Given all the kits that I have purchased over the past 6 months, the building itch is really compelling me to get more than one building project underway at the same time. I just recently started building the PT-20 R/C trainer, but, after my visit to the CNY Indoor Flying Society (IFS) last night, I decided to initiate a second build immediately so that I might have something to fly during the winter months. In this case, that ‘something’ is going to be an Easy Built Models Kharkov R10 rubber powered free flight model. This kit is a scale kit of a low-wing Russian light bomber and recon plane that was used from 1936-45. I purchased the kit at the Flying Aces Club 2013 NON-NATS free flight meet in Geneseo this past July.
I chose this particular kit as my second build for several reasons:
- With a 22″ wingspan, this model is small enough that it should lend itself to indoor free flight in the gym used by the CNY IFS.
- This kit is fairly basic and should be a quick build. It also has laser cut balsa parts which will help make for quick assembly of the kit.
- I think the plane itself is pretty ugly. And that is one of the reasons that I purchased it and have decided to make it my first free flight build. If I have no ’emotional attachment’ to the looks of the plane, I won’t feel so bad if I make mistakes during the build as I dust off my old building skills. Also, once built, I will need to learn how to trim it for free flight and that will inevitably result in a few less than gentle landings. If it is damaged during the trimming process, I won’t be as upset as I might be if it were a more ‘desirable’ model. So, basically, I’m using this plane for a learning exercise. See what ugly gets you!
Follow along as I build this kit and feel free to comment!
Here is a couple photos of what the kit looks like now and what the completed kit should look like:
(Click on the photos to get a large image with higher resolution)
Kharkov R10 kit
Completed model
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