Building Radio Controlled Airplane Kits

Radio controlled airplane kits provide the balsa wood, hardware, and instructions to build your very own model airplane from the ground up!

No prior building experience? No problem! The detailed instructions and included plans take you through each step of the building process.

Building a kit is time consuming, and takes a lot of work. But how rewarding it is to show off your new bird to all the guys at the flying field! After spending weeks transforming a pile of balsa into a beautiful creation that is truly yours, you prepare for the maiden flight! The feeling in your gut is fear, excitement and pure adrenaline!

This page provides a very brief outline of what is involved with building RC airplane kits. I want to give you a taste of what is involved without boring you with details!

Tools and Supplies

Below are the basic tools and supplies required for building RC airplane kits. As you learn more about building radio controlled airplane kits, you will soon find that there are many cool gadgets and tools available that will make building much easier. For now, these are the bare essentials you will need to get started.

Building Board
Electric Drill w/ Complete Set of Bits
Straight edge
Carpenters Square
Wood File
Pliers
Wire Cutters
Screwdrivers
X-acto® Razor Saw
Hobby knife, #11 Blades
Dremel Tool

Sanding Block
Sandpaper(coarse,medium,fine)
CA and Epoxy Glue
T-Pins
String
Masking tape
Balsa Wood Filler
Covering
Sealing Iron
Heat Gun

Types of glue needed

There are two types of glue commonly used for building radio controlled airplane kits. The first type is called CA glue. The other type of glue is common two-part epoxy glue.

Cyanoacrylate

CA stands for Cyanoacrylate. CA is the active ingredient in Crazy Glue. Hobby grade CA glue is basically Crazy Glue on steroids! CA glue is very strong and dries extremely quickly. You can literally glue your fingers together in an instant! Trust me, I speak from experience...

There are three different viscosities of CA glue. These are thin, medium, and thick CA.

	Thin CA "wicks" or soaks into the balsa wood very easily. This means you can pin pieces of balsa wood together on the plan, and then simply apply a drop of CA on the joint between the two pieces. The thin CA absorbs into both pieces forming a strong bond that cures very quickly. Thin CA is also perfect for installing control surface hinges.
	Thick CA ,also referred to as CA++, takes longer to cure and provides a stronger joint. This is used when more time is needed to position the parts or when a stronger bond is required.
	Medium CA , also referred to as CA+, has a viscosity that is in between thick and thin CA. The directions with radio controlled airplane kits will tell you exactly which type of glue to use for each step of the building process.

CA accelerator is used for making the glue dry instantly. CA accelerator is commonly referred to as kicker.

Accelerator should be used sparingly as it can cause the glue to cure before it soaks into the wood enough for a strong bond.

CA accelerator is great for making on the spot repairs at the flying field. It's also handy when aligning two pieces where you need an instant bond to hold the pieces in position.

Two-Part Epoxy Glue

Epoxy glue is much stronger than CA glue, but takes an extremely long time to set up. It is used where extensive alignment checks are needed while the glue cures. Epoxy glue is often used for gluing the wing halves together.

I generally use 30 min epoxy glue because it has a slower curing time and is stronger than 5 min epoxy glue . Keep in mind that this time designation is the working time of the glue, you really need to wait 24 hours for the strongest bond.

Learn more about model airplane glue

Choosing your work area

The adhesives used for building radio controlled kits require a well ventilated area. Believe me, you don’t want to fill your home with these fumes. The building process requires quite a bit of gluing, cutting, and sanding. In other words, it gets quite messy! The best place to build your radio controlled airplane kits is in the garage...

You need to have a work bench of some type. Most garages have some type of work benches already. I have a couple sets of saw-horses and sheets of plywood that I use for additional working surfaces as required.

You will need a completely flat building surface that you can stick T-pins into. Most people use a building board. This is a completely flat board made specifically for building radio controlled airplane kits.

