My son wants a combat plane for christmas. I've already have a .25 motor for him to use. Can somebody tell me where I can find a laser cut kit for him to build? Time is running out, please help.[]

Jimmy
[email protected]

check out
http://www.jkaerotech.com/ for foam kits
http://www.picaweb.com/ for laser cut kits

and hey check out our combat club kits and arfs..... fly great look great
http://londoncombat.homeip.net/london/main.html


and oh ya Merry Christmas eh

If he actually wants to fly it in combat, then stay away from balsa and wood, but if its just for show then I don't have a recommendation for you...

as usual, i still beleive that with enough CF i could slice up your foam with my balsa, but still, for the sake of ease, i recomend the foam too. (upon getting some i relize just how tuff this stuff is, this is not your regular styrefoam stuff this is sturdy.)

although i stand that a CF wing will tear you apart but thats my oppinion and will never change aeven afteryou tear my CF wing apart

(yes im stuborn)[:@]

c/f is brittle and will shatter, and thats a fact. We build things to bend, not break. Thats why the blue 20 and 40lb foam is so popular. It will give in a mid-air if properly armored. C/F adds to much cost and weight to any combat plane.

A blue foam wing with polypropylene leading edge, fiberglass spars and bi-directional tape are pretty dad gum tough and will take alot of abuse....

Those are words to live by! [8D]

BM,
CF reinforced balsa went the way of the Dodo Bird about 4 or 5 years ago because a) that type of construction just won't stand up to the rigors of combat, b) it costs too much and c) it takes longer to build. But, feel free to be stuborn.

D

When I got into combat...every way concievable to strengthen a balsa plane was being tried...C/F, Kevlar, even thin metal strips inside the L/E..you name it, against another balsa plane it was devistating. Then along came the Battle Floyd (Foam)...and once again, with the proper use of fiberglass/CF/Kevlar/RSN/etc... any balsa plane no matter how well armored was toast. Then along came Spads built from Coroplast (US Aircore type construction) and they enjoyed a wonderfull couple years of dominance turning Floyds, Raptors, and anything balsa into nothing but land fill. If you don't know about Spads, just think of US Air Core and how tough they are. Today's combat planes will fly right through one without even coughing. The only difference would be that a Coroplast combat plane only breaks into 3 or 4 pieces...a Balsa combat plane, no matter how well it's reinforced or what materials are used, will EXPLODE into a million pieces. It's really cool to watch.

I have to agree with them, a flying rain gutter with a plastic thing that kinda resembles a wing is the toughest thing around (right now) and the toughest thing to look at as well, but it's combat and they will all meet their destiney in one way or another. The olny thing I have to say is if your flying balsa, you better be the best if you want to fly t[:-]he next round of combat!

ok ok ok
all of you make good points, but i have to say coro is better looking and your stronger material...

now people say coro aint pretty.....

check these out too.. ALLLLLL CORO!!!

check this out

www.spadtothebone.com if you buy one of them its a challenge to damage it if you crash you might have a dent just pop it out.

its indistructible

ok... so my aircraft grade CF , the same exact stuff used on real planes is going to shatter if i appli 3 or 4 layers of it. and dont talk price here thats irelivent.
i dont believe for a second that coro is tougher than CF (othrwise they would make rael planes out of coro) yes, its brittle, but if you dont flex it it wont break. going through another airplane in a mid air wont fles it it will cause tension along the LE and compression along the TE but no tourque so no flex. the plane will rotate in the air and continue to fly in a new direction unscaved by the imparc with the flying sign. now ill havet o try this to see if im right... i hate being so stuborn.

Real planes aren't expected to crash into each other in midair, or crash into anything for that matter. Coro is also heavier. It's pretty obvious why they don't make real airplanes out of coro.

I guarantee you that you cannot make a wing that won't bend in a midair. The forces on these wings are phenomenal.

CF is strong... in tension and compression. A midair is a shear load.

Why not??? If you fly in alot of contests throughout the year, price is very much relevant! If your flying 60-80 rounds of combat, which many in the RCCA do, you can't afford to be laying down C/F on your planes, its just not economical.

Good listing of combat kits here:

http://www.rccombat.com/sections/man...ufacturers.htm

I'm guilty here as well. But, what do y'all say this thread returns to the topic of the guy needing a Combat plane for his son, and start new threads for material qualities and morals discussions.

Thanks,
D

If you look closely in the middle of the picture, you can see the debris field from the balsa fuse coming apart after being hit from the side by me (the plane leaving on the right, no damage noted on my plane).

There's no way you can make a wing not flex when hit from SOME direction. Not all mid-airs are head on wing LE-to-LE. In fact, I'd say that's one of the least common ways for me to hit someone. It's often nose-to-wing top/bottom surface (T-bone from above/below), or wing-LE-to-fuse or something simular.

Oh, and the #1 cause of damage: a 9x4 prop turning at around 20k. Those props will cut though anything, including CF. And when the slash is combined with a solid impact, the CF will shatter. On the other hand, I've landed after a full round and found through-and-through prop cuts on the wings that I didn't eve know where there. I've had t-bone shots that left a 2" diameter dent in the bottom surface of the wing, and a couple of cuts all the way though the wing, and the wing stayed intact and allowed me to fly on.

It's also very common to have prop cuts to the tail surfaces. I've landed with cuts on the vertical stab that basically split it in two with no noticeable problem. Slapped a little tape on it, and flew it the next round. (I have one stab still in service that's been prop cut 3 different times, a total of 5 cuts if I recall).

Thanks for all your inputs! Come to find out he already had picked one out and told his mother, which she ordered (Combat .20 from Lynch's Hangar).

Merry Christmas,
Jimmy Patterson