This month’s column is a little different. It’s a team-oriented product review from Scott Hill’s seventh grade class at Indian Springs Middle School in Indiana. Scott is one of those teachers who knows the value of model aviation in the classroom.
Congratulations to him and his entire class on a job well done!

                                                                      —Jack Frost

Seventh grade students from Indian Springs Middle School built an RC airplane from a kit containing die-cut pieces of wood. The work was completed in 30-minute intervals in a period of nine weeks.

These students had no building experience prior to this activity. All of the construction is student-generated with the exception of covering the model. The covering job allowed the teacher the opportunity to hide some of the subtle mistakes made during construction.

The following review was written by the student builders.

“Rudder/Stabilizer: Russell, Brett, Adam T., Kory, and Adam H. helped build the rudder/stabilizer. The first thing that we did was to get our plans and put waxed paper on them so that we wouldn’t get glue or accelerant on them.

“We pinned down the leading edge of the rudder and the trailing edge of the stabilizer. We had to glue in between each of the strips and then pin them down.

“The next thing we did in the construction of the rudder/stabilizer was put jigs on the plans so that we could laminate the rudder with balsa strips. We had to make sure that we did not glue to the jigs because we removed them later.

“We had to glue the braces in the already-laminated rudder/stabilizer to add sturdiness. Adam H. sanded the laminated balsa strips until they were rounded. Then we cut the stabilizer from the rudder. Kory then cut a notch for the elevator to fit in.

“Elevator/Stabilizer: Brian and John built the elevator/stabilizer for the back of the airplane. First, we had to put down and fasten the die-cut molding jigs to the plans. Then we had to get the supporting mainframe parts together—mostly balsa—but there was one piece of basswood.

“Once the supporting mainframe was together, we had to put the outer shaping frame together. John used a small bucket of water to wet the thin pieces of balsa and bend them around the molding jigs. We had to glue each piece of balsa inch-for-inch to each other or it would pop apart easily.

“After this, we took out the molding jigs. This caused some of the wood to start to deform, so we put the jigs back in until the next day. When we took the jigs out the next day, it was perfect.

“We then began to put the ribs in. This was hard because of the angles of the wood. This process took three days. A lot of the ribs fell out in the finishing, sanding, smoothing, and patching process.

“Overall this whole thing took two weeks. The basswood was the hardest to cut.

“Fuselage: Mike, Brandon B., and Zach built the fuselage. The body was pretty hard but it was fun. The hardest part was when we glued the body together.

“When it was time to sheet the bottom, things got tricky. The other bad part was decorative braces on the top and the sides. They kept breaking and snapping apart.
“The engine firewall was hard because the body wouldn’t bend. We had to have help holding it together while the epoxy dried.

“The body needed to be sanded in many spots for some of the formers to fit. Mr. Hill claimed that the glue would show through the covering.

“Building the airplane was a fun and challenging thing to do. It was one of the most fun times of our lives. We hope the airplane will fly.

“Servo Installation: Kory worked on installing the servos and radio gear.

“I had to get the servos for the Old Timer then I had to pilot the holes for the servo screws. Next I had to use a Philips screwdriver to screw in the screws. After I screwed in the screws I had to route the servo cords through the die-cut servo tray to the receiver. Then I installed the pushrods and centered the rudder and elevator.

“Wing: Aaron, Brandon P., and Blake built the wing. First we punched out the ribs then we pinned the main spar on to the plans over the center wing panel.

“We positioned the W1 though W4 ribs onto the spar then lined up the W1 ribs behind the 21/4-inch holes. We cut 6-inch balsa sticks and glued them to the front of the wings, making sure it was glued on straight.

“Blake and Aaron used the sanding bar to round the front edge wing sheet. Then we pinned the strip of balsa flush against the trailing edge. We pinned the main spar to the right wing. I positioned all the ribs on to the main spar then positioned the top spar to the ribs.

“We cut and pinned the trailing edge to the plans, glued the front wing sheet on, then sanded it smooth. We cut and glued the top center sheeting to the ribs. Then we put the wingtip together, making sure the tips were straight.

“We joined the right wing panel to the center panel then filled the thin cracks with micro-fill.

“Aaron thought this airplane was an excellent one to build.

“Flying (according to Mr. Hill): during the Christmas break, I took the airplane to a flying site and tested it without the gallery pressure. I have learned that students expect the airplane to start immediately and fly without any trimming.

“It also can be hard to takeoff and land with a crowd following you all over the field. It can also be quite disheartening to crash the students’ hard work right before their eyes.

“This airplane flies like you would expect an airplane to fly without ailerons, which can be enjoyable and relaxing for an experienced pilot. It can also be nerve racking to a pilot connected to an inexperienced student on a buddy cord.

“The instructor should make sure that the throws are set on the lowest setting for the student’s buddy box; however, the throws need to be set to the highest setting on the instructor’s transmitter. The students tend to panic on the sticks and over react.

“These students flew a few times on a trainer and spent quite a few hours on a simulator. I would suggest building something with ailerons when attempting to build and fly a model; however, this model was very rewarding to build based on the finished looks.

“The students were quite pleased with the results and proud of the finished product.”