Little Blue Laboratory

White and yellow gas-powered RC trainer plane with NAVY markings on a picnic table, beside a student flight logbook

Where it all started. This Nitro trainer is the first RC aircraft I ever flew and it was already very well loved by the time I got it. It still has its original engine and electronics. This thing was probably built in the 1980s.

First RC aircraft that I built myself Flite Test made some foamboard kits that are very friendly for limited budgets and limited tools. I built this one from a kit provided by them. It worked flawlessly using the same electronics as the nitro trainer.

Hobby workbench with a large white model wing on a cutting mat above pencil blueprints, surrounded by tools and a transmitter

I wanted to build my own This one did not come from a kit. This one is based on an old balsa kit called the Schoolgirl biplane. I converted the kit plans from balsa to foamboard on my own to see if it would work.

White foam fuselage under construction with battery, receiver, and electric motor visible inside

Adding the control system. The electronics I used are the same as the old trainer in the background.

White foam high-wing model airplane on a cluttered desk next to a laptop and a box labeled NAVY EX3

Test fitting the wings before assembling them. Making sure both sets of wings fit correctly before putting any real work into them. I cut everything out by hand.

Model airplane on a dining table with wings held by rubber bands, a LiPo battery, and assembly tools nearby

Top wing done and attached! I copied the trainers attachment method. Just some rubber bands holding it down to some posts in the fuselage.

High-angle view of the model airplane during assembly with wings, blue servos, pushrods, and battery bay visible

Alternate view of top wing attachment Independent servos for each aileron because these are very small and cheap servos. I don't think they would be strong enough to operate both like the massive servos in the trainer.

3D-printed landing gear wheel with a bright blue diamond-tread tire held in a black bracket

Next was the landing gear While I had acquired a very convenient set of carbon fiber front wheels I still needed a tail wheel. So I made one. The bracket is just PLA but the wheel itself is TPU. I hope it holds up.

Fuselage under construction with exposed wiring, blue battery, and a blue nose wheel, held by a spring clamp

Attaching the landing gear brackets I was attaching the bottom landing gear brackets when I discovered that a servo had broken loose and needed repair.

White model seaplane with a blue propeller and pontoons on a coffee table beside a remote and battery

First look at the floats The first time everything came together with the pontoons attached.

Nearly complete white foam high-wing plane on a living room table with blue propeller, floats, and wings secured by tape

First test fit with everything attached. It could finally be fully assembled for the first time. It was almost ready for flight.

White foam model airplane with a blue three-bladed propeller alongside a transmitter, LiPo battery, and remotes on a table

First Test Fit Testing the servos with this old radio.

White foam model airplane with long straight wings, foam skids, and a blue E-flite battery on a coffee table

Fully assembled Admire it.

Homemade foam-board seaplane with white pontoons and exposed electronics, resting on a plastic storage tote

Test fitting the floats! The landing gear brackets allow quickly swapping to floats!

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It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. -Albert Einstein