UPDATE: 4/24/11: New aileron modification and installation of Sukhoi XP motor on posts #545, #546, with a new video taken on Easter Morning on post #547

10/19/10 UPDATE: Just completed the first 50 sets of molded parts, cutting foam and boxing them up for shipping next week! Surprised at how fast the first run became "spoken for"! Still a few left for now... Details for ordering on post # 23.

OK, some of you may have seen this prototype when I shared it here on RCG several months ago… (Many of you have wondered what happened to me! Lol) Besides health and other issues, we totaled out our family car, hitting a deer on the freeway doing 65mph at night. Fortunately, my old “firefighter instincts” kicked in and I got us all out of the car and onto the center divider where we then watched our car get rear-ended by a large SUV and then totally creamed by a large semi-tractor-trailer big rig!

Well, I’m slowly pulling myself out of the cave and trying to get as many of my new kits out and running…

I’ve had a surprising number of requests from eager members here to just send them the parts… I just couldn’t do that, so I’ve put together a sort of “group-build” package of photos, plans, and some “LIMITED” instructions so that those of you who have lined up and are waiting for the green flag have some information to help make your build easier and more enjoyable.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with this little scale bird, here’s a short flight video (Flown in about 7mph of wind):

Ryan ST, 19" Wingspan (0 min 59 sec)

At this time I am very limited on the number of kits I can produce each week, as I will be using the master plugs, which were never designed for mass production… (I still have to create female platinum based silicone molds and then cast high temp, metal filled vacuum forming bucks so that I can produce these in numbers…

The price for the kit (which includes all plastic moldings shown and enough foam to create the other parts), is $29.95 plus $12 S&H which covers the continental US. For orders outside this area, please contact me for the actual shipping fees. We do accept payment through PayPal. As with most of my plastic molded kits, there is a $10 replacement plan: If, FOR ANY REASON, you need to replace your plastic parts, return the damaged parts in the original box and I will replace them all for $10 plus S&H. I’ll apologize in advance as the way these kits are made, I cannot replace specific parts. (If you want to hold onto your wing/wheel pants and/or cowl, just return the fuselage parts. You will receive a complete set of parts (Maybe those in this situation can offer their extra parts to those wanting those specific parts?)

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY FUNDS UNTIL WE HAVE COMMUNICATED VIA EMAIL! I do not want people waiting more than a week to have their kits shipped to them. If I am booked up, I will start a list on a first come/first served basis and get back to you so that you can secure a place in line for the next batch of kits.

You can email me through my website at www.jarelaircraftdesign.com I usually reply within a day.

If you have ANY questions, please post them here on this thread. Be sure that others will have the same questions and I will follow this thread to reply with answers. Answering individually will just not fit into my current workload at this time. I am hoping that many of you will post photos and videos of your progress so that this becomes a “group build/clearing house of information for all to share… your questions and mistakes are just as welcome as your successes… especially if you come up with an easier or more accurate way of building this kit!

I’ve put together as much information as I could think of and hope there is more than enough for the average builder to succeed and enjoy this great little toy…

I’ve flown it indoors as well as outdoors in winds up to 6mph… As I built the prototype, (personally enjoying extreme aerobatics that are not exactly considered scale flying), I might add some more through to the ailerons… This of course is a personal choice.

The following posts were pre-created and may or not make sense as a “flowing narrative”. I picked a building section and wrote what I thought was enough information to complete that part of the build.

If you begin reading this and have not gotten to “THE END”, please wait before ordering so that you are fully informed as to what comes with the kit, what doesn’t (You’ll have to supply wires, pushrods, wheels etc….)

When I have completed posting each build section, I will end the “last post” with: “THE END”… from then on, we will watch and see how the builds evolve and I will return to add more info, answer questions and reply with comments.

This is not the way I normally release a new kit, choosing to wait until I reach a point where I think I can do no more… If you can’t tell from the details molded into the plastic parts, I give a LOT of attention to each and every detail… Check my other build threads to get an idea of what I normally put out with my kit releases (ICON kit in Park fliers forum, ICON flying wing in the flying wing forum, DaVinci 1.5M in the electric sailplane forum and the Telos and Crossbow kits in the Slope soaring and electric flight forums…

Thanks for joining in and I hope to all of you who have persisted in letting me know that you want this kit ASAP, that this will be enough. (By the way… To all of you who did write: you were not “pestering” me! You were actually a breath of fresh air, reminding me what life is for and that there is a wonderful world waiting for us if we lift our head out from our problems…

THANK YOU!

