Super Simple Bronco Foam Board RC Plane For Newbies

Super Simple Bronco Foam Board RC Plane For Newbies
The Super Simple Bronco is a foam board RC plane that can be constructed over two days. Using common 20" by 30" by 3/16" foam board, this is an ideal construction project for newbies, or anyone thinking about building their first RC airplane.
This Bronco airplane was inspired by the OV-10 Bronco observation aircraft used in the Vietnam war. The full scale Bronco used two engines. This foam board RC plane instead uses one engine yet retains the distinctive dual boom and high tail arrangement.
The Bronco weights around 1.2 lbs, and ideal weight for this 30 inch wingspan model. I used a Park 370 electric motor and a two cell lipo battery.
Here is a Google Drive link to download the Bronco plan, for either a PDF or PNG version:
drive.google.com/drive/folder...
The model excels at slow flight, and slows down nicely for landing. As the plane is fully assembled, just install a battery and fly at your local field.
A set of hand drawn plans are included in the video. Just take a screen shot, print out and enlarge at a local FedEx Office location.
Here is a link to my KZbin Channel:
/ timmckay56
Many thanks in advance for a post of this video on Facebook, it truly helps the channel a lot!
Regards,
Tim
Details:
E-flite Park 370 motor, 8x6 prop
2 cell lipo battery
Spektrum AR620 receiver
Castle Talon 15 ESC
Hitec HS-40 servos
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
03:32 - Bronco history
05:00 - Draw the plans
08:44 - Wind build demo
10:00 - RC electronics
11:35 - Start of the build
18:25 - RC installation
27:05 - Test flights
29:05 - Post flight discussion
31:28 - Plans

[@leobluesy]

Great job. Totally enjoyable video !!

[@TimMcKay56]

Leo: Glad you enjoyed it! Tim

[@leobluesy]

@@TimMcKay56 I loved building back in the 70s but just couldnt fly em....I know my place :*) Look forward to the next video. Regards Leo

[@TimMcKay56]

Leo: Build your flying confidence with the RealFlight computer simulator. The Bronco is easy to build. Light enough zero damage on landings. 😊👍 Tim

[@beepboop974]

I trry to find a genuinly learned and intelligent person to listen to for each of my hobbies. This guy is absolutely that for RC planes

[@TimMcKay56]

Beep: You are too kind, thanks for checking in! Tim

[@AAE-cg1il]

That was amazing! I may try my hand at this……

[@TimMcKay56]

Go for it! Bronco flies great. 👍🏻 😊😁Tim

[@thetwogardens6048]

Good Video . thankyou !

[@TimMcKay56]

Thanks! Tim

[@racnc1]

Thanks for the plans. And your helpful content.

[@TimMcKay56]

👍🏻 Tim

[@ronaldwitt2533]

Great build...good little flyer

[@TimMcKay56]

Ronald: Best flying model yet for me, very happy. Light weight the key! Tim

[@davidquerry8869]

Great flyer Tim. It was fun to see the imagination of turning a twin engine design, into a single engine. Your much better at shooting from the hip than I am.

[@TimMcKay56]

Dave: Many thanks, and the Bronco does fly great. 😁 Tim

[@JamesManimal]

I built Bruce’s outlaw 250 gonna build this one now!

[@TimMcKay56]

James: Sounds like a plan! Tim

[@timothydurr5653]

Great build Tim I've been building with foamboard for about 8yrs. now, for the last few yrs. I've been installing gyro's in my planes they really give these light planes stability and allow us to fly on those windier days that we wouldn't normally fly on . I encourage you to try one if you haven't already.

[@TimMcKay56]

Tim: That is one great idea, let me add to my "to do" list. Tim

[@bcflyer99]

A cheap lemon RX with stabilization would work great on this little model. Lemon RX's are really good and reasonably priced.

[@TimMcKay56]

BC: Great tip, will check this out! Tim

[@TimMcKay56]

Hi everyone: I just added a link in the description for a free set of TurboCAD plans for the Bronco. Enjoy! Tim

[@jimn6sxb644]

Any chance of exporting your TurboCAD files to dxf or dwg so us AutoCAD guys can use?

[@Graybear78]

Please advise where I can get a copy of those plans. I have recently gotten more involved in foam building. Thank You. Lee

[@kf4293]

@@Graybear78 Link is in the description. 🙂

[@ericmueller1987]

Nice plane, looks like a great flyer. What prop did you use? Thanks Tim!

[@TimMcKay56]

Eric: 8x6 prop. Tim

[@JamesManimal]

Totally gonna build a twin engine version with some 1404 100w motors. I’ll try for dual rudders and let you know how it goes. . It’s gonna yaw hard. Just ordered two esc’s special for it

[@TimMcKay56]

James: Great approach, go for it!! Tim

[@JamesManimal]

@@TimMcKay56 Cant wait to show ya!

