I am in the process of constructing my first plane, I am pretty sure that the model will have to endure several crashes so I thought I wud make one out of coro, since it cheap and seems much hardy than 3mm balsa. I bought a 6'x4' 3mm coro sheet. I could not get 2mm or 4 mm stuff and the next size was 5mm which looked pretty thick.( I got the 3mm from Ellis Road, Triplicane, Chennai)
I have the following stuff,
1) 2212/ 10 Brushless motor from RCFORALL.. (3 blade 7035 & 2 blade 8060)
2)18 A ESC
3) 3S1P 2200mAh Turnigy Batt(25C)
4) HXT900 servos--(6nos)
5) 6 channel Tx & Rx
6) a crazy head

Query 1. Can I use the same 3mm coro for ailerons and rudder??? or shud I get 5mm coro??? (there are a lot of IDEA and DOCOMO banners out here, but I dont know the thickness  )

Query 2. I dont want my first plane to be too heavy, so can I go with a wing span of 24 inches??? I guess lighter the plane, lesser the watts and more flying time.... which wud be great since I have a lot to learn .... the motor is supposed to have thrust of 800g but I am planning my flying weight to be around 500g.. The battery is itself 188g ... I am also planning to add wheels....

Query 3. Can anyone suggest me a plan with a 24 inches wingspan??? I am only interested in PLANES, not in MUGI kind of stuff...

I realize that I am doing the opposite of planning....  Before planning I got all the electrical stuff, so now I need a plan to use them......

--Crosslee

   

Something like this : http://www.rcindia.org/electric-planes/cub-using-3mm-coro-and-6mm-depron/

BTW, start with a sim, if there is any way you can lay your hands on one !

And a warm welcome to RC India... great to see 2011 starting with a plan build !

Look at these also, for added inspiration

http://www.rcindia.org/electric-planes/yummy-cub/

http://www.rcindia.org/electric-planes/my-new-scratch-build-cub-trainer/

Thanks for the links...... The Piper Cub has drawn my attention but my only worry is my heavy battery  (188g).... can a model with wingspan of 24 inches handle the weight (wingloading is where I am getting at) or should I give up my restraint on 24'' and go with a larger wingspan maybe 36'' max...

Since this is my first build, I am not sure what will be the final weight.... So I need a rough estimate before I can begin.

I am in need of dimensions.... I am not so experienced to make out from a couple of pics.... I found some plans at http://www.spadtothebone.com/freeplans.htm but all the plans were too big.

Does anyone have any plans for a MINI PIPER CUB with dimensions, aileron displacement distance and other such details.

Can I scale them to my requirement?? IS there any formula or calculation while scaling down or is it pure experimental???

As a learner myself, I would suggest larger wingspan.. It'll be easier to fly and will have better visibility.. Once in the air you get easily disoriented as to which direction the plane is going.. Start with a pusher or a stick fuselage and a glider type wing (generous dihedral in the outer panels).. Later you can just change the wing and make it a 4 channel plane once you've outgrown the 3 channel glider.. Don't worry about the flying weight, with a nice big wing and a 800gm thrust motor your plane will fly nicely..

I don't know if the experts will agree with me on all of this but this is what worked for me and I had nobody to help me here in Goa.. I started off with a 60" wingspan 3-channel plane with coro fuselage and thermocol wings all reinforced with wood sticks.. My tailfeathers are 3mm coro so don't worry about that.. Still you can always slide a kebab skewer through one of the flutes for added strength..

As, there are a lot of IDEA and DOCOMO banners,  just  build one.
As medicineman 1987 said, Start with pusher type model, so that Prop saved during crash. Again, larger props are generally used in slow-flyers with low KV motors. Your motor is of 1400KV outrunner. So, use 8060 prop with SlowFly model and can make pipercub or Mr. Moss like plane. Keep minimum 36 inch wingspan to 48". Starting battery is too heavy  I think As I am not a professional but a begineer.

You can just print the plan of piper cub in A4 sheet reduced and draw dimension manually with scaling factor and can reproduce the plan. A projection system (As simple as a closed darkroom with little sunlight on plan, A convex lens and your target paper, marker but you have to give final touch with scale and curves.) can be used to draw.

Thanks

Thank you sooo much for the valuable insights.... Now I have a cub plan for 76" wingspan & 47" length. and I am going to scale it down... I am a bit worried about weight though  .... I am planning to build on 3mm coro..... IDEA and DOCOMO banners can wait for the next proj ....

Since I cut the 3mm coro into three 4'x 2' pieces, I guess I cannot use these for wing. So I am off to get a new sheet.
BTW does anyone know where I can get 2mm coro sheets in CHENNAI. 5mm coro is available here, should I use 5mm for aileron and rudder controls or is the 3mm OK.....

I will start drawing the template on 3mm this evening .... If anyone has dimensions for a mini CUb pls let me know..... It should save me a lot of work....

Y can't u try the AVISPAD!? I have not yet completed buildin but the reviews show it as a good trainer..

