The Simplest R/C Plane to Build And Fly By James Goss     The simplest radio controlled airplane in the world is saying a lot. I don't know of any plane that is simpler to build and fly than the Postage Stamp. The Postage Stamp is a sport and fun fly plane that is very aerobatic and I am improving the design as time goes on. This is not an article on how to build a Stamp plane, but instead it describes why they are so much fun to build and fly. If you want to know how to build one of these planes I already have that information on my web site, http://nav.to/jgosscacc, simply click on Postage Stamp planes and you will find a step-by-step building guide. About three years back I set out to build a hovering machine that would be a training aid for learning to hover. The machine didn't have any wings and only an x tail section. I spent many hours trying to get the contraption to function like I had envisioned, but never did. Had I only known how simple the task really was, I could have kicked myself. All I needed was a simple piece of flat plastic and an engine, why couldn't I think of that back then?      When someone first sees the Postage Stamp plane they think it can't possible fly, I also had that thought when it was being built on my workbench. When I seen it part with the ground for the first time and begin to fly, and fly well, I was truly amazed and thought, “It really does fly”. I had already been flying some of my other flat planes, but they all had a fuselage. Here is a plane with no fuselage at all and it is still flying. How can a plane fly with no fuselage? I had just always assumed an airplane must have a fuselage of some type or another and that the wing must have an airfoil in order to stay in the air. Once I got past not having a fuselage, the bells started ringing and I visualized many possibilities for this type plane. I have seen many special purpose planes in the past such as the flying stop signs and the like, but they all had a fuselage. Why carry that extra weight around if the plane doesn't need it to fly. By dropping the fuselage the thrust to weight ratio will allow the plane to do some amazing stunts that otherwise would be impossible.      The Stamp has really proved itself as being one of the easiest planes to build and fly. I have built ten in the last two weeks; it only takes a few hours to build a Stamp. It is also the toughest and most durable plane I have ever seen. It is not totally indestructible, but it is not far from it. Most crashes at worst will only break a prop or bend the landing gear a little; you are back in the air in no time at all. I have seen only one Stamp so far that was not able to return to the air after a crash. The radio gear failed and the Stamp went in at full throttle with an Enya .45 engine pulling it like a streak of lightning. The engine was damaged and the vertical fin was ripped off. If the engine had not been damaged we could have gotten the Stamp back in the air in short order. So by and large the Stamp can survive a crash. This is one of the things I like about this plane so much. I can remember over the years when I would have a crash and completely destroy my plane that took me months to build. Here is a plane that only takes a few hours to build and get in the air. If it crashes, and it will, you can keep on flying crash after crash and not have to worry about destroying your plane. If by some chance you do destroy it, that's ok because you already have three more built and ready to fly.     Some modelers feel that this plane is too hard for them to fly. I guess it looks intimidating by the way it likes to fly around with its nose up attitude. This is really the easiest way to fly the Stamp, keep its nose up at a 45-degree angle of attack. It is in its most stable mode of flight at this time and can be flown as close to the ground as you like. Hover it like a humming bird for as long as you like and then set it down in a vertical landing or touch its tail and go. I admit that it is different from flying your regular plane, but it only takes two or three flights to learn its characteristics. After that you are in for a treat, this plane is fun to fly and I am serious when I say that. Anybody can learn to fly it no matter what type plane you are now flying. Soon we will be seeing even the TOC pilots having a ball flying this type plane. No matter how good of a pilot you are there is nothing wrong with flying a Stamp. Everybody needs to get away from his or her everyday routine of flying and have some RC fun without the fear of crashing. Believe me when I say that it will allow you to relax and really enjoy flying for a change, and at the same time give you more esteem and a new outlook on the hobby.      I am not trying to sell or make money from my Postage Stamp design. I simply want to share with my fellow pilots the joy I have found by building and flying these planes and would love to see everyone having the same enjoyment. I think one of the most intriguing aspects of the Stamp is its cost to build. You can actually build the basic plane, everything except the radio and engine, for less than $10. I bet there is no other RC plane on earth that can be built for that price and still fly as well as the Stamp, and that is the price if you buy your material retail. If you already have some of the materials it may not cost you anything. It just can't get any better that that, a free airplane to fly and have the time of your life.     If you noticed above I said that you would crash this plane. It flies so well at ground level, and that is where the most fun is, that you will spend most of the time hovering around one or two feet above ground. No room for error at this altitude so you will eventually conk the ground during some of your flights, this is normal Stamp flying. If you are not hitting the ground you are not getting the full benefits the Stamp has to offer. Now don't get me wrong, you can fly the Stamp at a nice high altitude and really take it easy and may never crash as long as your engine is running. Remember that this plane flies by the engine creating thrust and if the engine stops the plane is going to come down fast. It will glide somewhat if the altitude is high enough when the engine stops, but it is not a glider by anyone's imagination.       Another plus for the Stamp is that it can be flown just about anywhere you choose. It will hand launch or it will do a conventional takeoff. I fly it in my front yard where there are power lines and other obstacles. It will takeoff in a few feet and you can immediately go into a hover and hold it there, get it stable and then start to fly it around at high alpha (nose high) attitude and then do a vertical landing. With a little practice you can make this plane go where you want it to go instead of it going where it wants to go like some planes do. You can fly a full tank of fuel and never get more than ten feet high in an area as small as 50 square feet. This is where the Postage Stamp gets its name because it takes such a small area to fly it. The Stamp takes less area that a control line plane on a 50-foot flight line. Park flyers will not even fly in an area as tiny as the Stamp will. Now that I think about it the Stamp is the best plane in the world after all.     The Stamp will accommodate a wide range of engine sizes depending on how you choose to build the plane. If you use landing gear and a tailskid an engine in the .25 to .46 sizes will have plenty of power for hover and vertical flight. If built lighter a smaller engine will be ok. The .32 to .36 ranges seem to be a really good match for this plane.     So let me sum up by saying that for an airplane that doesn't look like an airplane, it flies better at ground level that any other fun fly plane I have ever flown. These little planes are spreading at an exponential rate and soon we will see them at every flying field in the world. This is because a plane that is this cheap to build, extremely fast to build from materials readily available everywhere, will fly and hover like we have always wanted a plane to do, it is unique in that it is only a flat piece of plastic 4 mm thick and 24 inches square, there is no reason not to have and fly this type of plane.      There is one club member that has converted to all gas engines and swore he would never fly glow engines again. After seeing the Stamp perform at ground level he has changed his mind and is going to get a Stamp. I am sure that all modelers will not accept this simple little plane as being a real airplane, but then we are all entitled to an opinion. The ones that have lowered their standards, so to speak, and accepted the Stamp are the ones having the fun. Speaking for myself I have been mesmerized by the Stamps flying ability and think it is the cats pajamas.