Q.  how do I make a canopy ?  A.  make a master make a plaster mould make a plaster plug heat some thermo-plastic (0.020" poycarbonate.)  lay the floppy sheet over the mould form piece by mating the plug to the mould cool, trim & enjoy... I suggest you make a plaster mould of the canopy before you start trimming it.  (-: Think ahead " Gravity Works " :-)

Q.  Mounting ailerons on hard wood ?  A.  You're inviting flutter with hardwood ailerons. Once that mass starts  oscillating, your wing will disintegrate. Light balsa damps much better,  and is much less destructive if it should flutter.

Q.  I am building my first war bird (Top Flite Spitfire), and am now ready to cover. How do I get that nice camouflage effect, where the 2 colours (olive drab & dove grey) seem to blend into each other?  A.  I cut paper to the camo pattern and lay it on the model.  Do not use tape at the edges but rather only in the middle of the paper to hold it in place.  When spraying make sure the spray is 90 degrees to the surface.  What happens is since the paper is not taped down at the edge, the force of the spray causes a little over spray to slip under the edge of the paper.  Takes a little practice but works well.  The speed of your pass and distance from the work also play into it so try to be as  consistent as possible.  Instead of paper you can also use construction paper.  Just make sure the paper lies against the surface as tight as possible without taping it.  Another way is with a good airbrush.  You can control those patterns  down to a fraction of an inch.  However, with a big model you could be  painting all week.

Q.  Foaming Flue ?  A.  Put 1 drops Armor All for every letter of flue. But first investigate where the vibrations are coming from. The most likely place is the engine. ( Balance your Propeller )

Q.  How do get my plain to knife edge ?  A.    If your control lines are in the innermost holes on the servo arm,   and the outermost holes on the rudder horns, that will give you the   least amount of rudder throw. Moving the wires outboard on the servo arm   and / or inboard on the rudder horn will give you more throw. A standard   servo should have the torque to move the rudder far enough to hold knife   edge flight.       Moving the CG aft, within reason, can help knife edge. An easy way   to test CG is to trim the plane for level flight at about 1/2 throttle,   and roll the plane inverted. If the plane pitches down (toward the   ground) significantly, you should be able to move the CG aft. It's best   to move it in small amounts, otherwise the plane could get very   sensitive in pitch (sensitive to elevator movement).       I don't know what prop you're using but a prop smaller in diameter   and larger in pitch will also help. For example, a 13-8 will yield more   control from the rudder and elevator than a 14-6 (the air column from   the prop moves faster over the control surfaces).       With a few adjustments, that plane and engine should be capable of   knife edge flight. It may take full throttle, but it should hold at   least level flight in the knife.

Q.  I've heard you can dye canopies with Rit dye.  I had some black liquid Rit laying around and had no success with it. I  washed the canopy thoroughly, heated the dye, and left it in for a long time, but it came out clear.  Does it have to be the powdered type to work?    A.   No, it doesn't have to be powdered. I've used both with success!   Your problem is the canopy material. Some plastics used for canopies   will NOT take a tint, no matter how long you soak it in Rit dye, others   will take a tint but will warp badly... ask me how I know!  ;-)   By the way, I've discovered that if you add about a teaspoon of table   salt to the water/dye mixture, it seems to help the plastic take the   tint quicker... assuming it will take the tint at all. It's definitely   best to test a scrap of the canopy plastic (that which is left over   after trimming) to see if it will dye or not, and also whether it will   warp in the hot water.

Q.  My servo is buzzing why ?  A.  I would test by figuring out which servo(s) are buzzing, then work the   control surfaces with the radio and by hand to see if I could make the   servo stop buzzing. If you can make the servo stop buzzing by simply   supporting the weight of the control surface, you might want a more   powerful servo. If that doesn't help, pull the control horn(s) off the   servo(s) and see if they still buzz. Replace them if they do. There's   internal binding that might cause premature airframe death should the   servo fail.

