RC-Airplane-Plans.com
RC-Airplane-Plans.com is the product of more than forty years combined experience of flying RC airplanes. Read below to see some of the highlights of how years of experience with multiple different types of airplanes has brought us to the electric, foam, park flyer type of airplane; and see the influences and experiences that aided in the creation of the perfect beginner airplane "The Griffin".
Gas-powered, Aerobatic, Balsa Wood Airplanes:
We started our journey with this great hobby years ago with gas-powered, balsa wood airplanes. We would spend hundreds of hours building an airplane, and taking it out to the model airport to fly was quite an event. Learning to fly this type of airplane required hours of instruction from an experienced pilot. We would tether two radios together with a buddy cord so that the expierenced pilot could flip a switch on his radio when things got ugly and save the day.The model airport was a place of joy and tears. Hardly a day went by that someone didn't create a pile of toothpicks out of their plane. Most of the time you could see it coming. A guy would show up with a brand new, tricked-out, top-of-the-line airplane that he just bought pre-built at the local hobby shop. People would gather around to see his new beauty, and within seconds it would become apparent that the guy had never flown before. Everyone would offer advice and try to convince the guy that he ought to take a few lessons before he tried to fly it, and he would insist that he had a lot of experience with RC cars and that he was sure he'd get the hang of it in no time. After everyone had done their best to talk the guy into sanity, we would all withdraw and halt everything that we were doing so we could watch the inevitable carnage. Within 5 seconds the airplane would be but a memory. Nobody would have the heart to say "I told you so" as the poor guy would throw his pile of toothpicks in his car, slam the door, and drive off never to try his hand at RC airplanes again.
Gas or Rubber Band Powered Balsa Wood Gliders:
The inconvenience of having to make a trip to the model airport lead us to search out an airplane that could be flown in tighter quarters. At the time, the only alternative to a balsa wood aerobatic airplane was a balsa wood glider. Since the glider could fly at slower speeds, we decided to give that a try at the local junior high's grass field.People would watch in amazement as we would attach a gigantic rubber band to a hook on the bottom of the airplane and walk diagonally across the field stretching the rubber band to its limit. When the airplane was released, the airplane would catapult hundreds of feet into the air and release the rubber band. Using thermal heat coming off the roof of the school and a nearby church, we could keep the airplane up for hours.
Balsa gliders were not free of their challenges though. The plane would take almost the entire length of the field to land, so landing approaches had to be carefully constructed; and there was always a great deal of concern that if something went wrong, the airplane could come down and hurt someone. One day, a glider had radio failure and went drifting off into the distance. After hours of nervous hunting for the remains of the plane, we found it. It had crashed right through the windshield of a BMW a few neighborhoods away!
Electric Balsa Wood Gliders
While there is something cool and realistic about your airplane running on a gas motor, the messy, expensive fuel and loud motors were always problematic. We were excited when the first battery-powered RC airplanes came around.We had some fun with our first electric balsa gliders, but the biggest problem with them was that the batteries were too big and heavy. You still had to have a large glider to support the weight and size of the batteries, and the motors were much weaker than their gas powered counterparts; so gaining altitude and performing aerobatics was much more difficult.
Electric Foam Airplanes:
In recent years, the technology for electric airplanes has advanced by leaps and bounds. Batteries have become smaller, lighter and more powerful. Motors have become smaller and more powerful; and servos, electronic speed controllers, receivers and other electronics have all become smaller and lighter. These advances have made our dream of being able to fly a radio controlled airplane anytime, anywhere a reality. Not only can we fly airplanes anywhere now, but these ariplanes are just as capable of doing all the tricks we used to do with big, gas powered planes.For about the past ten years, we have converted completely to electric, foam RC airplanes. As we have flown in local parks, neighborhoods, and even from our front porches, the number of people wanting to learn how to fly has multiplied. As a result, we have been on a continuous search for the best beginner airplane. Our Airplanes are the result of the fanatical tweaking and adjusting of many different airplanes we have designed until we have arrived at what has proven to be the best starter airplane we have seen in all of our years of experience with this great hobby.
After years of witnessing the struggles and frustrations of people trying to get into RC airplanes, we watch with delight as people of all ages quickly learn to build and fly our airplanes.