Quote from: crosslee on January 04, 2011, 09:04:38 AM
should I use 5mm for aileron and rudder controls or is the 3mm OK.....

My tailfeathers are 3mm coro so don't worry about that.. Still you can always slide a kebab skewer through one of the flutes for added strength..

As KALYANPRODHAN stated before,

The battery is going to be heavy. But if your motor produces 800gms thrust. Then with even 600gms of AUW, The thrust to weight ratio is still greater than 1:1. So, No problem so far in this side of your build.

All the seniors are requested to correct me as required.

The next thing that matter is Wing Loading. For the trainer type flying characteristics, we need 5 to 8oz/sq feet of wing loading. So, As per my opinion (Consider me as a beginner Guys), Your final choice should be a wing area of 2.3 sq feet. It means Approximately 330 Sq. Inch.

Now let us suppose the wing span to be 40" with weight 500gms and It is a simple rectangular type wing. So, the wing root should be 8.5". So,when we calculate the area of your wing, it comes around 340Sq inch.
I hope you get the idea...


Now, we can adjust the wingspan and Wing root without changing the wing area, in below manner:

If we increase the wing span, the root would be lower.  (For Constant Area)
And If we lower the wing span, more root would be required.  (For Constant Area)

For ex. Suppose the wing#1 from below diagram which has 40" Wing Span and 8.5" Root.
Intended wing area is 340Sq Inch

If we lower the root from 8.5 to 7 Inches, then how much should be the wing span to achieve
intended wing area?

The Answer is : 340/7 = 48.571 Inches

See The wing Span is increased on decreasing the root.

Thanks. Happy Building.

http://www.rcindia.org/electric-planes/yummy-cub-price/

@sumeet--- thanks!!!!! My idea of wing is clear now.

@krish--- AVISPAD is too huge!!!!!!!!!

As u had pointed out I also kind of feel that my motor is bit underrated...... Can I move up to this Turnigy motor?
TGY AerodriveXp SK Series 35-30 1100Kv / 345w the motor is 108g but I think the thrust is huge to lift any construst.

It has about 1900g of thrust and my battery wont feel bulky then.....

I have come to a final conclusion

Its going to be a Piper cub

WINGSPAN-36"
CHORD- 8.5"
Semi-symmetrical.

Length- 20"

MOTOR--- 2212-10 (or) 3530-13 {upgrade on the way}
Turnigy 2200mAh 3S1P

I got my Hk 6Ch Mode2 transmitter today... but the USB cable was somehow missed out during shipping. No manual too ... A CD came broken in half

there is a port called battery, shud I use a separate battery or will it be powered from my ESC(it has BEC output of 5V/2A).... In that case shud I plug in my ESC in the batt port or in the Channel port??

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/catalog/HK-T6XV2-M1-1(2).jpg

Anyone using the same transmitter pls help me out!!!!!!!!!  

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9042

there are four tabs, below add to cart, in that go to files tab and download t6 config to manual to everything, you can upload your own as well

Thanks downloaded all the drivers and stuff.... But this query still remains
When binding the receiver I am supposed to put the bind plug in the BAT position and the battery in one channel...... How will I power the receiver in this stage. Since I have a ESC with BEC, I thought I would use it as power source. But how to use it for Binding???
CAN AN ESC BE OPERATED WITH NO LOAD(MOTOR) connected???

Quote from: crosslee on January 05, 2011, 01:15:24 AM

Thanks downloaded all the drivers and stuff.... But this query still remains
When binding the receiver I am supposed to put the bind plug in the BAT position and the battery in one channel...... How will I power the receiver in this stage. Since I have a ESC with BEC, I thought I would use it as power source. But how to use it for Binding???
CAN AN ESC BE OPERATED WITH NO LOAD(MOTOR) connected???

When binding, you can use your ESC as a power source for receiver. Connect the three wire cable in channel 3 And the other thing is that the ESC can also be used as a power source during flight too if it has a Built in BEC. Seems like your ESC have one so, positive. You have to connect the battery to the esc. then the three wire cable again to channel 3 in your receiver.

The ESC can be connected without any motor when you want to check out the servo movement or binding the receiver whatever.

But don't do it during flight...  

Thanks buddy.

If you need to talk, Then feel free to call

Here's my cell number:

9713321726

@sumeet--- thanks man,

Will try to bind today.....
I am really scared...... hope there won't be any smoke today

Ok buddy try and let me know the result.

Thanks.

Binding successful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it seems like binding was not necessary as it was factory bound  but anyway I came to know of this later.......
Working on the wing right now and will post some images when possible

A Big Thanks for helping me out  

Can I use normal thick wires for connections or should I use only silicone wires?..... I found the silicone wires in Ritchie Street at price of 100 metres for 1400 bucks but he wud not sell them per metre...And I don't want to buy 100mts Can I get silicone wires in Chennai per metre kind of stuff ??

P.S. I tested the servos today., I used normal wire for connecting a switch because I hated removing and connecting the XT-60 connectors and it did not get hot