Tucker Builds Models

Scratchbuilt Aircraft

swafuturepilot — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:54:22 +0000

So, I love to build, therefore Scratchbuild airplanes are great for me. But I tend to rush with things because I’m an impatient person so sometimes these models turn out like a POS and don’t fly all that well, which just so happened tonight.

I was getting a Skeeter 30 ready, and just blazing through the radio installation because I want to go out and try it. By now you would hope I would know that if I get like this I should stop, but apparently not.

I finish the plane and go out to test fly it, it seems to do ok, but I only get a few hops in because problems just keep popping up from my quick building. It annoys the hell out of me and I eventually just end up storming into the house angry at life.

So if you ever get in that situation, just stop and go do something else and save yourself the anger that soon ensues. You’ll also be rewarded with a better flying model in the end.

Kaos #2

swafuturepilot — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:48:22 +0000

Well, as of today (7/27) the Kaos is almost ready for covering. The wing is completed and just awaiting glassing on the center joint, and the fuselage just has a few minor details until I start the joyful process of applying Monokote.

The elevator will be covered using the same curving pattern as in the wing. There will also be blue stripes on the underside to help with orientation.

More build pictures will be added at a later date.

Wood Glue

swafuturepilot — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:57:30 +0000

So, I just started using wood glue on part of my Kaos, and I honestly think it makes me feel more like a “legitamate” modeler, if there is such a thing. It also causes me to slow down and wait, so I can focus more on the joy of building than just trying to pump out a model to fly and not becoming a better modeler.

Kaos .40 Build #1

swafuturepilot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:23:25 +0000

So, I have been buiding my Kaos .40 for a few weeks, but even so I have backed up all the photos so that they could be posted here. I am going to be running a Magnum .40, 4 Futaba S3003′s, a Hitec 05S RX, and probably a 5 cells RX pack.

The kit goes together smoothly, but the plans are slightly difficult to understand and follow at first, so I did take a bit of time studing them while I “built” it in my head to help visualize how it would go together. And then when it actually became time to build, it was much easier after all the planning so that I wouldn’t have to plan as I go.

I decided to start with the wing just because the fuselage is almost all sheet balsa, so I wanted to make sure I had enough for it after the wing was finished. It ended up that I didn’t, so I had to go to the hobby shop and buy the missing wood.

Left (Top two): you can see the components of the Kaos, and also part of the wing and if you look closely the kit box.

Left (Bottom Two): The servos have been mounted as well as the engine.

More pictures will be posted as they become avaliable.

Rubber Power Anyone?

swafuturepilot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:29:45 +0000

So if you have never heard of EasyBuiltModels.com, you really should pay them a visit. They have all kinds of kits ranging from control line to RC, they even have freeflight, which catches my eye. Now, I’m normally an RC type of person, but I just love the oldtimer ruber band designs, or the designs that don’t look conventional or like a WWII plane. So, therefore I loved the model pictured below. It doesn’t look so old, but it does have really nice lines and I love the curving wing.

http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/ff02.htm

The kit is only $22 and includes everything from the wood, rubber motor, and tissue covering. A great deal if you love to build kits from the bare bones, up to a beautiful model.

Buying Locally

swafuturepilot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:13:52 +0000

As I look around such places as RCgroups, and other rc oriented websites, I notice that a lot of people order from Chinese company’s for everything they need. This makes me slightly uneasy. All of their money is flowing out of the US into China, which sure isn’t helping to stimulate our economy, nor is it helping to support the local hobbyshops around America.

Now, I do have a few servos, and two little brushless motors from HobbyCity, one of the more common exotic destinations that money may go to, but I almost always try to buy from my local vendor to try and keep him in business. I enjoy the ability to go down to that store and bring how what I need immediately, and the price difference really cancels out when you think of the shipping costs from China to the great US of A. It takes $25 of your hard earned bills to get your rc products to your doorstep in any reasonable amount of time.

So, in conclusion, I beg you to buy from your local RC vendor, such as a hobby shop 0r from a US company online. Lets try to reduce our dependency on foreign RC products. But I’m not saying totally stop buying from them. No. They are a buisness too and they need to survive, but I just see more need in the local buisness man in the US.

Flathead Screws

swafuturepilot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:53:07 +0000

I hate flathead screws, I just do. Who ever thought it would be cool to include them in engine mounts needs to rethink their logic.

As I was trying to mount my engine tonight on my Kaos .40, I got so frustrated because the screwdriver would not stay on the flat head screw because the groove was so shallow, that I had to give in to my anger and stop for a few hours. It just makes me wonder why they couldn’t just have included phillips screws that seem to be much easier to drive.

-Tucker

Welcome

swafuturepilot — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:58:58 +0000

Welcome to my blog. I am an avid RC modeler as well as a CommonSenseRC.com field representative. I fly both 3d and sport aircraft and prefer building kits over the current ARF rage. Here you can find such things as photos, build logs, random snippets of information, ect.

Enjoy,

Tucker