You have many projects going on! Where do you find all the spare time?

Looks great and I hope it flys well! What gear is going in?

Hi guys.
Dan, living down here in Florida I forget you guys have a thing called winter when you do most of your building.

Home improvement projects, yuck. I hate it when those happen. That's too bad Mark.

Truckerboy, I build on a portable table. I pull it up to my chair and work in front of the TV while the wife watches some crappy show or plays video games.
At the end of the evening it gets pushed back into the corner and the bits vacuumed up to keep the domestic tranquility.
These small models go together fast when you can spend a few hours an evening on them.

Last night I built the right wing and the horizontal stab/elevator.
Tonight the fin/rudder.

Think I'll sheet the cowl and make a balsa ring for the front instead of using the plastic cowl. It'll look better and will probably need the nose weight anyway.

Gear will be a Vapor brick and a um P-51 motor.

Glenn

Ok, finished the vertical stab and rudder. Just had to tape the pieces together to have a look.
This one seems a lot bigger than the Trojan.

Next: equipment installation.

Glenn

Glenn,

Since we've all admired your job thus far, leave it to me to be the first nay-sayer.

I think that you could cut some weight by omitting the long bottom spar, the rear-most stringer, and the gussets on the back of the wing. It's a little late to do all that deconstruction now, but nonetheless...

Take a look at the picture of my Cessna wing. There are no spars, only three 1/16" C-grain stringers and she still pulls through the hard loops at 104g with no problems. I have torn the wings off of the plane two times (neither in flight) and not once have I had a problem with the strength of the wing itself.

-Kody

Different rib design on yours. The rib overlaps the top of the trailing edge.
A much stronger connection.

Once sanded the ribs on mine will be only about 1/20th high and just shrinking the tissue can break the connection. I've learned this lesson the hard way.
If I didn't think it necessary, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to cut and fit all those little pieces.

The front stringer was added to help prevent the covering from bowing down between the ribs. This was purely for looks, I hate when the leading edge has the starved horse look.

The 1/8th x 1/16th spar, well you might have a point on that one. Could have been reduced to 1/16th sq.

If I were really concerned with saving weight I surely wouldn't be using the kit wood! I would have cut new parts from my <5lb contest wood and weighed every part to shave every extra gram.

Since this one is for outdoor flight I think 50 grams should be about right.

Glenn

Originally Posted by glewis

Truckerboy, I build on a portable table. I pull it up to my chair and work in front of the TV while the wife watches some crappy show or plays video games.
At the end of the evening it gets pushed back into the corner and the bits vacuumed up to keep the domestic tranquility.
These small models go together fast when you can spend a few hours an evening on them.

Genius. I've tried this before but I end up running back to my main desk 47 times to get a tool or another blade or different type of glue or print another plan or get the tweezers or get the scale or get another sheet of balsa or some holding magnets.... you get the idea. I'm just too forgetful and unorganized!

Seriously, Glenn you are knocking these Guillows builds out! The Skyraider has never been a favorite of mine, but it's still really fun to watch you go! Best of luck!

J. B.

p.s. I still owe you some plans for a little model like this so save a brick and motor! I haven't forgotten about it I've just been working like a slave at the office for the past several weeks.

Your next project will be a nice flying addition the the Sunday "Big O"
flying group. wish I could retro-fit R/C gear into my two Guillows.Still
might retro-fit the rubber bands. Don't forget the wing rockets.

L Z, I do the same thing. I have a tool box under my chair with the bigger stuff in it. There is also a drawer under the tabletop that's not visible. It has things like balsa stripper and tape in there.
Now if only a cold beer was within reach I wouldn't have to get up. Well, except to get rid of the used beer...

The Sandy was not my first choice either but was suggested buy my wife.
She bought me the kit years ago and not wanting to disappoint her, on the board it went.

No sweat on the plan you mentioned. I have another couple of models planned after this one that are not micros.

ACR, rockets? Since this one will have landing gear I was thinking about that. Coffee stir straws with balsa nose and fins? Have to see how well it flies first. If the Trojan is any indicator it should be able to handle them.

Glenn

Glenn,

Great thread - I appreciate that it takes a lot of thought and work to compose a good in-progress like this!

