this might be a stupid question but how do yall make plans?

First, I ask my wife if it's okay to build another plane.

Then I draw the plans fu8ll-size on a piece of butcher paper. I bought a roll (Lifetime supply) of the stuff at Sam's Club. I use CAD for work but I've been hand drawing model plans for decades and I just prefer it.

what program do you use to do the cad

i want it done by computer

I hand draw mine on the foam board I will cut from, or I will buy a roll of white heavy weight paper at Walmart to draw them on. If I need to make duplicate templates, I tape the paper to a sliding glass door and than tape another over it and trace the parts.

what program do you use to do the cad

I use a program called Rhino. It's a great piece of software but it's pricey, around US $800.

Depends on the plane...
I've done full CAD plans and had then laser cut, and I've draw some rough sketches on the back of some 11x17 fan fold computer paper.

Presently I'm working on an 8' foam C123. Took a 3-view and did a rough outline in Cad, and some CAD work for wing templates, and to check for interference w/ various parts. Then carved out the plane to shape by eye referring to some pictures.

I spent a career in the Graphics Industry and am much better in Adobe Illustrator than any of the over the counter CAD programs. I am pretty good in SCORE! and ArtiosCAD, but those are commercial applications and much too pricey for the average RC Modeler. Illustrator is expensive, too, but I can use it for so much more than models!

Illustrator now allows for export of DXF files for lasercutting and plotting, and the PDF output is superb!

i use a program called CorelDraw. its not as comprehensive in terms of 3D modeling, but it is a very nice program for retracing 3 views, doing graphics, full plans, scaling, etc. you can get a free trial, but the software, like most others, is kinda spendy.

nick

Just go by eye and gut feeling. These new-fangled computer created planes are......sterile.

Jasta

hand drawn using a 3 view and some experimentation where I think things need to be changed.

Hand drawn on freezer paper -- usually just transfer the dimensions to wood or foam, then cut using steel straightedge.

Several suggestions here…start about post 31 or so…
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...=726084&page=3
to include free downloads I enjoy

Learning CAD is tough for us old guys, proably much easier for younger folks without all our burned in bad habits

I'd suggest trying a few until it clicks: http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm

Bret. If ya got a scanner.

Tape several pieces of paper together. Draw you plane. Take paper apart and scan into your computer. Put it back together and cut out a plane. If the plane flies good post the "pages" so we all can print em out. If it's nothing to talk about delete it. I've deleted several and holding on to a few till the bugs are worked out.

I use AutoCAD LT, but that's only because I have it at home because I use it for work. It's expensive, and requires taking a class to learn how to use it (I took a week-long class).

But as some have suggested, drawing on a large sheet of paper works just fine. I know some folks have had success using Google Sketchup, but I've not used it more than once or twice myself, so I can't really speak for how easy it is to use.