Chickadee Electric Indoor RC Plane Plans
The Chickadee is an easy to build indoor electric flyer
CAD construction plans available here!
FREE fuselage side view plan download here!
Chickadee 3 channel indoor electric RC plane plans
The Chickadee is an easy to build and easy to fly three channel radio controlled indoor electric powered model built from RC plane plans, available here. Using common building materials of balsa and plywood, clearly shown on the computer aided design (CAD) RC plane plans, the Chickadee builds quickly into a gentle, slow flying and easy to see RC plane plans model airplane with a 44” wingspan.
The Chickadee construction article and plans are included in the September 2009 Quiet and Electric Flight International magazine - see below:
Chickadee included in Sept 2009 Q&EFI magazine
Opening page of Chickadee article
Chickadee CAD RC plane plans fuselage side view - download PDF version here
Chickadee RC plane plans top rear view
The Chickadee’s RC plane plans large wing area and high lift airfoil, combined with generous tail moments, lead to pleasing flight characteristics. Order a set of RC plane plans and build a Chickadee for yourself! The Chickadee’s simple construction and clear, CAD drawn RC plane plans will get you flying in a few days. The Chickadee goes together quickly.
And if you like the Chickadee, do try the Snapper. A set of free plans for the 3 channel electric powered Snapper can be found here.
Video below shows the Chickadee in flight. The Chickadee is very easy to build, and as you can see flies just great. You'll have full control during all phases of flight. Touch and goes are all part of the fun!
Video of the Chickadee, built from RC plane plans, in flight
Close up of Chickadee from RC plane plans in flight
A bill of materials is on page 3 of this build log. The Chickadee RC plane plans list all the dimensions and sizes of the various parts that make up the aircraft. The Chickadee’s construction is primarily balsa and plywood, with the exception of the 3/32” bamboo skewer used for the tail skid. These “appetizer skewers” are available at your local grocery store.
Chickadee's metal wing mount tubes
The Chickadee’s RC plane plans wing leading and trailing edges friction fit into ¼” diameter metal tubes mounted on the fuselage, which makes for easy assembly at your local flying site. The prototype Chickadee came out at a total flight weight of 9.5 ounces with NiMH batteries, and would be less with lipo batteries. Do keep in mind the need to properly balance the aircraft at the center of gravity, which the NiMH batteries described on the RC plane plans assisted with. So let’s get started building the Chickadee from the set of CAD RC plane plans you can purchase here.
Chickadee wing construction
The Chickadee’s wings are straight forward in their design and construction. Note that there are no internal spars for the Chickadee’s wings. Rather, the ¼” balsa wood dowels that form the leading and trailing edge of the wing on the RC plane plans are the structural wing spars for the Chickadee. The wing ribs, cut out from 1/8” balsa, combined with the ¼” balsa dowel leading and trailing edges provide the light weight and structural strength of the Chickadee’s wings.
Wing 1/4" balsa dowel and ply insert
I made the round ¼” balsa dowels from ¼” square balsa, sanding the ¼” square stick to a rounded shape. Per the RC plane plans, ensure this ¼” square balsa is a reasonably hard grade of balsa to provide the necessary strength for the wings. The ends of each wing’s ¼” balsa leading and trailing edge dowel closest to the fuselage need to be reinforced with a ¼” by 8” piece of 1/16” plywood, as shown on the RC plane plans. You will need four of these plywood reinforcements. Cut out an 8” slot in the ¼” balsa dowels, and glue in the four ply reinforcements. Do not skip this important step per the RC plane plans, or the wings will simply snap at the metal tube insertion points when under flight loads.
Chickadee wing ribs cut from 1/8" balsa sheet
The 1/8” balsa wing ribs need to be cut out next. Use at least a medium grade of balsa for the wing ribs. As described on the RC plane plans, make a rib template, and use this to draw on the 1/8” balsa sheet the top and bottom outline of the 18 W-1 wing ribs. Note from the RC plane plans that all wing ribs are identical. I cut each end of the wing ribs slightly long, and trimmed the rib to fit when the ribs were glued to the wing’s leading and trailing edges over the RC plane plans. There is no need to “bend” balsa to the shape of the wing rib. Cutting the wing rib directly from the 1/8” balsa sheet works just fine. Note that this is the same wing rib cross section used for the Blackburn plane.
Underside of Chickadee's wing showing structure
Cover the full size RC plane plan wing with clear plastic wrap to prevent gluing the wood parts to the paper plan. Pin the ¼” balsa dowel leading and trailing edges directly over the RC plane plans. Ensure the ends of the wing’s leading and trailing edges with the 1/16” plywood inserts are at the location where the wing will fit into the fuselage’s metal wing tubes. As shown on the RC plane plans, trim the 18 W-1 ribs to snugly fit onto the wing’s round leading and trailing edges, and glue into place. Glue the wing’s 1/8” balsa corner reinforcements as shown on the RC plane plans, and glue the two 1/8” square balsa span braces in the outer panel of each wing. Remove each wing panel from the RC plane plans, and sand smooth as required.
Chickadee page 1 2 3 FREE Plans
RC Plane Plans