[@denniskelly8134]

A full size plan would be nice.

[@TimMcKay56]

👍 Tim

[@rhodes2you]

Great looking build! How different would this fly if the wing were on top like the original Bronco?

[@TimMcKay56]

Kenneth: That is a very good question, I had not thought of this. Answer: The plane should fly just about the same. Prop thrust line would be a bit lower, but no effect on its flight. I do think the lower fuselage might look a bit better, much like the Bronco. Only minor concern would be the fuselage getting scraped on the ground with no landing gear. Give it a try! Tim

[@kf4293]

@@TimMcKay56 Throw a strip of 10 mil laminating film on the bottom of the booms. It'll take a beating, and could be removed and replaced when needed.

[@jerryshultz1210]

I've been wanting to build a simple foam board rc plane. I like this video and I choose this to be my 1st 1 to build. Would a 2s 1200 mah work? And would a 30 amp esc work for it as well? Thanks for the vidio!

[@TimMcKay56]

Jerry: You will like the Bronco a lot, flies great. A 2s and 1200 lipo pack will work just fine with a 30 amp ESC. Good luck! Tim

[@jerryshultz1210]

I'll let you know how it worked out for me when I get to it. Thanks again for your videos. I learn from them.

[@TimMcKay56]

Thanks! Tim

[@jimn6sxb644]

I just noticed your neutral position of the elevator appears to have a bunch of up trim. Is this because the plane is a bit nose heavy? It seems to porpoise ever so slightly in flight as well. Thanks for the excellent model, building one right now. A bit further down, I asked for dxf or dwg formats (or a vector pdf). Please disregard for this model as it is simple enough that I just imported the raster image and traced it in AutoCAD. But maybe for future models :-). BTW, love your content. Excellent information and well presented. Thanks again.

[@TimMcKay56]

Jim: I think the elevator was pretty close to neutral. The plane balances out. Usually, if the incidence with the wing and tail surfaces not just quite right, can have some up or down trim. As this is a first prototype, I was quite happy with the way it flew. And you are right with a bit of porpoise movement. My fix for that would be to make the tail booms an inch or two longer. And I am including all future plans in the Description section, to download from Google Drive. Tim

[@jimn6sxb644]

@@TimMcKay56 Any thoughts on including .dxf versions of the plans in your Google Drive? Almost all CAD systems will import .dxf files directly.

[@gordonmckay4523]

@@jimn6sxb644 Jim: Will work on this! Tim

[@jimn6sxb644]

@@gordonmckay4523 Thanks! I'm sure TinkerCAD has an Export as .dxf feature. BTW, I am making mine with the boom about 2.5 inches longer. Thanks again for your good work. You help make this hobby fun and affordable for us old fogeys :-).

[@gordonmckay4523]

@@jimn6sxb644 Good luck! Tim

[@valentinbolborici9233]

Great presentation. What type of foam board did you use? One can buy several types of 20x30 foam boards but not all of them are of good quality. Thank you.

[@TimMcKay56]

Valentin: I use Langford and Nichols for my 20 x 30 foam board, from Amazon.com. Not the least expensive but I like it. Keep the paper backing on for Bronco, adds a bit of strength. Tim

[@valentinbolborici9233]

@@TimMcKay56 Thank you so much Tim. Much appreciated.

[@joshdesaulniers7935]

Hello Tim I finished building the single engine bronco for newbies. Everything is working the servos use the right side stick left/right for right wing and up/down left. I can see channel 4 wants to work on the elevator but isn’t? Also the harness from the motor to the battery is heating up? ALOT! Is it the wrong harness(30a) or the 11.1V 1500 mah battery to strong? I have pics but can’t attach. PleaseHELP!!!! Thanx Josh

[@TimMcKay56]

If your harness is heating up try a larger ESC. Tim

[@jxvot]

Nice video Tim... Since I live rural and about an hour from a Kinko's would it possible to also post your .dxf file or add the dimensions layer to the plans...also when I scale up the downloaded pdf plans to your 6" ruler as a guide... I notice there is a slight difference in measurements listed from the hand drawing on the video... ( example...boom length slightly off ) Am I doing something wrong? Thanks! jt

[@TimMcKay56]

Jxvot: Yes, I can do that. But, whatever your printout, simply "measure" the 6 inch scale on the printed page. Say it is 2 inches. Just measure any other dimension on the plan and multiply by 3 (in this case) to get the full size dimension. If the 6" ruler came at at 3 inches in length, measure other dimensions on the plan and multiply by 2 (i.e. 3 times 2 = 6 inches) The Bronco is mostly straight lines, and you can pretty much sketch it out on the foam board. I never made a full size plan. Tim

[@williamclark8340]

Tim, I should have mentioned that I am flying at an altitude of about 6,500 ft. This may make a difference in my prop size.

