I will be posting questions that fellow hobbyists sent me by email, to the blog as well. I get lots of great questions and I know a lot of them are questions others would like to know the answer to as well. I think this will be beneficial to all and help everyone that may have had a similar question but has not yet asked it.
Of course, if you still want to ask a question by email, that will be fine as well, but I am hoping that everyone will start posting the questions here. I will keep working on making the system as effecient as possible because I want to make sure all questions get answered quickly, and sometimes, I do not have the time I would like to get them answered. 
Anyone that knows the answer to a question posted here can feel free to respond to it before I do, in fact I encourage you to answer the questions. This is how we keep our community of fellow hobbyists together and connected. We may be a dying breed when it comes to building RC Airplanes from scratch and from balsa kits, but we can keep it alive.
Thanks for your support and keep those questions coming.
Build With Confidence,
Carl Baer
Owner, howtomakercairplanes.com
About Carl Baer
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Can You Use Basswood To Build Your RC Airplane?
I recently was asked this question and thought it was a great question when it comees to rc airplanes and building them from scratch.
A fellow hobbyist wondered if he could use some basswood that he had left over from another project and repurpose it for building rc airplanes. My response was yes, but there are some important factors to consider when it comes to the types of wood you use to build rc airplanes wth. Years ago (many years ago), you had a limited array of wood choices when it came to model airplane building. Basswood was one of the most common and widely used. It was durable and had good strength and was lighter than most other softwoods. Then balsa woods came onto the scene and rc airplane hobbyists started to
What To Consider When Choosing
Typically, you can use a combination of balsa and bass woods to build your model, however most of a model is usually built with balsa to save on weight. You can build a model airplane from basswood, in fact I remember my old wood carving teacher who built models from basswood. They are certainly heavier, but if you are using a gas/nitro engine, then it is not as much a factor.
Basswood, as you know is a denser fiber wood and stronger than balsa. It is primarily used for doublers, reinforcing blocks and sometimes for ribs in wings that require more strength. Keep this in mind.
Years ago this was pretty much the wood of choice to build model airplanes, then balsa took over.
So Yes, you can build a plane from basswood, just keep the weight factor in the equation when building your plane.
Things to consider…
Engine type – if you are going to use an electric motor, you might want to reconsider using too much basswood.
Airplane type – What aircraft are you thinking of building, a trainer made from basswood might not be a bad idea. It would certainly be rugged (and heavy)
Can You Cut Up The Wood – What sizes are the strips of basswood, can you cut them into planks, sheets, etc…
Cutting Basswood – remember it is a tougher wood than balsa.
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