Hello Folks. Well Just got out of the hospital (had some work done on my knee)
Well anyway I have a lot of Time on my hands I drive a truck for a living and was told I would not be able to get back behind the wheel for 3 to 6 months and thought I would perhaps help some folks out and have some fun to. I said before I like building more than flying and while I am neither a writer nor a professional builder I thought I would Document the full build from start to finish. I have a 5 megapixal Digital Camera and all so we should get some good pics. How about it what you would like to see built. I will be selling the plane when I am finished so if someone is interested in buying it let me know. My email is [email protected]
For the benefit of those new to the hobby I will do my best to Document this build as though the reader knows nothing. Neither as an insult nor me saying I know it all but to help the new guys get started in kit building. Also I want to say I am not an old hand at this myself. It has been a long time 8 years since my last build of a P-51 so by all means those that have some helpful tips step in.
Like I said I Just got out of the hospital so I am going to have to set a budget I get workmans comp and all but still.
I plan on trying to get everything the plane and parts from Tower Hobbies and I might try to do the “bill me later” option I will let you folks know how that works out. For the plane without motor or radio equipment I think I will try to keep the whole build under $300.00

Of course if someone sent a late christmas present with a radio and motor I might say flying is as fun as building.

I wonder also if I should open two topics one for the Build and the other for the comments and chats about the build. I think it will make it easier to follow along with the build without having to filter though the chatter. What do you think
For those of you new to the hobby or thinking about building a Kit Welcome!
I feel there is nothing better than to be able to say yep I built that one or yep that one is a custom build. I and others on this site I am sure will help you in every way we can. So stop in grab a cup of Joe and have fun!

This will help those thinking of building there first Kit, Even if it is not the same plane. I will be starting with no tools nothing. Like I said its been 8 years since my last build so I do not even have a hobby knife. What this means is for those just getting started out is that I will be setting up my workshop buying tools the whole nine yards and I plan on doing so for under or as close to a $100.00 this we will see.
Ok so how about it let me know what you think.
I hope to get things ordered next week sometime so let me know

Nice idea, Willie. I'm gonna subscribe to this one and watch the progress.

Personally, I'm thinking about a warbird some time soonish, and have never built one, so that'd be m choice. Maybe the one of the TopFlite kits?

Of course, on the other side, you're going to try to make this a thread for beginners it seems, so perhaps something a beginner might tackle, like a 4*, or even the venerable old Telemaster?

Either way, I think this one's going to be fun. Good luck!

A little ground work first. I will try to make it as easy as possible for all to read and understand my post. Also I am going to try a little trick to help sort kit instructions from tips tricks and helps. This post will have the Tips tricks and helps while another post with the plane name will have the actual build. This way I hope it will be easer to sort through all the building progress and still be able to look at the tips and helps.
Also a little formatting for both strings;
I’m going to ask all try to follow these examples when they post this way it will help our new folks and who know maybe even some older ones two.
1.Standard texts no bold no Italic. This will be general comments and discussions.
2.Tip These are Tips, Money Savers, ideas and other helpful shortcuts they will Start with TIP, MONEY SAVER, IDEA, LINKS, TIMERSAVER. Other words can be used as long as they fall under the help category .
3.Building cost from time to time I will update the cost data because as I said we are starting with no tools, equipment, and accessories I will break the data down in two groups. If the item is for the plane and will go with the plane when or if sells it goes in that group.
If the item is part of tools or accessories that will stay at home I will keep it in the tools group.
In with the Cost update I will also keep track of the build time this will help you get an idea how long it takes to put the plane together.
First Tip
Beginner’s biggest mistake getting in a hurry, you got this neat Kit with all the wood laid out and you want to see what she is going to look like. SLOW down read the directions look at some websites many will have product evaluations about these kits they will a lot of times give you a heads up on problem spots and pitfalls. Trust me take the extra hour or two to go through everything it will save you a days or more work.
One more thing, if you are following along with me on this build keep in mind that I am not working 8 to 10 hours a day then coming home to build my plane. I’m home all day with nothing to do. Its ok if you fall behind. In fact it will be better this way you will get the benefit of hindsight. Working tired will cost you more time than just working on the Kit only on weekends. Remember this is supposed to be fun not a chore if you do not feel like working on your Kit then don’t she will still be sitting there when you are ready. (Unlike wives).
Ok Then my next post will be the planing and setting up the workshop will GET-R-DONE and get it listed. I have some neat ideas and tricks that I have picked up from here and there.Ok I was told that having two threads would be considered spamming so we will keep all post on this thread sorry for the confusion

