Looking for a rubber band powered plane building kit

[afterwop]

Hi flight enthusiasts!

I'd like to ask you for a suggestion, since I'm a complete noob in the field of model airplanes: I'd like to buy a rubber band powered model airplane building kit for a friend of mine who's a dentist ,and I think he'd get a kick out of putting the thing together and watching it fly.

So what I would like from you is suggestions of complex airplane kits (I'd like to make building the plane a little challenging, but I need the kit to be complete) along with the links to where I can buy them from.

I'm not sure how much to invest in this, but I'm willing to pay as much as it takes for a quality kit.

Thanks !
AfterWop

[David A Ramsey]

Dumas Aircraft www.dumasproducts.com

Easy Built Models www.easybuiltmodels.com

Peck-Polymers www.peck-polymers.com

[vintage1]

also www.replikit.com

Plenty of old veron,keilkraft and Frog rep;icas there.

Suggest the KK senator or Gypsy.

[Andrew0820]

SIG Manufacturing www.sigmfg.com

Search under Aircraft --> Free Flight

SIG and Herr make excellent kits for rubber power.

[mt_100]

www.fly-m.com

I know Fred, the designer and guy that runs the site. He taught me to fly RC. Take a look.

[Whizz]

Best hobby shop on the internet http://www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com/

[David A Ramsey]

Due to fuel prices, I hear tell Boeing is looking into rubber power.

[Chestum]

mayn models here also http://www.parmodels.com/

[coosbaylumber]

I would suggest that you go over to the SAM Talk forum and make same comment.

There you need to note as to if you are thinking of a Scale type model, or one of the simple stick models. Each performs differently.

Then too what about size, like in wingspan. Too big and they fly clumsey and short. Too small and you ahd better have an indoor site all figured out.

Lottsa ways to go about this. Beware, most folks there are out for blood and consider a BIG, high flying A/C the only way to go. These guys think in grams, not ounces and no way pounds. And they don't like Guillows, Sterling and a host of them like such.


Wm.

[ziomatrixacs]

or if you are cheap...

http://www.ffscale.co.uk/rplans.htm

check out smallflyingarts.com too

These sites offer free plan downloads..just try to keep it simple, some of them are very complex and difficult to build..others are just basic stick and former style. Just go to the hobby shop and buy some wood that matchs the plans and cut it out your self

[BMatthews]

Excellent suggestions all.

What the other posts didn't tell you is that trimming a rubber scale model to fly without crashing and destroying itself is a highly skilled and challenging task. For your dentist friend with no background in the hobby his work would end up as matchsticks in a tissue bag pretty darn quickly unless he flies it over the proverbial two foot tall grass. Even then there's so much going on with a new model that the adjustments required will elude him. These models are not a fly right off the building board by any means except in the most highly unusual set of lucky circumstances.

By all means get him a nicely detailed kit and direct him to the Free Flight forum here for assistance and advice. But at the same time get him something like the Peck Polymers One Night as something to work on his/her flight trimming chops....

http://www.sigmfg.com/IndexText/PECPP13.html

[afterwop]

Hey! Thanks for the advice, everyone! All those models look great. I found a video on youtube of the model plane I like best, it's an ultra-light design made for indoor flights. Do you think I can find a building kit for one of these (or similar) dragonfly-like machines?

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=424052#vid-976e8bea

[BMatthews]

You're going from the frying pan and into the fire now. Indoor ultralite modesl of that sort are not hard to build but they do take a very light touch and some dedication to learn to build. Last time I looked there are not any kits for these models available since they are basically made from such standard stock or the strips that make up the outlines are cut and tapered to very specific requirements based on what the builder can manage.

There's some good threads on indoor in the Free Flight forum. In particular this one that chronicles one modeller's experiences in learning to deal with the extreme techniques that make indoor models fly so well....

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=818901

Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to suggest that free flight is a bad choice for getting into aeromodelling. It's just that the options you seem to be attracted towards are options that most of us work UP to rather than start with. Just as dentistry requires a very specific skill set and knowledge that provides the judgement needed to make intelligient decisions and do the work needed so does model building. And as with most skills that are built up from a mix of knowledge and practice it's best to start with the basics rather than jump right into doing a root canal operation with teh drill in one hand and the How To book in the other.

Please don't take my comments as harsh criticism. They are intended to point you to a more rewarding path rather than one where frustration would be a far more likely outcome.

[afterwop]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I see what you mean, BMatthews so I'm just gonna go for a regular model airplane, none of that ultra-light pro stuff.

Could you recommend me the lightest plane from the ones that are suitable for beginners?