Tom T Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Hi Joseph I'm in my GCSE year aswell and love building and asking questions with the DT staff..... they always seem to be the been there done that people (which is great)..... so if you have any questions i'm sure they will help...... To your question about balsa or foam.... The structure and hard work that goes into a balsa built plane is priceless, they look fantastic even though they do take an age to build... A foam plane could be cheaper and easier to build but won't have as much as a WOW factor about it even though they are still great. To be honest its completely up to you..... Electric will be easier to install and maintain although it doesn't have the realistic noise and effect that you get from a nitro engine and they come out at around the same price as long as you already have starting equipment....If you don't have starting equipment then i would go with electric not unless you are willing to spend that bit more on buying it.... (second hand could be an option...?) Or even you could borrow it from a friend..... Are you planning on flying it or is it a static working model... and if you are planning on flying it, who will be? Cheers Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Snake Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Using foam is probably the best option as it is easier to use, cheaper, more versatile, stronger and will probably get you more "innovative" marks as it is a fairly new technology. Using electric power is also probably better again for the "innovative" marks and the fact it's cleaner and the school probably won't want dirty fuel and engines lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazygit Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 The OP was in April, things may have move on by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Joseph. Have a go at it. When I taught CDT, one of my pupils built a radio controlled plane from scratch having studied magazine articles and plans from commercial kits as well as magazine "free" plans. He adapted it to carry a camera to take aerial pictures using a servo to operate the shutter on a Kodak Disc camera - one of the very few options which had a motor wind function between shots and was relatively expendable. I was the lucky man who got the job of test flying the plane and teaching him to fly. I still have some of the pictures of the school environs which became part of his project. Sadly, I left the school amd lost contact before the results came through, but I think he got a good grade. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bandit Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Joseph, Look at an existing proven design that is guaranteed to fly, then make it your own, don't be over ambitious with radical designs. look at, for instance the English Electric Lightning. Impressive, cheap and simple to build in Balsa or foam stick to around 36" span. Practical and keeps the cost down, two channels work well, or three if you want to push the boat out, 049 Glow or electric for power. Not too difficult. Cheers, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Snake Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Have a look on the Parkjets website here for some ideas on how to make a fairly simple and easy to build kit By no means copy any of the designs but the way they construct the planes and form shapes could give you some ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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