I haven't built a balsa airplane in a long time and I thought it time to do it again. So I looked around & discovered there aren't many kit manufacturers left. The few that are around seem to have some interesting kits. Just about all of them are laser cut balsa & plywood. Foamies are the other big kit group. After a lot of research & waiting for stuff to get back in stock, I finally decided to try the Hobby Lobby International Micro Telemaster V2 high wing 3 channel electric power park flyer trainer.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/micro_tel...37165_prd1.htm

It has a 34 ½” wing span, it’s 24” long, has a flying weight of 6-9 oz, a wing area of 186 sq in. The recommended power plant is a park 250 brushless motor, a 8 x 3.8 APC prop & a 2 cell (7.4v) 800 mAH LiPo battery.

So I ordered it on their website and in a few short days I had it. The kit was in a box with a lot of packing material and arrived safely. I couldn’t wait to get going!

Please see the pictures I’ve included for a lot more detail. I built it in my spare time, evenings and weekends. This build log does not include covering the model as this is covered (pun intended!) elsewhere in great detail. I will add some pics of the covered model when I finally get it done.

The biggest deviation I did from the instructions was to not use CA for the glue. I’ve always used Ambroid and I happen to have a couple of tubes laying around and decided to use them. I will say the next kit I build I will try the CA because I had forgotten how difficult it was to clamp balsa while the glue was drying. It’s an extremely soft wood and breaks, crushes and deforms pretty easily. On the other hand, it is extremely easy to work with and repair. There’s always trade offs!

This is a list of the tools I used to build the kit. You may not need them all. I already owned them so I used them.

Hobby knife with a lot of #11 blades
Razor saw and miter box
Ambroid liquid cement
Various grades of sandpaper & a couple of different sandpaper blocks
Straight pins
Flat surface building board that will accept pins being pushed into it
Pencil
A small metal square
Small woodworkers plane (I used a Stanley)
Small files for working on the plywood
Wax paper to glue over the plans
A sturdy work table with plenty of room!

A note on the pins: the instructions said to use push pins. The ones I had are for use on corkboards & the pin side was pretty thick & split the thin balsa. There are thin push pins available but I had hundreds of straight pins that work just as well. A pair of small needle nose pliers or equivalent will help drive the pins into the building board

I had previewed the build manual on line before I bought the kit so I knew what I was getting into. However, I believe this is a new version of the kit and there where some rough edges showing. I’ll describe those as I go along the build.

First I’ll start with the instructions. On the site they were in color. In the box, they were a laser printed copy in black & white! The pictures where a bit fuzzy and I wished I had a laptop to bring into the workshop to view the online manual. Besides the manual there was an Inventory Check Off sheet, a Part Locator sheet, a full size plan drawing and an errata sheet for the full size plans

As suggested in the manual, I took an inventory of the parts against the kits parts list. Everything was there. However, the pushrod wire was listed as 0.047” & the wire in the kit was 0.031”. An email to the vendor went unanswered for a week when I sent a 2nd one about more problems. That one was answered. 27FEB12 NOTE: I just spoke to the model MFR who said the error was the 0.031" wire & is sending evertbody the CORRECT 0.047" wire! 1MAR12 Update = got the replacement pushrod today & it's the WRONG SIZE!! What ever happened to quality?

Let me warn you before you start that the manual says the laser cut parts are easy to remove from the carrier; in fact some can just be pushed out by flexing. DON’T DO IT!! The backside of the balsa was not cut all the way into the corners and if you just flex & push on the pieces, there is a strong likelihood you will break the piece. Use the hobby knife to score both sides of the piece you’re trying to remove – don’t skip this step!

The website was pretty vague about what does and does not come with the kit. There is no covering material. There are no electrics. However, there is all the hardware you’ll need including the pushrods, the landing gear wire, the servo horns, servo pushrod connectors and the servo horn connectors. The wheels are included and are made out of foam which needs to be glued together and shaped. The wheel hubs are laser cut plywood.

Here are some of the problems I found almost right out of the box.
1. Step 3 shows a “Building Square” made out of plywood. It was not in the box. The vendor said to use the leading edge gauge for the square. I used a nice metal one that wouldn’t get glued to the airplane!
2. Step 11
a. the fuselage bottom sheet cutouts for the landing gear were off so I had to make them larger to get the piece to fit. I later added a small filler of scrap to make it look neat when I covered it
b. before trying to fit this piece, squeeze the tail end sections together & you’ll notice the bracing is too thick. A little careful sanding allowed the 2 pieces to join properly
3. There was a step missing to glue in the angled wing braces (g). Do this before you remove the wing from the building board
4. There were some parts that were called the same initials but where 2 different parts. And then there where initials that were for the wrong part. Just follow the pictures & double check on the full size drawing for what they are and how they fit
5. There were parts left over when the instructions ran out!
a. FBB – never told to glue it on the bottom inside of the fuse. I don’t know what this piece does but I put it in
b. ND (nose doubler) – never told to glue these in. I did near the end of the build
6. This being labeled as a beginners kit, I expected a lot of info on finishing the model. There was none. There was nothing about hinges or mounting the electrics or setting up the airplane.
7. [NOTE: my mistake there are cutouts for the rudder. I could not find them with the covering on. So please note their location when covering the tail. I apologize for this mistake! clp}
8. There is a short section about balance and center of gravity.
9. Cut or sand a small notch in the fuselage magnet holder piece (RWM) to match the curve of the wing to make the magnets work. Do this after covering the wings.
10. I added some extra support for the fuselage top piece. See pic

