Building Radio Controlled Airplanes

Building radio controlled airplanes can be just as fun as flying them. The more time and effort you put into building your model airplane, the more rewarding it is to see it rise to the sky on its maiden voyage!

RC airplanes come in various forms, depending on how much work required to get them flight worthy.

RC Airplane Kits

Building radio controlled airplanes from a kit is the most common method of building. RC airplane kits have all of the balsa wood parts pre-cut with detailed step-by-step instructions. Most RC airplane kits come with all of the hardware, control linkages, wheels, spinner, and just about every thing you need to build your airplane.

After you have the skeleton of your airplane built, you will have to apply a covering. This covering and the tools necessary to apply it are not included with the kit. In addition to the covering you will need to purchase glue, modelers knifes, and various other building accessories.

The image below contains pictures of my Carl Goldberg Super Chipmunk at various stages of construction. This particular kit took me about 6 months to complete while working on it roughly 2-3 nights a week. But hey, I've never been accused of being a speed demon...

Carl Goldberg Super Chipmunk

Building from Scratch

If you have been building radio controlled airplanes for years and are looking for a challenge, then you may want to build an RC airplane from scratch! When building radio control airplanes from scratch all you have is a set of plans. You have to supply all of the material. You have to hand cut each piece of balsa yourself. Building from scratch requires extensive modeling experience and is not recommended for a first time building.

Assembling an ARF

Almost Ready to Fly… “Almost” is definitely a relative term! I remember the day I picked up my first ARF, the Sig Lt 40 trainer. I couldn’t wait to get to the hobby store to pick up my “almost ready to fly” trainer! My plan was to pick it, put it together, and head to the flying field that night. After all, it was “almost ready to fly”, right?

Boy, was I in for a surprise… The hobby store owner pulled out the box, and my jaw dropped! Being the newbie that I was… “No, I want the ARF, not the kit”. He replied…”This is the ARF, a kit is nothing more than a box of balsa sticks…” The image below is a picture of the Sig LT 40 ARF that is "ALmost Ready to Fly."

Sig LT 40 ARF

The moral of the story? An ARF is “almost ready to fly” when compared with a kit. An ARF can take as little as a couple of evenings or as long as a week or two to assemble. But don’t be naïve like I was and expect to put one together in a couple of hours…

An ARF comes with the fuselage and wings pre-built and covered. You have to glue the wing halves together with epoxy glue, some simply bolt together. You have to align and install the horizontal and vertical stabilizers to the fuselage. You have to install all of the control surfaces, control horns, control rods, control linkages, servos, and receiver. You have to install the engine, fuel tank, and hoses. The landing gear, wheel pants, and cowling may have to be installed depending on the ARF.

Ready to Fly Airplanes

In today’s fast paced world, many people simply don’t have the time to tinker in the garage for hours building radio controlled airplanes. Or maybe their wives just won’t tolerate it! If you want to fly RC airplanes but don’t have the time for building them or putting them together than an RTF airplane is for you!

Ready to fly airplanes literally come “ready to fly”! None of this “almost” business! The receiver, servos, and engine (or motor) are already installed and ready to go. All you have to due is charge the batteries and go fly!

Bottom line? If you don't have the time for building radio controlled airplanes than get an RTF airplane!