[@TimMcKay56]

William: Good point. No harm going with a larger motor as well due to altitude. Tim

[@sudhaseshasayee7945]

Sir you can use a y cable for the aeliron servos

[@TimMcKay56]

Sudha: Excellent point, I had completely forgot about the Y cord approach. Tim

[@greg0063]

What battery did you use? My friend is looking to build this. He's got some 1400mah 3s packs, would those be in the range for this plane with say a 50 gram motor (2212).

[@TimMcKay56]

Greg: I'd say a three cell lipo would offer gobs of power. As a check, before you hand launch, see that the model "pulls" a bit from you at high throttle. Tim

[@williamclark8340]

I built the 30" wing version of the Bronco. At this point I need to purchase the electronics. Which motor 250 or 370 , prop and battery combination would you recommend. I would like to keep the electrons balanced and not have too large a motor for the prop or battery. Thanks, Bill B

[@TimMcKay56]

William: Great! For the 30" version, a Park 250 motor is plenty with a 2 cell lipo. I use an 8/6 prop, usually fly around half throttle. Tim

[@williamclark8340]

@@TimMcKay56 Tim, I guess my confusion is I believe you finalized on a Park 370 which I think is a bit heavier and may need a larger battery.

[@TimMcKay56]

@@williamclark8340 Oops, you are correct, it is a Park 370. I had forgotten how small the 370 is. I still use a two cell lipo. I have updated the description with this info. Note also that I have a second Bronco video, where is made the model a second time with lots of improvements, like a elevator servo closer to the tail and a nicer acrylic paint scheme. Tim

[@cannabisoutlawz]

Whats easier to build for a noob the bronco or the F22? I cant decide😮

[@TimMcKay56]

CO: Bronco for sure. F-22 builds fine, but for the more experienced flyer. Tim

[@cannabisoutlawz]

@@TimMcKay56 ok Bronco it is!! Thanks again

[@joshdesaulniers7935]

Hello I built the bronco completed w/ the foam board but I’m not sure how or which order the wires connect to the receiver? Is there any videos that walk you through setting up the receiver correctly?

[@TimMcKay56]

Josh: It varies by receiver manufacturer, but typically the connector from the ESC goes into Port 1, ailerons to Port 2 and elevator to Port 3. Be sure you bind the receiver to your transmitter as well.

[@joshdesaulniers7935]

Also I bought the Flysky fast-16x 10ch. 2.4GHz Transmitter Controller w/ IA6B Receiver C9E2 is both sides of the controller supposed to be spring loaded to go back to the center or like mine the left side controller isn’t spring loaded to go to center when not pushing up or down. Only the right side is. Is that correct or did I receive a damaged controller?

[@SmallScaleSteam]

Hi. What is the Kv rating of the motor you are using, and what size prop is fitted ?

[@TimMcKay56]

SSS: No idea on the Kv rating, uses a 7x5 prop. I usually look at a chart for the motor, listing best props and weights for the models it is suited for. The Bronco is so light you could use a range of motors. Tim

[@SmallScaleSteam]

@@TimMcKay56 Thanks Tim. A couple of us are building the Bronco as our first venture into foam board and are looking forward to flying them.

[@TimMcKay56]

@@SmallScaleSteam SSS: Hey, sounds like fun and best of luck!! Tim

[@valentinbolborici9233]

Hi. In the drawing is written 3 degrees right and down thrust. What do you mean by that? I presume the shaft of the motor will point up 3 degrees with respect to a horizontal line also point to the right 3 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plane. Is that correct? Thank you.

[@TimMcKay56]

VB: It is common for many model airplanes to have a bit (2-3 degrees) of motor right and down thrust. Right thrust, looking down on the nose, points right a bit (I eyeball this estimate). For down thrust, the motor shaft points down a bit, looking from the side, to prevent “ballooning” with addition of power. Tim

[@greghaff229]

What grit sandpaper to use to sand down the foam tailing edge?

[@TimMcKay56]

100 grit. Tim

[@greghaff229]

@@TimMcKay56 Interesting was you sand down the tailing edge bottom sheet before gluing down the top sheet. I do enjoy your video, keep up the good work.

[@TimMcKay56]

@@greghaff229 😊👍🏻 Tim

[@denniskelly8134]

Tim, the sheet that prints out for me, has the 6" rule at 1 3/16 of an inch and the plan wing measures 5 7/8. None of that computes.

