RC Plane

I've always wanted to make an RC Aircraft and I had the Remote and the Receiver just sitting in my house so I decided to put them to use. This is a great project if you like building stuff and if you like electronics. You even could take this to the next level and over program it.

1. Flysky FS-I6X Controller
2. FlySky FS-IA6B Reciever
3. Foam (I used Dollar Tree Foam and Staples foam, it's cheap and easy to work with. It also lasts long) You can also use Cardboard but not the thick stuff.
4. Very thin flappy foam or poster paper.
5. Servos (I used heavy duty servos and 9 microgram servos)
6. An ESC (Electronic Speed Controller)
7. A Brushless Motor
8. A Lipo battery
9. A Lipo Battery Charger
10. 3D Printed wheels
11. Bamboo rods or carbon fiber rods for support 46 inch rods (you might need more than two)
12. Some metal wire to make the push rods and horns out of
13. Glue or some adhesive (hot glue or super glue works best)
14. You might need some extra servos depending on the complexity of your plane. You need at least 4 servos. The kit that I provided only gives 2 servos.

Good thing I made an Amazon shopping Cart. Here is the link to it. It only includes the electronics of the plane. The total of the electronics will be about $130 plus shipping. The foam will be another $20. You will also need to 3D printed wheels. I have provided the file.

You'll need to do some serious plans for this project. I did make some diagrams and plans for you. I also made the 3D model of the plane and it's various parts. I also provided a txt file of the dimensions. I will be making the plane 2 because it looks cooler. I attached the first one just so you could see the progress of the planes. The video shows you how to make a diagram of a 3D shape in Freecad.

I included everything you'll need to build this thing in the supplies and the 1 step. You'll need to buy all of the stuff or improvise the supplies if you can't get something for whatever reason. the shopping cart link is in the supplies. I have a google chrome extension, Share-a-Cart. It is so neat and handy when I am sharing shopping carts. You can still use the link even if you don't have the extension. Here is the link. you can order it off amazon or other services. I used amazon.

I made the schematics on Excalidraw. It's a free drawing website. You should check it out. Anyway, the schematics are very easy. You just need to connect all of the components via the connectors. You don't need to solder anything. This is to just play around with it, to make sure that you have wired them properly.

For this step you actually need to build the 30 inch long and 40 inch wingspan plane. You should make everything in separate pieces so when you put it together it will be 1,000 times easier. It took me many days to build the plane. You might need to add more support if you need it but two bamboo skewers should work. You can also use carbon fiber rods, bamboo is cheaper. You need to make 4 parts of the fuselage and hot glue them together. You'll also need to make a tip for the motor mount. I tried 3D printing it but it was too heavy.

You'll need to 3D print a chord for the wings. Then you'll need to wrap and hot glue the poster paper to your chord. I have 22x28 paper so I needed to use both of the wings. Once you've wrapped both of the wings and glued them you will need to put the bamboo skewers through the body and the chord and make the connection between the wings and the fuselage pretty. The reason why it's 46 inches long and not 40 is because the fuselage is 6 inches wide and the wings go through the fuselage so you need to subtract 6 inches.

To actually put the electronics (ESC, Motor, Servos, Battery, Receiver) in the plane you'll need to glue them down. Don't actually glue the electronics, make a 3D print to put on the electronics and then put them on. Then you can glue the cases. Then you'll need to bind your remote and receiver. That is easy. Just but batteries in your remote and hook you receiver up to your ESC with the battery plugged in. Then plug your binding cord that came with the remote and receiver and plug that in to the binding port and turn on your remote and receiver. If the light stops flashing on the receiver than it is bound.

To be able to take off from the ground you'll need to add wheels on the bottom of the plane. I recommend just 3 wheels because it is lighter. You'll need to 3D print 3 wheels and put the galvanized steel wire on and glue them onto the bottom of the plane. You'll need to bundle up at least 3 steel wires and glue them together because one steel wire isn't enough.

You'll need to hook up your servos now. This is an easy part. The kit comes with a connecter so just make a square hole in the bottom of the plane a little behind the wings and then put the servo in there. Connect the servo to the flaps you cut out and the Ailerons. The Ailerons control the rolling of the plane. Then connect the galvanized steel wire to the servo and both of the Ailerons and connect it to the correct port in the receiver. Then make a servo at the back of the plane for the Rudder. This controls the planes movements left to right moving on the x and y axis. Then you'll need to make the elevator flaps and those go on the back of the stabilizer. Make two flaps and hook up a servo in the Center of the fuselage. Then you'll need to attach steel wire to the elevators just like the Ailerons. Then connect all of the servos to the correct ports.

You're done! Now you can fly your giant masterpiece. This is so fun!