Combat Plane Construction Workshop

Combat Plane Construction Workshop

Cost: $20.00 Sat Jan 9, 2009, 3 pm to 7 pm

Want to get into combat for 20 bucks? This workshop will have members given specific tasks for cutting out and assembling components for .15 size combat planes. Participating members will be assigned to a team that will either cut out fuselages, cut out the tails, Assemble the fuselages and assembling tails.

By working as a team, we can get these planes built in this worksop.

All participants take home one of these planes that we build.

Space may be limited based on response. Sign up now to reserve your spot

Participants List(edited Nov 2)
Max Perez
Rod Hancock
Andrew Bonk
Joshua Salvador
Dave Router
Boris Vaintroub
Garry Blom
David Blom
Chris Lee
Michael DiRienzo
Liam [newrc]
Mike Wise
Rickyboy
Avi Persaud
Tiago

anywhere from 10 to 20 people. 20 would get pretty crowded but it can be done

Yikes, I better get busy! Good thing we have 3 months...

I'm in.

I have a spare kit of the "Caution" design (high wing). All the balsa and ply parts are laser cut. Maybe we can use those parts as a templates for cutting all the parts we need.

The airfoil of the Caution and Enigma are the same. Only the lengths are different. 40" for the Caution, 36" for the Enigma.

Josh

There are two options for finishing these off, electric and nitro... I know everyone seems to be nitro, but I ran my Enigma with an electric motor, and other than the shorter flight times, it is a cheaper alternative. You could use the following from Hobby City...

TR 35-36A 1450kv Brushless Outrunner $19.50

Hobbyking SS Series 40-50A ESC $11.70

So $31.20 compared to the cost of an OS15LA, Fuelt Tank, tubing, filler plug, throttle servo, rx battery, etc...

The rest of this stuff, other than batteries can be used for nitro as well...

You will need servos, this is what I use in mine, they work fine...
HXT900 9g / 1.6kg / .12sec Micro Servo $3.59 each X 3 = $10.77

Might want to keep a couple spare sets of gears too...
HXT900 Replacement Gear Set $0.89 each set X 5 = $4.45


So, total cost so far, $46.42 plus the cost to build the plane, $20, comes to a grand total of $66.42 for an electric combat plane...

And if you don't have a spare receiver, or you aren't yet on 2.4Ghz this radio is perfect for these small planes, I've used them myself, I have 3 of them... This brings the cost up to $99.37 not bad for a RTF Combat plane...

Hobby King 2.4Ghz 6Ch Tx & Rx (Mode 2) $32.95 including 6ch rx

If you don't already have 1800mah to 2500mah 3 cell LiPo's, these work great...

ZIPPY Flightmax 2200mAh 3S1P 25C $18.99 Each

I didn't include the cost of the battery in the plane above since you either need batteries, or fuel... and I'm still on the fence as to which is cheaper in the long run... I sort of think batteries are cheaper...

Keep in mind, electric will give you shorter flight times, but with this combo, these planes are FAST and a LOT of FUN to fly!

If you want to actually fly combat, we need to determine if electric vs nitro is fair, or perhaps two classes? or perhaps you're out of luck, and you just have a fun plane to fly...

The prices above are the proces listed for me on Hobby City... If there is enough interest, perhaps we can just order everything in advance, and have it all there when we build the planes? Certainly doing one order for everything will save a ton on shipping...


and if my math is wrong, its 5:30am, I've been up most of the night rebuilding my Wing Cutting jig and hotwire bow...

Check out Balsa USA. http://www.balsausa.com/store/category.php?id_category=6

A 3/32x4x36 sheet is $1.40 What is the LHS price here for that? I haven't bought a sheet in a long time

looks like im going electric then ! im going to use the reciever from my trainer and i already have a 11.1 volt 1800 mAh battery and charger!
excited for combat ! could have a team of electrics if more people decide on it.

I'm building another one right now, it will be electric...

I basically copie the size of my enigma, but drew it freehand on some balsa sheets with a few little modifications here and there, and cut them out. Now I'm gonna trace the parts before I glue them together, and then will be able to make more if it flies

I'm on holidays this week and my sleep cycle is all screwed up so I was up all night last night and managed to get the whole "wing cutting" thing figured out...


http://www.vimeo.com/groups/amac/videos/6947844

Looks like 5 sets of wings from a $10 foam board... rough estimate.... thats the foam, not including the stringers etc...

That's a different way then I used to cut them. I made 2 ribs from lite ply and used finishing nails to hold them on each side of the foam. I have some wire if you want a piece.

Nice setup Rod.

Are those 18" or 20" wing halves? I think the Enigma's have 36" wingspans and the Cautions have 40" wingspans. Either design will probably fly well with either size wing.

Which design are we going to build anyway?... The Enigma (low wing) or the Caution (high wing)?

Josh

look what I found.

And I thought I was bad- that some sickness you got there....

The jig will do both... I have one set of 20" wings (40" total for a caution) and the rest are 18" each for the Enigma...

I like Daves idea though, I'm going to try that and see if it works better... I still have to figure out how to cut the slots for the wood stringers consistently...

rod

The jig will do both... I have one set of 20" wings (40" total for a caution) and the rest are 18" each for the Enigma...

I like Daves idea though, I'm going to try that and see if it works better... I still have to figure out how to cut the slots for the wood stringers consistently...

rod

You will notice in my pic there is a template with a slot in it. one on each end and you cut out the spar. we could also consider slicing down the length of the wing and using a 1/8" by the thickness of the cord spar. BTW rod, on some of my foam cores that I skinned I didnt use a spar and they held up vary well.