Here are some photos of the Great Planes Super Skybolt that I built this winter. It was built from the discontinued kit and is not an ARF.

It has a Saito 125 GN motor, Futaba S3152 Servos, a McDaniel glow driver, stronger and larger than stock TNT landing gear, and Fiberglass Specialties Cowl and oversized wheel pants so as to work on our grass field.

Covering is Monokote with hand cut checkers on the underside of the plane.

It came in at about 9.5 pounds. I am going to wait a while to maiden it as I have several in line in front of it!

very nice, I like your colors and lay out to.. I have this kit waiting its turn to go on the table.. Is there a problem with the stock landing gear? what did you use on the cowl? Automotive paints? Again, Very nice job. Well done.
Terry B

Yeah yeah yeah-the airplane's nice....But man-that HANGAR!..and that gas pump! LOL..I remember cranking the pump handle to fill the glass container on top,then draining it into the cars.
The glass was marked by 'gallons',and you could see what you were getting..
You lucky dog!

The stock gear is kind of light. People say it splays out and bends easily. Plus, I wanted to add an 1 1/4 inches to mine.

I used Lusterkote paint to match the Monokote.

The Hanger is a copy of the Pietenpol Hanger now at Oshkosh, just a bit smaller.

The gas pump was puchased from someplace out in the Midwest many years ago. It was a rusty hulk that I restored. I had it working at one point.

Gas was a lot cheaper back then, but the State and Federal Taxes seem like they were probably a much higher percentage of the cost.

Only Golden Age models should be built in a hangar like that !!! LOL

Beautiful work on the Skybolt, the hangar, and the gas pump !

True enough Tom.

I am getting there. I started with 3D profiles, then Extras and CAP's. Then Bipes. Now that I can fly decently I think just strolling around the sky would be kind of fun. I am working my way back in time. My Pietenpol project, slated for next winter, will be perfect, but now I am thinking I will build a somewhat bigger scale than my kit. I think I might like to do a 1/4 scale Piet.

There ya go, Classic designs, built in 1/4 scale ! Just my cup of tea.

Originally Posted by u2builder

The Hanger is a copy of the Pietenpol Hanger now at Oshkosh, just a bit smaller.

The hanger is your workshop?

EJWash

No, I built a real Pientenpol many years ago. I had a "fantasy" that I could fly it from my field and built a hanger for it. I flew it for a while from a real airport, but my field was not appropriate, though a friend of mine landed it here for me, where it has been sitting ever since. So you could say the hanger is my little Museum. Of course it is now packed to the gills with a Heath Parasol I also built, as well as lawn mowers, a couple cars, snowmobiles, and other assorted and unassorted stuff.

My shop is a tiny little room in the basement of our tiny little house. The good thing is that it is easy access and has a TV to keep me company. The other good thing is that it is small so I really can't built a very big plane. The hanger would be too hard to heat in the winter.

Little house. Big hangar.

You have your priorities in the right place.

I built a 1/4 scale Piet.from EAA full scale plans many years ago,down to built-up wing ribs..we made a rib jig and used spruce strips wrought from discarded spars of a full scale Cub.
Every piece of wood was duplicated...such a project !
If you still have the full size plans........ours was a bit heftyat 22lbs,but flew extremely scale-like.Had a quadra 35 for power.
I made both sets of wire spoked wheels- my first, and my LAST!!!!

How did you apply the black trim Monokote without getting bubbles?

Well, I have finally after many years "figured out" trim". I have tried Monokote over Monokote and always get bubbles. I have tried Monokote with Windex and don't get bubbles but don't think it really adheres well. I have tried Monokote over Monokote with Monokote solvent and have made a mess out of things.

What I like is Monokote Trim with the self adhesive over Monokote. I first spray Windex or 409 or whatever on the plane and then lay down the trim and move it around till I get it where I want it. Then I take a piece of balsa and use it as a squeege to get out all the liquid and bubbles. Make sure it is where you want it because after it is squeegied it will adhere very well. By the next morning it is permanant. Not only that, but it tends to stay nice and tight though you can iron over it if the film developes a sag. I have planes done like this that look good after years.

The checkers on the bottom are NOT done like this. Here I cut squares or rectangles or in the case of a swept wing trapezoids about 3/8" bigger than the final square and iron them on overlapping each one about 3/8" with all overlaps occurring over balsa leading edge, trailing edge, or cap strips. Because the overlap is only about 3/8" I don't get or iron out bubbles. This system has had up very well on many, many planes. Because the open bays with cap strips tend to be longer chordwise than the leading edge or trailing/aileron edge the checkers are not always the same size.

dam fine work

Thanks. Probably my best build yet. Most planes I build there is something I figure I messed up, but I can't say that about the Bolt.