| There are various ways to construct and | | | | |
| assemble an RC plane. Various kits are | | | | Balsa kit |
| available, requiring different amounts of | | | | |
| assembly, different costs and varying levels | | | | Balsa kits come in many sizes and skill |
| of skill and experience. | | | | levels. The balsa wood may either be cut with |
| | | | a die-cut or laser. Laser cut kits have a |
| Some kits can be mostly foam or plastic, or | | | | much more precise construction and much |
| may be all balsa wood. Construction consists | | | | tighter tolerances, but tend to cost more |
| of using formers and longerons for the | | | | than die-cut kits. Die-cut kits can work and |
| fuselage, and spars and ribs for the wings | | | | look just as good with a little sanding, |
| and tail surfaces. More robust designs often | | | | cutting and use of basic woodworking |
| use solid sheets of wood to form these | | | | principles. |
| structures instead, or might employ a | | | | |
| composite wing consisting of an expanded | | | | The kit usually contains most of the raw |
| polystyrene core covered in a protective | | | | material needed for an unassembled plane, a |
| veneer of wood, often obechi. Such designs | | | | set of (sometimes elaborate) assembly |
| tend to be heavier than an equivalent sized | | | | instructions, and a few spare parts to allow |
| model built using the traditional method, and | | | | for builder error. Assembling a model from |
| would be much more likely to be found in a | | | | plans or a kit can be very labor-intensive. |
| power model than a glider. The lightest | | | | In order to complete the construction of a |
| models are suitable for indoor flight, in a | | | | model, the builder typically spends many |
| windless environment. Some of these are made | | | | hours assembling the frame, covering it, and |
| by bringing frames of balsa wood and carbon | | | | polishing/refining the control surfaces for |
| fiber up through water to pick up thin | | | | correct alignment. The kit does not include |
| plastic films, similar to rainbow colored oil | | | | necessary tools, and these have to purchased |
| films. The advent of "foamies," or craft | | | | separately. A single overlooked error during |
| injection-molded from lightweight foam and | | | | assembly could compromise the model's |
| sometimes reinforced with carbon fiber, have | | | | airworthiness, leading to disaster. |
| made indoor flight more readily accessible to | | | | |
| hobbyists. "Crash proof" EPP (Expanded | | | | Smaller balsa kits will often come complete |
| Polypropylene) foam planes are actually even | | | | with the necessary parts for the primary |
| bendable and usually sustain very little or | | | | purpose of non-flying modeling or rubber band |
| no damage in the event of an accident, even | | | | flight. These kits will usually also come |
| after a nose dive. | | | | with conversion instructions to fly as glow |
| | | | (gas powered) or electric and can be flown |
| Flying models have to be designed according | | | | free-flight or radio-controlled. Converting a |
| to the same principles as full-sized | | | | kit requires additional and substitution |
| aircraft, and therefore their construction | | | | parts to get it to fly properly such as the |
| can be very different from most static | | | | addition of servos, hinges, speed controls, |
| models. RC planes often borrow construction | | | | control rods and better landing gear |
| techniques from vintage full-sized aircraft | | | | mechanisms and wheels. |
| (although they rarely use metal structures). | | | | |
| | | | Many kits will come with a tissue paper |
| Ready To Fly | | | | covering that then gets covered with mulitple |
| | | | layers of plane dope which coats and |
| Ready To Fly (or RTF) planes come as | | | | strengthens the fuselage and wings in a |
| pre-assembled kits that usually only require | | | | plastic-like covering. It has become more |
| wing attachment or other basic assembly. | | | | common to cover planes with heat-curing |
| Typically, everything that is needed is | | | | plastic films ("heat shrink covering" or |
| already in the kit. RTF planes can be up in | | | | "solarfilm") that can be ironed on - a |
| the air in just a few minutes and have all | | | | hand-held iron causes the film to shrink and |
| but eliminated assembly time (at the expense | | | | adhere to the frame. This plastic covering is |
| of the model's configuration options.) Among | | | | more durable and makes for a quick repair. |
| traditional hobbyist builders, RTF models are | | | | Other varieties of heat shrinkable coverings |
| a point of controversy, as many consider | | | | are also available, that have fibrous |
| model assembly as integral to the hobby. | | | | reinforcements within the plastic film, or |
| Brands associated with these types of | | | | are actual woven heat shrinkable fabrics. |
| aircraft include Great Planes, Hobbico, | | | | |
| E-Flite, Hangar 9, Grand Wing Servo-Tech, | | | | It is common to leave landing gear off |
| HobbyZone and ParkZone. | | | | smaller planes (roughly 36" or smaller) in |
| | | | order to save on weight and construction |
| Almost Ready to Fly | | | | costs. The planes can then be launched by |
| | | | throwing and can then land in soft grass. |
| Almost Ready to Fly (or ARF or ARTF) kits are | | | | |
| similar to RTF kits; however usually require | | | | From plans or scratch |
| more assembly and sometimes basic | | | | |
| construction. The average ARF aircraft can be | | | | Planes can be built from published plans, |
| built with less than 4 hours of labor, versus | | | | often supplied as full sized drawings with |
| 20-50+ (depending on detail and desired | | | | included instructions. Parts normally need to |
| results) for a traditional kit aircraft. The | | | | be cut out from sheet wood using supplied |
| fuselage and appendages are normally already | | | | templates. |
| constructed. The kit will usually require | | | | |
| separate purchase and installation of servos, | | | | Hobbyists that have gained some experience in |
| choice of motor (gas, or electric), speed | | | | constructing and flying from kits and plans |
| controller (electric) and occasionally | | | | will often venture into building custom |
| control rods. This is an advantage over RTF | | | | planes from scratch. This involves finding |
| kits, as most model aircraft enthusiasts | | | | drawings of full sized aircraft and scaling |
| already own their equipment of choice, and | | | | these down, or even designing the entire |
| only desire an airframe. Lanier RC is | | | | airframe from scratch. It requires a solid |
| typically hailed as the first ARF | | | | knowledge of aerodynamics and a plane's |
| manufacturer. Other brands associated with | | | | control surfaces. Plans can be drawn up on |
| this type of aircraft are Carl Goldberg | | | | paper or done with CAD software. Many CAD |
| Products, Great Planes, and Sig | | | | packages exist for the specific purpose of |
| Manufacturing. das f | | | | designing planes and perfecting airfoils. |