RC P-51

When first attempting to make a RC plane there are many different parts that can seem daunting and may push you away. However, I want to show you that with enough work anyone can do it. As a quick background everyone in the group that created and completed these build plans have not created any form of RC vehicle before this project. So with this in light I plan to make this as simple to follow as possible. First we will start with our material list for our P-51 RC plane as well as what exactly we bought. As a disclaimer you can change virtually any part out for another one of you choice depending on budget as long as it can interact with the other necessary parts.

Above are the plans. (One box is equal to 1 inch by 1 inch, but it is scalable if you want to)

Materials Needed: 

• Foam Board
• Wooden Skewer
• Controller and Reciever
• Battery
• Control Service Servo
• Motor and ESC

What we used:

• Dollar Tree Redi-Foam Board x 3 / Cost: $1.25 per board
• Bamboo Sticks from Dollar Tree / Cost: $1.25
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EI9UVOE?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L6BVRDG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B68NTZ6H?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091G9X23D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 

Tools Needed:

• Sanding Paper (Optional)
• Soldering Iron
• Gorilla or Super Glue (Other types of glue are acceptable)
• Tape 
• Boxcutter (Anything to cut foam boards with)
• Ruler
• Sharpee (Something to mark the foam boards)
• Clamp (This can be as simple as a chip bag clip) (For any part where you need to glue something that you need to force closed you can use the clamp to hold them together)

The next step after getting your materials is creating the necessary parts of the airplane from the foam board. To do this reference the diagram below and then mark out the parts on the foam board using the ruler and sharpee. A big part of this is to measure twice to cut once. Our biggest problem as first time creators was creating parts of the proper size so try your best to not make the same mistake, but do not be afraid if you have to recreate a part. Below is an example of the board after cutting out the pieces:

When it comes to this step you can either do it all at the start or you can measure and make the parts required for the step you are on if you have glue which takes time to settle (Which was the case for us). Lastly, if the measurements do not line up with already created parts then feel free to change the sizes as necessary. Think of this as more of guidelines than hard rules.

To start with, the wings have the 4 main wing parts(1W, 2W, 5W, 6W), the 2 wing spars(3W, 7W), and the 2 airfoil structures(4W, 8W). Take the wing parts(1W, 2W, 5W, 6W) and roll them over a corner such that you create a curve to make the gluing easier for you. Make sure when you do this to curve them the correct direction I did this by creating matching pairs of 2 wing parts(1W, 2W or 5W, 6W) to make sure that you have both a top and bottom part of the wings. Do not be scared if a crease is created as long as it does not break it completely, you will be fine. An example of this is shown below:

Now we are going to create half of each wing. You can either create these for both wings or one wing and then come back to the other after finishing the first. How we do this is we take the wing spar(3W or 7W) and put it in the middle of the bottom main wing(2W or 5W) with the higher part of the spar to the longer edge of the wing and then put the airfoil structure(4W or 8W) on the end of the spar and the main wing part making sure to glue all parts that are touching. You are going to have to force the main wing to fit the curve of the airfoil structure so dont be scared to use some force. An example is shown below:

After allowing the glue to dry we are now going to do the reverse to the top main wing part(). Make sure that the leading edges are lined up. (The part of the wing that have two separate slopes instead of the one continuous edge) Then put glue on top of the wing spar, airfoil structure, and the edges of the bottom main wing part and put the top main wing part on top of it and bend it to touch all parts noted above. Once again this may take some force so dont be afraid to use it. An example of this is shown below:

Now we need to install the servos or aielerons. To do this on the trailing edge measure ½ inch from the wing tip and mark it. Then measure 1 inch into the wing and mark that. Lastly measure 5 inches twords the fuselage and then connect the previous mark to this and then the trailing edge. Now be careful and cut this part out. After cutting it out, put a piece of tape on the top side such that it is half on the wing and half is on the area where the aileron you just cut out was. Now sand down or cut the small edges of the aileron such that you give it enough space to move. Then connect the tape to this new aileron by bringing the aileron to it. After doing this, have the aileron pull open as much as possible without taking off the tape such that you can see 4 pieces of foam and tape tape the opposite side such that it creates a hinge. The aileron should work like a hinge. Now cut a hole in the bottom side of the wing such that you have enough room for a servo. Then screw the servo arm to the servo, and connect 3 wires to the output wires of the servos and remember to color combo so that you plug it in correctly. Create a hole in the edge of the wing twords the plane and thread the wires from the servo through there. Now place the servo in the hole and glue it to the wing(Make sure that the servos on different wings are faced such that they rotate opposite directions). Now take a double sided servo arm and put it in the same side on the aileron and glue it. Now connect a rod through the top of the servo arms as shown in the example below:

You have now created the main wing so now set this aside as we create the fuselage and tail.

Note for this part: All parts beside the fuselage walls and the battery floor should be placed such that the 3 inch side should be the side which is the height perpendicular from the fuselage walls such that the top of all pieces aside from the battery floor should all be the same height from the fuselage walls.

