Planes

[ItsMinJunLol]

Hi! I want to build 2 planes. 1 is for cargo and long flight, and another one is for speed and agility. The frame isn't the problem because I can make one from a resin-based plastic mold. I'm not sure how that would turn out but the frame should be covered. I know that there needs to be a balance of weight from front and back, and I know that it can't be too heavy so I'm planning to make my frame as thin as possible. Since I'm a noob at this, what do I need and what's recommended? I would like to keep this pretty cheap because the transmitters are very expensive here, and I might want a FPV setup because why not. Thanks!

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

"1 is for cargo and long flight" aren't there regulations against building your own planes for commercial purposes?

[ItsMinJunLol]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

"1 is for cargo and long flight" aren't there regulations against building your own planes for commercial purposes?

I'm not sure what you mean. It's not for commercial purposes. In my school, we have places where you make your own rc plane and just fly it. The cargo I'm talking about is something like Flitetest's cargo plane. Big for a rc plane but able to carry and release cargo mid-air or just anywhere. Long flight, is just I might want to have it fly for a long time because it would be a bummer if you have a good plane, but it can only fly for like 30 secs.

[Nokia]

I heard used Airbus A300's go for a good price or if you prefer the American team, McDonnell Douglas DC-10s are good but not as fuel efficient. Each will fly longer than 30 seconds and carry a lot of cargo.

[Hackentosher]

You probably want to build your planes out if foam board. Check out Flite test on YouTube. 

 

Do you have any experience flying rc planes? It's. It as easy as just picking up the radio and going ham, you will crash instantly if you don't have any experience with fixed wing aircraft. 

[*Chazz]

Just like Hackentosher said, look to youtube. Everything I have learned about the hobby has been from youtube. Flitetest in particular is very good.There are tons of people out there that make videos on RC planes. Your looking at about $200 (controller/reciever,servos, battery, battery charger, materials) to get a good well rounded start in the hobby. If you want a decent experience with FPV your looking about $500 (with goggles), I have looked for cheaper ways, but if you want to have a good experience you just gotta pay up. Otherwise you will waste your time and money with crummy products. Price is the main reason I have not gotten into it yet. One day... I would recommend foam board as well with hot glue. Its cheap and you can build simple planes fast. If you wreck no biggy, electronics usually don't have an issue surviving crashes, just build another plane out of foam board. I have quite a bit of experience in the hobby, and all I can say is start small and work your way up. If you don't want to fuss with the building there are plenty of RTF kits out there that are not to expensive that will give you a taste of the hobby before you pour even more money into it. 

[straight_stewie]

11 hours ago, ItsMinJunLol said:

Hi! I want to build 2 planes. 1 is for cargo and long flight, and another one is for speed and agility. The frame isn't the problem because I can make one from a resin-based plastic mold. I'm not sure how that would turn out but the frame should be covered. I know that there needs to be a balance of weight from front and back, and I know that it can't be too heavy so I'm planning to make my frame as thin as possible. Since I'm a noob at this, what do I need and what's recommended? I would like to keep this pretty cheap because the transmitters are very expensive here, and I might want a FPV setup because why not. Thanks!

The balance question is actually a really hard one to answer correctly. But there are some simple rules. For a docile aircraft you will want your center of lift to be above and behind your center of gravity. For the agile aircraft, you will want your center of lift much closer to the center of gravity. How much so depends on alot of factors, but it's basically all about calculating the moment arms with your CG as the fulcrum.

IMO, look up a flitetest build plan and just do that.