Every plan on this page is free and comes from a plane I actually built and flew on camera. Start with the 30-inch, 3-channel trainer: two $1.50 sheets of foam board, a measured cut list with a printable one-page cut guide, about two hours of building, and roughly $140 all-in the first time. The other plans scale from a $1 single-sheet quickie to a 79½-inch cargo hauler — dimensions below, full build write-ups behind every card.
My most-watched build and the plane I tell every beginner to make first. About 2 hours and two sheets of foam board, with the full parts list, wiring, radio setup, and first-flight guide on one page.
Full plan & build guide → PrintableThe 30-inch trainer as a print-and-cut sheet: wing blank ≈16–17″×30″, fuselage strip 10–11″×30″, tail sizes, throws, and setup targets. Print it, tape it over the bench, build.
Print the cut guide → $1 airframeA whole flying airframe from a single sheet of foam board in half an hour — C-channel folds, a scored-camber airfoil, and CG one-third back. The cheapest possible way to find out if you love this hobby.
See the 30-minute build → FloatyAn undercambered wing that makes lift at walking pace. Full specs on the page: motor, ESC, CG at ~2″ from the leading edge, and the transmitter settings. Hand-launch, belly-land on grass.
See the slow flyer specs → 3 builds in 1Three planes against the clock. The 1-hour build — straight wing, spar, dihedral, box fuselage — flew so well it embarrassed the 1-day bush plane with flaps, LEDs, and 3D-printed gear. Both are on the page.
See all three builds → Big buildNo plans, just foam and trial and error: a thick airfoil for slow-speed lift, spars four foam layers deep, a working cargo door, and the CG fix that turned a scary maiden into a flyer. Not a first build — a goal build.
See the 5-foot build →These plans are fixed sizes that I know fly. The Airplane Designer generates a new plan for any wingspan from 18 to 400 inches — chord, CG, dihedral, power system, and a to-scale drawing, sized around how you want it to fly.
Here's exactly how the foam breaks down on the first trainer. Sheet 1 becomes the wing: one 30″-long blank about 16–17″ wide — the bottom skin plus the top skin that folds over the leading edge — with the ~1″ spar strip cut from the offcut. Sheet 2 becomes the fuselage and tail: a 10–11″×30″ strip folds into the 2½″ box fuselage, and the horizontal stab (5″×12″), vertical fin (8″×5″), and doublers come out of what's left. Total airframe cost: about $3 in foam. Cut a couple of inches long where you can and trim to fit — foam board forgives.
The 5-footer is the plan everyone wants to build first, and it's the one that ends the hobby for people. Big planes aren't just scaled-up small planes — my 79½″ cargo plane needed spars four foam layers thick, real current, and a heavier wallet when it hit the ground. A 30-inch plane crashes for pocket change and rebuilds in an evening, which is exactly what you want while your thumbs are learning. Build the 30-inch class until landings are boring, then go big. If you're brand new, the Start Here path puts the whole sequence in order, and my first-plane parts list covers the electronics all of these small plans share.
Plan picked? Get the matched motor, ESC, battery, prop and servo set sized to that exact wingspan.
