This one is mostly aimed at Australians. Over the last few months I've spent some time and these parts are pretty much what I consider "cheap but are up to the task" and don't take forever to arrive in the mail. RCTimer and Hobbyking.com both take about 8 days give or take for most things from the day you order to the day it arrives.
The great thing about these scratchbuilt parkjets is that many of them use exactly the same parts no matter where you get the plans from. You can build yourself a standard list and go from there. It also means you can have more than one plane lying around and just swap your Motor, ESC, mixer and batteries between them making it fairly economical in the long run.
This parts list is based on recommendations from people who know what they are doing! That's how I built my list in the first place.
One thing you will notice if you know anything about this stuff is that it's a VERY conservative system on a 2 cell battery. I have 2 reasons for doing it this way.
1) Using stuff at it's max potential all the time is hard on them and wears them out relatively quickly. By making sure that nothing is pushed really hard you make your parts last a lot longer.
2) Heat is an issue with RC planes. Running things at their max generates about as much heat as they can safely handle on a normal day. When summer hits and the temp goes to 35-40 degrees C? A lot of guys just don't fly because it's too hard on their parts. This very conservative system is designed so that it comes back very cool on a normal day and you can get away with flying at 35-40 degrees provided you don't go silly! At the same time on those cooler days it's perfectly capable of taking a 3 cell battery for extra performance.
Those are the 2 foundations this system is built on. Make it last and be able to fly as often as possible.
I get MOST of my parts from RCTimer.com. They aren't top quality but their electrical components have proven to be rugged and reliable for the most part. The price is right too so you can afford to have an extra few laying around to cover the couple bad parts you might get from time to time.
Note: I'm an RCPowers V1 fan and my system is set up for V1's. The only parts I don't recommend for a V2 sized plane are the 2208-8 2600kv motor and the 2s batteries. You really need the larger motor and a 3s battery for a plane of that size. Everything else is perfectly interchangable between V1 and V2 sized planes.
Motor:
I use RCTimer 2212-6 or 2826-6 50 gram motors for my parkjets. They are the same size and the same weight so are interchangeable. The 2826 is a bit more powerful but you won't really notice on a 2 cell battery with lighter planes. On a heavier plane or on a 3 cell battery the difference is noticeable though. If you are looking for a smaller or lighter motor, the 2208-8 uses the same ESC and takes the same batteries but is only 38 grams. It's 2600kv instead of 2200 but takes the same 6x4 prop. It's less powerful but makes an overall "floatier" plane.
RCTimer.com 2212-6 2200kv 50g motor
RCTimer.com 2826-6 2200kv 50g motor
RCTimer.com 2208-8 2600kv 38g motor
Electronic Speed Controller.
All my planes use the same ESC. I stick with 30 amp even though a 20 amp is fine if you only use a 2 cell battery. One size fits all and I can drop a 3s battery into any of my planes if I feel like it! You can program them from the remote so there's no need for a programming card either.
RCTimer.com Programmable 30A Brushless ESC
Servos.
I mainly use Metal Gear servos now but I'll include the ones I used to use too. They are slightly cheaper and work fine, it's just that the MG are better. The 6-packs are cheaper provided you are willing to buy that many! The 9025MG's are stronger, the 9018MG's are lighter and the plain old 9018's are the cheaper nylon-gear servos. The 9025MGs are cheaper than the 9018MGs if you buy them in the 6-pack.
RCTimer.com 6x TS 9025-MG 9g servo
RCTimer.com 1x TS 9025-MG 9g servo
RCTimer.com 1x TS 9018-MG 9g servo
RCTimer.com 6x TS 9018 Nylon Gear servo
Onboard Mixer.
Onboard mixers are for running elevon or V-tail mixes on the plane rather than in the Transmitter. They can be called Delta Mixers, V-Tail Mixers or Elevon mixers but they are all the same thing. RCTimer sells the HobbyWing V-Tail mixers and although they are a little clunky they are reliable.
Hobbywing V-Tail mixer on RCTimer.com
If you want something a little smoother, Hobbyking has GWS mixers.
GWS V-Tail Mixer on Hobbyking.com
Plugs and connectors.
RC Parts often come without plugs or connectors and for these parts you will need to buy some for the motor, ESC and Battery. The gold-plated connectors go between the Motor and ESC, the Deans connectors go between the ESC and the Battery.
