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9 Civilian Model Aircraft
So many model aviation fans are keen on military airplanes. To be honest I don't share the same passion that much. I think civilian airplanes are far more exciting. If you need to be convinced, check out these 9 great aircraft models. Then if you still prefer to build or collect military models that's fine. But you can perhaps at least include a few civilian airplanes in your collection, can't you?
1. de Havilland
 
| Unfrotunately the de Havilland Aircraft Company no longer exists. And they did so many great airplanes. The one that you see on the picture at left is a static scale model of de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. They have also other famous civilian airplanes like de Havilland Dove, de Havilland DH 83 Fox Moth, De Havilland Sea Vixen and more.This site (and many others) offer some great static de Havilland models. If you still prefer their military airplanes here is a CAD plan for De Havilland Dh82a Tiger Moth. |
2. Cessna
| Cessna is the king of light aviation. They have few business jets but their light airplanes are what make them so poipular in the entire world. The model you see on the picture is Cessna 310 - 6 seat twin-engined monoplane. Other very popular civilian models are Cessna 350, Cessna 337 Skymaster, Cessna 404 Titan II, Cessna 425 Corsair and many others. Their arcraft inspire both static and RC models and even free flight airplanes. If you are keen on building one yourself, this page has a bunch of Chessna model plans. |
3. Boeing
 
| Enough light airplanes. Take a look at Boeing, perhaps they build the most popular airliners. Boeings are great for model airplanes of all kind - static scale, plastic kits, RC aircraft, and even paper models. Some of the most popular models are Boeing 747 and Boeing 737. If you want to build a Boeing model airplane, here is one plan for download for you. |
4. Hawker Beechcraft
 
| Hawker Aircraft is a British company built some of the greatest British aircraft. They had both military and civilian models. Some more interesting models are the airliners Hawker Siddeley Trident, Hawker Siddeley HS 748, the general aviaiton aircraft Beechcraft Bonanza, and the lovely light jet Beechcraft Premier. Unfortunately it's hard to find any plans for building civilian models. Here you can find plans for Hawker Hurricane. |
5. Challenger Ultralight
Challenger is my favorite ultralight airplane. There are people still building and flying this airplane for real. Why not build at least a model then? This is one of those models where building it is a challenge itself - you aren't going to find many kits or plans online. So you may need to explore it in details and draw your plans yourself. You can start at Challenger's page at Wikipedia.
6. Wright Flyer
Maybe I had to start with this one. Because it's the first powered aircraft ever :) Yes, this is the airplane of the Wright brothers and it can be a great piece in everyone's collection. There are many places where you can buy kits for the Wright Flyer - for example click on the picture at left and you'll go to Amazon. And there is also this great blog post showing you how to make it yourself entirely from scratch. |
7. Airbus
 
| And of course we can't skip the other giant company in airliners - the famous Airbus. Airbus is so popular that you can find it in all model variations - as static scale model, as RC airplane, as rubber band model, or even as paper model. Of course only scale models present the aircraft with all the details. Here are a bunch of free paper models for Airbus. Those look really good. |
8. Eurocopter
 
| A good collection of civilian aircraft can't be complete without at least a single helicopter. Eurocopter is one of the big companies in the world that build military and civilian helicopters. Their choppers are often used by various police and rescue services and of course by private owners. Some of their most interesting models are Eurocopter EC-225 Super Puma, Eurocopter EC155 B1 (Dauphin), the Colibri, and BK 117-C2 Zepper. There are many places where you can buy Eurocopter models - mostly as RC and some static ones. Some people make them from paper too - see this cool gallery of helicopter papercraft. |
9. Piper Arcraft
 
| It's time for another general aviation aircraft. Piper build some of the most loved light airplanes in the world. They have created around fifty models and a large part of them are great for making a scale model or RC. Some of the greatest ones are Piper Super Cub, Piper Warrior, and Piper PA-44-180 Seminole. The newest SportCruiser is also very neat light sport aircraft. Models of various Piper airplanes are sold in many places as ARF or in kit form. And if you want to build a really big model, see this one - its scale is 1/4. Almost like the real thing! Some CAD plans for another Piper model are available here. |
Do you also like civilian models? Which is your favorite?
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User comments:
small private plane attorneys at Feb, 21 '12 22:54
I love the Wright Flyer.
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