Lunar RC Plane

Background

Hi, I'm Luke and I'm currently attending Vernon Hills High School in the US.

For this project I wanted to build a type of bi-winged plane called a box plane.

Besides looking funky, they serve some benefit in the air. The side supports act as winglets and reduce vortices that form at the wingtips. This lowers induced drag and allows the plane to fly better. The most important element of choosing a box wing is that the plane can support more wing area for a given wing span and therefore generate more lift. It does this by using the sides as reinforcement for a secondary wing, the one you can see at the back.

TLDR: box wing weird to build, but stronk plane

However, while I was designing the model in Fusion 360, I remembered that the Chinese Autumn Festival was around the corner. It's commonly known as the Mooncake Festival and that inspired me to include more moon elements in my design. My second design features 2 lunar crescents serving as the main wings which are joined together to form the plane.

Supplies

Building Supplies

• Adam's Readi-board(Dollar store foam) - you can use any foam you want, just change the dimensions of the design to accommodate the thickness
• Packing Tape
• Pushrod Wire(I use garden rods I found in Walmart)
• Linkage Stopper(Make sure it fits)
• 3d printed motor mount and control horns (files attached)

Tools

• Hot Glue Gun
• Cutting Tool(I use a box cutter and an Exacto blade)
• Ruler and Yardstick
• 90 degree square (Optional, but I HIGHLY recommend)

Electronics

• Brushless motor and propeller(any smaller motor works I have an 2300kv 1806 size motor with a 5045 prop)
• Electronic Speed Controller[ ESC] (just get one that's light and matches with your motor)
• 2 Servos(anything 9g and below is good)
• Lipo Battery(I have a 2s 850mah battery)
• Programmable Radio Transmitter and Receiver (I have a Flysky fsia6b receiver and Radiomaster Zorro transmitter) - I recommend just buying a Flysky FSI6X controller on amazon that comes with a receiver

Step 1: Draw Onto Foam

Using the sheet of foam board, draw the provided designs onto it. For a more detailed plan of the wings, check the sketches of the - circle plane v2.f3d -

Step 2: Cut

be careful not to cut all the way through for the folds of the motor mount

Step 3: Decorate

I use some simple tape designs to cover the foam and add some pizazz

Step 4: Top Wing Part 1

Make a center cut 3 inches from the back center and cut all the way through.

Then score the foam on one side to create a hinge.

finish the hinge by beveling it so it can rotate both ways

Step 5: Top Wing Part 2

insert a cut for the control horns and glue them in

then make a z bend so that the servo can connect with the linkage stopper and control horn

zero the servo and connect everything together

once you like the fit, glue the servo in place and screw the linkage stopper in

This is a link on how to make a z bend

Step 6: Winglets Part 1

cut out and glue the winglets to the front wing

then glue the top wing into place and let it rest

Step 7: Winglets Part 2

reinforce the wings by gluing in outer winglets

Step 8: Motor Mount

cut out the motor mount and assemble it like a box

Step 9: Assemble Everything

glue the motor mount onto the plane and configure your electronics

this video shows how to setup elevons on this plane

Step 10: Center of Gravity

make sure that the plane's center of gravity is about 6 inches behind the leading edge

Step 11: Enjoy!

I hope this instructable helped. Reach out to me if anything confuses you or for any clarification. Have fun flying!