RCTimer.com 10x 2mm gold-plated connector - Male
RCTimer.com 10x 2mm gold-plated connector - Female
RCTimer.com 10x Pairs Deans Connectors
Batteries.
I use mainly 1300mAh 20C 2s batteries and 1800mAh 20C 3s batteries. I get mine from Hobbyking but batteries are one of those things you have to make a decision on. Cheaper batteries generally don't have the performance and lifetime of the more expensive ones. If you buy cheaper ones like I do (and they aren't on this list), balance them regularly! I buy mine a little bigger than they need to be to make sure the performance and a bit of extra flight time is there.
Zippy 1300mAh 2s 20C LiPo from Hobbyking.com
Zippy Flightmax 1800mAh 3s 20C from Hobbyking.com
I get everything else (except Depron foam) from my local hobby store or make it myself. Control rods, control horns, clevises, propeller come from my LHS and I make my own motor mounts out of 1/8th inch plywood.
Common parts:
I buy these from my local hobby store. Yes, you CAN get them cheaper online but your LHS is an excellent source of information. If you just walk in of fthe street and ask questions, they will be trying to get you to buy something from them usually. If you are there on a semi-frequent basis buying bits and bobs already they will be far more willing to offer you genuine advice. It's an excellent way to stay in touch with the RC community to drop in occasionally too.
These are the parts where usually it doesn't cost you much more to buy them in the LHS Vs online. That's not always the case but it is for me so I'm still staying cheap while getting access to help and community information when I need it!
APC or Bluebird Speed 400 6x4E composite propeller.
2mm threaded control rods.
2-56 standard Nylon clevis
3/4 inch (19mm) Nylon Control Horns
Foam.
In Australia Depron is not cheap and there's no alternatives that I've found that turn out any cheaper. while some other countries can buy it for $5-$7 a sheet at the local hobby store, to to that here Downunder it's usually about $17-$20.
Depron Retailers in Australia. If you are lucky enough to live close to one it's an option but to get a couple sheets by online ordering the postage can make it cost $25 a sheet. This starts to defeat the purpose of Scratchbuilt foamies: They are cheap.
I buy my Depron in bulk from TradeWarehouse.com.au. If oyu buy their smaller packs it ends up costing you 24 dollars a sheet after postage. They aren't cheap but the foam turns up quickly, packed well and undamaged. However they have a deal where any order over $99 gets free postage. A package of 6mm Depron is, conveniently, $50 so if you buy 2 you go to $100 and drop your price per sheet to $20.
These are half sized sheets but you can do most planes by jockeying the parts around on the foam before you cut them out.
OR, you can do what I do. I buy mine in bulk. If you get onto them by telephone instead of using the website you can get a case of 20 full-sized sheets of white Depron for $180. However, because you aren't ordering through the website you don't get the $99 free postage deal. The postage is a flat-rate $35 per case and delivery is just as quick as ordering online. This gives you a per-sheet price of $10.75 which is much better. Of course you need $215 in your pocket for the entire case which some people just can't do.
Depending on which state you live in, Radiant Floor Heating can be cheaper because in some states postage is only $5 per case.
Which brings us to:
Plans.
This is at the bottom because I intend to devote a page to these when I venture further past RCPowers .com and their planes. My experience outside them is minimal (and there's a reason I've stuck with them whenever possible!).
Sometimes you'll get free plans, sometimes you'll have to pay. The main difference is that if you pay for the plans the place you get them from usually offers after-purchase support and some are better than others.
RCPowers.com is my obvious favourite. I have more than one of their planes and all of them are solid flyers. They also have a focus on their planes being easy to build, fly on elevons only (so you only need 2 servos) and as beginner friendly as you can make a Parkjet. If you are on the beginner end of the spectrum, stop here first.
Tomas Hellberg's Depron plans are also some solid offerings. I havn't built any myself but I've flown a couple and are some good planes but are less "beginner friendly" to fly than the RCPowers ones. They use all the same gear as the RCPowers planes though so you can transition easily between the 2.
RCGroups.com has an exceedingly large range of free plans gathered from all over the internet. Some of them are quite good, some are.... not. Be careful which ones you pick and try to stick to the ones with positive reviews from most people who have built one.