Q.  Measuring Washout  A.  Washout, the downward twist in wingtips that improves low-speed flight, is sometimes used in airplanes with flat-bottom wings. A good way to make sure each wingtip has the same amount of washout (or any at all) is to get two straight wood dowels or carbon rods. Tape each to the bottom of the wing near the tips. Set the wing on something so you can see both rods, and sight down the wing so you can see see each rod in relation to the other. The rods magnify any angle that might be present in the wing. Correct the wing twist until you have the angle you want. This doesn't work too well with wings that are rounded on the bottom, but is an excellent way of making sure flat-bottom wings are true.

Q.  4 Tips about Epoxy  A.  1. Wax Paper: Take a sheet of wax paper, and mix your epoxy on half of the sheet. Then when done, fold the wax paper in half, trapping the epoxy residue inside. This way you can fold it up with no mess and throw it away, and it won't stick to the inside of the trash can.  2. Foam: When epoxying to styrofoam, such as attaching leading or trailing edges to a foam-core wing, once the parts are coated well with epoxy and put together, wiggle them around some to work the epoxy into the pores of the foam. Then let it dry normally. This results in a stronger bond.  3. Bed-Buddy: Ever been caught with cold epoxy? It's much more workable and mixes better when its just above room temperature (about 80-85 F). I use a "Bed-Buddy" to warm it and keep it warm. A Bed-Buddy is like a long sock with some kind of granular chemical in it that stays warm for hours after you microwave it for two minutes. They're designed to keep your feet warm at night, and you can wrap it around your epoxy bottles too between each use. You can also put the epoxy bottles directly in the microwave oven for a short time, but be careful doing it.  4. Inverter: When your epoxy bottles start getting low, it can take a while to get it out, especially when cold. Build a simple wooden "inverter" to hold both bottles upside down, and keep them in it between each use. This way your epoxy will always be ready for use.

Q.  Servo Blanks  A.  Here's an easy way to make sure your servos will fit in your plane properly, especially helpful with scratch-built designs: Take the measurements of your servos, and make a few from wood, identical to the real ones. This may be easy if the manufacturer supplies full-size drawings of the servos. I made my servo blanks from pine blocks, a little plywood for the mounting hole piece, and a dowel for the motor shaft. These servo blanks will not only help in drilling the holes to mount servos, but will assure adequate clearance on all sides. In addition, the dowel is the correct size to press on an actual servo arm, which will help in aligning pushrods or cables. Using this method will help keep your real servos safe and clean during the building process.

Q.  Vertical Fin Alignment  A.  To get a fin in correct alignment with a fuselage, try using thread. Make sure you have an accurate center mark near the top-front of the fuselage, and tack-glue a long piece of thread to the top near the nose, a distance from the centerline equal to half the thickness of the fin. Run the thread back to the tail, and hold it against the side of the fin. The thread should touch the side of the fin evenly overall. If it doesn't, then rotate the fin until it does, then tack glue the fin into place, reinforcing it later. Last, remove the thread you tack-glued.

Q.  Keeping Knives and Blades Safe in Storage  A.  Get a small block of styrofoam and stick your hobby knife in it. This way the blade won't be exposed, and you won't cut your hand if you reach into a drawer or box for it. Always keep new blades in their original container, and throw away used blades into a closed can with a slot cut in the top, don't just throw them into the trash can by themselves.

Q.  Sharp Props  A.  Most propellers have very sharp edges when new, especially at the trailing edge, which can cut your fingers. Always sand the edges smooth with fine sandpaper as soon as you buy them. Be extra careful when turning over someone else's motors by hand, because they might not have sanded the edges of their props.

Q.  Extra-Long Screws  A.  If you need an extra-long screw or bolt for something, such as a wing tank or mid-mounted wing, make one by cutting the correct size threaded rod you need, then solder a wheel collar on one end. Next, using a cut-off wheel, cut a slot in the wheel collar for a screwdriver.

