Back in my childhood, I used to buy a lot.. and I mean a LOT of guillows chuck gliders. Both free flight and rubber band powered. I thought to myself: "man, wouldn't it be so cool if I could actually fly these things for more than a few seconds?". Back then, I didn't think it would be even possible, so the dream sat dormant for years. Fast forward to the birth of the UM series of aircraft and especially their electronics.

I was happy with those, and flew them as much as I could before the season ended. It was such a massive amount of fun, that I didn't want it to end. Of course, the club president decided to donate to me a couple UM aircraft. A night vapor, which I repaired, maidened and flew regularly in a gym, and an UMX extra 300, with a busted up frame.

I knew I couldn't repair the 300 without adding too much weight, so I stripped the electronics off it hoping I could use them in a project. Initially, it would be a prototype aircraft; one you would draw out in class when you were bored. A few weeks later, while I was in the hobby shop, I saw the very thing that started my never-ending love for aviation.

A Guillows JetStream.

The old bird called to me again, so of course, I bought one.

And then I remembered the electronics I had pulled off the 300.


The lightbulb didn't just turn on. It burned so bright, it exploded in a hail of glass shrapnel.

And so, I spent about five hours cutting CF rod, heatsink and the balsa itself to create control surfaces and hinges. Taping up what I couldn't create a CF hinge for.

And so, this was the result.



The Guillows Jetstream. Now under full RC control and waiting for a maiden.

The build and test thread is here. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=2060138

Wow, that is incredible! Looks like a real handful to fly in tight quarters. Nice job on the conversion.