The build went quickly and with only minor problems mostly caused by me. I can recommend this as a build kit. However, I built it in the dead of winter with cold & snow & winds so I have not flown it yet. I will post a link to the maiden flight when that happens.

Comments and questions are always welcome.

The 1st pic is the build almost complete!

Chuck

Here are some pics

Here's more

More pics

Believe me I have a lot more I didn't post! LOL

Done!

Please notice, I cut the CA hinges in half because they were so large

Last pic

Since heat can damage the magnets according to the manual, I did not put the magnets in the wings until after I covered the wing. Then I cut away the covering & glued in the magnets. You can't see them any way.

I might have to add a bit of foam to the fuse where the LE of the wings goes as it's rather loose and rattles when shaken!

Chuck

No neat decals like shown on their website include either. I was disappointed!

Here is what H-L sent me when I asked about the missing building square

Chuck

Nice job on the Micro Telemaster and thanks for the feedback on the areas of the build where you felt we needed to improve.

Here's what has been done so far.

Corrected typo in Inventory Check List to show 1/32" music wire for pushrods.

Improving the QC process to avoid parts that were not cut all the way through. The laser cut parts should not require additional cutting to remove from carrier sheet. Laser power must be adjusted for wood density and moisture content, we will watch this more carefully as we go forward.

Building square was accidently omitted from kit, they will be in future kits although the back side of the leading edge template is a perfect 90 degrees.

Instruction step added to indicate the installation of the diagonal braces in the wings.

Parts labeling on plans corrected.

Control horn cut out on rudder added to cut file.

The extra bracing on the upper fuselage is O.K. but not structurally necessary. But it's a kit you are free to add or remove whatever you like.

To address your point regarding additional instructions on motor installation, we are planning to create a video that covers this topic and we will probably do a covering video as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

There are several options for hinging the rudder and elevator, the simplest is to use clear tape (not the frosty tape). I usually use 3/4" Scotch gloss finish transparent tape. I apply it to the elevator first with 1/2 the width hanging off the front edge. I then attach it to the stabilizer leaving about a 1/16" gap, this is enough for bind free movement.
Another hinging technique is to make hinges from the covering material. You can cut strips of the matching covering about 3/4" wide and iron them in place maintaining the 1/16" gap between surfaces for free movement. I hinge the top of the elevator and the side of the rudder that is opposite from the control horn.

I look forward to hearing how you like the flight performance once the weather gives you a chance to go fly.

The color manual that is on our webpage is the updated latest instruction.

Smooth flights,

Mike Hines
Hobby Lobby International

Thanks, Hiflyer. I'm glad you could use this build to make the kit better. I notice they're out of stock already!

Chuck

I'm just about done covering the model & did a quick inventory of the left over parts. See pic.

The part marked LGF (but WS on the fullsize) are landing gear "pants". I'm not going to put those on.

I've still got to finish the wheels. The covers were painted flat black.

The 2 control horns will be mounted as soon as the glue dries on the tail feathers!

I'm guessing the 4 screws w/ lock nuts are for the motor mount but again there is nothing in the manual to help.

MMS is a motor spacer that is shown on the full size plan. I'm not sure I need it yet.

The unmarked plywood piece is the tail skid. I'm thinking I'll use a small screw eyelet instead for the skid.

The little plastic parts are some sort of clip for the pushrods that go on the control horns. The little metal pieces are quick connectors for the servo arms. Neither part is described in the documents. I found info on the connector on the Internet.

Chuck

Prices are approximate

ESC Hobby Wing Pentium (obsolete, left over from a failed project) 12A, BEC $13
LiPo Zippy FlightMaxHobbyKing 2S 800mAH 20C $6.00
Prop 8 x 3.8 APC Hobby-Lobby $2.20
Rx DMS compatible from HobbyKing $10
Servo HXT-500 5 gm HobbyKing $3.50 ea
Motor Park 250 HobbyKing $11

Tx Spectrum DX6i

The CA Hinges where from the LHS $4

I'm not sure how to secure the battery on this airplane. I'm open for suggestions!
I'll use double sided tape for the Rx mount.

Chuck

Finished the covering & glued on the tail feathers - it's now an ARF! LOL

Chuck