Best always,

Richard Jarel
www.jarelaircraftdesign.com

JADE Ryan ST micro

Wingspan: 19.5”

Weight: 59 grams Ready to fly with a 1S-120mah (This was with LOTS of paint and decals and is the plane flown in the video.) Unpainted prototype weighed 30grams and was incredibly aerobatic with great vertical climb.

Motor, ESC and radio gear: Stock from PZ P-51 micro with 130 X 70 prop Stock 120mah / 138mah 1S

Main Wheels: Du-Bro 1” foam light
Main Landing gear wire: .049”

Tail Wheel: Du-Bro 3/8” micro tail wheel
Tail Wheel Wire: .020”

Pushrods: .020” CF or wire
Z-bend pushrod tips: .015”

Aileron control wires: .020”
Aileron bell crank: Stock PZ from micro P51

CG: 1.025” from LE (1 1/64”)

Dihedral: 1/4” – 3/8” up on both tips

Control Surface Throws:

Aileron: 1/4” – 3/8” Up and down
Elevator: 1/4” – 5/16” Up and down
Rudder: 5/16” – 3/8” Right and left


A lot of small details have been molded into this kit to make it easier to produce a really great looking model. Here are a few tips, suggestions and items to note and be aware of as you begin your build:

The main difference between the production Ryan and the silver prototype that you will notice is the battery location. In the prototype, I wasn’t sure where to place the battery and waited until test flying using a sliding battery tray under the wing. Even with the battery full forward in the wing saddle battery tray, I had to add a little lead to the front of the cowl to adjust the CG forward (You’ll see bits of lead in the photos of the inside of the cowl), so in the production version, I created a molded rectangular recess in the forward belly of the fuselage right behind the edge of the cowl (up against the motor mount bulkhead), so the battery could compensate for the need for more weight forward, sliding vertically up into the fuselage from underneath. A thin foam rubber “sandwich” should grip the battery and hold it in place as it is slid up into the fuselage. (Notice the added cut out area here in the horizontal foam fuselage-joining sheet. The new molding on the fuselage belly needs to be cut out to accommodate the battery and a little foam while keeping it tight enough so that when you slide the battery in, the foam holds it in place. Most of the micro batteries come with a “ribbon”. I use this to pull it out… A piece of tape doubled over it can be added to batteries that do not already have this “pull-tab”. This should eliminate or at least reduce any added nose weight, which will keep the production planes lighter.

Dry fit everything before you start gluing… I can’t stress this enough!!! Any sanding or trimming should be done a LITTLE AT A TIME so that you do not trim too much off. This applies mostly to the cowl and wheel pant halves. As you trim and fit, do it little by little, you can always keep cutting or sanding, but not so when you’ve cut too much away…

As with all my plastic molded kits, an easy trim tool uses a #24 or other thick Xacto type blade sandwiched in between two pieces of 1/8” balsa… Hand trim the flanges around the molded pieces to within 1/8” of the vertical edge of the part to allow the wooden trim tool to cut without being interfered with by the flange.

Again… number one piece of advice: trim/sand slowly and dry fit everything until you are really ready to commit to gluing. The kit is pretty easy, just different if you haven’t built any of my other kits. I recommend viewing the two Icon build threads… One is in the park flier forum and the other in the flying wing forum. There’s also the DaVinci electric sailplane in the electric sailplane forum.

If you think this is enough info for you to build, you’re welcome to order a kit… I really have my hands full for the moment and am only offering this “beta” kit to those willing to go at it on their own. Would invite anyone to start their own “un-official” build thread… let me know and I’ll visit it to answer questions etc… (Probably the easiest way for me and others to share their experiences, and knowledge)…

Thanks again!

Best,
Richard

To begin assembling your fuselage, use the trim tool to score the flange off and remove it. Cut out the foam horizontal fuselage former and fit it to the bottom of the fuselage. Do NOT glue it yet! Fit your receiver/servo brick in such a way that the aileron plug is exposed and accessible. Install both elevator and rudder push rods.

Fit the forward foam bulkhead doubler and tape the whole thing together to dry fit everything BEFORE you begin gluing.

Before joining the fuselage halves, you will need to cut out the horizontal stab. It is used to correctly space the height of the top fuselage shell over the bottom assembly.

