This is a work in progress, so please bare with me. Any new additional information will be updated in this topic.

I wanted to revive my childhood hobby of making planes and flying them. Now that i have grown have my own funds but limited time. this project is gonna take time to finish. But lets get started with it. if your looking to build your own planes i suggest you have look on this as well. i will add as much details as possible to make your life easier to build the same. and you can try to avoid any mistake i made (which i did a lot). i have given a parts list and detailed pricing information on google sheets.

The goal
To build a Balsa Rc Aircraft that is easy to build, great for beginners and Not foam. I cant express how much i dislike Foamy Boxy planes which just somehow fly. i believe flying is all about finesse and beauty. the model should look wow. I also wanted to fit it with the latest tech which will keep the plane light. i wanted something that flies slow and lands slowly almost like a STOL plane

The Prep-work

Youtube Playlist
I watched a tonne of youtube tutorials and watched a lot of build videos which i have listed down in this. you will a learn the great amount from these folk building planes.

Using AI
I also used Google gemini a lot. i used AI to help me figure out which Radio and receivers i needed. which Motor, propeller, batteries, ESC, Servos required. Infact i used AI to figure out which balsa plan i should make in the first place. it gave me a list of plans i should go after. from which i chose the Great Planes ElectriCub II Plans. i was impressed by the details put into the plans and instructions. Disclaimer: Ai goes wrong in many places so please cross check your findings. With the help of AI and the Manual i made an initial parts list to order the items i would require.

Planning
Prepping for Laser cutting
I had no intention of carving every part by hand on balsa. we are in 2026 and we have people who get laser cutting work done. I used a software called linearity curve. This is a cheaper alternative (₹299 per month) to Adobe Lightroom for tracing out the plans. I begun tracing the plans on this software. I realised all the plans and instructions were in inches and had to convert everything to Metric. American system of inches and feet are annoying. Wtf is 5/32" like seriously. anyways i tried to change everywhere from inches to mm. Update: i have made multiple mistakes in the tracing and have rectified it in these files. I exported each balsa layer in SVG file and got it done.

Laser Cutting
gave it to a company called Vortex RC. They had the balsa and the laser cutting service (super cheap by the way), how convenient. However the shipping charges were expensive, since they were based out of Allahabad, but all in all very convenient.  The laser cutting is super accurate and all fits like a snug puzzle. as per the original kit there were mistakes and missing items in the Balsa cut plans. These kits came ready for people to build so lot of parts would have been prefabricated. so I have updated the SVG files as per all the mistakes i had found. also i found that may items were missing and could have been added to the laser cutting task. so see the updated SVG files.


The Setup
i saw a video on YT one guy used a magnetic board and rectangular magnets to straighten everything down. i really loved that idea. i did not like the ones where T-pins are used. i found it cumbersome. maybe thats a personal choice. so got about making my workspace. I found two rectangular plastic tables joined it to the wall. i found a glass roughly similar size of the table to bring straigness. glass makes the board very straight. on top of that i put a sheet of metal about 1.5mm thick which i got for cheap near a guy who sells roof sheeting.

I got 50 magnets from a company called Meena Magnetic. the size of the magnets were 45x25x10mm. it did the job. it makes building the wing a lot more easier in my opinion. These magnets also act as weights and right angle holders. in the future ill upgrade these magnets with pieces of metal and epoxy them together.

I printed out 2 copies of plans on A0 Size paper from mahavir prints. they double checked the measurements to make sure everything is accurate. i used on copy on the wall for checking and one on the board. i use a thick butter paper on which CA glue does not stick on top of the plans.


Problems that i faced
Bending wires
Bending 3mm or even 1.5mm rods were not easy with pliers. They tend to not bend accurately with the radius being to big. i found out that by using a torch and then bending it makes a world of a difference. you cannot use a marker to mark the rod and then heat it up. the mark disappears. instead use a file or Dremel to etch the mark. this way you can accurately bend it. Having a dremel or rotary tool made life so much easier. i was worried about how hard it would be to cut these rods.

Instructions are not etched in stone.
something in the instructions is better done later than when said. for example the Center sheeting on the wing. i felt this should be done much later. i had to get this done thrice to get it right. but it still dint go well.