Ok so let’s get started with the most important part of building a kit.
Planning!
Many a projects have failed because of bad planning.
Planning has many different factors some we will not be able to finish until we decide what will be built but also we need to get some finished before deciding on what can be afforded. So let get started
1. Work Station and or shop;
Even if you live alone I would not suggest setting up your workspace in the kitchen or living room. These are the worst spots you can think of keep in mind there will be drying times in the construction process this could be ten minutes to a full day at least. During this time the parts will need to be left alone and undisturbed. This leads us to another pitfall for beginners knowing when to back off and LEAVE IT ALONE. We will get more involved with this later.
Another thing you will be using glues and other chemicals that can stink to high heaven. More importantly is visitors NOTHING is more attracting than an unfinished plane friends come over…. OH WOW LOOK AT THIS ITS SO NEAT CRACK…. WOOPS DID I DO THAT. Believe me it has happened. If you do not have an extra room to work out of then look for an out of the way place that will not be tampered with. If possible set up near a window if you will be working in the house this will help a lot when you start using stuff that stinks. Also when you are using paints you will need some ventilation.
While some of you are saying duh no joke believe it or not this is something that has been overlooked before.
TIP For those that live in an apartment or economy rooms then get one of those dressing partitions and put it around your workspace. Remember out of sight out of mind. Besides in most cases a person will ask hey dud what you got behind there…. this will give you the chance to explain what look don’t touch means and the facts to your friend how many bones will get broken if he messes with that cool looking plane. And if he doesn’t ask you have a good reason to bounce a baseball off that hard head they usually get the idea after the first or second throw. If it takes three use the bat!
Ok all jokes aside.
I live in a two bedroom house with an extra room and what we call a Mud Room this is a closed in back porch that I can do my painting in. This way I don’t smell the house up but still stay warm and clean. For painting you need a “clean room” but we will get into that later.
Painting your plane is a planned feature for the future. I would not suggest it for beginners. It not only takes a lot of practice but also a lot of patience and money. You can get some real nice custom planes using cover rite and other Name brand Covering materials just keep it in mind when setting up your workspace what you can and cannot do with whatever location you choose.
I am going to use 4x8x3/4 sheet plywood for my work surface.
TIP Find the chair you will be working out of one that fits you. (Your feet should be able to touch the floor flat with just a small amount of pressure be released off the back of your legs. This will give you all around support. If your feet are off the ground then you will not only be pulling on your back but also cutting the circulation off in your legs) Take a seat face close to the wall you will be installing your work table at with your knees touching the wall measure 6 inches from the top of your knees this is about where you build your table. It should be in between your belly and chest right at your diaphragm. This will let you work at the table with a strait back. Also when needed elbow support. All the while you will still be high enough to look down on your project not across.
A small note (no pun intended) I am six feet tall so I can leave the board a 4 feet and still reach the back. For those shorter than that you may need to cut your board down a little. No harm in doing so it is more important that you are able to work conformably with the least amount of stress on leg, back, and Neck. In most cases it is more important to have a long table a 3 foot to the wall and 5 or 6 foot long is more than what you will need for the prodjects we will be looking at. So take your time and plan it out. Here are some questions you need to further think about.

1. Is there a plug in that is easy to reach?
2. Remember the window even if you have no plans for painting it will come in handy when you need fresh air. Also natural light is the best to judge colors with. Word to the wise do not set your table against or inline with the window, the reason? If someone opens a door you will get a draft and may blow all your hard work to the floor. Makes for a bad day trust me took me all day to get everything back in place. Set up to one side or the other. This way a gust of wind will have less chance messing with you.
3. Flooring if you have carpet then plan on getting a white drop cloth or plastic it makes clean up a lot easer. I would use a drop cloth or some sort of floor protection whatever the case. Accidents will happen and super glue and or resin is a real pain to get up off the floor remember the little deal about wind drafts the wing wasn’t all that hit the floor. Ok so we have talked about setting up a work table for a room the same can be applied for those in apartments or you can go to Wal-mart and buy a good folding card table for around twenty bucks without chairs or 40 with four chairs I have one that is 3x3 your wings are done in two pieces so a 72 inch wing span plan can be built on this table. It would be tight but doable.
4. One other consideration if you’re married. Folks handle house hold money differently. This is one reason planning is so important. This is a hobby that can get into the thousands of dollars before you know it. Set your limitations plan accordingly and have fun. A nice fun flying plane can cost $300.00 or $3000.00 its all up to you. And all important tell her thanks for understanding the big boys and big toys theory, trust me that table works fine to build on but it is hard to sleep on!
Well folks I am going to back off a little and see if we can get some of the pros out there to let us in on some of those trade secrets.
My next post will be a shopping list for tools and some places you would never a thought of to get hobby tools.

About the Tower Hobbies “bill me later” option, interest rate is rather high IMO. If you use this, pay it off as quick as you can. High late payment fee also. Found that out the hard way.[:@]

Thanks I will keep that in mind

Had an email sent to me asking about this kit it looks like a good trainer and a fun build
.40 size R/C trainer
This is the advertisement
One word of caution use a flight instructor

If ever there was an airplane that could be said to have the best chance of being LANDED successfully by a beginner, Telemaster 40 is the one. Telemaster 40 can actually take off, fly itself, and land itself. If you are a beginner, build it fairly well, and do some imaginary flights before the actual first flight, you will probably have no problems soloing the Telemaster 40 on your first RC flight.

73" wing span, 848 sq. in. wing area. 53-1/2" long fuselage (the airplane is big), all balsa and hardwood RC model airplane kit. For 4 or 5 RC channels: rudder, elevator, throttle, ailerons, and kit also includes wing flaps.

