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ARTICLES
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A few guys have emailed
me, asking what would be a good plane to start with, as a first project
to build with balsa wood.
Before we had all those low-wage Chinese guys building everything for
us, hobbyists used to build a lot of planes from kits. There just
aren't as many kits available today because of all the ready-made
products on the market nowadays. But there still are a few kits
out
there, and I still think that's the best way to learn to build an
airplane out of wood.
Once you build your kit, or if you want to skip that step, how do you
decide what plane to build? You don't want to get a super
complicated
plan and find that you're in over your head. I have a few
pointers to
help you out.
You may have noticed that you can look at ebay and find about ten
million opportunities to buy plans on CD, or download them, etc.
Before the internet was such a big thing people used to read hobby
magazines. Realistically, there isn't much use for magazines any
more,
but there is one thing that I miss about them. Most RC magazines
used
to publish construction articles every month, and they published a
catalog where you could buy a copy of every plan they ever
published.
The editors wanted to make sure that their plans were of high quality,
so the designers were expected to flight test, refine, and deliver a
good product.
In the modern digital age, I am still a big enthusiast of magazine
plans. You can still buy the plans from these catalogs, now
online.
Do a search for "RCM plans" and you'll find my favorite plans
resource. Model Aviation also has a great catalog, as do Model
Airplane News and Model Builder. Personally, I've always been an
RCM
plans fan, so that's what I'll use in my discussion here. I have
collected nearly a hundred different RCM plans over the years, and
almost all of them have been great!
But why not download plans from the internet? Well, there really
isn't
any quality control involved in most of these plans. If you can
find
something decent, go for it. I'm sure there is a lot of stuff out
there that's worthy of consideration. One thing I know for sure
is
that the old magazines had a good reputation for quality, and it's hard
to go wrong with their products.
So, let's assume that you're going to buy a set or two of plans from a
magazine catalog such as RCM or Model Aviation. How do you decide
which one to get? How do you know what is complicated and what is
easy
to start with? I have a couple of basic guidelines. There
are two
prolific designers I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any beginner,
and the first is Fred Reese. Go to the RCM plans catalog site and
click for the "Sport" category. Then search by designer and
choose
Fred Reese. With the exception of some of his biplanes, these are
just
about the easiest planes to build. The drawings make sense, the
planes
fly great, and the designs are simple and intelligent. The other
top
designer on my list is Joe Bridi. He designed everything from
trainers
to pattern planes, and they all share some design features in
common.
The planes fly well, and everything is laid out nicely.
Here's another point to remember. The old time guys didn't used
to
build planes the way they are built nowadays. Things were a lot
more
complicated back then. Fuselage bulkheads had a lot of cutouts,
so
they sometimes looked like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Engines were
mounted
on wooden rails. Wings were often built with sheet-wood spars and
the
ribs had lots of deep notches in them. Top and bottom spars often
didn't line up with each other. Modern designs tend to have
simple
square spars, ribs with few notches, square bulkheads, and bolt-on
engine mounts. It's a whole different way of doing things.
I'm pretty sure the dividing line between the old and the new was some
time in the 1970s. The innovators did it earlier, of course, and
then
everybody else followed, which means that some plans seem modern even
if they are from a few years earlier. Some of the Bridi and Reese
designs mentioned above are a bit ahead of their time, for
instance.
If you want to build a plane designed after the 1970s that looks like
an old timer, sometimes these will be designed more like the planes
from the 1940s also. Just remember, if you're looking to build
something straight-forward, plain and simple, you'll probably be wise
to aim for something designed after 1975. |