Curtis Jenny RC plane, mostly finished shown, I have some helpful advice for users

Finished Creations
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I designed an RC Curtis Jenny biplane and am in the finishing stages of that element. The wingspan is 38".

I’ve ran into a few bugs along the way. First not all things copy over correctly, double check your work along the way, keep it in small increments or the software will be overloaded.

I went through an extensive amount of work to get it to run on Linux Mint, as of today it no longer functions properly on it, so am forced to use my cheap windows laptop for the controller until things get figured out, if ever. It’s good software overall, but it has it’s limitations and quirks. Making money off of running it is more up to the individual then it is up this being something that normally happens. I am that individual that has managed to make it work.

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7 Likes
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Not sure what that means. I have been using LightBurn for quite a long time, more than a few years, and have had very little problems with it. And I do make money off it, without really trying. Your work is very nice, well done. It would be helpful if you specified WHAT parts or process you were having issues with.

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I will add there are going to be sock puppet’s on these forums that rather gas-light you. They are fake accounts that are only people working for the company to try and both cover up bugs and issues, in this case, telling people they will basically make money off of using lightburn without trying. Don’t believe both the hype, in this case they are more focused on promotion and selling LB then being realistic and honest.

A common tactic they use is putting the blame on the user for bugs, well guess what, I’ve talked to other LB users and they all had the same problems with the software, assumed it was on their end because that is what they are told here, but the reality is, it’s not perfect and has issues, but it’s usable and I did make some suggestions to compensate for it’s inadequacies.

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Are you accusing the Lightburn developers of doing something unethical?

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Did you post these bugs so the developers can fix them?

Please post a link to any bugs reports you made.

If you didn’t, you are at least part of the problem.

That’s a sad conclusion and is an ignorant statement about how this site works.

I’ve been in software for 40 years, using countless software packages. None of these have a good line to the developers, even though we paid through the nose for their use.

I have never, never, never seen a development team fix an bug and roll out a fix in less than 12 hours, except with Lightburn.

When unanswered questions come up, the developers post and clarify exactly what’s happening.

You comments are, not only derogatory, false and misleading but it’s a slap in the face for this whole group of us that are not, as you label us, sock puppets. I won’t even mention the connotation it implies about the developers here that, as far as I can tell, have a never ending strive for excellence.

Anyone is more than welcome to post questions about using Lightburn and if there are any anomalies with the current or beta versions that might indicate some kind of aberrant action.

Although I love your plane, it would have been nice without the irritating and erroneous ad-lib that serves no purpose, except irritation.

:smile_cat:

1 Like
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I don’t care about offending people, I only care about helping those users that have been misinformed and are in this case, blaming themselves over issues that are not their own. I talk to other LB users out side of this place, it’s been helpful since I can correlate in a true and unbiased atmosphere. It’s also helping them stick with it rather then give up and tell others to not use the software.

I am not being paid, nor would I accept payment to debug the software with the developers, to include sharing all of my findings and issues as I design away, in addition to, I just don’t have the time for that.

Rule of thumb as stated, check your work as you go along. Also, as stated, do not believe everything people are saying in their forums for support, not all of them are who they make you think they are, they have an agenda and I’m the one in the wrong for pointing this out, what ever…

The plane would have been done much more quickly if I knew then what I know now along software trust, there was much I had to redraw that I should not have, but I won’t have to do that in the future now. I was smart enough to not attempt a tab and slot system with the forward sheeting since LB can’t handle it and you are stuck trial and error after the fact that I just don’t have the patience, nor desire to do any more, that is something I may still go back to regardless… this was an element I’ve already brought to the support system as you say, so far, zero solutions were found… The cockpit sheeting, well and above this in addition to ask upon in addition, it’s a necessary part to keep this functional and scale of some degree, this is only the first mostly scratch by hand work around version, but LB was the basis for it’s design, now it get’s more refined in it for future generations of this bird because it simply cannot be programmed in perfectly and dead on, correctly in the software alone.

