Building and desining my own rc plane

[James3]

Hello. I've flown many RC planes and now want to build and design my own.
What's the best way to learn basic aerodynamics and aircraft design to create a rc plane that can fly?
Thanks.

 

[JasonK]

here are some resources for getting started:

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/easy-aircraft-design
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/determining-control-surface-area.62991/#post-565944
https://www.ecalc.ch/cgcalc.php
http://www.theampeer.org/CWL/reynolds.htm

 

[GrizWiz]

What nerdnics videos. They are very helpful for learning to design.

 

[Piotrsko]

There is also the rule of thumb: if it looks like a plane........

 

[tesseract]

Look at multiple rc planes and state their similarities such as center of gravity, wing chord, aerofoil type, etc. Also you just have to think about what it will look like in your mind, ten unfold it and draw it out
(assuming you read this post after reading all the others and used their advice. I may not know anything about what i'm doing so I'd suggest follow what they're saying and then what I suggested. )

 

[Monte.C]

What I did was watch almost every FliteTest video (because I was hooked, and the earlier videos were better) and bought one kit - a FT Sportster. I never flew it, but it gave me a feel for how to work with foamboard. Then I started designing & building. It isn't necessary to get deep into aerodynamic theory or online calculators or anything technical like that unless that's what turns you on. Base your designs on planes that fly and on common sense. Understand the basics like center of gravity. And the infinite wisdom of the Great @Piotrsko (above).

 

[JasonK]

Yah, my first plane was a case of, pick a wing design (I modified the Tiny Trainer's wing), pick a tail design, throw into a CG calculator. assemble, situation CG based on calculator's recommendation -> fly

 

[Monte.C]

Hello. I've flown many RC planes and now want to build and design my own.
What's the best way to learn basic aerodynamics and aircraft design to create a rc plane that can fly?
Thanks.

Yeah James, I built a couple of planes until I realized what I needed to do. You're working with a complicated system with many parts that need to all work together for the intended result: controlled flight. It sounds complicated but others have already done the work for us. So your singular objective right now is to successfully design-build-fly. I crashed something that wouldn't fly and I finally said "Ok Stop Right There. Build something simple that'll fly. Nothing else matters." I was afraid I wouldn't be impressed with it; I turned out to love that little plane. It flew like a dream, and makes a good trainer.

 

[DinosEatPeople1]

Do glide tests to see CG can help as well. I would recommend it just to try and get a good feel for an aircraft. The Germans made the bf109 with glide tests