promocom

Always been facinated with rc planes and i think im ready to try my luck after retiring. No experience whatsoever but i am good with electronics and plan to make my own controls with arduinos and electric motors. I also have a laser cutter and 3d printer so i hope i can get good templates to cut the balsa or Adobe Illustrator files. No wider than 4 ft and i would prefer a Cesna or Beechcraft private planes, twin engines a plus, Piper Cubs.. or any suggestions welcome And can I assume any gas engine kit can be converted to electric? Are there any affordable quality plans or kits available? Thanks!

N8theSk8

You can go here https://outerzone.co.uk/index.asp or https://aerofred.com/ and there are plenty of plans and cad files to choose from. For kits SIG is a good choice there are not as many kit makers as there used to be. You can also try eBay for kits that people are willing to part with. I would suggest a trainer with a flat bottom airfoil first it will be a bit more forgiving.

mgnostic

You don't mention where you are located but if there is a local club nearby they can be a big help. A little assistance goes a long way with training your reflexes and perceptions for flight. I can appreciate the desire to create all of your own stuff but an inexpensive ARF such as an Apprentice with a flight stability package will get you in the air while you build your equipment. Both of the websites mentioned above are good resources. If you search you can find plans that already have CAD for cut files or 3-D STL files. As for gas to electric there is even a discussion thread on this forum that addresses that topic. The biggest issues I see are designing in a hatch for battery access and ventilation for cooling the speed controller.

promocom

Thanks for the suggesestions guys. I signed up for the UK Plans forum, I will try making a single wing first to see if its for me. Also I am negotiating to buy a used Piper cub without a motor or receiver. I plan to ask someone to get it in the air for me the first time and then just practice carefully. I'm sure theres a club here around the Seattle-Tacoma area.