i'm new as of today.....i have started building the hobby lobby skimmer600...i have built many balsa rubber powered planes as a kid and always wanted to try r/c......i have read a few of your threads and decided to join in.....

Take pictures and post them... Welcome to the ezone...

thanks for the welcome....
i have the wing and half the body ready to be covered....
the kit cost was $28.00, i picked up a 600 speed motor new on ebay $7.00 and a new speed control also from ebay (35amp)$20.00 and am using the radio and servoes from a one time throw away plane called "sky hawk" (50.00) dont waste your money on one of those!!! i can already see the balsa skimmer is going to be 100times the plane that one was.....i think i will take a few pictures of the plane as it gets put together...
as stated in my last post i have built a few rubber band powered kits as a kid .... it was covered with tissue and "dope" for paint.....but i guess there are many better choices out there now....anyone have a comment or link to help me out there? the best kind and is there and tricks to putting it on? i know it takes a heat gun....??

thanks.

Hey there Sofaking,

I have two kits of Skimmer 600 in the shed waiting to be built (one is mine, the other is my brother's).
This being my first Balsa plane, I would be very happy for any comments you might have on the build process, anything I should be aware of, anything I should be careful of?

Thanks.

It goes pretty easy. If its your first kit then keep in mind there is a a lot of sanding to be done to get that nice fit and finish. Make sure you have debonder around. Other wise its relatively quick enjoyable build.

Did you use all CA to build it? were there any points where the instructions are not clear enough?
I must say I'm a little intimidated by the lack of detailed instructions and the fact I couldn't find a build thread for it, but what the heck, it's a 30$ kit, worst case I'll have to re-make some of the parts if I screw up...

Thanks.

You might do a search in the electric glider area for the skimmer 400. There have been some threads for building and flying that version that should apply to the 600.

One frequent comment is to add washout to the wings. In case you don't know the term, it means the tips of the wings are twisted in relation to the root. One way to achieve this twist is to built the wing panels flat, and add the twist when you cover them. After applying the covering, pin the wing panel down with a spacer under the trailing edge of the wing tip. Then do the final shrinking with a heat gun or iron. For the Skimmer 600, I'd guess about 3/16" of washout would be appropriate.

Have Fun,
-Bob

for the wing building ....rib # 1 and rib #2 on both the right and left wing have a place to cut out to fit the angled piece of plywood....also rib 1 on both sides need to slant to the wing tips to make up the angle where the two wing halves fit together....i missed that and had to do a little rigging of my own....with all the sanding and trimming...i have found my dremmel tool is worth its weight in GOLD!!!!!

.....back to the wing...there are two pieces of spruce for each wing one on the top one for the bottom....there are some (20 or so) thin 1"x2" pieces of balsa...i had started using these for the triangle support buy they are for the two pieces of spruce...they go in between the ribs on one side...look close you can see it on the plans....these need to run grain up-down...this adds strength to the wing ...as an example if you hold a strip of balsa with the grain left-right between your fingers and apply pressure it breaks easily...if you hold it grain top-bottom and apply pressure you will find it very strong.....keep this in mind also while using the long-wide balsa sheets to cover the body of the plane....

as for the body...i am about half done....i have found you will need to build up a holder for your servos at piece F4 right after F1,2,3,4 have been attached to the long body panels...this will give you a little more room to work...also it would be a good idea to have you servos on hand as this will be a custom fit...not a by the plan fit. the battery plate was not a hard build but i made mine a little off the plan....the plan build is a little weak IMO...so what i have done is custom fit it to the body and set it aside to see if i will have enough of the balsa i used to build the body and use that to lay over the inside part of the plate to make it stronger and to also make it smooth....the reason i want it to be smoot is for the balance....i will add a strip of velcro(sp.) so i can move the battery around as well as to hold the battery in place.....

being a two fingered typer i better stop now befor i get a cramp...lol

if you have and questions ...let me know....and i will keep updating this thread as i go...

if i had all day and night i think about a week i could have this plane done...but with a wife and 3 kids i have to sneek away and add a few pieces at a time....

i hope this has helped.

oh one more thing.....i am using elmers wood glue.....it is very strong and gives me time to position the pieces(or reposition)....i am using an old desk with a large sheet of cardboard with wax paper over the plans....one thing i should have done was to cut all the ribs for the wings , numbered them , and scan them at full size to save for after the big crash....we all know it's comming....this would have given me a way to recut any ribs that may get broken....but i missed out on that as i was in about half way befor i had this idea.....

if you need a link to find the speed 600 or batteries ect i can dig those up and post them too....i found them pretty cheap.

Originally Posted by sofakingmean1

oh one more thing.....i am using elmers wood glue.....it is very strong and gives me time to position the pieces(or reposition)....i am using an old desk with a large sheet of cardboard with wax paper over the plans....one thing i should have done was to cut all the ribs for the wings , numbered them , and scan them at full size to save for after the big crash....we all know it's comming....this would have given me a way to recut any ribs that may get broken....but i missed out on that as i was in about half way befor i had this idea.....

Just scan the rib punchouts...

good idea....thank you.

Sofaking,
Thanks for the great tips, keep em' coming!

I've started with the fuse, this being my first balsa build I'm a little intimidated by the wings...
Anyway, one question, the front of the fuse, where F1-F2 are glued (or the firewall if you get a 3rd party one), how do you make sure you position the fuse halves right?

Thank you.

i stood mine on its end...tail in the air.....i used a drafting triangle to get a good 90 degree ....and said a little prayer...lol....i guess any staight edge could work...glad to hear your giving it a try...

i installed the electronics today......i wanted to do a test run befor putting on the sheet balsa for the rest of the "fuse"....i fried the bec/esc...sparks and then nothing....20$ down the tubes......it was a ebay(new)telbee?35 amp....i am sure it was connected right...it came all the way from Hong Kong....knowing that i cant jump in the car and run to Hong Kong, i will buy the next one at the local hobby shop(39$)next week....then maybe if it goes out i can try to return it...or at least take the plane in so they can look it over(i know i hooked it up right)....this is not a skimmer problem , but it may save someone some money knowing it hard to return an ebay/Hong Kong speed control.....