I'm planning on building my first rc plane, a spitfire 36in wing span. I've got 25 years of model experience, woodworking, and mechanical background. I still in the research phase. My question at the moment is size/thickness of the wood for the fuselage, and wings. Any insight would be grateful! Thanks - sorry I didnt see the place for beginners!
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Welcome to Hobby Squawk! I don't know what to tell you on the wood-widdling I'll leave that for some of the true builders as I'm just a foam-knapper :Silly:Originally posted by Rictafer View Post -
I've built many planes back in the 80's, 90's and 00's , but I've never tackled a scratch build though. If your just starting out (building RC planes), I would consider buying a Kit. It will come with a set of blueprints and all the wood parts either CNC or Laser cut for you.
Wood Kits are getting harder and harder to find. There are several buy/sell forums along with build groups in most RC forums, I would start there.
Good Luck,
David.Comment
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I have a complete blue print... I just need to manually cut the pieces out myself.Comment
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I have built many balsa kits in the past as well as designing a couple of models and building from scratch. Do you have plans of the full size plane or plans for a model kit? A set of kit plans should call out the type and size of the wood needed. If this is your first RC model I would highly suggest you purchase a kit or at the very least get a good set of model kit plans. If you have cad plans there are people and companies that specialize in laser cutting the parts for model kits. I have bought kits and had parts cut from Manzano Laser Works. They are a good resource, http://manzanolaser.com/Originally posted by Rictafer View Post
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1/16" balsa sheeting should work ok for the wing skin and fuselage skins. Do note that with the fuselage, if you plan on planking, that you will sand down a bit of the thickness to get the correct contour. What some have done, is plank with 3/32" so that the final fuselage skin thickness is closer to 1/16" nominal.
1/8" medium balsa works well for ribs and fuselage formers, but you can go for 3/32" as well. I do not recommend 1/16", as It is a bit more delicate.Comment
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Also, of you need some design/construction inspiration, I recommend reading through the various blog and build threads by Longhorne. I learned a lot from him.
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Thank you dirty dee!!! I'm fully confident in my building abilities! I my father has a cnc mechine, my office has all the plotters needed. I just need a pilot when it comes time to fly it! I'm not stuffing into the ground on first flight!!!Comment
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I would recommend building at least one or two kits first. Has nothing to do with your ability, but you don’t want to be doing some of the processes for the first time on your model. Also you don’t mention what scale - there is a steep learning curve as you can build a fantastic looking structure which either hasn’t the strength or proper aerodynamic properties to sustain controlled flight. Smaller size makes both of the above more difficult, exponentially.
Covering a completed structure is also not usually a good first time out experience.
Making all the control surfaces move properly for flight is going to require techniques you are going to have to learn with a scratch build. For the investment in time and $ - look for one of the classic kits like Pica or such and try something in a 1/5 scale.Comment
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