Q.  Engine Mount/Nosegear  A.  If you have a small plane with a very tight engine installation (usually resulting from a very streamlined cowl), often there's no room for a nose gear assembly. Try drilling holes through the engine mount to accept the nose gear wire, and hold it in place with wheel collars. The steering arm can be placed below the engine, even on the outside of the plane. This will work with most engine mounts, even the two-piece ones as long as the engine is rotated 90 degrees.

Q.  Setscrew Gripping  A.  Ever have wheel collars not hold on axles? Or maybe that nosegear keeps twisting because the steering arm won't tighten? Try grinding or filing a flat spot on the wire where the setscrew will go. This provides a better surface for the screw to tighten against. Better yet, grind a flat spot with a small diameter (worn out) cut-off wheel. The small diameter causes the flat spot to actually be concave, which helps the setscrew grip even more.

Q.  Parts From Plastic Soda Bottles  A.  Several things for RC airplanes can be made from 1, 2, or 3-liter soda bottles.  Use the colored base that come with some bottles for cowls. They're sized about right for .15 to .25 engines.  On bottles that have the base molded into the bottom, cut the bottom off, and this can become a "stand-way-off" 5-cylinder radial dummy engine when painted properly.  The cylinder that's left after cutting off the top and bottom of bottles can be used to form canopies and other parts. This plastic shrinks easily with a heat gun and can be molded around wooden forms.  Take the colored base off of a 1-liter bottle, which should leave a hemisphere at the end. Glue fins on the other end, paint it, and you have a bomb for a large airplane. And if you want to drop it, it probably won't break.

Q.  Curving Balsa  A.  Get some ammonia, found in the household section of the supermarket. Put some in a spray bottle, and spray both sides of balsa sheet liberally. Carefully bend the sheet to the right shape. You can even tape it to a form, such as aluminum soda cans, and let it dry. Once dry, it may be used as turtle-decks, etc.

Q.  Wing-Tail Alignment  A.  Get an old (but straight) telescopic antenna, the same type as on transmitters. Use it as an adjustable-length measuring rod to compare critical measurements on planes during construction. I use this idea to compare the distance from one wingtip to the stabilizer, and to make sure this distance is equal on both sides of the plane. This ensures that the stabilizer is parallel to the wing.

Q.  New Pilot Tip  A.  Something to pay attention to when learning to fly is control reversal. Control reversal is when the inputs on the transmitter sticks must be reversed when your plane is flying toward you, rather than away from you.  When flying away from you, there is no problem, just move the stick in the direction you want to turn.  Many new pilots become disoriented when their plane is approaching them. To help with this, move the stick in towards the low wingtip. This will level the wing when your plane is coming toward you, avoiding a sharp bank, and possibly a crash.  Example: Say your plane is coming toward you, and the right wingtip is low, as if banked to the right. Move the stick to your left, toward the low wingtip. This will bring the plane's right wingtip up, and level the wing.

Q.  Installing Triangle Stock  A.  For me, triangle reinforcements have always been difficult to handle due to their shape, especially if they're coated with epoxy.  Try sticking your Xacto knife loosely into one end of the triangle. Then lay it on the bench so that the wide part of the triangle (the hypotenuse) is against the benchtop. Now apply the epoxy or other adhesive to the sides that will contact the airframe.  Next, by using the knife handle, insert the triangle into position in the airframe. Press down with your finger onto the wide side that has no glue, and carefully slide the knife out of the piece.  This way you can cleanly install triangle stock, and not get any glue on your fingers.

Q.  Ralph's Rib Maker  A.  Here's what Ralph did to make all those wing ribs for the Joker's Wild planes:  Cut two ribs from 1/16-inch steel. Drill two holes along the center line, one near the leading edge, one near the trailing edge, for 1/4-inch bolts to pass through. Make sure both steel ribs are identical.  Use a steel rib as a template to draw ribs onto balsa sheet. Leave room around each rib. Cut each rib "block" out of the sheeting, and drill the holes in each.  Assemble all ribs on the correct length bolts, and sandwich all between the steel ribs. Using nuts, tighten the assembly down, making sure it's straight.  Now, using a belt sander (a disk sander will work too), remove the extra wood around the ribs down to when the steel begins touching the sander. Cut out the spar notches with a hand saw, and clean them out with a file.  This will make all the ribs for a wing at once, and they'll all be identical, resulting in a straight, uniform wing. It can also be used for a tapered wing (with all the ribs of different size), and bulkheads and formers can be made using this method too.

