Is it just me, or is that plane big enough for a squirell?

December 8, 2009 11:24 AM

RC Airplane Filter: I messed up, help me find the parts for this please!

My SO has wanted a RC Plane, so as a suprise I got him a Great Planes Piper J-3 Cub 40 Fabric ARF .40-.46,81" from RCPlanet

To my suprise (because I'm an idiot) I just realized it needs additional parts. I have the specs of the parts I need, but I'm clueless. Alot of the engines look the same to me and I'm afraid of getting the wrong one.

If you could show me specifically what I need to get you would save Christmas for me.

(Since I wasn't planning to have to get all these parts - cheaper the better)

Required Parts

Engine: .40-.46 cu in (6.5-7.5cc, up to a mild .60-.65) 2-stroke or .52-.70 cu in (8.0-11.5cc) (4-Stroke) (52 for sea level only) Muffler: Sport or Pitts Style to fit into the cowl
Radio: 4 Channel w/5 standard servos (specs per R&D 12/99) Y-harness: 1 (for aileron servos)
Servo Extensions 12": 2 (for aileron servos)
Misc Items: Propeller, Medium Fuel Tubing, ¼" Latex Foam Rubber, Fueling System, 8-32 Tap/#29 Drill Bit, Building and Field Equipment, prop nut to match engine's crankshaft size.

posted by anonymous to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Not a direct parts recommendation per se, but if I were your SO, I would be very happy to receive this kit and a gift certificate/your permission to order the remaining parts I needed to complete the plane. The reason is, when I geek out on a project like this, I really geek out, and half the fun (for me) is in obsessing over the various parts, doing the research to choose the best ones, etc. Simply receiving everything in a box would rob me of some of the fun of this "as a project". Now, if your SO is one has more interest in flying the finished plane than building it, by all means get him the parts ahead of time...but I suspect that he may geek out on the scrounging up phase of the project as well.

Anyway, very cool gift! Your SO is going to be a pretty happy camper, even if all the parts aren't under the tree on Christmas morning.
posted by mosk at 11:51 AM on December 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

There are lots of options for the engine, muffler, radio, servos, prop and tools. In many cases they come down to personal preference. If your husband has experience with RC planes, he'll know what he wants. If he doesn't, he'll want to talk to somebody knowledgeable before he buys anything. Maybe make a gift certificate for the remaining parts and give it to him with the kit? If you are set on buying everything before Christmas, talk to somebody at your local RC shop or club.
posted by indyz at 11:52 AM on December 8, 2009

Tower Hobbies is pretty helpful for finding this sort of thing online-- if you have questions, though, your local hobby shop is DEFINITELY the best place to find this kind of information. They're always happy to see new faces, and they're always happy to help you find parts. (It'd be nice if you bought the parts from them, too.)

That said, you can find a parts list for the J-3 .40-.46 81" here. (Those are replacement parts.) From there, you can find the product page, with Tower's accessory recommendations.

In particular, they specify:
- Engine: the O.S. 46AX ABL
- Radio + servos: the Futaba 4YF
- Muffler: Slimline Q Series Pitts Muffler
- servo extensions
- fuel tubing
- propeller
- and some other stuff you can see on the page.

That's a bucket of parts, and a fair chunk of money. Most of the money is in the radio and the engine. If your SO is already into RC, he will probably have another radio that he can use for the plane, but he'll need servos. If he's not, and he's not familiar, might I gently suggest that a smaller plane might be a better one? Electric planes are worlds easier to build, maintain, and repair for beginners, and they'll be easier on your wallet, too. The HobbyZone SuperCub RTF was widely regarded as the best beginner RTF plane out there, at least last time I checked.
posted by aaronbeekay at 11:56 AM on December 8, 2009

Seconding that he might want to do the picking out himself.
posted by Brian Puccio at 1:05 PM on December 8, 2009

I came to second what mosk said, as someone who has lived with an RC geek and seen the sheer glee that comes with swapping, building, and shopping for all of those parts. The hobby seems to be just as much about that as it is about actually flying, if not more. What you should probably put the money towards, for now, is a membership at your local RC flying field so he can have a place to fly it once it's all together, and of course the camaraderie, competition and shared knowledge. This is a definite anticipated need. Also a year's AMA membership is about $30 and gets him some sort of insurance coverage and the ability to fly at any AMA field. And unless you also get into it, prepare to not see him for a while!
posted by Juicy Avenger at 1:17 PM on December 8, 2009

nthing that you should just get him a gift certificate (or just permission) so he can order the requisite parts himself. Half the fun of building an ARF is researching and picking all the components; it's what makes an ARF kitplane "yours" as opposed to just buying an RTF.

The radio in particular is a fairly big purchase and before buying it he should go down to the local R/C airplane club and see what most of the other guys there have. He really wants to get the same manufacturer, so that he can use a trainer cord while he's learning to fly. At the club where I started doing R/C stuff, Futaba was the norm. In other places, people have their own preferences.

In addition to the parts noted, he'll also need a lot of random 'infrastructure' stuff ... fuel bottle, glow plugs, glow plug starter, engine starter, 12V battery, 12V battery charger, flightline box to hold it all ... there's a fairly significant pile of stuff you need to get started with nitro planes.

And a membership to the AMA and joining an AMA-affiliated club are definitely both a must.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:58 PM on December 8, 2009