My $9.00 Flight Box

[Bud Morrison]

Well it was time for a new field box. My old wooden one had a broken drawer on it. The paint was coming off and wood was fuel saturated. I looked around and really didn't find anything I liked at the local hobby shops. I didn't really want to lug around a whole gallon of fuel and the Express Tote that I liked was no longer being produced.

Well I had to make a trip to the local Home Depot and while I was there I came across the following. It reminded me of some boxes a few of my friends were using for their RC nitro cars but a little smaller so I thought I would give the same a try.

[Bud Morrison]

This the a shot of the inside bottom of the box. The fuel tank I found on a bottom shelf at one of the local hobby shops it was a 1/2 gallon fuel tank. The shop owner told me it was a tank for a giant scale plane it came with the clunk and some very nice bulkhead fittings.

The battery is an Hobbico Torquemaster Mini. I didn't see the need to lug around a full size battery and the mini was the best weight to balance the box with the 1/2 gallon fuel tank on the other side. Everything is held in place by a piece of 2 inch thick closed cell foam which I can also cut out sections of to hold other things in place as I did for my battery charger. No more forgetting where I left it lay when I go to charge the flight box anymore!!

[Bud Morrison]

Here is a second shot of the inside showing the fuel tank a little closer. The top fitting is the vent/return. the one on the side is the clunk fitting.

[Bud Morrison]

The next picture shows the box with the tray in place. Lots of room for all my tools some props and other emergency parts.
My Lite Machines starter fits real nice in the back portion of the tray.

[Bud Morrison]

Here is a shot of the top of the box showing the Hobbico mini panel I put in the recess on the lid of the box. A full size panel would also fit very nice but I already had this new in pack mini panel, so I figured I would put it to use.

I cut the top out with my trusty Dremel and a cut off wheel and then riveted it in place with 1/8th inch rivets with washers on them. I have found in the past that screws don't hold real well in this type of plastic and bolts tend to come loose over time.
Also notice how the starter sits nicely in the handle recess.

[Bud Morrison]

I was planning on putting the pump on the inside of the box but two things stopped me. The first was then I would have also had to mount a fuel pump switch somewhere on the box. The second was the thought of the tubing coming off on the output side of the pump and fuel filling the bottom of the box. That wasn't a pretty picture in my mind. Thus the Hobbico fuel pump got mounted to the outside of the box.

The vent tubing goes out through a bulkhead fitting and when the box is not in use a small piece of tubing gets looped to it from the output side of the pump so the fuel system is always sealed. The pump was riveted on using the same method I used to attach the panel.

[Bud Morrison]

Here is the close up of the Mini Panel in the recessed area of the top of the box.

[Bud Morrison]

Overall I am very happy with my new flight box. The 1/2 gallon tank gives me more than enough fuel for a days flying 1/2a and I have room for all my normal field box tools and other items.

Note: Make a brass restricter to adapt your 1/2a filler hose to the standard size pump hose. I soldered a piece of small tubing into a larger diameter brass tubing then soldered shut the small tubing on the end then drilled out the solder with the smallest drill bit I had in my box of drills. Now it no longer fills my cox tanks faster than I can turn the switch on and off :)


If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for Looking
Bud Morrison

[BillH]

Looks very good, way to go.

[TallDude]

Out of curiosity... whats the overall dimensions of the flight box?

[Bud Morrison]

17 inches long X 8 inches wide X 9 inches tall.

[Matt Chester]

Thats a neat flight box man. Good idea.

[josephalexander]

This is exactly the same idea that I had but I figured to use one of those plutocrat ($12) tool boxes with the extra lid on top that opens befoe the "tool box proper" lid ... so that I could cover my Accu-Glow panel when not in use. They also have those small compartments that are under the toolbox top lid for little fix-it stuff like clevis pins, glow plugs & plug wrench, small screwdriver or two and indespensible small needle nose pliers Same idea just Maybe a little more utility.

Also for a plane holder - Harbor Freight puts their folding handi-man bench on sale for about $11 every so often. It has a big clamp on top & holes drilled in the top to put fuse supports & stuff. That way don't have to kneel or bend over to work on the plane - it is about belt line high.

The right size tool box would fit rather nicely on the knee high supports on this $11 handi-man folding wonder.

jea