If you have ever visited an RC Model Airfield, you have seen all types of models. They all look great, well most of them anyway, and definitely must be hard to build. There is no way that you could build one of these without lots of help and several months of difficult work. While the flying looks like fun, everything else is probably just too complicated for the time and interest you now have.

Every new RC model pilot has these thoughts. At one time, they were correct but no longer. Dozens of companies now offer excellent basic trainers that are so nearly complete that they are known as Ready-To-Fly (RTF) airplanes. (Ed. Note: Click on any term appearing in blue type for a definition of that term.)

This short article will take you through all the steps necessary to assemble your first RTF trainer. While the airplane shown here is the 72-inch wing span Alpha 60 by Hangar 9, almost every RTF trainer employs almost the exact same construction steps. No adhesive is required and the only hand tools are a few small screwdrivers and some pliers.

Photo 1                  Photo 2

RTF trainers are not built so much as they are assembled. Everything needed to complete the airplane, including the radio, fuel and engine systems, are inside the single box (photo 1) Empty the box and you get photo 2. There are just a few major components.

The fuselage has about all the equipment needed for flight already factory installed. The two wing halves and tail surfaces complete the airframe. All are factory built and covered. The nose landing wheel, called the nose gear, is already installed and hooked up for ground steering. Steering works off the rudder control.

Photo 2A

The transmitter is included and is factory set for this airplane. The JR brand Quattro transmitter is a four-channel transmitter that controls all the basic flight functions. The right side control stick of this two-stick transmitter controls the elevators (push for “down” and pull backwards for “up”) and the ailerons by moving right and left.

The left side stick controls the engine throttle (forward for more power, back for less) and the rudder, right and left. Both sticks are full-movement controls in that both directions can be moved simultaneously. The throttle stick remains where it is placed while the other flight controls are lightly spring loaded to the center position.

The rear wheels, called the main landing gear, are assembled and just need to be bolted onto the fuselage. What little hardware required to complete the assembly is included as is the charger needed to make the batteries in the transmitter and on-board radio system work. A complete, photo illustrated, instruction booklet is always included with every RTF airplane. Engine and radio system directions are also included.

Photo 3                  Photo 4

The engine and the entire fuel system is factory installed in the fuselage (photo 3). Only the propeller and spinner must be installed by the pilot and that takes just a few seconds. The complete on-board radio system, shown in photo 4, is also factory installed and fully setup ready to fly.

The on-board battery and the radio receiver that gets the signals from the transmitter are factory installed under the white foam and held in place by the plywood piece shown in photo 4. All connections are already made for the pilot.

So much work is done by the factory that total building time, if you have never assembled an RTF model trainer, almost never exceeds one hour. If you have done this before, assembly time is usually 30 minutes. Sport Aviator’s record assembly time is 17 minutes for the Hangar 9 Arrow.

Photo 5

Much of that one-hour assembly time is spent reading the instructions. Just about any question the builder may have is covered in an RTF’s photo illustrated guide. There is even a complete “exploded drawing” so the builder knows exactly where every part is supposed to go and how to keep it in place (photo 5).

Assembling the Wing

Photo 6

The wing is usually assembled first. The Alpha 60 uses strong, metal tubing as the main strength for the wing. The technical name is the “Main Spar” but it is usually called the Wing Tube. Slide the wing tube into one half of the wing, and then slide the other wing half onto the tube. Note in photo 6 that there is a short pin near the back of the wing (trailing edge), called the alignment pin. That pin fits into a hole in the other wing half and makes sure your airplane has a straight wing.

Photo 7

Slide the wing halves together until they touch. The Alpha 60 uses some clear tape to hold the wing together. Just install the tape over the center joint and the wing is almost done. Some other RTF trainers may use screws and a small nylon strap instead of tape as shown in photo 7. Both systems work well and are simple to install.

The last step is to hook the one remaining rod, called a control rod, from the black servo to the one aileron that is not factory hooked up. Photo 6 shows that one of the ailerons, the thin moveable strips at the back of each wing half, is factory connected to the “servo” The servo is the electronic part that translates the receiver’s signal it got from the transmitter into movement on the control surfaces such as the ailerons.

Each control function is managed by a separate servo. The builder just attaches the loose clip to the other aileron horn. That clip is called a “clevis”. It is adjustable by screwing it either inwards or outwards and is used to set all control surfaces in the center, or neutral, position. More on that subject a little later. The wing is now complete.

Assembling the Fuselage

Photo 8               Photo 9

All the fuselage parts also just bolt into place. Photo 8 shows the two tail surfaces. The larger piece is called the “stabilizer” because it stabilizes the lift from the wing and makes the airplane’s pitch controllable. The movable piece at the back of the stabilizer is called the “elevator” and is the moving surface that actually performs the pitch control function. The elevator hooks up to a servo already mounted inside the fuselage.

The smaller surface is known as the “vertical fin” because it sticks straight up from the fuselage. The vertical fin keeps the airplane’s nose pointed in the proper direction. The vertical fin’s moving control surface is called the “rudder” and it too is connected to a servo in the fuselage.

Photo 10          Photo 11

The Alpha’s vertical fin has two long threaded rods factory installed in its bottom side. These two threaded rods slide into two holes in the stabilizer as shown in photo 9. Two wing nuts, photo 10, hold the fin firmly onto the stabilizer and are just hand tightened. The completed tail surface is then slid into place on the fuselage as shown in photo 11. All slots are factory cut and fit well.

Photo 12