$79.95
It is not a tower hobbies plane but a good price for the options and size

That'd be the Telemaster I mentioned in my original post. They've been around forever, and have taught roughly eleventy-bazillion rc pilots to fly...in fact, I know 2 people (myself included) who really DID land the thing on our first time on the sticks. it's a simple build, but uses many skills/techniques that will be re-used later in more complex builds, inexpensive, and makes a terrific trainer when done.

A good choice, imo.

They also have the senior that is a big plane.
Specifications: 95" span (almost 8 feet!), 1330 sq. in. wing area, plus 320 sq. in. lifting stab area. 63" long. Ultra light balsa construction. For 4 channels and .40 to .60 engines
Well we will see this is a new post and most folks are just now getting online.
I do agree with you though the Telemaster looks like a good kit for this thread

What warbird are you looking at I like the A 6 Texan myself. I have been flying it on the Sim and it seems to be a good stable flier.

Interesting thread... i'm in. I'd love to see more true Kit builders, as opposed to ARF Assemblers come to the table. Perhaps if a few, or even more than a few get the bug, things like the recent closing of jack staffords kits would become a thing of the past as people start buying and building kits. Not that I don't like ARF's, it's just that i don't like what they've done to the kit industry.... ok. off of that wagon. You know... that Telemaster would be a good build. Especially if converted to electric....

Great stuff, I've just subscribed to this thread. I'm a newbie and I bought my first plane RTF, and i'm thinking about building the next one from a kit, so I'm looking forward to following this.

I was just wondering who the Telemaster 40 is made by as someone mentiond they have a bigger version to and was wondering the specs of both sizes

Dave

[link=http://www.aerocraftrc.com/seniortelemaster.php]Telemaster[/link]
The Telemasters are Manufactured by aerocraft for hobby Lobby They sell direct from the site listed above you can find out more information from the link they have two sizes bigger one is a 12 foot wing span. This would be a great plane to lift gliders. Larger clubs sometimes buy one like this for that reason.
I talked with Bill Schaefer one of the owners of aerocraft a nice guy he said he had to sell the prototype recently because his partner would have a heart failer every time they flew it was so huge it looked like it wasnt moving.
He also said that the 40 size is a very good trainer.
By the way folks you will have to overlook my spelling I have a laptop and still trying to get used to this darn keyboard.

Chris , Seeme how about it what would you like to see built

Hey RCKEN I would more than welcome your experiance so by all means step in when you can

I'm currently building a PT-60 (well I was building it, I had to stop do to location of my bench and my most recent injury), personally I'm in favor of trainers at the moment, I am a beginner and I would like to go in to aerial photography eventually so a trainer does well on both fronts, what trainer to do something that can take you sometime might be nice as to choose one that ill take a week or 2 would be no fun for you and wouldn't keep you busy for very long, personally even as a first timer I think the PT-60 is about 2 weeks of work if done correctly (I'm on 3rd month ) so enough of my blabber, I'd say something that you'll enjoy building and will take you a bit to build (what ever it is you build we'll learn a lot from it I promise)

Dave

Hey Dave
For me two weeks or two months really does not matter. Like I said I like building more than flying. If you are into aerial Photo Then maybe think about building a model of the preditor UAV. I think it would make a great platform. The plane was built for Recon so it would be easy to set up for what you want. with the big wings she would fly forever

would you know where plans for that UAV could be located I've only finished building one plane from scratch no kit just plans and the instructor (curse him, long story) crashed it first flight. so this kit is my second attempt and hope things go better this time, as for the building I'm with you there 100%, I like to see things from start to finish not just the end result. And as for choosing a plane maybe give us some options what your interested in doing and we'll all have a kinda vote and then you can build that one

Dave

P.s. for the photo stuff I must say the 12' looks real tempting, something that big, but I guess you loose agility then (different tools for different jobs I suppose) maybe I'll have fleet just for photography then

I have built (and learned to fly on) the Telemaster 40. It's an excellent flying airplane and, while it is a fairly simple build, the instructions are a touch lacking. Just make to read through them several times and be sure you understand what you're doing before proceeding.

May I also humbly suggest (in the spirit of your second post on formatting) that you add more white space between paragraph breaks in your posts. Large blocks of text with no breaks tend to be difficult to read

Chris

Thanks Chris will do

Well I been thinkin we have had two come up and say the Telemaster is a great trainer and while I had planned on staying in with Tower most of the planes have been discussed.
Also to is unlike many trainers out there the Telemaster 40 has some added features like flaps. All in all I think it would make a great build.
What do you think?

The Telemaster series has been around for about 30 years, maybe more. Yet I have never seen a build on one. I think a build on one would be in order and I suggest the 40 size as it is typical of a size commonly flown.

I completely approve of choosing the Telemaster for this thread. It is, as many have mentioned, a VERY common first build for many new pilots, and is quite similar to several other first builds...meaning this thread will make excellent documentation for beginning builders. Once completed, it will make a fine trainer for someone, and perhaps several someones. My own has been through 4 different new pilots, and is now waiting on its 5th new pilot.

Yep. If you want to Build a good trainer, it's going to be very hard to beat a Telemaster.