Everyone knows the deleterious effects of building a crooked structure, be it a wing or a fuselage. Here is a very useful jig that helps in keeping your fuselage straight and true. I can't and don't take credit for thinking this one up as I remember reading about it and seeing it in an old modeling magazine. With age, my memory fails me at times but I believe it was in an issue of RCM. If not I will surely give credit to whoever had the original idea, if he/she makes themselves known. All I know is this thing works for me and is a great third hand.

Below you'll find a couple of pictures and descriptions of the materials I used on my version and also two PDF files that will give you a start on the grid work if you decide to build one for yourself. I stress that none of the materials used are critical, use what you have on hand.

The one pictured is relatively small because of a lack of space. I started with a scrap of 1/2” ply 24”x 8 1/2”. Glued the paper template (see the PDF files) to this using the 3M 77 and sprayed a couple of coats of the Krylon clear on that for protection. You can use as many of the templates below to fill your board if it’s longer or wider than the templates, just make sure the center line is straight. Drill the holes sized to the carriage bolts you use. I used 1/4 x 20 x 4 1/2” but 3/16” bolts would save a bit of money and work just as well. Some washers and nuts (again I used wing nuts for convenience sake but regular hex nuts would...Continue Reading

For those of you who are having problems pulling battery connectors apart, here's a method that really works well.

Not sure how original an idea this is as I first saw a similar idea on a YouTube video where a guy used nails stuck in the jaws of wooden clothespins. Thought it was a neat idea but that the wood jaws of his setup might have a tendency to crack so I never pursued it.

Then one day I received a flyer from Harbor Freight that had these snap ring pliers on sale for a couple of bucks (Regular price is $4.99 I believe but they're always on sale for something less). The pictures are self explanatory and it does work very well, especially in tight quarters. I've tried it on real Deans, fake Deans and two types of HK plugs, works great on all of them. Try it, I think you'll really like it....

Drill a 1/16" hole in each of the pair as shown, I kept these holes in the meat of the plugs. avoiding contact with the electrical connections.

Take care,

Don