Unconventional Materials

atariman24

Junior Member
Hey all,

As someone just getting into building my own planes I'm wondering if anyone managed to make something other than balsa or foam fly. I remember when I was younger I got pretty into making planes out of cardboard. They never flew.
Anyway I'm just curious if anyone used unconventional materials in their build.
 

RAM

Posted a thousand or more times
I'm working on a crazy idea right now. If I ever finish it I will call the airplane "Tiny Tim".

I wanted to make some kind of basic airframe and then hang whatever body I want on top it it (a frame pod instead of a power pod). I got to looking at Aluminum crutches. Used ones sell for $1. The basic shape of the front of the plane is already there. Now I just have to decide how I want to connect the rest. It's all part of the foldable wing idea I had a while back. Removable or foldable wings will be easy using the center part of the crutch. I grabbed a couple sets of them and drilled out all the rivets. Time will tell if Tiny Tim ever flies. I'm aiming for a 6ft wingspan or greater.
 

Redneck2.0

New member
They have what's called " Spads" simple plastic airplane design . My first trainer was a Spad. The fuse is made from square PVC downspout. The wing spar is made from 2 yard sticks and the wind and tail is made from " coroplast" corogated plastic. It is a very tough plane. Flew into a tree. Only damage was fuse cracked and busted firewall. Free plans and info here. Spadtothebone.com. Trainers, 3d, scale, combat everything. Haha sorry kinda started rambling
 

Redneck2.0

New member
image.jpg not my pic but the same kind that I had
 

fjschuler

Junior Member
The SPADs are super-tough airplanes...and the basic materials can sometimes be obtained for little to no $$ (think political signs). I built a SPAD3D a few years ago from an old Pepsi sign: DSCF1170.JPG