Help needed please - designing an RC plane

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I have been using 360 for little over 6months now and can do pretty much basic stuff,
Like designing brackets, Y-Axis for my 3D printer, fidget spinners, and many other items.

But I am stuck on how to accurately design a fully printable RC plane from something more complex than an ugly stick.

The ugly stick is the most basic balsa build plane you can imagine, box fuselage, and straight profile wings. Nothing challenging at all.

I would like to design a replica of something a little more cool, like a Cessna 182 for starters.

I know there is a company out there doing this, but there are so many planes I want to build and fly myself.

So how do I go about getting the fuselage the right shape?

Many of the plans I get have the formers and the profiles of the planes, and the respective former locations.

On the ugly stick it was as simple as design the formers, and loft.
An instant hollow fuse I could then design the trays for the electronics and routing for the control lines for the tail section.

Same story for the wing, design the former, extrude, then make the main spar, extrude, etc etc until I have a fully formed, hollow structure with support ribs/formers in place.

If there are some instructional videos out there I would really appreciate a link, or if you could give me a basic break down of how to start that would be great.

Any and all help is truly appreciated

Thank you
Tony

[laughingcreek · Accepted solution]

That's a wide open question.  One skill set I can think of you will need is lofting (and the various skills associated with pulling them off)  You might try starting by designing a "toy" plane (meaning something that isn't intended to fly, maybe even a little stylized and over simplified).  start a model and come up with concrete questions about achieving that form and come here to ask how to do it.  It's easier to start by making something that doesn't have to match perfectly a real world thing, to work out some of the work flows.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your comment,
I will see how it goes, and come back here with a more definitive question, rather than a vaque one 🙂
Tony

[davebYYPCU · Accepted solution]

With 6 months experience in Fusion, and knowing Ugly Sticks, you are almost there, 

same principals, formers and ribs give the shapes, 

Search for a Cessna 182, "3 view" document you would like to work up, 

Insert and scale it as canvasses, one copy on each Origin plane, and develope the model from them.

As to 3d printing it, past my expertise.

Might help....

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks for you help 🙂

It's been wicked busy here so have had literally no time to jump on 360 😞

But have some forced down time coming in the next few days,
My machine is busy so can do any work till replacment parts arrive.
Thank you once again