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RC airplane accessories -
essential field equipment

Field equipment items are the most essential rc airplane accessories, simply because without them you can't get going!

Gas powered airplanes always require more accessories than electric powered, purely because of the motor - with electric planes you can normally get by with just a battery charger and spare battery pack.
If a charger doesn't come with the model, do make sure that you buy one that is compatible with the motor battery pack according to the manufacturer's instructions. This is especially important with the new lithium polymer motor batteries, as an incorrect pack and charger combination can have disastrous results, with the pack potentially exploding.

Similarly, always make sure that any spare battery packs that you buy matches the specifications of your airplane's motor as stated by the instruction manual.
By far the safest way to do this is to purchase an extra battery pack along with the model.

The most essential items you'll need for a gas airplane will be a glow plug ignitor, spare glow plugs and plug wrench, fuel pump (electric or mechanical) and electric starter.
The latter, however, isn't essential because hand starting an rc airplane glow engine is easy, so long as you use some kind of finger protection (a flooded engine can cause the prop to kick backwards and it hurts, believe me!).

The easiest and cheapest way to buy the basic items is in some kind of nitro starter pack. Some good examples are shown below:


Hobbico Fieldpack
Hobbico Field Pack
Includes: Hobbico 'Hot-Shot' glow starter, hand-crank fuel pump, safety stick engine starter, recoil fuel tubing, fuel can fittings set, Top Flite 'PowerPoint' 10x6 prop., 4-way wrench, standard 3' fuel tubing, O.S. Max #A3 glow plug, cardboard field box.


 

Dolphin Starter Pack
Dolphin Starter Pack
Includes: glow plug igniter, fuel pump, small cross wrench, cross wrench, charger, mini screwdriver.


 

Megatech Starter PackMegatech Deluxe Starter Pack
Aimed at rc cars, but includes all the right items for airplane engines. Includes: 1 Quart of Chris Chianelli Q-Series fuel, fuel filler bottle, Q-Series high performance platinum/iridium glow plug, 6-way multi wrench, MegaWash nitro & electric car cleaner, 12 "AA" alkaline batteries, glow plug ignitor, carburetor adjustment screwdriver, after-run oil.


 

Flight box

As you gather more and more accessories (it's inevitable!) you will probably want to buy a flight box (sometimes called field box).
These are simply the best way to carry everything together and most boxes, such as the Hanger 9 flight box shown below, are designed to take a power panel.

A good flight box should be sturdy and fuel proof, with plenty of storage available.


Hanger 9 flight box



Power panel

The power panel is the central unit for handling everything electric, such as starters and remote fuel pumps, although most power panels have an integrated pump with simple fill and syphon controls.
These power panels require a 12V battery to operate. You can buy special batteries but a motorbike battery is often used.
The panel shown below is the Hanger 9 Deluxe power panel and it's fairly typical of all rc airplane power panels.
If you don't intend getting a flight box then make sure you get a 'free standing' panel and not one that's specifically designed for being built into a box.


12V power panel


Electric starters

An electric starter is an easy way to start your glow engine if you don't like the idea of flicking the propeller by hand.
A starter is basically a high-torque motor with a cup on the end that you place over the spinner of the engine. When you turn the starter on, it spins the prop and turns the engine over very fast.
A correctly tuned glow plug engine should fire into life after just a couple of seconds of being turned over with the starter.

A typical electric starter is shown below:


Electric starter


The thing to remember with rc airplane accessories is that if you intend joining a rc airplane club then your fellow modelers will be able to help you out in your early days, so you don't need to rush out and buy everything at once if it's going to stretch your budget too much.


Glow fuel (nitro) properties & care

Glow fuel (nitro) is methanol based and can be purchased with various nitro content, 10%, 15% or 25% being the most commonly used fuels.

It should always be kept in its proper container with the lid tightly sealed. This is because methanol can absorb water very quickly, including water molecules that are carried around in the air as moisture. Once moisture has got into the fuel, it's pretty much wrecked.
If kept properly though, glow fuel will last forever; you'll use it all up way before it starts to deteriorate.

When it burns in a model airplane engine it can leave a nasty oil slick over anything that the exhaust gases come into contact with. The amount of oil varies depending on fuel quality and manufacturer.
For this reason, it's a very good idea to always carry a can of fuel cleaner with you and plenty of old rags. A good cleaner will cut right through the oil and remove it completely, whereas just wiping it off with a dry rag will never remove it completely.

Always spend just a few minutes cleaning your model after every flying session - it's worth the effort!


Red Rocket Hobby Shop has a good selection of rc airplane accessories