I have been scratching my head really hard lately trying to come up with some scale plane ideas. My goals are this Foam armored wings and a light durable easy to build fuse, Oh yeah and dirt cheap too. I want one of the longer winged planes with lots of area. OK what are your ideas. I am leaning in the direction of a folded coroplast fuselage with armored foam wings. Possibly Fulmars, IL2's, or Blackburn Firebrands. The coro fuse limits to some degree how many fuselage shapes you can design. Big radial enginges are probably out. Has anyone made a few coroplast fuselages and possible has some insight on how to make them better or stronger etc. I like the coroplast idea because I believe it will be lighter than foam??? I really am not sure of this but I think it is lighter. If it can be made significantly lighter then possibly we could use the heavier more reliable engines for scale at the 3 lb cutoff. I would also like to see some new innovations in the realm of scale to get more flyers. I know that a lot of folks are scared off a bit by complicated building airframes that are way to fragile and expensive. I would appreciate any help anyone has to offer on the scale airframe aspect of radio control combat. Remember I want cheap, tough, light and easy. I don't ask for much do I.

Don
I've done coro migs and mustangs. They last as long as a spad in combat. Not long.
Last year Lou and I buillt some High load foam Fulmars and they are they are very strong. Alot of work but worth with it. I've built 6 and totaled out 1 fuselage and 2 wings. 30 rounds of combat.
(dixie,checker six, Nats, Waverly)
Take a look at Lou's web site. The work and the expense add up quick. Glass rods, poly rods, foam, hot wire techinques etc. Then you have to cover in ripstop with WBP and paint.
I like scale and plan to make 3 to 4 more of these but it an investment in money and time.
I am also going to try a couple of warbird fuses. From what I've seen of A.J plane they are very tough. And you save quiet a bit of time in the fuselage.
ON the short horizon I am excited about trying scale with the nerfy rules in mind. I think the same rules in scale will slow down the planes enough that they last a whole season.

I think we all are looking for a quick build competitive model but there seems to be no short cut. If you want to butt heads with Mike , A.J and Daniel you have to go all out. Mousse cans, twin aileron servos and all the goodies.
Good luck
Ron

Ron I think you could make a coro fuse that would be very survivable. On the planes that you built did you use coro wings as well. Was that the weak point in your airframe? I think people are not taking the full armor view on coroplast and foam wings can be made to fly well and be tuff as nails. I am going to try to run 1/8" fg rods down the flutes on the 4mm coro and use laminated g-10 yardsticks also for strenght in the fuse. I think this will make a strong structure but will still be susceptible to prop cuts. What do you think. Tell me what to try because I have never used coro before. I may be wrong but want to give it a try. If I could make a strong good flying bunch of scale planes that are easy to build and cheap maybe it would help scale live to see another day. Or maybe I'm just completely full of crap.

I fly a Dave West Corplast MiG-7 in scale. This plane is as tough as nails, but I don't know if it's my building techniques or Dave's design.

On the maiden flight, there was way too much elevator throw. Every time I moved the stick more than a tiny amount, it'd do three quick snaps. Nosed it in from about 50' up at full throttle. Cracked, just cracked, one lite ply former.

In its first contest, I got greedy and put double-sided tape on the leading edges in the second round. Can you say STALL STRIP? I couldn't give it ANY up elevator, or it'd spin out of control. Those sharp leading edges are tricky. Boffed it into the ground flat on its belly at full speed. Two rubber bands to hold the bottom panel on the fuselage, and I was up for the next round. Nothing structural was damaged.

Don
My coro stangs I built for the Rhino where made with a EPP wings. The fuse had the 1/8th rods just like you described. I didn't do the g-10 thing thou. I think coro is just too brittle. Foam absorbs impact and doesn't distribute the shock like coro does.
The I think Rhino ran into Doc Evil at the Dixie this year with his and was out with that one and then nosed in the other one. Wasn't a good day for him. But he did make some good videos the rest of the Day! ( Rhino we need that tape!)
Well the damage at Dixie was a broken wing and the yard sticks popped out of the coro fuse. The pro bond seperated and the yard sticks shattred. The mustang is the easiest fuse you can build and its extremely fast. But you can only scale up to 41" to be legal for rcca. Not competitive the wing span is too small.
I just think if you are going to say 3 to 4 meets next year. Say 30 rounds its worth, going the extra mile and fly what the big boys are flying. Traveling 1000 miles and then video rounds 3-6 the rest of the day sucks. Ask Rhino.
There is not that many scale events. I am going to go the extra mile and have top line stuff next year.
Ron

I will probably build foamie fulmars like Fredricks is flying for the big meets but I would like to try and make coro fuse planes that are easy to build and fairly competitive for those interested in scale but are on the edge. I want some planes that look attractive to bring new people to the sport. If a guy could build a durable competitive plane for 20 bucks in 10 hours or so I think it would help scale to get a few new pilots.......maybe. I am going to explore the fact anyway I'm not going to give up on the idea yet. There may still be ways to improve the durability of the coro fuse.