Electric Model Airplanes Info

Much of the attraction of model airplanes is how realistic the aircraft looks in comparison with its full size counterparts. Thanks to advances in technology, the components have come a long way in their construction. This is due in part to the fact that todays models are created from a variety of different materials, each having its own benefits.

Wood has always been a popular material for constructing models, and in the past most frames and components were wooden. Many model airplanes are still made from wood, especially by those model builders who want to completely start from scratch when designing and building their own aircraft.

Balsa wood is a common material used in model construction because of its ease of carving and lightweight properties. Wood is fairly


inexpensive and easy to find, and once you learn the basic skills it is fairly easy to work with. The ready availability of woodworking


tools also makes this a popular form of construction for gas powered model airplanes today.

Fiberglass has also been a common material for making model airplanes because of its sturdy nature. The drawback of fiberglass is that most model builders have to buy pre-made frame pieces for fiberglass construction. It just isnt a material that many people work with in their own workshops. But the strength it provides in relation to its weight makes it a great model aircraft material.

From those builders who like to work from kits, the main advance in airplane frames and components has been the manufacturing of injection molded Styrofoam & plastic parts such as GWS electric radio control airplanes. The molding of plastic certainly isnt a process you would want to carry out in your own garage, but this technology offers several benefits to the construction of model airplanes. The main benefit is that pieces and components can be formed that are very precise and of great detail. This results in smooth curves, accurate and well-defined detail, and a basically more aerodynamic and realistic model.

So what is injection molding, anyway? In injection molding, a detailed mold is created for model components. These molds are made in a variety of ways from detailed carving to creating a mold from an already formed piece. Once the mold is created, small plastic pellets are heated and the resulting melted plastic substance is injected into the mold. Injection is more effective than pouring because it gets the plastic into small crevices and very detailed parts of the mold. The plastic is then allowed to cool, and thus the part is formed.

Essentially, many models today are made from a collection of each of the types of materials depending on the components themselves. Basically, the type of material you will use for each of the parts of your aircraft depends on size and sturdiness of the individual part, the level of detail you want, and how much of your model airplanes components you want to build from scratch.