Q.  Sandbag Weights  A.  Fill plastic zip-lock bags of various sizes about 3/4 full of fine sand, and seal each well.  Use these to hold down large parts while building, such as wings. The sand will conform to the shape of parts well. They also work good when gluing sheeting to foam.

Q.  Air-Bleed Screws  A.  When adjusting air-bleed carburetors (the ones with the little hole in the front), a good rule to remember is the word “richen”. Split this word in half (rich-en), and when you want the carburetor rich, turn the screw in. Of course leaning the carburetor would be turning the screw out.

Q.  Measuring Balsa Density  A.  Knowing the density or weight of balsa pieces can be important. It's especially useful when making ailerons or wingtips, because you want the pieces to be "matched", which will result in a better balanced and better flying airplane. To do this, choose balsa that is similar in weight by weighing them on a gram scale. If you don't have a gram scale, use the deflection method: Take the balsa pieces, and using heavy weights or sandbags, hold down a few inches of one end of each balsa piece onto the edge of a table. Make sure that equal amounts of each piece of balsa overhang the edge. Place a smaller weight onto the other end of each piece, and measure how far each one bends from the floor. The one that bends the most generally is the lighter piece. Using this method, you can choose balsa that is similar in density. Keep in mind that if you build from kits, you don't have to use the supplied wood if you don't like it!

Q.  Cleaning Superglue (CA) Tips  A.  After using a bottle of CA adhesive for a plane or two, the tip usually gets cured glue all over it. Remove the tip from the bottle and soak it in a closed jar of acetone. Nail polish remover also works, as long as it's the kind that contains acetone. After about an hour, the cured CA will gel, and is easily peeled off the tip.

Q.  Transmitter Neck Straps  A.  If you use a neck strap on your transmitter, beware of getting it caught in a rotating propeller! Some people leave the strap around their neck and detach the transmitter while starting engines. This is a perfect way for it to get caught in the prop, especially if you start your planes on the ground rather than a stand or table. Also, having the transmitter nearby while starting an engine is potentially a hazard. When you pick up the transmitter make sure the strap doesn't swing into the prop.

Q.  3-Blade Props  A.  3-blade propellers are useful when you have a scale plane that's modeled after a plane that uses them. However, since the engine has more mass to turn, the maximum RPM is lower. The general rule is to use a 3-bladed prop one inch smaller in diameter than the 2-blade you would normally use. This will allow close to the same maximum RPM as you would have with a 2-bladed prop. You may also increase the pitch by one inch, but experiment and see what works best with your engine and plane.

Q.  Firewall Fuelproofing  A.  Firewalls of planes are normally coated with epoxy to help prevent fuel and oil damage to the wood. On planes with no cowling, apply a coat of epoxy on the firewall after you cover the plane with film covering. Make sure the film overlaps a little onto the firewall. This way the epoxy seals the edges of the film covering. Besides, most film adheres better to wood than epoxy, so that's another plus.

Q.  Ultracote Printing  A.  Goldberg Ultracote film covering has a paper backing that you can print on. Cut a 8.5 X 11 inch sheet, put it in an inkjet printer, and print your design on the paper backing (don't use a laser printer or anything that uses heat - it'll destroy your covering). This works well for large lettering. Make sure your image is reversed, so that when it's printed on the backing you can cut it out and it'll be correct when ironed on your plane. If you want to use a piece of covering that's smaller, print the design onto paper first. Then carefully tape the Ultracote to the paper over the design. Then run the whole thing through your printer, and the design should print in the same place.

Q.  Cutting Dowels Straight  A.  When cutting a dowel, it's easy to make the cut crooked. To help ensure a nice 90-degree end, especially on larger diameters, try rolling the dowel into the bandsaw or scrollsaw blade.

