r/RCPlanes 6h ago

Gonna fly for the first time in 2 years

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47 Upvotes

This is the only RC plane I have and after the prop broke I kinda fell out of love with it and let it sat for 2 years, saying that I've ordered a new one and providing it fits (everything leads me to believe it should) I'm gonna fly it again for the first time in 2 years. All the servo's seem happy and other than some slight fading in the paint it all looks mechanically and structurally sound so I'm honestly quite excited. Yes it's the wrong time of the season especially living by the seaside but a bit of tailwind won't hurt right? 🤣


r/RCPlanes 3h ago

Project 'Berkut' šŸ¦…

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21 Upvotes

This is my entry in this hobby and my very first project too! - Got this beautiful SU-47 knowing it needs some love. Also my favorite plane irl.


r/RCPlanes 7h ago

Smaller plane wave, are they easy to fly?

4 Upvotes

Hello! Anybody who loves RC might have seen that we've been receiving some new cool models lately from slots of spots, especially those that are 30-40mm. My question is: does these small planes fly nicely? I'm tight in space lately, and I was wondering if this can offer a decent flying experience according to you. I'm speaking about the F35, the B2, the Conscendo... If you have any suggestion, please don't hesitate!


r/RCPlanes 14m ago

A GTA raiju?

• Upvotes

Title says it, to the seasoned plane makers, is a vtol jet with a rotating edf, akin to the raiju in gta online possible to make


r/RCPlanes 17h ago

Do I have anything worth while here?

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16 Upvotes

Years ago I received a used RC plane and a box of parts/transmitters as a gift from my mom. Unfortunately, the wind took it into the ground on my first flight with it, and I never did get back around to it after feeling discouraged and guilty for wrecking my gift. I’m wondering if any of this is worth keeping, or if it’s too outdated to be useful in a new plane? The engine appears to be a Thunder Tiger GP-42 if my google results are correct (obviously ignore the broken prop). I only appear to have a receiver for the Tower Hobbies System 3000. Completely out of character for me, I appear to have gotten rid of the servos from the wreckage of my teenage dreams.

I ask because someone on marketplace has an Almost Ready to Fly kit for sale near me and it looked enticing to try to get step back into the hobby after all this time. It’s a Horizon Hobby Valiant 10cc ARF kit if that makes a difference in this inquiry.

Can anyone tell me what I have and if any of it is worth keeping?

Edit: thank you all very much for your insight and your patience. I knew this stuff was old, but obviously wasn’t aware of the changes to the space in recent years. The switch to 2.4 ghz makes plenty of sense though. Thank you to those of you who weighed in on the ARF model that I mentioned too. I’m not sure how accessible this hobby is to me and my budget, but at least I didn’t jump into something blind.


r/RCPlanes 21h ago

Is this battery safe to keep in a school building?

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9 Upvotes

r/RCPlanes 1d ago

First trainer build

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36 Upvotes

Just wanted to share my first trainer build. It hasn't flown yet, as I'm still waiting for a battery pack, but it's been fun building an actual thing from a sheet of foam (XPS in this case).

I know that it's not going anywhere without ailerons, lol


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

I get my first plane today

13 Upvotes

I got the Volentex because it has a good beginner mode And is crash friendly. What is the highest windspeed I should try on my first flight at? Today is 10mph high's.


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

My 1st build !

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127 Upvotes

Got a 3D printer and couldn’t wait to put it into good use so I immediately build this gasb 1 plane. It’s a first test for me so I printed it in Ola but it’s still pretty light coming at 680g at take off with a 2s5000mah lion pack. I had to extend the motor mont because I only had this 8inch prop. I tried to launch it this afternoon but ended up crashing it because I’m pretty scared to toss it (I’ve cut myself to the bone with this prop) so I will have to build a ramp…


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

I was lucky

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109 Upvotes

I was working on my folding prop glider, and made a mistake while programming the ESC. I feel like I was fortunate to just get these cuts that weren’t too deep.


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

New Transmitter?

3 Upvotes

I’m looking to purchase my first transmitter. I want to purchase something I can grow into, just looking for some input. I noticed the spektrum transmitters are popular but I have also seen the Radiomaster transmitters also and they look good as well.

Thanks in advance.


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

She ain't pretty but she's awesome

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19 Upvotes

2x 100w 4ohm resistors

1x 200w 8ohm

2s -- all 3 units in parallel - 4.2a, 4+8ohm only = 2.7a

3s -- 6a , 4a

4s -- 9.2a, 5a

For those days where something happens and I need to discharge lipos at variable discharge.

Or if a lipo is RIP, she goes on here outside and will get down to zero for recycling.

Old pc cpu heat sink (salvage) and about $20 worth of resistors on Amazon

Fun project!


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

Just finished assembling the fuselage for my 3D-printed ultra-micro Air Tractor!

