Most Commonly Used Flight Box Items

When you pack up your gear for the RC airfield, what are your must-have items? We’ve asked around for the most commonly used flight box items from other RC pilots and came up with a pretty useful list. If you don’t have these items ready-to-go for your next trip to the field, they’re worth considering.

Electronics

• Adapters: Perhaps the most obvious items for any flight box you’re taking to the field are battery adapters. These are a must because not every battery uses the same connector as the charger or airplane you’re connecting it to.

• Voltage Checker: With your batteries, do you keep a voltage checker? You should have at least two as this turns out to be the most commonly borrowed item from a flight box. Once word gets out that you have one, everyone in your club that didn’t think to pack this electronics essential is going to want to snag it from you.

Tools

• Hex driver: Certainly a full tool kit is a great way to go with your flight box for the field, but of these tools, the most commonly used one we’ve found is the hex driver (Allen Wrench). A Phillips screwdriver was a close second to the hex driver.
• Hemostats: Inevitably you’ll drop a small screw into your airplane or need to move a wire in a tight space, and for that hemostats are an excellent retrieval/grabbing tool
• Ball Link Pliers: While other pliers might get the job done, life is so much easier with a set of ball link pliers in your flight box. The remove and attach the ball link in your RC plane or helicopter.
• Switch Wrench:  Also known as a Switch Nut Tool, a Switch Wrench may not be a common item in a flight box, but you can bet you’ll really wish you had it when you need it. You’ll also find it gets borrowed a lot by others at the field when they need to tighten the toggle switch nut on a transmitter.
• Extra Hardware: Keep a tub of random hardware for the unknown that might prevent you from being done for the day. Most RC pilots collect this tub of bits and pieces from previously wrecked RC planes. A small screw or nut dropped while outside can be impossible to find depending on the terrain.
• Mini Box Cutter: A mini blade knife with replaceable blades always comes in handy at the field. You may need to cut pieces of foam out of the way inside the RC airplane and a fresh blade makes this a lot easier.
• Glue: Cyanoacrylate (CA) or what you might think of as ‘super glue’ can make a lot of instant repairs when you’re at the field. Most often it gets used for gluing foam back together. Some stores sell little single-use tubes of it that travel well in a flight box. Bigger bottles often need to be stored carefully and upright which are better suited to a bench at home.

Extras

• Airplane Stand: While this wone technically fit in your flight box, an RC airplane stand or cradle is another one of those items that was reported to be frequently borrowed at the field. A stand makes a big difference when you’re trying to work on the underside of your model. If you have a jet with retractable landing gear, it’s a must!
• Ties: Zip-ties and hook-and-loop strips are great ways to bundle cables together and are a frequently needed item. The hook-and-loop strips are also great at securing your battery before flight.
• Tape: A roll of double-sided tape isn’t needed all that often, but when you need something sticky, it’s great to have handy.
• Metric Ruler: A small, metric ruler is great for checking where the center of gravity (CG) is meant to be. Your model will tell you how far back from the leading edge of the wing the CG should be and it’s usually written in millimeters.
• Sewing Pins: Yes, you read that right… sewing pins with a little ball at the end are surprisingly an excellent way to mark where the CG should be in your airplane. Insert one or two at the CG point after measuring, then you’ll be able to feel where the CG should be as you hold the plane up to test the balance.
• Stick-On Weights: Probably something more common in RC boating, stick-on weights actually come in handy with RC airplanes, too, after you’ve measured your CG and need to make adjustments to the weight of your plane.
• First-Aid Supplies: Your field may or may not have a first aid kit. Even then, when was the last time anyone at your club checked to see if it needs a refill of bandages? Not sure? Have at least a few bandages in your flight box.

Pack It All Up

This list may sound like a lot, but you probably already have some of it with your airplanes, even if you don’t have a dedicated flight box yet. Plus, most of the items on this list are small. People who have been in the RC flying hobby for a while likely have a wooden box covered in grease and oil stains from working with engines way back when. But now, if you don’t have a wooden flight box, a small portable tool box can do the trick. Just make sure you get some good RC stickers to make it your own.