RC Plane build thread.

[Younggun]

From someone who is an IT guy that gets stuff done around the house without much experience on making stuff from plans, how hard would this be? I'd like to try to build something like this at some point since I'll be buying a cheap plane in the future. Quads are nice, but I've built one now and want something less techy and more hands on with wood.

The other kit I'm working on is a Sig LT-25. It's laser cut and the parts seem much cleaner. I could only assemble the wing because the first step of the fuse requires having the engine. The parts fit together very well and the couple of hiccups I had were due to not studying the pictures in the manual or the full size plan very well.

The PT-20 which this thread covers is die cut. Many parts for the fuse had to be sanded, trimmed, squeezed, etc for a proper fit, but the wing went together with no issue. It will still require "twisting" for washout, so I still have time to screw it up.

I want to say the Sig kit is the easier of the two. The parts seem to fit together more easily due to the more precise cutting method. It could all change when I start assembling the fuse though. Many of the small mistakes I made in its wing I was able to avoid on this build because I knew what to watch for. None of the mistakes will cause any issues down the line, just may take a little more sanding or wood filler to look nice in the end.


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[Younggun]

I'm ready to see the finished product. Is it finished yet?

I was ripped away from my little project and sent to Odessa against my will. Hopefully be back at it Sunday.


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[Younggun]

Excess cut off both ended and sanded for a good fit.

Plywood joiners modified to new dihedral angle. Took about 1/16" from the top and tapered to center. During test fitting I was getting about 2 3/4" of dihedral, down from 4 3/8 as designed.

Epoxied and clamped waiting for it to dry. Fingers crossed everything comes out square and even.

Next step is adding the doubled center ribs. Test fitting before clamping everything together showed them both to be cut about 1/16 short so I will need to shim them for a good fit. Want to get started but have to make sure the epoxy is fully set or I'll risk really screwing things up.


Sigh, guess I'll wait till tomorrow.


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[Shotgun Jeremy]

That's awesome, YG!

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[jrbfishn]

Nice work. NEVER hurry the glue. It will always cost you when doing any woodwork.

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[Younggun]

Tried to work on it a little. It last night.

Remaining spars for the wing: one had a knot in it causing a bend. Attempted to pull straight but it just snapped off as expected. Left it a little short.

Cut it at a 45 on a rib and used the scrap from the opposite tip to make it work.

Next step was to twist the wing for washout, makes for a more controllable stall by causing the center of the wing to stall first. The nose will drop predictably instead of a wing tip which causes the nose to drop and plane to roll abruptly. The washout jigs will need to be modified due to the decreased dihedral.

Started to fit and see how much shorter they would need to be when I realized there was another issue. The saddle the wings sit in while in the jig is cut nearly a half inch too narrow. Been working like crazy and just didn't have the mental acuity to tackle all that. May try again later or may just not add any washout and hope it doesn't have any bad stall characteristics.

I set it aside and went back to the Sig Kadet kit. Engine arrived so I could build the fuselage. I can say without a doubt the the Sig kit is MUCH better in terms of fit and quality. It's required almost no modification and any issues were just noob errors and pretty easily corrected.

The great planes kit probably makes a good plane, but in the case of this model it doesn't go together nearly as easy and probably requires twice the time to assemble due to sanding/cutting/fitting the precut parts.




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[Coop45]

I'm getting antsy to see you finish!

 

[Younggun]

Ok, I'm cheating a bit here but in an effort to not abandon the thread temporarily I'll mix things up.


I had another plane in progress when I started this thread. I'd reached a stopping point while waiting on an engine. Got the engine and just about everything needed to finish it so the other is on the back burner for a bit. Both at about the same stage of progress.

This one had the fuse and wings together but I made some modifications. Adding flaps and moving the servos inside the body of the wing. Last night I got the servos installed, need to add a little balsa for the monokote to stick to.

Also trimmed the spinner to fit the prop. None of these bastards ever seem to fit correctly out of the box.

And tested my monokoteing abilities on the rudder and fin.

Next steps will be painting the engine compartment, monokoteing the fuse, adding tail wheel, adding balsa sheeting around servos, monokote wing, cut ailerons to form flaps/ailerons, monokote those, hinge control surfaces, add control horns and push rods, install fuel tank and servo tray, install landing gear, maybe fly it some day.


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[Younggun]

Today's progress.


Cut the ailerons in half(ish) to use the inner section as flaps and completed wrapping the control surfaces and horizontal stabilizer.

Boring and tedious.


Two coats of Rustoluem enamel on the engin compartment for fuel proofing.

Added balsa scraps around the servos in the wing so the covering will have something to stick to.

Covered the bottom rear portion of the fuse and installed the tiller and cables for the tail wheel.

Ready to finish covering the fuse and wing now. May run a little short on white covering material. Will pick up another roll tomorrow if I have time just to be sure.

Progress should speed up once covering is complete.


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[Younggun]

Got the wing covered.

Half way there

Complete

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[jrbfishn]

Looking good.

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[Younggun]

Skipped a few updates. Been working on it whenever I had a chance and usually right up to bed time.

All that's left is mounting the battery and receiver, organizing some wiring, and finding the second screw for the muffler that I'm gonna say was stolen. Can't imagine I would have lost it.

Did the initial run in on the engine today. Gonna put a 10X5 prop on for the maiden, probably end up dropping it to a 10X4 later.

Hope I'll get to maiden it before long.


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[Younggun]

Came out at 4lbs 10oz. Manufacturers spec says 4lbs to 4lbs 4oz. About right, I have 3 extra servos on it that are over 2oz each.


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[jrbfishn]

Looks good. Hope it flys that good.


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[Vaquero]

Yep, looks good.

 

[ussoldier1984]

Do you mind me asking how much did it cost to build. That would be a fun project.

 

[Younggun]

Kit is about $100. I ran the price up on mine due to some changes requiring more servos and a 6ch Rx.

Normally on top of the kit price you would need to spend another $300 or so on wheels, receiver, engine, covering material, etc. you'll also need a transmitter, costs vary by brand and the Rx would need to match it. Something like Spektrum or Futaba is gonna run on the high end, there are some less expensive brands out there that some people have switched to though and seem to be happy with. Subject is a little broad to cover on this post. Happy to help if you decide to dive in though.




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[ussoldier1984]

Yea I am going to need a quiet building hobby once the baby is born. Playing my guitars will be a little loud for him in the appartment I always wanted to get into rc planes. Growing up I always wanted to become a pilot but that never panned out.

 

[Younggun]

You can try a foam plane to get started. Lots of ready to fly models.

The good thing about building is when it's crashed most of the parts can be salvaged and used in the next one.


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[Younggun]

Yep, I said "when". Cause you're gonna.


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