RC and Pool Noodles

Posted by Tsavah | May 05, 2012 @ 01:31 AM | 27,580 Views

A number of months ago a British soldier who loved all things RC that fly told me about a UK website dedicated to RC projects. At first I wasn't sure if I could find all that many projects that would be practical for me to copy since I was thinking I might have trouble finding parts and pieces from US suppliers. I soon learned many of the UK hobbiest were also purchasing many of their items from Hobby King for the same reasons we do. With that concern easily put aside, I became interested in the work of one inventive person that was making his RC aircraft out of foam tubes. We would call the same stuff pipe insulation foam tubes, but they call it pipe lagging. Even better, a very similar product is called a pool noodle and it comes in a variety of colors. The bright colors and near indestructible polyethylene (some seem to think it is polystyrene) foam plastic is formulated for outside use. The catch is the foam is not as indestructible as many think, but if you are in the habit of building lightweight RC flying models, pushing the envelop towards featherweight, there is a pool noodle in your future for RC airplane construction material. I do realize many will not venture in the cheap to make, all for fun, RC flyer nitch, but that is OK.

I will need to post some pictures of some of the ideas others have come up with using the less expensive RC components with the goal in mind of constructing a park sized flyer on the cheap. Since it is possible to buy a 5' to 6'...Continue Reading