Q.  Picking up Glass Safely  A.  After sweeping up broken glass off your shop floor, it's difficult to pick up tiny fragments. Try making a loop of duct tape, adhesive side out. Place the loop over your hand, and pat the fragments carefully so they stick to the tape. Then just throw the tape loop in the trash.

Q.  Antenna Holder  A.  Here's a way to attach a receiver antenna to the back of your plane after it exits the fuselage. Take a short length of fuel tubing and make two cuts into it, dividing it into thirds, but make the cuts go through the tubing only halfway. Then pin the tubing to the top of the plane's fin. Thread the antenna through the tubing, lacing it through the cuts. This will keep the antenna somewhat taught and out of the way of control surfaces.

Q.  Converting Cubic Inches to cc's  A.  Sometimes there's a need to convert cubic inches to cubic centimeters (cc) or vice-versa where engine displacement is concerned. One cubic inch is equivelent to 16.39 cubic centimeters. So to convert from in3 to cc's, just multiply the in3 by 16.39 to get cc's. To convert cc's to in3, divide the cc's by 16.39 to get in3. And remember, a 7.5cc engine is the same as a .46 (pretty close).

Q.  Repairing Dings & Dents  A.  Have you ever had a dent in a balsa leading edge? Try fixing it with water! Get a small diabetic syringe and put water in it. Inject a little water into the balsa into and around the dent in the leading edge. Heat the area with your covering iron. When the water starts boiling, it will build pressure and push the balsa out to its original shape. (Courtesy Victor A.)

Q.  Film Covering Degreaser  A.  Have you ever wanted to add more film covering (Monokote, Ultracote)to a plane you've already flown? It's difficult to get all the oil exhaust off the plane so the film will stick. Try using Cyanoacrylate (CA or superglue) kicker (catalyst). Just spray it on and wipe it off. I've been told it's a very good degreaser. (Courtesy Vince R.)

Q.  Pull Oil out of Wood  A.  Sometimes firewalls and engine areas of older planes get soaked with oil from the fuel. This weakens glue joints to the point where a plane could fall apart in midair. Try using Cyanoacrylate (CA or superglue) kicker (catalyst). Just spray it on and wipe it off. I've been told it pulls the oil right out of the wood. Several treatments may be necessary. This also works if a fuel tank develops a leak and the fuselage gets soaked with fuel. (Courtesy Jevan F.)

Q.  Balancing Planes  A.  Here's a good way to balance airplanes. While building your plane, insert a half-inch square piece of plywood where the balance point should be. For a low wing, this should be on the bottom of the wing, and for a high wing this would be on top of the wing (Note: sometimes something will be in the way, like a canopy, and you can't use this technique). When the plane is finished, put a small hook into the plywood and suspend the plane with wire or string. This way you can check the fore-aft balance AND the lateral balance at the same time (Note: a low wing will be suspended inverted).

Q.  Fiberglassing Wing Centers  A.  Whenever I fiberglass a wing center section, I've found it's difficult to get the fiberglass cloth to lay flat after it's been folded in a bag. Here's two ways to make this easier: (1)Use thin CA to tack it down. You may saturate the whole cloth with thin CA, or apply epoxy. On foam wings, make sure you use CA safe for foam. (2)Give the cloth a light spraying of 3M Spray Adhesive, then apply it to the wing. I've found this method to work extremely well, and it's safe for foam. Then apply the epoxy as usual.

Q.  Control Horn Installation  A.  When installing control horns onto control surfaces the screwdriver invariably slips. The result is a hole poked into the covering material or a gouge in the balsa. There is a simple tool you can make that will eliminate this damage. Take a small piece of thin plywood and cut a rectangular opening in it just slightly larger than the base of the control horn. Place this opening around the control horn base before tightening the mounting screws. Now when the screwdriver slips there will be no damage to your new aircraft! (Courtesy Fred H., Derby Radio Control Club, Derby Kansas)

Q.  Turning Wing Bolts  A.  If you use nylon wing bolts on your plane that take a slot screwdriver, and you forget your screwdriver, try using a quarter. A quarter is actually easier to use than a screwdriver, since it won't slip off the bolt and damage your wing. What if you forget your quarter too? Usually you can get a quarter from loose change in your pocket, or your car.

