How-tos

From assembly secrets to repair tricks


10 Hot Fun Fly Ideas

10 Hot Fun Fly Ideas

With the cold weather now behind us, many are thinking about getting back to the flying fields and cranking up those engines. A great way to limber up your transmitter thumbs is to practice fun fly maneuvers. Fun fly events and the required maneuvers and tasks are fun and exciting and help improve you piloting skills! What […]
Wires out of control? Try this!

Wires out of control? Try this!

  Here are three simple ways to wrangle in those wild wires floating around inside your aircraft. From left to right: cable tie available in different sizes, Velcro cable ties and just some good old-fashioned electrician’s tape. Tidy Strips, available from Model Aviation Products (modelaviationproducts.com), are perfect for cleaning up wire (and air lines) in […]
Exploit That Speed Control

Exploit That Speed Control

Modern speed controls come with a myriad of features that many of us don’t know about or use. Why? Well, most of the time the factory preset defaults are good enough, but what if they aren’t? What if we’re doing something weird or getting some weird actions from the motor and don’t know why? Check […]
Are two rotor heads better than one?

Are two rotor heads better than one?

Ask anyone to draw a picture of a helicopter, and in nearly every case they’ll sketch the classic “conventional” configuration with a single main rotor and an anti-torque tail rotor at the end of a long tail boom. This layout hasn’t changed appreciably since Igor Sikorsky clamped down his Homburg hat and lifted his original […]
Freestyle Move: The Harrier Roll

Freestyle Move: The Harrier Roll

Here’s an article by one of our favorite authors and pilots, Quique Somenzini, who not only helped to invent 3D flight, but also created new moves like the harrier roll. With his tips you’ll be wowing the crowd in no time. Quique: At the time, I called it the “cobra,” but it soon became more popularly known as […]
Workshop Build-Along — Scratch Building a Sopwith Camel Part 2

Workshop Build-Along — Scratch Building a Sopwith Camel Part 2

So now that we’ve set the stage for creating a 1/4-scale sport scale Sopwith Camel, let’s start building. When it comes to any project, I gather all my materials and supplies ahead of time, that includes ZAP adhesives, sandpaper, new X-Acto blades and so on. The first job is to remove all your laser-cut parts and […]
Model Jet Makeover — A face-lift for an old Favorite

Model Jet Makeover — A face-lift for an old Favorite

In this current age of modern ARFs and painted-in-the-mold airframes, it’s common to see shiny new models at the field every weekend.  In most cases however, in the process this leads us to neglect tried-and-true airframes in the corner of our workshop.  What happens to these models that were once the star of our fleet?  […]
Gas Power Tips & Tricks

Gas Power Tips & Tricks

  The new O.S. GT15HZ gas engine is specifically designed for our helicopters to replace a 91 size glow engine. Until now gas engines have not been designed for our use, and have therefore been almost impossible to mount to our helicopters, did not come with the needed muffler system to extract maximum power, and […]
7 tips for helicopter flight success!

7 tips for helicopter flight success!

Micro RC helicopters are fascinating. For many, they are the ultimate flying machines. To master a miniature helicopter so you can fly it in your living room or from your back porch and turn your picnic table into a heli pad is amazingly satisfying. Micro helis are great for someone wanting to learn to fly […]
Shop Tip Video — Splicing Balsa Sheeting

Shop Tip Video — Splicing Balsa Sheeting

When you start building larger model airplanes, you need to start splicing wood for larger than average wings. Here’s a shop tip from our own Gerry Yarrish for making slices that are strong, neat and smooth. You’ll need a metal ruler,  some CA glue, (I use ZAP medium CA and Zip Kicker,) sharp hobby blades for […]
“Risque” nose art

“Risque” nose art

Believe it or not, whenever any of our magazines show a scale model or full-size plane with even slightly “risque” nose art, I can practically guarantee that I’ll get a few letters from concerned parents who are upset that they have to censor our publication before giving it to their young sons. Modelers will know […]
Scale Markings & Vintage Propeller Decals from Cal-Grafx

Scale Markings & Vintage Propeller Decals from Cal-Grafx

I have built a lot of scale airplanes, and the one thing that will set any airplane apart from the rest is historically accurate, nicely applied aircraft markings and decals. We have published several Aircraft Make-over articles recently and several readers asked for a good source of decals for their make-over projects. Cal-Grafx Hobby Art, […]
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