How-tos

From assembly secrets to repair tricks


Power Up! – Gas Engines 101

Power Up! – Gas Engines 101

Whether your goal is to fly big 3D aerobatic planes or to pilot giant-scale warbirds, understanding how gasoline  engines operate and how to properly set them up is extremely important. Besides their great fuel efficiency, gas engines are reliable, easy to start and overall are very user-friendly. Like all power systems, however, they need to […]
Engine Swap Using Your Step-Ladder!

Engine Swap Using Your Step-Ladder!

One way to mount your new or replacement engine in a model is to use a ladder! Yes, that’s right, an ordinary step-ladder you likely have around your shop! To mount an engine at the very first point of adding the engine, or adding a new engine to an old model, you have very little […]
Workshop Tips

Workshop Tips

We have the best readers around! You guys are always coming up with clever ways to make building and flying easier, and we love when you share your tips with us at MAN@airage.com. Here are a few of our favorites. A SHARP IDEA Most model airplanes use dowels to secure the leading edge of the […]
Painting an RC Warbird, Part 4

Painting an RC Warbird, Part 4

In this final installment, Lane Crabtree creates his CARF Models P-51’s Hurry Home Honey nose art, invasion stripes, and engine exhaust stains. In earlier articles, he started by documenting how he primed and painted the silver and olive drab, masked the canopy and created the stars and bars, and then he applied the squadron markings and the checkerboard pattern. […]
A Short Tutorial for Iron-On Covering

A Short Tutorial for Iron-On Covering

I’ve been covering RC models for about 35 years. I picked up on MonoKote back in the mid-80’s and tried it for the first time. It took a bit of learning curve but I got the hang of it. Over the years I refined my technique to include fixing errors I made at first and […]
Painting an RC Warbird, Part 3

Painting an RC Warbird, Part 3

Lane Crabtree has been detailing how he painted his CARF Models P-51. He started by documenting how he primed and painted the silver and olive drab, and last week he masked the canopy and created the stars and bars. In this installment, Lane applies squadron markings and the checkerboard pattern. Now comes the Squadron ID alpha-numerics […]
Painting an RC P-51, part 2

Painting an RC P-51, part 2

Last week, Lane Crabtree gave us an overview of his CARF Models P-51 painting project and detailed how he primed the aircraft and painted the silver and olive drab layers. This week, he begins by masking the canopy.   Once you get the two basic colors on the fuselage, time to begin to add some […]
Painting a P-51 Mustang

Painting a P-51 Mustang

When you begin a major warbird build, you really need to give it your complete effort. Not only in the build, but finishing out as well. And the most satisfying finish is to paint her depicting the prototype bird as closely as you can. With the great amount of time I had invested in the […]
Built-Up Wing Repair

Built-Up Wing Repair

We all make dumb moves when flying. Practice is the best cure for this problem, as the ones who make the least dumb moves are usually the ones who fly the most.  Since I have moved about an hour’s drive from the flying field, I no longer go flying several times a week. And this […]
RC Airplane Stall and Spin Recovery Tips

RC Airplane Stall and Spin Recovery Tips

The stall, or more accurately the inadvertent stall, has probably caused more RC planes to crash than any other cause. The safety of your airplane depends on your knowledge of its slow-speed handling and stall characteristics. To minimize the number of crashes due to stalls, the pilot must understand the principles of what makes a […]
Cheap DIY RC Plane

Cheap DIY RC Plane

Here’s a fun DIY video on how to make a cheap RC plane powered by a single 3.7 volt battery — proving anyone with some ingenuity and a few dollars can get out there and fly RC!
4 Simple Shop Tips

4 Simple Shop Tips

Simple tricks are the best, don’t you think? These tips may not change your life, but they will make your time in the shop easier and more enjoyable. Have your own tip you’d like to share? Send it to MAN@airage.com and you could be featured in the magazine–and score a free subscription to The Hangar, […]
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