It would be a good idea to be trimming and fitting your cowl to fit at this time… If you accidentally make the cowl too tight, you could trim a little bit more off the fuselage shells to fit the cowl.

The new fuselage moldings are longer than the original prototype to extend rearward to the tail surface hinge lines.

Although this video was created to show how the DaVinci 1.5 fuselage moldings are trimmed, the same technique applies for the Ryan ST (Should actually be easier since the Ryan moldings are .010” thinner. Not that I score the plastic using the BACK of the blade… not cutting, but lightly and repeatedly scoring over the same line.

Trimming DaVinci part with trim tool (1 min 14 sec)

This is not the end yet... I just need to take a break.

There are at least 7 more posts to submit here before I come to "THE END" of this initial installment of instructions...

For now, here's the Decal sheet that goes with the kit:

The "decals" are created by printing them out on you ink jet printer onto clear Avery label sheets (available at a local office supply store). Spray some Krylon Crystal Clear over them to make them water proof. Then cut out and apply.

The stars are created by printing on plain paper (to get the white parts), cut out, spray with 3M-77 and apply (spray them too with a clear spray.

Also IMPORTANT NOTE: The plans posted on the previous post may not print out to scale. There are two sets of rulers scaled to 1"... Make certain that the rulers on your printed plans match a ruler in hand to get the correct sized plans!

Email sent.

I'm in, too.

Thanks for making this kit available, Richard.

Me want!...Maybe two!
Good Luck!
I've even printed out Fiddler's Green Ryan ST schemes on Depron and was going to carve up UM J3 Cub wings or try to stiffen printed Depron ones...all sitting buried under the build table right now...
I have motors and bricks waiting!

All ready Richard. I'll get started on the beta kit(s) as soon as that little package shows up. I'll do my best to keep a good documentary of my build/flying of the two wing styles. I have the parts donor on life support and I'm ready for extraction....let's begin =)

subscribed

Wow!

What a response! Out of 50 kits worth of materials (making several a day), I have less than 20 left! (and those went in less than 24 hours!) Hopefully I will have them boxed by Monday and send out notices regarding payment and shipping to those that emailed me at www.jareldesign.com (I've received several PM's here asking for kits... Please, Tresa set up an autmatic list making "thing" (I'm not the best at computer program stuff...LOL!). When I receive email requests for the Ryan kit, they automatically get filed into a folder and kept in order... Makes it a lot easier for me to reply in groups of however many kits I have nearing readiness to ship.

Also, please... If you have ANY questions, please post them here? One member here brought up a great question in a PM sent here regarding payment... I have a PayPal account and do accept payment there (It has worked out well over the two years of creating kits.)

OK, so on to setting up the cowl and the fusealge: First off, building at this point is very flexible... You should have the fusealge fitted over the foam fusealge plate along with the motor mount doubler (This serves to control the height of the fusealge at the cowl) and your horizontal stab fitted to the rear of the fusealge (This will control the height of the rear of the fusealge. This assembly should only be taped or lightly rubber banded together so that dry fitting of the cowl can take place...

The cowl moldings were designed to “butt-fit” against each other. Use masking tape to hold them in place and dry fit to the fusealge assembly. If the cowl fits too loose, you can slide the overlapping top fusealge shell upwards a hair, or, sand the edges of the cowl a little so that it slips on a little tighter. The cowl was designed to be removable to access the motor and gear drive. I used micro screws from a spare parts bag for the Blade MCX purchased at my local hobby shop. When you are satisfied with the fit, apply a little CA. Add some small joiner tabs to strengthen the bond.

Note: before gluing the fusealge halves together, you MUST install your reciver/servo brick. I plced mine so that the servo plug was accessible through the wing saddle molding (which should be cut out by now... The fusealge molding has the cut out area scribed into the mold so you don't have to guess where to cut. I used silicone to glue my receiver/servo brick in place. Also: install your elevator and rudder push rods at this time, leaving enough extra protruding out the back so you can trim them to fit later.

Note also that the forward fuselage edge was machined to accept a flush fitting cowl (Test fit the cowl before gluing and do so ONLY AFTER final gluing of the top and bottom fuselage halves!). You will also note that a small recess has been molded into the recessed cowl fitting edge at the top and bottom. This was designed to accommodate the small scrap joining tabs.