I am most irritated with the sock puppet responses then the nuances and work around with the software’s limitations, at least what I bring to the table has constructive direction and making it loud and clear, I’m not buying into the gas-lighting going on…

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Wow! And some think I am an unhappy individual !!!

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Brian says we are all gaslighting sock puppets.

I feel like we have let Brian down.

Poor Brian.

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I’m afraid I’ve had to retire my sock puppet… too many holes in the toes.
I always find it amazing that when something does not work perfectly, some people immediately blame other people rather than looking for answers closer to home.
I also use Lightburn for making scratch built remote control aircraft. Among others, I have built a 1/4 scale spitfire using Lightburn to cut everything out. While I do the original drawings using CorelDraw, I have NEVER had an issue putting it into Lightburn, although mechanical issues with my lasers have occasionally left me scratching my sock puppet head.
If a person does not like the software, rather than complaining about it - learn how to program and make your own bloody software. I’m sure it will leave the rest of us agog with envy.
In my opinion anything an old fart like me has no problems using is incredible. Especially when it’s so inexpensive.
Signed: Sock Puppet # 3,546,227.12

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You are designing RC planes in CorelDraw, and then importing into LB. The OP seems to be strictly designing in Lightburn. I can relate to the OP, only because I have too many years in CAD. LB isn’t a full blown CAD package. It does some things (like text manipulation) easier/nicer than most CAD programs, but I wouldn’t enjoy drawing RC planes in LB. Hopefully, more editing features will be added in the future. LB has come a long way in a few years.

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Most people are using LB only as a laser controller and doing their design work with other software but they are not boasting mastery over it. I’ve been computing/programming since 1983, I pick up new software extremely quickly and I push it to it’s boundaries and limitations well in excess of the casual user. There were times I was laughing along the way how badly it was losing it, realizing I was pushing it too hard, it’s memory core functions have their limitations so it’s good to know when you have to break down the design element into smaller pieces so it can handle it.

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Shown is an example from yesterdays addition to the plane on the cockpit trim, done up with steam bent 1/16" balsa, painted black after it was secured. It’s a little messy due to contact cement spill over but that’s easy to clean up with goo gone I’ll get to later. It’s when you are dealing with wrapped around curved surfaces it’s not capable of handling out of the box so you are doing some trial and error, destroying some materials, taking measurements manually, so in this case, the openings are perfect circles but after the wrap around, they are oval. This is one element that has me delving into fusion 360, and 3d cad and it’s variants.

With the rest, people, sock puppet in this thread was about mr. I make money off of Lightburn without even trying. Nobody makes money without even trying, it’s a sales promise that cannot deliver but that line of bull is pressed forward to give people false hope and to give them incentive to purchase the software. I have over three decades in business, I know marketing and have seen some pretty unscrupulous tactics over the years and I also have a killer memory so I notice patterns and can correlate things much better then the average in the population, ie. not a good person to lie to because I will see right through it.

I still urge my customers, current and future to get involved on the design element themselves and LB is a good starting point for the complete new to this aspect rather then just rely upon me for producing the entire kit only. Getting the LB source code rather then importing a .dxf removes any possible discrepancies in the translation, also helps on my end for cleaning it up and what to look out for on errors and issues I need to address before it hits the laser cutter. I do not urge any of them to bother with this forum outside of the total basics, one is not aloud to share what they observe, not aloud to have an opinion, not aloud to question anything…

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Wow I am a little lost. Not a computer guy. But do love math and making things.I make money with LB. It is on the side because I have a full time company also.I am learning as I go till I retire. Then I will be able to do all the work I turn down now. Thats just me.

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Actually, a lot of the newer laser users (I am referring to Chinese lasers that use LB) merely buy files from Etsy or somewhere else. They don’t design anything. They might add names to personalize something, but they aren’t designers. Some of the biggest influencers today (who I won’t name) that have large followings - they are terrible designers. But, they know how to market their business and make money.

I don’t use LB to run my USA made laser. I use it strictly to import DXF files that I create in a CAD program. If you know how to design in a CAD program, and you feed LB decent DXF code, LB imports it correctly every time. I wouldn’t use LB if it did a bad job. It works great, and that’s all I care about. I then export a SVG from LB, and then manipulate it with a few other programs.