[@TimMcKay56]

Dennis: Do this. Just measure the wingspan on your computer printout. Let's say that measures 8 inches. The Bronco wingspan is 30". So in this case, 30 divided by 8 = 3.75. Take every dimension as measured on the plan and multiply by a factor of 3.75. Plan B is to review my video of how to enlarge a model plan at FedEx Office, and print out a full size plan this way. Tim

[@alexherrera3918]

Love it, specially slow flight. I hope you have time to create a pdf so you can save us the trip to the printing shop. Other video you have another plane without rudder and mentioned that since it have no rudder does not need wheels but just hand launch. can you please clarify this i do not understand it. thanks

[@TimMcKay56]

Alex: Will work on a set of plans soonest. For now, you take a screen shot (command-option-4 on my Mac). Print out the screen shot and enlarge with a FedEx Office large format scanner. Regarding rudder, I thin that what I was saying is if there is no landing gear, no need for a steerable tailwheel. If a model has ailerons, you can usually get away without a rudder. But the catch is no steering on the ground if no rudder. Tim

[@alexherrera3918]

@@TimMcKay56 got it , thanks for the clarification!!!

[@laroto]

Nice work, good channel. Please understand that screen shots will yield all kinds of inaccurate results depending on the user. PLEASE print your Turbocad file to a PDF. Thanks!

[@TimMcKay56]

John: You are correct. I know now that I can load the plans to Google Drive, post a link in the description. Will do that as soon as the plans are complete. Tim

[@joshdesaulniers7935]

How thick are the 2 pieces that go in between the wing?

[@TimMcKay56]

Josh: Two lengths of the 3/16" foam board, so 2 X 3/16" or 3/8" thick. Really not critical, but two pieces of foam board wortk well for an airfoil shape and wing strength. Tim

[@denniskelly8134]

Where can I get a template with the dimensions on it. The pdf file shows a 6" rule but what does that mean?

[@TimMcKay56]

Dennis: The 6" ruler on your print out would measure "6 inches" on that print out. So, just measure the 6" ruler on your print out. Let's say that is 2 inches long. So just measure any dimension on the plan and multiply by 3 (in this case) to get the dimension to measure on your foam board model. Say the wing on the plan measures 10 inches. Multiply by 3 and get the model wingspan of 30". I have made the Bronco with both a 30" and 20" wingspan, both fly fine. Tim

[@joshdesaulniers7935]

Also how can I get the blueprints for the single engine bronco?

[@TimMcKay56]

Josh: Plans link in the Description. All straight lines, just scale up as needed (ruler in plans, also wing is 30"). Here is the plans link as well. Tim drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OtpnZCQ8fIbwIkUDk4lr0bHH-pv9_emy?usp=sharing

[@55scrambler]

do have tiled plans ?

[@TimMcKay56]

Steve: Sorry, no tiled plans. I would have been happy to post the original TurboCAD files, but a bad program crash and lost those files, just the PDF version. I am switching to QCAD for drawing plans and will have full files for that in the future. Tim

[@DelDredd]

Y lead your ailerons, single channel used no problem you could have used a smaller 3-4 channel Rx then without issue.

[@TimMcKay56]

DD: You are 100% correct. And I used a Y connection on my Square Flyer (elevons), video on on Feb 14! Tim

[@achwal]

Can we make it a pusher ?

[@TimMcKay56]

Sure, a pusher would work just fine. You may want to widen the width between the two booms to allow for prop clearance. And be careful on the hand launches!! Tim

[@realElzie]

How much did it weigh before electronics?

[@TimMcKay56]

About 16 ounces (1 lb). Just about right for this type of model. Tim

[@realElzie]

@@TimMcKay56 Thanks!

[@harrisogburn6314]

Is it possible to show a clearer picture of the plans? The one you provide is not sharp enough to clearly see the dimension numbers. They are blurred.

[@TimMcKay56]

Harris: Did you use the download link for the plans in the description section of KZbin? Tim

[@harrisogburn6314]

@@TimMcKay56 I did, but there are no measurements. Am I missing something?

[@TimMcKay56]

Harris: RC plans generally do not show measurements as they print out full size. In this case, just use the 6 inch ruler as a gauge. Tim

[@TimMcKay56]

Ruler is on the plan. Tim

[@harrisogburn6314]

Thanks Tim. I’m new to this. I appreciate you putting the plans up. Can’t wait to build this and give it a try.

[@greghaff229]

Why that motor and not another motor?

[@TimMcKay56]

Use any motor you like to provides sufficient thrust! Tim

[@greghaff229]

@@TimMcKay56 So numbers that are on the motor mean nothing?

[@gordonmckay4523]

@@greghaff229 Pretty much. Each manufacturer has some protocol for their motor naming system. Nothing like the old gas motor days when a 0.15 motor was the same for most brands. Most manufacturers will have a chart with the size model the motor is best for. Plus, once I get a motor I make note of a good size airplane for the motor. Tim

[@gavincarver7291]

how much did you pay for electronics

[@TimMcKay56]

Gavin: Receiver around $50, ESC $30, servos around $15 each. Tim

[@stevekang1935]

Tail heavy

[@TimMcKay56]

😊👍🏻 Tim