Materials
Our free flight planes range in size from 5" to about 16" span. They
can be rubber powered or the larger ones can also be electric powered.
We make our planes out of 2mm wallpaper insulation foam which comes on
a 10m roll for about £2. The advantage of this material is that it
is very quick and cheap to use so its ideal for experimenting with and
trying out ideas. A typical model could be made in a couple of evenings. 
The
disadvantage is that the cell structure is visible and can have a rough
appearance, however this does not show up from a couple of feet away and
the bright white surface is ideal for painting on with acrylic paints.
If you're looking for a perfect surface finish you can carve and sand
planes from solid blue or white block foam. This has a very fine cell structure
which makes for a smooth surface. The finished result can be a flying model
that looks just as good as a high quality static plastic kit. Details suc
h
as panel lines and rib patterns are added using an airbrush. This material
can also be used in much larger aircraft as it is very rigid and can be
cut and sanded to different thicknesses.
What's the Power Source?
We use rubber, electric or Co2 gas power.
Rubber - It's probably easiest to start with rubber, which is
also very cheap. The rubber motor is incredibly stretchy and can take many
hundreds or even thousands of winds. It comes in various thicknesses which
we refer to in thousandths of an inch, or thou. All our plans tell you
what size rubber to buy, the sizes we use most are 25, 40, 50 70 and 80
thou. You'll need a selection anyway because some planes might need more
power than others. We have our own winder or you
could use a hand cranked 10:1 one by Knight and Pridham.
Some folks fit counters to these while our own design goes forwards, backwards
and has a conuter too.
Electric - tiny 5g motors and 50mA/h nicad cells are now available. The KP00 motor and two such cells will fly many models of about 18" span upwards. For smaller planes use the CMS-1 motor and a 3.3 or 4.7 Farad capacitor, this will fly the 12" Jiglet and 10" Flitzer very well. Once you have sparks on board you can add tiny LED's for lights. See the electric info page for more about electric power including cells and capacitors.
CO2 - miniature piston engines driven by expanding CO2 gas are available (at a price). Generally the smaller they are the more fiddley they are to run consistently, however they can produce very impressive results in the right hands and can be used where a rubber motor would not fit or electric power would be too heavy for a small plane.
Where to Start?
If you are new to indoor flying the easiest size to start with would be a 12" or 13" rubber powered monoplane made from 2mm wallpaper insulation foam. If you want to start with a well-proven design get the plan for the Jiglet, GrooveJet, Tango or the Power Hi-Fi (see plans page)This size doesn't need any additional structures for strength but is still big enough to be relatively easy to trim for flight. The next step might be a 10" biplane, and after that you can try experimenting with much smaller planes or try electric power. If you're feeling particularly artistic why not try something made out of blue foam? David Deadman has produced a booklet explaining the art of blue foam modelling which we strongly recommend for anyone interested in using this material.
Shopping List
Apart from any plans you might want, you'll need to get some essentials before you start: 2mm Wallpaper Insulation Foam, Bison contact glue, scalpel blades, acrylic paints, rubber motor and lubricant, thin balsa (or yoghurt pots) and wire for propellers (unless you use the Butterfly propeller). If you're going to try blue foam techniques, David Deadman's book is a must. Look at the suppliers page for where to get these vital bits and pieces.