For the fuselage start with one of the fuselage walls(F1 or F2), it does not matter which one you start with, and then place the two main fusilage structures(3F, 4F) standing on the thin edge on the two edges of the slants of the cockpit and glue them in place perpendicular to the fuselage wall as shown below: In our example image we have a hole where you should have a place where you will attach the wing. This is because we changed this twords the end of the project to make it easier to put together

Now take the battery floor(5F) and glue it to the middle of the fuselage structure which is closer to the tail side such that the thin edge of the smaller side is glued to the struct extending twords the tail. This piece should not touch the fuselage wall as we will need that space later on. This is shown in the image above.

Now glue the long edge of the fuselage main floor(6F) to the fuselage walls and the short edge to the fuselage structures and then connect the fuselage wing struct(7F) to the middle of the main floor as shown above.

Glue the short edge of the front fuselage floor(8F) to the front fuselage struct and the long edge to the fuselage wall as shown above.

Next take the nose struct(9F) and glue the 4 inch side ½ inch behind the front edge of the fuselage wall. Now take the other main fuselage wall(F1 or F2) and glue it to the edges of all parts coming out of the other fuselage wall aside from the battery floor. As shown below:

Lastly, after the second fuselage wall solidifies, take the tail side of both fuselage walls and meet them such that they are bent equally as much and glue them together as shown above.

Take the horizontal stabilizer(1T) and the elevators(2T, 3T) and mark 2 spots on each elevator to connect them to the horizontal stabilizer far enough apart that they will be stable once connected. Then use the box cutter or other cutting object to create slight indents into the elevators where marked about ½ to 1 inch deep. Take your tape and then fold a 1 to 2 inch piece of tape in half such that the length does not change (Hotdog Style). Then put glue in the indents and put the tape in such that slightly more than half of the tape is out of the elevator. Then line up the elevators with the horizontal stabilizers such that the rounded edges line up. There will be a space between the elevators about 2 inches wide. This is intentional. Then mark on the horizontal stabilizer where the tape matches the tape on the elevators. Next, make indents such that you have the 4 marks that match up with the 2 marks from both elevators. Now put glue on the indents and then put the tape in the indents such that you have just enough tape showing as to allow ample movement of the elevators while keeping it close and stable to the horizontal stabilizer. The final product of this is shown below:

For the vertical stabilizer(5T) and the rudder(4T) follow the same steps as before except you only have 1 rudder as opposed to the 2 elevators and that as long as the flat sides match the orientation does not matter. Lastly connect the tail to the tail edge of the fuselage and glue where applicable as shown below:

Now we will connect the electronics. To do this take two servos and screw in half servo arms to them. Now put them in the main fuselage compartment. Now put two sided servo arms into both of the elevators and the rudder. Then connect them to the servo arm by creating holes where necessary in the fuselage and then taking the metal wire and threading it thru as shown below: (Note that you need to solder the two elevator metal wires together before the servo)

For this step make sure that the leading edge(The side with 2 slopes) is twords the nose.

Take your wooden skewer and create matching holes 1 inch deep (This does not need to be exact) in both of your wings and the area of the fuselage walls that they match with such that all holes go through the structs of their respective parts as in the wing spars for the wings and the fuselage wing struct for the fuselage walls. Now take glue and put it on the entrance of the holes in the fuselage and then put the wooden skewers in such that the pointy side is facing out. Next put glue on the holes in the wing as well as a decent amount of glue on the airfoil structures. Then connect the wings to the fuselage and let them settle. The end of this part is shown below:

We now are going to take the front bottom fuselage(B3), wing bottom fuselage(B2), and back bottom fuselage(B1) parts and round them similar to the wings but different such that you will have to roll them much less and in both directions such that when bent they fit all edges of the fusilages while being rolled then glue these parts to the bottom of the fuselage walls as shown below:

Note we cut a hole in the bottom in order to access the wires. Now with the front top fuselage(B4), cockpit top fuselage(B5), and back top fuselage(B6) we are going to create hinges for all of these pieces. How you will do this is take scotch tape and then connect it long wise to the inside of the fuselage equivalent to the length of the piece and then put the piece such that it touches the tape. Then tape the outside of this same side. Lastly put a singular piece of tape on the other side to “close the lid”.

Take the motor and connect it to the nose. Now connect the propeller to the motor as directed. This can be done with either screws and tape or glue depending on if you want it to be permanent or not. Then create a hole in the nose for the wires to go into the fuselage. Now connect the ESC to the output wires. Place the receiver in the main fuselage area and then cut a hole in the main fuselage such that you can place the battery at the front of the main fusilage area. Then thread the battery output wire to the front fuselage area where you will connect it to the ESC. Now create all necessary holes to connect all the wires to the receiver and then you are done. To start the plane plug the battery to the esc and then turn on the controller. When you are done using it make sure to unplug the battery from the esc. You can now customize it with spray paint to look however you want.

Our final project is shown below: