructions. Or sometimes they might say "now drill two holes in the last part you installed" or something impractical. Its up to you to find these!! Make your own notes in the margins as you read the instructions to remind you of things. Soon, you will be like the rest of us. You will have so many tools and tricks up your sleeve that you can build yourself into an elevator shaft and still get out!! And there is always a way out . So, don't get discouraged if that happens. Just try to avoid it!!

kingwoodbarney: Thanks for the info. I have built 3 ARF's now and the only one that I did not make modifications to was my Trainer. You know "first time just follow the directions" In the second 2 (4*60 and Ultra Stick 60) I made several changes in both. I am doing as you suggest, reading several steps ahead and evaluating if it would be better to do something out of sequence. That's why I was asking. I figure if I do it with planes that are 85%-90% built I most likely will with my first kit (Something Extra).