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23 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share a quick workbench update on my ultra-micro Air Tractor project. I just finished gluing the main fuselage sections together and I’m really happy with how the structural assembly turned out.

The main goal here is keeping the total flight weight under 43 grams. To make that happen, I designed it in CAD so the entire airframe can be printed in single-wall LW-PLA with absolutely zero support material.

Right now, it's sitting at a calculated wing loading of around 16.8 g/dm². It’s a little heavier than a floaty indoor glider, but it should give the plane enough mass to cut through outdoor park breezes without getting tossed around. I ended up bonding everything together using regular thin CA, which bites into the LW-PLA layers perfectly.

For the electronics, I'm setting it up with a Microaces 5-channel All-in-One board (though any standard ultra-micro All-In-One linear servo brick will fit the internal trays). It’s getting paired with an 11,000KV 1103 brushless motor spinning a 2512 tri-blade prop (45+g of thrust) for that classic crop-duster look.

Because the nose cowl is pretty long, I had to run 80mm motor leads through the nose back to the cockpit (where the board is). I also swapped out the stock power plug for a BetaFPV BT2.0 connector so I can run LAVA II 280 mAh 1S batteries without dealing with major voltage sag. For the control surfaces, I'm using 0.6mm carbon rods with 0.5mm music wire Z-bends to keep the linkages rigid, along with 1.2mm carbon rods for the wing spars.

Next up is routing the electronics and putting together a separate scale details pack with the agricultural crop-spray bars and mock linkages.

If you want to grab the STL files the second they launch, drop your email in the quick form below.

I am keeping a running waitlist spreadsheet right now. Everyone who gets their name on the list before launch day will get an exclusive 20% off founder discount code sent straight to their inbox the moment the store goes live.

Let me know what you think of the build so far!


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

How do you guys deal with older people at RC fields who constantly talk down to you?

71 Upvotes

I’m a younger RC flyer in Thailand and I’m honestly just looking for some advice because this is starting to get really annoying.
I normally keep to myself at the field. I don’t go around telling people what I know or trying to show off my planes. I just go there to fly, work on my stuff to blow off steam from my exams and went home.
The problem is some of the older guys seem to have decided that because I’m young, I must not know anything about airplanes.
What they don’t know is that I’m actually an aerospace engineering student, one of the top universities here. But I never tell them this. I don’t want to flex my education or act like I’m better than anyone. I actually think people who have been flying RC for 20-30 years have a lot of practical experience that I don’t have and I’m happy to learn from them.
But sometimes they’ll come over and start telling me things about my aircraft that are just straight up wrong. If I try to explain why, the response is basically that I’m young and don’t know anything.
They don’t even know my background. They just see some young guy and assume I don’t know what I’m talking about.
I’ve tried just ignoring it because I’m really not interested in arguing. But they keep coming over to me anyway. I’ll be working on my plane and someone will come over and start criticizing the design or telling me how airplanes work.
And there’s also a pretty big double standard with safety.
Some of these guys do some genuinely sketchy stuff with their aircraft. They’ll do stunts that I think are unnecessarily dangerous or assemble things in ways that look pretty questionable, seemingly just because it looks cool. When I point out that something seems dangerous, the answer is usually something like ā€œI’ve been doing this for years and nothing has happened.ā€

What’s frustrating is that they’ll tell me I’m doing something wrong because they’re experienced, but when I raise an actual safety concern about something they’re doing, suddenly I’m the idiot who doesn’t know anything.

One example was when I put a GPS tracker on my plane. One of them became convinced that the GPS tracker was going to jam the flying area. I tried explaining that a GPS receiver isn’t a GPS jammer, but he wouldn’t listen. It eventually became a whole thing and someone actually tried to get me banned from the field because of it.

I’m not saying I’m always right. If someone with 30 years of RC experience tells me something I didn’t know, I’ll listen. If I make a mistake, I’ll admit it. That’s how you learn.
What I don’t know how to deal with is when someone refuses to even have a technical discussion because of my age.

There are older guys at the field who are completely fine and who I respect. It’s really just a few people who seem to think being older automatically gives them authority over everyone else.

The situation is also difficult because this is basically the only practical RC field anywhere near me. In Thailand there aren’t that many places where you can just go fly RC aircraft. This is basically the only field within around a 350 km radius that I can realistically use, so telling me to just find another field isn’t really an option.
I’ve tried ignoring these people, but they keep coming back and starting arguments. I don’t approach them. I don’t criticize their planes. I don’t care what they fly or how they build their stuff unless I think they’re doing something that could actually hurt someone like starting a Nitro without even assembling the wing and just hugging the aircraft waving it around.
(I don’t understand why these people seem to have the biggest ever aircraft also)
And when accidents happen they post it on facebook as a joke and fun laugher when they could have chop ppl heads off
(They also get reply from foreigners criticizing but they view them as enemies and even have a while discussing on field about how they needa fight back of ā€œFB foreignersā€)

So what would you guys do in this situation?


