RC PBY Catalina

Have you ever seen something and thought it would be fun to try to build it, I saw a retired Catalina at an airshow and I thought it would be fun to build the flying boat; here's a link that help me get some great ideas.

Supplies

small hand saw

balsa wood or bass wood

CA glue

ruler

monocote (for covering)

servo's (4)

motor's (2)

receiver

remote

battery

8'' prop's (2)

Step 1: Building the Catalina

I started by printing and cutting out templates and taping them to the wood. Cut around the templates with a scroll saw, cut notches for spar's, then sand it smooth. Mark were the ribs will be, I did 1 1/2 inch on the fuselage and 1 inch on the wing, the wing and fuselage are both similar when building, you can start to glue the rib's to the spar. Now would be the time to put in the servo's and wire's. Once it drys you can attach the wings to the fuselage then you screw the motor's to the motor mount and wire it to the receiver, once you have that done, start the tail & elevator they are easy compared to the rest of the plane,

Step 2: Covering the Catalina

To cover you will need monocote and an iron, I chose blue and yellow for my plane, once you have the color you want, to cover it, over lay the plane with the covering then cut it out, place the cote on the plane then put the iron and it will shrink on, you can start covering I started at tail to nose, you can cover however you want, I had a lot of fun building my Catalina, I hope this has inspired you to build something you love!

Step 3: Crash Your Plane

I thought it would be fun to make it fly. First flight it went up , and it came down in a crunch! I wanted to cry, i would not follow this step. I did rebuild and get it in the air one more time. Good Luck!