Some people turn ceiling tiles upside down to use for a building surface. Whatever you choose must be completely flat and you have to able to pin the plans to it.

If you buy a building board made specifically for building radio controlled airplane kits, you can rest assured that your wing will be straight.

Organizing the Pieces

Organization is the key to building radio controlled kits efficiently. There are tons of pieces and it's not much fun hunting for that piece you need when everything is a mess!

Start by labeling each part with a felt tip pen. Each part is identified in the manual and/or plans. Read the directions through, and organize all of the pieces accordingly. You'll have a pile for the wings, fuse, stabilizers, etc. It's also a good idea to use some plastic baggies to keep from loosing the smaller parts.

Building the Wings, Tail Surfaces, and Fuselage

In my opinion, building the wings is the coolest part of building radio controlled airplane kits. It's also a lot easier than you may think! You start by pinning your plans to the building surface. You then cover the plans with a plane protector to keep the glue from ruining them. are clear plastic sheets that resist modeling glue.

Carl Goldberg Super Chipmunk

Most every piece of the radio controlled airplane kit comes from a die-cut sheet. The exception being the sticks/sheets of balsa and basswood that must be cut to length. Building radio controlled airplane kits is a lot like putting a puzzle together.

Start by pinning the balsa pieces in place right on top of the plans. It's kind of hard to mess that up! Once in position, you glue each piece together using Cyanoacrylate glue. With the exception of a little trimming and sanding, that's about all there is to it! The directions take you step by step through the entire process of building the wing

The wings are put together one half at a time. Once both wings are completed they are glued together in the center with 30 minute Epoxy glue for strength. It is very important that the wings are aligned perfectly while the glue cures. This sometimes requires some creative rigging to keep the wings held together straight and firmly while the glue cures over night.

The tail surfaces and fuselage are put together in much the same way. The pieces are pinned to the plan and glued together. The directions take you step by step through the entire process. It's a piece of cake!

Covering the Airplane

Much like a full scale airplane, the frame of the airplane is covered with a thin plastic covering . There are a few brands of covering, one of the most popular being Monokote. The covering adheres to the frame by means of heat, similar to shrink wrap.

The covering is cut to the correct shape and laid across the frame. A special sealing iron is ran over the covering in the same way a shirt is ironed. This iron is adjustable and doesn't get nearly as hot as a standard household iron. For the reason it is important that you buy a sealing iron that is designed for covering radio controlled airplane kits.

On flat solid surfaces, such as the sides of the fuselage, a sealing iron is all that is needed. Simply keep running over the wrinkles with your sealing iron until the surface is smooth.

When covering open areas, such as in between wing spars, a special heating gun is used to pull the covering tight. You have to be careful though, too much heat will burn a hole right through the covering and you have to start over.

The wings, fuselage, and tail surfaces are covered before final assembly. This is where you can make your plane really stand out from the crowd! You can choose or design any type of covering scheme you desire!

The key to a great covering job is a great finishing job! Make sure every surface is sanded smoothly and free of surface defects before covering. If there are any defects, they will show through the very thin covering.

More covering tools available here for making the job easier

Hinging the Control Surfaces

Each moveable control surface must be hinged to the airplane so that it can move up and down freely. There are a few different types of hinges available. The three types below are the most common types of hinges used with radio controlled airplane kits.

CA Hinges

CA hinges are the easiest to install and most common type of hinge. CA hinges consist of a thin sheet of flexible plastic coated with a special material that soaks up the CA, or "wicks" much like balsa wood does.

Slots are cut into both the control surface and the mating portion of the airplane where the CA hinges are inserted. Once the control surface is lined up properly, a few drops of thin CA are applied to the center of the hinge.

The CA "wicks" to the ends of the hinges forming a strong bond with the balsa wood.

Pinned Hinges

Pinned hinges consist of two rigid plastic tabs pinned together to form a hinge. They are often referred to as nylon hinges, because the plastic is nylon. Pinned hinges require larger slots than CA hinges.