I kind of get where you are coming from regarding the “sock puppet” thing. But, your sandpaper is going to rub people the wrong way. The developers of Lightburn will be the first to admit that LB is mainly for running lasers. It was user input that has pushed the software to add more CAD functionality. LB has grown a lot in the last few years.

My advice to you would be to find a CAD program that works for what you do. Fusion 360 is a possibility. I use it only to extrude 2D parts that I create in Draftsight. Or, just get a copy of Draftsight, or any other AutoCAD knock off.

I don’t consider myself a sock puppet :slight_smile:

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If I were to worry about rubbing people the wrong way, I would not post anything anywhere and just ignore all social interactions. No matter how you go about it, even in the absolute best situations, there will always be some jerk that has to post smack against you, they do so partially out of ignorance, partially out of jealousy. Being no nonsense, getting the facts out there, not candy coating, and not buying the balonie, it will piss people off, honestly I don’t care, that’s their problem not mine…

The files you can use out of the box don’t exist for the RC plane sector, and so far all I can scrounge up on the .dxf for the public files are just a mess you have to spend endless time fixing or just redrawing all over again. The pointing people to LB rather then Cad is just easier and realistic for them and me since I know what they used to design with and what to look out for. Scale being one element, the direction of the lines, ie. getting them square on the grid is another, so it’s just easier to share the LB source rather then .dxf.

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I forgot that you were the user struggling with LB back in November 2023. At that time, you were going to use LibreCAD. Why are you still using LB to design RC planes?

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More lies… and why I am not interested in dealing with the likes of you. I was not struggling, I was trying to overcome the software’s limitations and didn’t get any kind of a solution outside of gas-lighting and sock puppet responses. Always when you reach the limits of any software, double check your findings with those that have been using it longer to eliminate any possible user error. This plane was much of the way done on LB, so no point in changing mid stream with new software. I’m not sticking with it outside of it being just a laser controller, Linux doesn’t have any options so far from what I’ve found, but if I find it, chances are high I will ditch LB all together.

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What a tremendously unpleasant topic with none of the promised helpful advice. Sorry I read it now.

Headed back to never never land where the sock puppets don’t spew so much bile.

Nice plane, tho. I always wanted to try RC Aviation but the cost/time vs inevitable crash always kept me away.

I’m a pro CAD user myself and immediately recognized LB wasn’t suitable for complex technical design. It’s pretty darn good for graphic design and driving a laser, tho. I use it for what it does well and use something else where it’s weak.

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RC these days is cheap to get into properly, $100.00 or less for all of the proper gear, be it starter and just bust out an air-frame and go fly.

Why on earth would someone be lurking around a software support forum but not actually use the software outside of really generic, utilitarian levels?

Beyond this, even these finished creations threads, I surely would hope they were all using Lightburn to design with upon, otherwise it’s rather pointless to share here among.

Ugliness going on, was not my original intention at all, but we had a cascading effect because I refuse to believe someones BS, it’s not my problem it went that way, it just shows the true face of this group and I’m certainly not impressed. If you actually used the software in full, you would have picked up some tips from what I originally posted, but you don’t, so no, you are not going to learn anything…

The plane has certainly exercised the good and the bad on the software’s capacity, there will be more to come, this was not a simple design at all for many reasons, it’s also not my first, nor my last.

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Couldn’t agree more. I have had so much help and advice from users of this forum, and have always been impressed at the hands-on involvement of the Lightburn developers in addressing and fixing problems quickly - both with software problems and in helping folks to use particular software features.
As for designing with Lightburn, it is a fairly capable program, and what I use for simple things (acrylic cases for Raspberry Pi’s a typical example). If I want something a bit more complex I use Affinity Designer or Fusion360, both produce files I can easily import into Lightburn. I don’t recognise any of the problems that the OP refers to, and that comes from a background of using (and teaching) design programs for many years. Oh well…

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I am so sorry that you feel that way.