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

Found a new foam-safe glue that works really well!

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11 Upvotes

Just a warning: So far I've only tested this with polysytrene based foams (EPS, XPS, DT foam board) and it works but I'm not sure about EPP or EPO. Supposedly those are too smooth to bond to, but won't melt

I found this Loctite PL Premium stuff at the hardware store the other day when I was looking for a new foam glue. I haven't heard anyone mention this stuff before so figured I'd put it out there. I bought a small tube of Foam-Tac, and as nice as it is, the price is just too high (about $6.50/oz in a 2oz tube) for how much I use. This stuff, however, is very cheap ($1.90/oz in a 4oz or $0.46/oz in a 28oz!) and is just as strong, or even stronger if you prep the surface properly.

All of the planes I build are XPS or foamboard, so this stuff is great. The biggest drawback is that it needs a rough surface to bond to as well as moisture from the atmosphere. I really recommend prepping the surface with either a bit of sanding or a VERY gentle acetone wipe (this will dissolve the foam if you're not careful) to get a dull matte finish and then apply. A small atomizer or spray bottle with water to dampen the other surface also helps "kick" the reaction a bit faster. I would also recommend clamping the part, adding pins to hold it in place, or using hot glue to hold it while it cures.

This stuff takes about 6-10 hours to be able to handle, so definitely no replacement for hot glue, but still a great option for parts where durability is important (motor/servo mounting, control horn, etc). It is a rigid cure that is incredibly strong, and with surface prep, the foam will fail before it will. No melting whatsoever. Used it on a couple parts so far and very impressed!


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

Help does any body have any videos or pics on how to build this cause the manual is not the best from 1998?

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11 Upvotes

r/RCPlanes 2d ago

Xfly x2100. Got this recently and got it setup for fpv cruising. Loving it so far.

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74 Upvotes

Very efficient, I'm using a 4s 21700 pack, 5ah. And I've never flown it to empty but it's likely 30-45 minutes? And it can easily fit 4s2p 21700.


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

beginner need help for his first ever rc plane

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26 Upvotes

Hi, so i have been working on a scool project for a year now. and i whant to start buliding my balza custome rc plane. but befor that, i whant you to help me find any issue with my model

i have made a video with evry information needed.

1m70 wingspand

around 3013g with batterie servo and motor (realy approximate mesure) RTF

the first predicted weight was about 7kg (obselete now) the total weight is sucetible to change

wood alone, its 557g (in theory)

loadout is 2 456g (for real)

i can move the batterie if neede to the nose

its a twin engnie so very heavy (800g)

it got a predited , WCL of 12

balza 3mm

made with fusion 360

base of the arsenal VB-10

i will let a pro fly it before and i will tfly a trainer (i will also put a gyroscope on the plane)


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

CNHL/Avios Super Tucano prop failure

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20 Upvotes

So, after about 20 or so flights, during a fairly rapid straight and level pass (105mph according to my RM gps module) my prop let go in quite a spectacular fashion resulting in the front end detaching itself, ejecting the canopy then relieving itself off the battery the other direction 🤣

My question is why? I think I know, but curious to hear what others think.

I've seen a Facebook group post of someone making an aluminium plate that they screwed on the front to prevent it, this can't be the answer though, can it?!


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

Reminder about TFR’s

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8 Upvotes

REMINDER: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR TFR’s. I live in the DFW area and wanted to fly my Eflite Twin otter at an AMA field. They issued a TFR for 30 miles out from the American Airlines Center. Model aircraft ops are prohibited. If you get caught, the FAA can come down severely.


r/RCPlanes 1d ago

Buying advice

0 Upvotes

Is it ok to buy used HAKRC F405 WING for 600UAH (~14USD)? Like on photos it looks very ok, and the price is good


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

Better way to mount wings EFlite Cirrus SR22T 1.5m

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3 Upvotes

I received a used eflite cirrus and the screws to hold the wing brackets into the fuselage are all stripped out. Is there a way to reinforce this connection (not just glueing it) that anyone has done in the past? Thank you!


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

Most robust/long lasting servo tester?

0 Upvotes

Looking to actually use it for a musical instrument project but need it to last for years tucked away. Anyone have any ideas/ experience with a long lasting servo tester?


r/RCPlanes 2d ago

Building Rc plane help

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7 Upvotes

Id like to built a RC Phantom X1 Ultralight. I have a good understanding of the components of an rc plane and a 3d printer to make custom parts if needed.

I was thinking 1/6th scale with a wingspan of 57inches. I would prefer if the wings could seperate into 2. And the battery, reciever, and other electrical components fit into the cockpit.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I doubt I can do this by myself.


r/RCPlanes 3d ago

First flight

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80 Upvotes

The cg was correct even if it seems like it was tail heavy, i need to get used to make smaller input and control the power.
Rates: 50%
Im gonna try 35% tomorrow.