I'm a little new to these conversions so have a couple of questions:

1. In your first post you say, "... the trailing edge notch has to be raised. This will leave the leading edge 1mm higher than the trailing edge". Seems the leading edge will be lower - what am I missing?

2. In response to the question "Were you planning on incorporating a Phillips type entry on the lower leading edge?", you responded, "Yes, I'll shape the leading edge to more of a Clark Y section".

Could you explain what a Phillips entry is, and how you shape to a Clark Y section, please?

Thanks,

Gene K

The angle of the wing is too positive for our application, meaning the leading edge is higher than the trailing edge. It has a positive incedince that needs to be reduced. The leading edge can be lowered or the trailing edge raised, whichever you choose. On a model this small I end up with the leading edge 1mm higher than the trailing edge.

The flat bottom at the leading edge is shaped (sanded) upward to resemble the Clark Y airfoil.

Here's some info on phillips entry.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246779

Glenn

Originally Posted by speedy01

2. In response to the question "Were you planning on incorporating a Phillips type entry on the lower leading edge?", you responded, "Yes, I'll shape the leading edge to more of a Clark Y section".

Could you explain what a Phillips entry is, and how you shape to a Clark Y section, please?

In the usual Guillows flat-bottomed airfoil, the airfoil bottom is as flat as can be, with very sharp leading and trailing edges. This is desirable for rubber-band powered free-flight, because the sharp leading edge doesn't allow for high angles of attack before disrupting the airflow over the top of the foil and stalling. It's not desirable behavior for RC control, where the power available is much greater, and the plane is expected to fly under much higher angles of attack than a FF plane will ever see.

So Phillips entry raises the leading edge, so instead of a razor-straight flat bottom, the airfoil now has a bit of a curve on the bottom, and the leading edge is more rounded. This allows the airfoil to achieve a higher angle of attack and a less-abrupt stall. Basically, it'll look like this.

I'm currently working on a similar project. Do you find ailerons necessary, useful, or useless on these small models?

Originally Posted by glewis

Hi guys.
Dan, living down here in Florida I forget you guys have a thing called winter when you do most of your building.

Home improvement projects, yuck. I hate it when those happen. That's too bad Mark.

Truckerboy, I build on a portable table. I pull it up to my chair and work in front of the TV while the wife watches some crappy show or plays video games.
At the end of the evening it gets pushed back into the corner and the bits vacuumed up to keep the domestic tranquility.
These small models go together fast when you can spend a few hours an evening on them.

Last night I built the right wing and the horizontal stab/elevator.
Tonight the fin/rudder.

Think I'll sheet the cowl and make a balsa ring for the front instead of using the plastic cowl. It'll look better and will probably need the nose weight anyway.

Gear will be a Vapor brick and a um P-51 motor.

Glenn

How do you link the elevator halves? I was thinking of using a "U" bend. But I also thought of using a "Y" on the elevator linkage.

Some of the micro-DLG guys use a spring to pull the elevator and rudder into one position and a thin thread connected to the servo to pull the control surface against the spring. It increases the servo load, but it's *very* light if done properly.

Glenn and Ensign Jimmy,

Thanks much for the very clear explanations about Phillips entry and Clark Y airfoils!

Gene K

Originally Posted by glewis

Different rib design on yours. The rib overlaps the top of the trailing edge.
A much stronger connection.

Once sanded the ribs on mine will be only about 1/20th high and just shrinking the tissue can break the connection. I've learned this lesson the hard way.
If I didn't think it necessary, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to cut and fit all those little pieces.

The front stringer was added to help prevent the covering from bowing down between the ribs. This was purely for looks, I hate when the leading edge has the starved horse look.

The 1/8th x 1/16th spar, well you might have a point on that one. Could have been reduced to 1/16th sq.

If I were really concerned with saving weight I surely wouldn't be using the kit wood! I would have cut new parts from my <5lb contest wood and weighed every part to shave every extra gram.

Since this one is for outdoor flight I think 50 grams should be about right.

Glenn

Ummmm....well....I think I'll just leave now before I embarrass myself anymore.

Seriously, I see all of your arguments and agree with them all. Some of the things that I didn't consider were aesthetics and a different style of ribs joints. If for nothing else, I'll thank you for helping me look at more than just weight savings.

-Kody