Q.  Tail Wheel Strengthening  A.  Tail wheels and their associated parts take a lot of punishment, especially on rough fields. Sometimes the "tiller" part of the wire that goes into the rudder breaks out. Here's two ways to strengthen it: 1. Put hardwood or plywood into the part of the rudder that the tiller goes into, a piece about half an inch square by the rudder thickness should do for most planes. 2. Position the tiller so that it goes in-between the rudder control horn.

Q.  Deburring Brass Tubes  A.  I use 1/8" brass tubing for fuel lines through firewalls. Silicone fuel tubing is connected to the brass on both sides of the firewall. To provide a better fit and extend the life of the silicone fuel tubing, carefully debur the ends of the brass by running a hobby knife along the inside edge of the brass. Then use fine sandpaper to smooth the outside edges. Since brass is a soft metal, the fine sandpaper (about 220 grit) works very well.

Q.  Needle Valve Modification  A.  On planes with cowlings, I modify the engine's needle valve so it can be adjusted inside while the engine is running. I grind the outside end of the needle valve flat. Then I cut off the head of a hex bolt (either size 6 or 8), and solder the head onto the end of the needle valve. Then you can stick a hex wrench through a small hole in the cowling to adjust the valve.

Q.  Foam Cutting  A.  When I buy a large (4 x 8 ft.) piece of foam, I like to cut a smaller piece off before using the hot wire. My hot wire isn't big enough to use on a full sheet, so I use a reciprocating electric knife, the kind used for meat and bread. It works pretty well for cutting off a usable piece.

Q.  Wheel Axle Bushings  A.  If you have a wheel that's too big for the axle, make bushings from brass or aluminum tubing to make up the space. If you get tubing of the correct size, you can also make multiple bushings that fit inside each other, if that is required. Don't let wheels wobble! They'll wear out quicker, and make ground handling difficult.

Q.  Cleaning Airplanes Well  A.  If you have an airplane that you really want to take care of and look good for a long time, you have to occaisionally clean it really well. Do this by disassembling what you can (remove the wing and landing gear) and wipe it down with alcohol from the drug store. This will remove fuel oil residue well. This is also a good cleaning for film covering when you have to apply new film over old.

Q.  Empty Fuel Bottles  A.  If you purchase fuel in plastic bottles, when they're empty, put it in an out of the way place with the cap off for about a day. This will allow the residual fuel to evaporate. If you place the cap on without airing it out, you have a potential bomb if an ignition source should ever penetrate the bottle. After the bottle is aired out, crush it, then replace the cap. Then recycle the plastic if you can at a recycling center. Many places don't take plastic, so if it does end up in a landfill, at least it will take up less space by being crushed. You should air out and crush metal fuel cans too.

Q.  Wheel Collar Tightening  A.  If you use wheel collars with the tiny hex setscrews (I think most of us do), sometimes while tightening them the hex wrench rounds off a little, causing it to stick in the setscrew. So you end up turning the hex wrench to loosen the wheel collar just to get the wrench out. But now the setscrew may not be tight anymore. To check it, just turn it with your fingers. If it doesn't turn, it's tight enough. If you can turn it, try to tighten it more.

Q. How do I make a V'take work ? A. If you have room in the fuselage an old trick is to use a sliding tray. The "rudder" servo sits in the sliding tray and is moved fore and aft by the "elevator" servo. Result: mechanical mixing of rudder and elevator (whis is what a v-tail gives you). If you're interested in this idea (I've used it with good success several times) let me know and I'll draw up a sketch. It's really quite easy to build but it does require some room in the fuse. The other suggestion would be to use one of the commercially available v-tail mixers. Look on Tower Hobbies site. They should have something.