BUflyer

I want to know what it takes to make a plane from scratch. Is is hard? How good of a kit builder do you have to be to do scratch? Any info would be nice!

David Cutler

You can start scratch building at any time. There's a lot to learn, (and that never goes away, for as soon as you get one thing under your belt, something else crops up!) but the only way to learn it is to start doing it.

You should be able to get reasonable success as long as you are patient, the only thing that really changes with experience is the quality of the result.

Patience is the key!

Good luck.

David C.

Walter D

My Feedback: (16)

David is absolutely right, but I must say this, however, I would refrain to get into scratch building only if I didn't have the right tools, when scratchbuilding the first order of the day is to cut a kit of all the parts that are going to be necessary to build the airframe, and then some, as you'll find out that not everything fits 100 % and sometimes adjustments have to be made (plans are not always true to the airframe you are building, or viceversa is it?) .

You should at least have a scroll saw, an electric sander and a vice and many clamps.
Tackle something simple first and then you'll see which tools will help you more for future projects, of a more complicated nature.

If you don't have the tools, but do have access to them, a neighbor, school, etc. by all means do it, and you'll know how to proceed from there, good luck!

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

BUFlyer:

If you are talking about building from plans the only difference from plain kit building is having to gather the materials yourself. Anyone ready for a kit is ready for plan building.

If you're talking about true scratch building, from the design up, once you've been through enough kits to get a good idea about structure, have at it.

My first ones were lead sleds, way over built. As you design and build more you'll learn more about the strength requirements, you will find your planes getting better and better.

And while building from a kit or plans can be satisfying, that pleasure pales before seeing your own creation take wing.

Try scratch building. You'll like it, if you keep at it long enough. And who knows, your very first may well fly like a homesick angel.

Bill.

BUflyer

Okay, great advice. I am confident that i could gather the parts myself, and make good quality planes from plans, but what goes into making the plans myself? Do i need to do a lot of research, or can i wing it? HAHA! ("wing it") I kill myself!

Anyways, how do i get started in constructing some plans? Again, any info would be greatly appreciated.

Tamecat

My friend laugh at me when I said that I was going to build my first trainer plane. All laughter stopped when I rolled it out. The fuse was modified from a Trainer 60. I didn't copy the fuse plan but I wanted to keep the CG and tail section the same only slightly enlarged. It had twin rudders that was almost in the same configuration as the F-117. The wing came from an sixty sized Ugly Stick with foam extensions on the end giving the wing a 78 inch wing span. I placed the largest aileron sticks I could find at the hobby store which gave the wing over 13 inches from leading edge to trailing edge.
I called the plane SST460. The top was covered in Metalflake Red trimmed in gray. The bottom was Navy Blue. This plane was built to meet several requirements. 1. I wanted something that could take off and land very slow. 2 I needed something that was very stable in the air (it was as straight wing with no dihedral) and 3. I wanted something big but not so big that it would be a hassle to move around. I purposely designed all the best features from other planes and put it into one.
When I scratch build, I always ask myself what do I want the plane to do? How do I want it to perform? Questions like this narrows the parameters of what you want. Scratch building is not hard if you know what you are looking for. Now I know you're hesitant, but you can do it. I didn't have all the tools Walter had. All I had was an hobby knife, model saw, ruler, pencil, foam cutter (from a friend) and CA. That was one of the best flying machines I've ever built.
In reference to your question, I started with the Trainer 60 (or any trainer will do) and sketched out the fuse profile. Then I enlarged the height, lengthen the drawing, angled some places while straightening out others. (Lots of erasing!) But when the profile was done, I felt confident that it would work. As my friend Al told me, All airplanes are a box with some curves added. It's your imagination that will bridge the fanasty to reality.

William Robison

My Feedback: (3)

BU:

Tamecat has stated a very good way to start. use the old standard design method; "TLAR."

Scratch building, unless it's a scale model, is largely taking one design thought here, one there, and a wild hair that you want to add. Stir them together, and so long as That Looks About Right it will also probably fly well.

My avatar is one of my early scratch builds, a stand way off scale F7F I call the "Tiggerkitty." Eleven years old, still fine. But it's heavier than it should be. That's what I was talking about earlier, you'll learn how to build lighter, what structure is needed, and what looks like it would never work but does.

The more different kits you build, the more variety of construction you'll see.

If you think you've seen enough variety of this and that, then you decide whether or not you're ready. And have at it.

Bill.