Note the angles of down and side thrust. Not sure what the angles are, but the photos were taken at a distance to enhance the flatness and decrease the distortion. The way this one is set up, throttle up and down result in no pitch instability. Take offs are straight and true.

The motor mounts were cut from 1/8” hard balsa.

Note that the small plastic mounting flange on the motor/gear assembly were trimmed. This was done so that the forward narrow section of cowl could be slipped on and off.

I glued the motor to the motor mounts first and then dry fit the motor to the fuselage motor bulkhead watching how the exposed propeller shaft matched the cowl. (I held the cowl on in place with a couple of pieces of masking tape.) Once you are certain of where you are going to glue your motor mounts to the plastic, apply some Slow or Gap filling CA to the balsa motor mounts, slip the cowl over the motor holding the motor/mount assembly with needle nose pliers. Tape the cowl on in place and try to line up the motor mount so that the propeller shaft is centered at the opening of e cowl... DRY FIT this a few times so that it becomes familiar and you can juggle the parts more confidently. After you have glued the motor in place, apply some more CA around the mount where it attaches to the fusealge (I used Bob Smith Black CA). Once the motor mount is glued in place, dry fit the cowl again so that it matches the propeller... you may have to sand a little of the rear edge of the cowl to get the prop shaft and cowl to match... Once fitted, tape it in place and install the small screws... I used an sharp ice pick to place TINY holes in the plastic and allowed the screws to "bight in" and expend them as the screws entered.

Your Ryan should start to look pretty cool, by now!

Not enough sleep or coffee I guess! LOL!

Here's a photo of where the slots go to accept the tabs of the clear windshields. They are approximate only and should not be followed...

The windshields are cut from any clear plastic packaging material... some product you bought that has a hard shell clear cover... preferably thin! Once you cut them out, use the paper template to locate where you will slot the cockpits to accept the windshields... Do not glue them in until AFTER you have painted and decorated your model!

Again, thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm... I haven't just disappeared from this website, I have also disappeared from my community and friends... I have a speaking engagement at our local high school (career day) next week. I perform a LOT of public service volunteering... especially with kids and teen mentoring... helps make me feel whole... When they discovered that I create special effects for film, develop prototypes and have a model airplane business they went nuts... I offered to do a third speech that day after school... The response was so huge, they had to move me into a larger room... So I'm coming out of whatever this thing is that I have been in... seeing your posts here and receiving your emails...

again... WOW! and thank you SO much for your support... It's not just about making and selling kits... I accept all of you as a community I very much want to belong to and in your kind words, I feel it bit time!

Thanks!

Ok... back to work! *smile*

I found these photos showing more clearly how the top and bottom fusealge shells fit. The plans contain a template for a fuselage piece that is glued to the top of the bottom shell (after installing your radio and elevator & rudder push rods). The forward motor mount bulkhead foam sheet should also be in place as well as the elevator (loosely fit in back), this gives the top fusealge shell a fit seat to fit onto. At that point, the cowl is fit onto the fuselage (The cowl here is completed and painted... yours should only be taped together)... fit the cowl to the fusealge before gluing the two assemblies together...

By the way, I "painted" the wings using colored markers (You can find an incredible assortment of colors at an artist supply store!) Yellow for the wing, horizontal and vertical stab and red for the stripes on the rudder.

In the photo showing the tail more clearly, you'll notice the shortness of the fuselage shells not reaching the hinge points. This was the prototype mold set and has since been corrected on the parts that come with the production version. (also shown the previous post regarding fusealge assembly.)


Answers to some questions:
I used thick CA for assembly of the kit. The wing colors were applied BEFORE taping the control surfaces using clear packaging tape. The aileron linkage set up will be covered in the main wing assembly post. The top detail colors were very sloppily applied as I was in a rush to get this particular model out to a friend to fly at this past S.M.A.L.L. event back east... Otherwise, I probably would have sprayed or airbrushed them on

Thanks again for all the comments and emails!

Richard

Ok, I think there's enough photos here to be self explanatory?

The control surface horns were cut from scrap plastic left over from trimming the molded parts. The push rod ends were left over from a PZ P-51. The tail wheel was purchased at my local hobby shop (specified earlier in this thread.

You can really see how short the fusealge was in the original prototype. This has been totally altered to extend all the way back to the hinge point on the production moldings!

Both the stab and vertical fin are sandwiched and supported by the plastic molded fairings... Just slip them in!

