Indeed, it's these Ready To Fly (RTF) and Almost Ready To Fly (ARF) planes that have been blamed for the decline in traditional aeromodelling, but in more recent times there seems to be evidence that kits are making a comeback. Perhaps this is due, in part, to those RTF and ARF owners now being involved in the hobby long enough to want to build their own plane, rather than buy just another stock mass-produced one? What's in the box?A traditional model airplane kit typically comprises the plan and building instructions, all the balsa and ply wood needed to construct the airplane and most, if not all, of the hardware needed such as servo linkages, control horns, undercarriage parts, motor mount, fuel tank etc.Essentially, the kit will contain all you need to complete the airframe, leaving you to buy the covering material, radio gear and engine/motor and associated accessories. Some kits do include a covering material (typically an iron-on plastic film) but this isn't usually the case.Above: a typical model airplane kit will contain all you need to build the complete airframe.The components of the plane such as wing ribs and fuselage formers may already be cut out either by CNC machine or, more commonly these days, laser.
Hello, and welcome to My Wooden Airplane project! I created this website for several reasons. The first one, of course, is to give distant friends and relatives the opportunity to stop by and check up on me, and to see what I've been up to recently.
If the parts are not pre-cut then the outline of each one will be printed on to sheet wood and it's your task to accurately cut them out with a sharp modelling knife. Certainly CNC/laser-cut kits are the nicer option!Strip balsa will also be included in the kit for use as wing spars, leading and trailing edges, fuselage longerons etc.Incidentally, despite its often soft feel, balsa is actually a hardwood and is ideally suited to model airplane kit construction because of its excellent strength to weight ratio. Thin model-grade plywood is also commonly used in certain areas of a model airplane construction, where more strength is required such as engine bulkheads (firewalls) and landing gear plates.Above: a laser-cut balsa and ply kit, my Jamara Pitts S2B. Model plane constructionModel airplane kit construction takes place over the plan which must be laid out on a flat modelling board.Typically the balsa components are held in place with pins until the glue sets, so the board needs to be soft enough that a pin can be pushed into it. Sheets of two or three inch thick insulating foam used in the construction industry make ideal modelling boards, as do boards made from end-grain balsa blocks laminated together. An alternative is to have a flat steel sheet and use powerful Rare Earth magnets to hold the parts in place, instead of pins.Whatever is used for the board, the key issue is that it needs to be perfectly flat.
Any humps or twists in the board get transferred to the plane during construction, and that's not good.Above: A CAP 21 fuselage takes shape over the plan.Different glues are used when building model airplane kits and the type of glue depends on the joint and the wood type/hardness, as well as the builder's personal preference. White wood glue (PVA), aliphatic resins and cyanoacrylate (CA) glues are commonly used on balsa to balsa joints, but where stronger joints are needed such as landing gear plates and engine bulkheads then two-part epoxy resin is common.On a laser-cut kit, such as the Pitts shown above, it's normal to interlock the tight-fitting pieces together dry, and then 'wick' thin CA glue into the joint of the two pieces.Once all parts of the plane (wing, fuselage, tail etc.) have been built then the wood needs to be carefully sanded to a smooth finish, particularly the joints. Any unwanted holes and other imperfections can be filled with lightweight filler and then sanded to shape.For many, including myself, sanding is the worst job of all but it's worth taking the time because any lumps and bumps in the airframe will show through the covering and potentially spoil the look of the finished plane. So despite being a nasty task, it's worth taking your time with the sanding and getting a nice finish. Use fine-grade sand papers such as 400, 600 and 800 grit for example.Always wear some kind of protective mask when sanding; balsa dust is very fine and easily inhaled, which isn't particularly good for you! Heat-shrink covering is a relatively modern invention and traditionally balsa model airplanes were (and still are in some cases) covered in lightweight tissue paper (or even silk) with a liquid called 'dope' applied to the airframe to stick the tissue.
Dope is then applied to the entire covered surface and as the dope dries it shrinks, tightening the tissue as it does so.Many builders of small scale model airplanes, such as rubber-powered ones, still use this method but these days ultra lightweight iron-on coverings are available to replace the tissue and dope method, should you prefer. Balsa/ply ARF RC airplane kitsIf you want a gentle introduction to traditional model airplane building techniques then an ARF (or ARTF) - Almost Ready To Fly - kit might be the answer.ARFs are 90% finished, including the covering, and they are mostly of balsa and ply construction. All you need to do is some final assembly work (fitting hardware) and install the engine/motor and radio gear yourself. Model rc airplanes like these let the beginner own and fly a brand new, traditionally constructed balsa rc airplane without having to build it.Admittedly the range of traditionally built balsa/ply IC (internal combustion) rc airplanes is very limited, but they are available if you shop around.Balsa vs. DepronAlthough balsa wood has long been the main material used in model airplane kit construction, there is a growing number of aeromodellers who are using Depron foam.Originally manufactured for floor insulation for the construction industry, the qualities of Depron were soon noticed by aeromodellers who quickly discovered its suitability for model plane construction.The rigidity and ultra light weight of this foam sheet make it an ideal substitute for balsa and some incredible planes have been made with it.
The pic below (img© from the Model Flying forum) shows the fuselage of a 134' span Lancaster being constructed from Depron!It's amazing to see that such a thin foam can be used to construct such a large-scale rc plane. Of course, balsa and/or ply reinforcements are necessary in places but it just goes to show what can be done with Depron.
Repository of 'Free Model Airplane Plans' represents many years of collecting.If your a serious RC modeler you really need to subscribe to.This is the best provider of model airplane planes on the web.I am a subscriber and it is amazing.My only affiliation withhis site is as a subscriber and it is well worth the annual fee. I receivefull size plans every month in the U.S. I do not post any of his planson my site so you need to go check it out. He is keeping alive the historyof model airplanes by providing the plans from kits of many years ago.Hats off to Mr. Friestad for reserecting and saving those historic kit plans.There are a few plans that have CAD drawings that users have provided.The few cad files that are available ('.dwg' and '.dxf' files) can be viewedand printed with a most cad programs. A FREE viewing only program is available at.If you need to view them and dont have a renderer then you can get the latest version you find there.
Its no longer being updated but used to work pretty good.The '.png', '.jpg', and '.gif' files are best viewed and printed from your favorite photo editor. After you have followed the image link to the point it is no longer a link and is taking up the entire web page, Save 'The Image File' on your local machine by right clicking on the big image you want to print and select 'save image as'.