Epoxy glue is used to install these hinges. The tricky part about installing pinned hinges is keeping the glue off the hinge pin!

Installing pinned hinges is a little more trouble than installing CA hinges. It may be worth your time as pinned hinges are more reliable than CA hinges.

Pivot Point Hinges

Pivot point hinges are cylindrical "fingers" that come to a point. They are glued into pre-drilled holes of the control surface and mating portion of the airplane.

These fingers or points have barbs that help to form a secure bond.

Robart makes what are called hinge point pockets. The pockets are permanently glued into the control surface. Robart hinge points are then slid into the pockets and held tight with a set screw. These are a snap to replace!

See more hinges and slotting tools

Final Assembly

Once all the components are built and covered, it's finally time to assemble the radio controlled airplane kit! The horizontal and vertical stabilizers and wings must be attached to the fuselage.

Both the vertical and horizontal stabilizers are normally glued to the fuselage with 30 min epoxy glue. The directions must be followed closely to make sure everything is aligned perfectly. Not only do you have to play close attention to the alignment, you have to be very careful not to get epoxy glue all over your pretty covering job! Some radio controlled airplane kits use bolts for attaching the stabs, but most use glue.

The wings have to be removable to access the electronics and for transportation. Different radio controlled airplane kits use different methods of attaching the wings. As a general rule, there is a tab on the front of the wing. This tab slips into a notch in the front of the fuselage. After the wing is secured firmly, the back of the wing is either bolted into place or held tight to the fuselage with rubber bands.

Control Linkages and Electronics

Now it's time to install the brain and muscles into your creation! Control horns are attached to each control surface with screws. This control horn is then attached to a push rod that is driven by a servo. There are a variety of push rods used with radio controlled airplane kits.

The throttle, rudder and elevator servos are installed into a servo tray that is glued into the fuselage near the wings. The receiver and batteries are also firmly secured in this area.

The elevator and rudder pushrods usually consist of a steel rod ran through a stationary plastic outer tube. The outer tube is glued into the fuselage and exits the fuse near the tail. The steel rod is attached to the control horn of the elevator (or rudder) on one side, and the servo at the other end.

The throttle pushrod can be a bit tricky because the fuel tank is usually in between the servo tray and engine's carburetor. If you're lucky, you may be able to use a straight push rod like is used with the tail control surfaces. More than likely you will have to use a cable. A flexible outer tubing is ran from the servo, around the fuel tank, and through the firewall. A small cable is ran through the outer tube connecting the carburetor control arm with the servo.

Smaller airplanes can get away with using one servo to control both ailerons. The entire length of both ailerons are notched where it meets the wing. A aileron rod is glued into this notch. This rod is bent 90 degrees at the center of the wing. A control horn is attached to the bent portion of the rod. A short control rod connects the servo with the aileron rod. Since ailerons always move opposite of each other, each aileron is attached to opposite sides of the servo arm mounted in the center of the wing.

Larger airplanes must have one or more servos for each side of the wing. These servos are mounted directly on the wing. A small control rod attaches the servo to a control horn mounted to the control surface.

Installing the Power Plant

Whether you're installing a motor or an engine, alignment is the most critical aspect of installing the power plant for radio controlled airplane kits. Installing a motor is fairly straight forward as there are no fuel lines or control rods to worry about.

There are several things to be considered when mounting an engine. You have to determine the best orientation for the engine and determine how the exhaust will be routed. The control linkages from the servo must be installed. The fuel tank and tubing must be installed. Click here for more information on what is involved with installing the engine.

Radio Controlled Airplane Kits on Ebay

A lot of us RC airplane "addicts" tend to buy kits quicker than we can put them together. Over time they can really pile up! For this reason you can find tons of radio controlled airplane kits eBay selling very cheap! Make sure to click the "view all" link at the bottom of each column so you don't miss any thing!