By the way, I'm looking at the "finish" on this plane... I've worked for nearly 20 years in the motion picture special effects industry and am totally embarrassed by what I see... The quality of the work was totally rushed and only designed to create the promo-photos posted earlier and look really cool flying by! lol! (Geeze! I didn't even find sand the plastic before applying silver rattle can spray paint to the plastic! (Well, at least you get an idea of how little work it takes to make this plane look good... It still passes for a good desk model (which is where I keep mine!)... Also, this plane has been flown a LOT! Flown ...into trees, ...into walls, into chain link fences... (Even with all the paint, this little Ryan comes in at about 2oz and is very resilient to "all sorts of flying"... (don't try this at home... I am a professional?)

All control surfaces have beveled hinge points using clear packaging tape for hinges. Note that the control surfaces have been sanded to a fairly sharp taper... With a design history coming from my roots as a sailplane designer, I FIRMLY believe in the performance enhancement derived from the use of sharp trailing edges... not just for speed, but for all round performance... If anyone building this kit chooses to use blunt trailing edges, PLEASE let us know how your Ryan flies!?!?! I for one, would love to see some video (I haven't built one yet with blunt trailing edges and would like to see a comparison video... Another note... I've viewed the video I posted here and have to say that even though this was shot on a windy day, this plane actually flied a LOT slower than it appears in the video... I've noticed this weird oddity in all the videos I've posted on Vimeo and YouTube... Maybe this has something to do with the transition from a mpg file on my computer to being posted on the internet? I have NO idea and never understood computers... lol! (does anyone here know anything about this and/or remedies to correct it? I noticed a speed control on my Roxio editing program where it actually allows me to slow down the video clip... (I didn't want to use it thinking it might give a false impression of the flight characteristics...) I want to take this plane out and fly it on a clam day to show what it can do... after I've finished posting the build chapters...

From here we go onto the main wing...

The full size plans contain patterns/templates for all the parts needed to build this bird...After cutting the wings out using the supplied templates, the wing camber was put in place using a heated length of conduit pipe (it retains the heat longer but a broom handle works in a pinch), rolling it length-wise over the foam supported underneath by a piece of short hair carpet. (Note: any pieces of grain, crumbs dirt etc will be transferred into the foam if pressed too hard! I used a modeler’s heat gun to warm up the pipe or broomstick and then rolled lightly over the pre-cut wings, continuing slowly putting in the camber a little at a time.

After the camber has been applied to the wings, the leading edge doubler is glued in place (Use FOAM SAFE thick CA!). (There is a template for this doubler as well as a cross section showing the beveled edge... This was done holding the doubler at the edge of a table and using a sanding block. Once the Leading edge doublers have been attached to the wing, round the leading edge and feather sand the bevel on the doubler.

Next, cut out the ailerons as marked and taper the trailing edge by lightly sanding it with a sanding stick (Sandpaper glued to a 2” x 10” piece of masonite or hard balsa works great!). Do this in such a way that the top of the root is sanded down to the bottom surface of the wing to create a sharp trailing edge. Then turn it over and sand the bottom at the tip to meet the the top surface of the wing. What you are doing by following this step is creating washout in the wing... this will greatly enhance the anti-tip stalling qualities of this plane.

Sand the hinge point on the aileron so there is a bevel. Bend the aileron horns and fit them to the wing per photos. Sand the root of each wing so that when glued together, you create the desired dihedral (earlier post specs). I used the PZ aileron control bell crank supplied with their P-51... (I discovered you can buy this as a separate replacement part at your local hobby store for about a dollar (I bought a few!)

Note that this wing was the prototype wing and has a fabricated sliding tray for the battery... Do NOT duplicate this! Your production model has a molded battery receiver in the forward section of the bottom fusealge shell!

I glued my linear servo to the wing using foam safe thick CA. I glued a bamboo cooking skewer into the LE to create a wing mount pin (you could use 1/8" birch dowel if you have some handy). I wanted to have a removable wing so I also glued on some plastic doublers where the wing bolts go to protect the wing's foam and also glued in two doublers inside the fusealge so that the screws would have more to bight into...

We'll cover the torsions sprung landing gear in the next post...

Richard

Oh boy, that is nice.

Vacuum formed foam, right? I did some crude tests vacuum forming Depron some years ago but I never got around pursuing the matter any further.