Modifications not mentioned in plan
after researching in forums and using Ai, i found out that there are a few things people suggested to do for example

Unsure of the plans
i was worried that the wings is super weak. i kept breaking the ribs every now and then with the slightest pressure. i asked on reddit what to do how to make it stronger. But people insisted not to do anything as the designers of Great Planes kit knew what they were doing it and mastered the art of building these things.

Dihedral Brace
The Dihedral brace was to thin and some suggested this should be doubled down for extra strength. The wing does feel very weak but i was assured on reddit balsa builders that once the covering is done it will stiffen up.

Aileron Servos
I saw on YT that someone dint like the idea of single servo on wing controlling the ailerons. i also dint like the fact that my wing did not have flaps. when you put 2 servos in the wing to control each aileron. New radio systems can act as flaps and ailerons with the right settings. These are called, i believe Flaperons. So i decided to ditch the original plan and go for servos on the wing. i decided to put the servos touching the main spars of the wing for better CG and strength. also the the servo arms were aligned in such a way that the control horn would be close to the hinges for good support.

Sanding & Planing
oh god i so dislike sanding and planing. because its an imperfect method. ima meticulous guy and i dont like to wing it. Sanding is an art form for the talented, not for me. i had such a hard time sanding the leading edge of the wing. Inside the kit they get machine cut and ready to use. in my case getting the leading edge right was very hard. after 2 attempts i gave up and went and bought a router with 6mm bits for rounding it. after using the router i was so relieved that it worked. i dont think ill every attempt creating leading edge by hand again.

Hand Filing
Cutting grooves by hand. please double check fitting is just right. how deep you should go. although balsa is very forgiving. you can fill gaps with wood shaving and CA.

Nylon Screws
for drilling the holes in the wing i faced an issue of getting the threading right. i drilled holes and tried to fit the nylon screw. only to realise that the holes were super tight and it ate away the threading of the nylon screws and broke the top part. so i made a diy 4mm threader for a metal screw and dremel. as shown in this video. this way i got it right. i wish i would have made plans for a T-nut below to hold the screws securely.

Epoxy
The plans clearly mention where to use Epoxy and where to use CA. While epoxy cures things move. I should have added more weight while fixing the wing. it bulged from below. epoxy slowly runs downwards with gravity. I will now check the parts for movement every time epoxy is curing.

My files
Google Drive



More to update soon

@Ashishngupta,

Welcome back after 10 years!
Your nice project is coming along very well.
BTW, you Google Drive pics are 'owner hidden'

Regards
Iyer

Sorry about the Google drive folder access settings it has been fixed now

Electronics

I decided to have wing mounted Aileron Servos. I wanted to have flaps and i believe there is a possibility to have Flaperons. we will see. I need the following items which i ordered.
Radio Master TX12 KII with RP1 ExpressLRS 2.4ghz Nano Receiver

• 2x 18650 Li-ion Battery cell for the TX
• 4x Servos17g Metal Gear
• batterycharger AC/DC Charger - i already had this
• 1 x GenX 14.8V 4S 2200mAh 40C / 80C Premium Lipo Lithium Polymer Battery
• Motor DYS D3536-8 1000 KV BLDC Motor
• Flight Controller Speedybee - I ordered this from Amazon.com and it came within 25days. also to note i dint get the original because the original is not available in stock, because the Speedybee is busy focusing on the mini version.
• 50cm 60 Core Jr Male to Futaba Female Extension Wire with hook for the wing ailerons
• XT60 Female
• Servo Tester

All the wiring
I suck at soldering, so i went to a local TV repair guy and he got it done for me at ₹300.
I used the Speedybee configurator from my phone app and did the setup of the Flight controller. it was simple. The electronics are super small and difficult to solder only do it yourself if your 100% confident. anyways i tested a few servos and its working well. for a first timer it was not too difficult.

The next bits remaining to do
Install the motors
Cover the aircraft
mount the ailerons, elevators, rudder and test.
Maiden (Super excited)

you can call me if you have any questions - 99 2011 29 25