Looking for pre built 1/18th scale bi-planes and tri-planes

Never seen anything prebuilt in that scale. You might consider looking into RC scale models for that size of biplane. Be prepared for sticker shock though...

There are some static display "kits" that I've seen in the past but your looking at $500+ for the unbuilt kit............ is that the kind of thing your looking for?

I'll be curious to see what others have to say to this request, good luck,

F. Marion

Aircraft form the RC scale crowd are much bigger-- typical scales for RC models are in the 1/8 to 1/4 scale size.

1/18 is actually a scale more likely to be used in stick and tissue free flight models.

Foe example, Guillow's big Sopwith camel kit is 1/12 scale, with a wingspan of 28 inches. (To big for your request.) A 1/18 scale model would have a wingspan of 21 inches. A 16-inch span model will be baout 1/21 scale. I mention this to illustrate the point that 1/18 is right in the middle of scales typically used for FF scale models.

Your problem will be that free flight modelers are more interested in size of the model than in scale. If you look at stick and tissue kits, many of them will tell you that a model is xx inches in span, but not mention the scale. Thi sis because some FF events limit wingspan, and not scale. "Peanut Scale" has a max wingspan of 13 inches, while "Walnut Scale" is a max of 17.5 inches.) To find a 1/18 scale model, you'll need to know the size of the prototype, and do the math yourself.

The advantage of the FF scale kits are that they are very light, so they are easy to hang from the ceiling. The big disadvantage is that you have to build them yourself, and they aren't as pre-fabricated as a plastic model. (Building them as a display model is a lot easier than building them as a flying model, though.)

Hope this helps....

-Bill