RC plane hobbyists, questions for you.

[LN400]

I seem to remember there are a few here who fly rc planes. I come from rc helicopters but planes are a complete mystery to me (for now), and I could use some hints and tips from the guys here who have experience with these things.

The plane is an electric 5ch ST Models Beaver with lights on an optional 6th channel (distant plans of separating the lights for 3 channels). My radio gear is an 8ch DX8 with an 8ch rx + satellite. The plane is a high wing full body scale foamie ARTF.

Now that it has been assembled, the interior is pretty hard to access for fixing and securing the rx/sat and I toy with the idea of cutting out one passenger door. Issue is, this door is underneath the wing and I'm concerned cutting out the door with weaken the hull strength around the wing attachment points.

I know I better fit the rx away from the ESC/motor so having them both in the cabin sounds like a good idea to me but again, getting access there is a PITA., without cutting out the door.

 

Any tips in general on where to fit the rx/sat on a foamie? Does it matter much as the only conductive material of note is 3 carbon rods securing the wings, and both motor and ESC are in the nose (battery compartment).

Would it be worth it attaching the rx on the outside? (the aerials are really short on the spektrum receivers) Or would it be a very silly idea, considering the lack of protection there?

 

Any tips mucho welcome!

[RoadRunnerAerospace]

On 8/1/2017 at 2:55 PM, LN400 said:

I seem to remember there are a few here who fly rc planes. I come from rc helicopters but planes are a complete mystery to me (for now), and I could use some hints and tips from the guys here who have experience with these things.

The plane is an electric 5ch ST Models Beaver with lights on an optional 6th channel (distant plans of separating the lights for 3 channels). My radio gear is an 8ch DX8 with an 8ch rx + satellite. The plane is a high wing full body scale foamie ARTF.

Now that it has been assembled, the interior is pretty hard to access for fixing and securing the rx/sat and I toy with the idea of cutting out one passenger door. Issue is, this door is underneath the wing and I'm concerned cutting out the door with weaken the hull strength around the wing attachment points.

I know I better fit the rx away from the ESC/motor so having them both in the cabin sounds like a good idea to me but again, getting access there is a PITA., without cutting out the door.

 

Any tips in general on where to fit the rx/sat on a foamie? Does it matter much as the only conductive material of note is 3 carbon rods securing the wings, and both motor and ESC are in the nose (battery compartment).

Would it be worth it attaching the rx on the outside? (the aerials are really short on the spektrum receivers) Or would it be a very silly idea, considering the lack of protection there?

 

Any tips mucho welcome!

you should be fine with attaching the rx inside the aircraft, I only put mine on the outside of my scratch builds because it looks cool. The conductive material shouldn`t be any problems

[LN400]

Luckily I found a thread on RCGroups where one had the exact same model. He did cut out the door, hinged it and made a locking mechanism. I cut out the door with an x-acto and access is as good as I could hope for now. Being not only my first plane but also my first scale, I don't mind the decals got slightly roughed up where I cut the door. If this model survives my first take offs and landings, I'm looking into going super scale on it as far as weight allows (got around 200 grams to spend before a new motor + ESC are needed) and if so, then those decals will go anyway. Found the one to model it after, if I can find more photos/documentations. Securing the door should be easy enough.

 

Long term goal is to make it look like this one

Edited August 3, 2017 by LN400

[Nuke]

only r/c plane i owned was a foamy spitfire and the wing was a completely separate piece. this was attached with rubber bands to a couple of bamboo rods and the main load bearing structure in the fusalage seemed to be a laser cut balsa panel glued to the foam. the bamboo rods were placed above this. the top of the fusalage was a removable foam peice that just attached with a single screw at the front. i didnt have much trouble installing electronics in that model. the panel was accesible at both the top and under the wing. servos installed into laser cut holes which were line up to the tubes through which control cables were passed. the aileron servo was installed directly in the wing and the cable was passed through a hole provided for passing cables. the model seemed to be pre-balanced as there was a dedicated location for each component, the motor controller, motor mount (really just a piece square dowel glued to the foam frame) even the place for the receiver were all well designated before hand. it was real easy to put together. before long it was held together by epoxy, duct tape and broken dreams and finally gave up the ghost in a rather catastrophic crash. i then scraped the parts. i found a cheap $40 heli kit and most of my parts found their home in that. it sits in my closet with about $80 worth of brand new cnc parts (replacing broken plastic ones) that have never flown. overall i find the hobby way to expensive for my budget.