Model Aircraft Building Courses for Beginners

There are many opportunities available for people of all ages interested in model aircraft flying. These range from programs offered by FGASI model aircraft clubs—which are primarily active at airfields hosting introductory flight days—to those led by teachers who build model airplanes with their students during creative arts classes.

Model airplane building courses are also available as part of evening school programs. In Lodrino, Giovanni Pedretti—who has previously worked with elementary school classes—offers individual model airplane building courses covering everything from free-flight to radio-controlled models, and from gliders to models powered by electric or internal combustion engines. The goal is to become familiar with the materials, and for this reason, the process begins with a personalized construction plan—

by hand-building the individual parts from balsa wood and poplar plywood. It is a motorized “trainer” model airplane that can also be converted to “3D” flight, with a wingspan of 145 cm, a

Weight: 1,600 g (electric motor version) or 2,100 g (internal combustion engine version); radio-controlled with four functions (throttle, ailerons, rudder, elevator). The “trainer” wing is built with a symmetrical airfoil with a thickness of 12%, while the “3D” wing has a thickness of 20%. The truss fuselage is covered on the outside, the wings are ribbed, and the entire structure is then covered

with standard heat-shrink tubing. Following very promising initial flight tests, the second version is already under development, featuring a longer fuselage, wing surfaces, and flight characteristics better suited to a training model. Pictured is the model’s builder (!), proud of the result and eager to test the model at the airfield. *gt*