LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/01
Page Numbers: 37,38,39,40,41,42,43
LAST MONTH I took you through the
assembly of the Scratch-One up to
covering and finishing. This month I’ll
start Part Two with the covering and take
you through the Scratch-One’s first
flights. The full-size plans were published
with Part One in the November issue.
Covering and/or Painting: Whether you
want to apply covering or paint is your
choice. I opted to completely cover my
Scratch-One with Carl Goldberg UltraCote
Transparent Lite, which is an easy-to-use
iron-on material. The wing must be
covered since it is an open structure, so
you don’t have a choice in that regard.
A good source for learning about
applying this material is available from
Larry Sribnick of SR Batteries Inc. He has
a technical newsletter series called R/C
Techniques which is available for many
hobby-oriented technical subjects. Volume
R-13—Basic Covering Techniques—
details the entire process of applying
UltraCote Lite to a model aircraft.
I use two identical irons to apply the
UltraCote. I learned that this material
shrinks considerably at high temperatures,
so I set one iron at approximately 30%
power (low heat) and use it to tack the
material to the wood surfaces. I set the
second iron at roughly 80% power (much
higher heat) and use it to make the final
adhesion to the balsa surfaces and shrink
out the wrinkles on the open bays of the
wing. Using two irons it’s unnecessary to
keep changing the heat setting.
If this is your first time applying
covering, be careful to remove the backing
from the UltraCote. This will be a paper or
a clear material, but it must be separated
and peeled away from the covering. You
must also realize that only one side of the
UltraCote contains the adhesive, which is
heat activated. If you try to apply the
covering on the reverse side, it will fall
off.
For your first time covering, you may
want to concentrate only on doing the
wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces can
make do with a spray coat or two of
Krylon clear or color paint.
Hinges: At this point you have a covered
or painted fuselage and tail surfaces.
These tail pieces have
yet to be installed on
the rear of the fuselage.
This is a good time to
add the control-surface
hinges for the rudder and
elevator.
The simplest technique is
to use SR Batteries’ Gapless
Hinge Tape. It is basically
clear, with a strong adhesive on
one side. You cut off suitable
lengths then press it into position.
I usually space the elevator and
rudder using a scrap piece of 1⁄16
balsa at the hinge line and some
masking tape to hold it in place
temporarily.
Keep in mind that this hinge material is
not fuelproof; therefore, it cannot be used
on fuel-powered models (another
advantage of electric power!).
Final Assembly: Put the
covered or painted stabilizer in
position at the rear of the fuselage.
If you covered the stabilizer, mark
the area where it will mount to
the fuselage and remove the
covering material from that
area. This will allow the
cement to adhere properly
(wood-to-wood surface).
If you opted to paint the
stabilizer, mark the
area then rough it up a
bit with sandpaper.
Hold the
stabilizer in
position and try
to eyeball the
alignment so that the stabilizer is
roughly parallel to the wing center-section.
You can place a straightedge on top of the
fuselage, in the vicinity of the wing, to help
with this alignment.
Once you have it right, add a few pins
to hold the stabilizer in position. Quickly
January 2004 37
Part Two
by Bob Aberle
As text explains, Bob uses two identical heating irons to apply covering.
Photos courtesy the author
Building From
Scratch
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:42 am Page 37
use a few drops of thin cyanoacrylate glue (CyA) to lock
everything in place, then follow up with five-minute epoxy.
On top of the stabilizer mark the area where the vertical fin
will be installed. Remove the covering from that spot or rough it
up with sandpaper if you painted it. Try to eyeball the alignment
so that the fin is at right angles to the stabilizer. Pin it in place
temporarily, add a few drops of thin CyA, and apply five-minute
epoxy.
Now you can finish the upper forward fuselage sheeting. Add
an air scoop on top, behind the firewall location. It will allow air
to enter and circulate around the motor for cooling purposes. This
is important. In the Pogo the motor just “hung out,” and air was
free to circulate. The Scratch-One has an enclosed fuselage;
therefore, you must provide cooling air.
You will also have to cut an air exit hole in the bottom
sheeting just in front of former F2. This is also essential for
properly cooling the motor. When completed, cover or paint the
top forward portion of the fuselage. The motor will then be totally
enclosed. If you wanted, you could make an access hatch cover. It
is just as easy to remove that top piece of sheeting on the rare
occasion when you have to access or change a motor.
On the forward fuselage bottom, between the firewall and the
air exit hole, I added a protective skid. It is a piece of 1⁄32-inch
plastic that is adhered to the fuselage bottom with double-stick
tape. This skid will help protect the bottom of the airplane when
it’s landing.
Now the Hitec Electron 6 receiver can be installed on the top
of the battery-compartment floor (under the wing) with doublestick
tape. Plug the rudder servo cable into CH1, the elevator
servo cable into CH2, and the Electronic Speed Control (ESC)
cable into CH3.
Run the receiver antenna out a hole in the right side of the
fuselage, then out to the top of the vertical fin where a small
nylon tie keeps it in place. Leave the remainder of the antenna
railing off the rear of the model. Under no circumstances should
you shorten this antenna wire.
Plug in your eight-cell battery. Make sure, for safety purposes,
that you don’t have the propeller mounted on the motor. Turn on
the transmitter, then turn on the Jeti ESC switch. At this point,
moving the rudder-control stick on the Neon transmitter should
move the rudder servo (left side of fuselage). When moving the
elevator-control stick, the elevator servo (right side of fuselage)
should move. Moving the throttle-control lever on the rear of the
Neon transmitter should turn the motor on and off and vary the
speed. Turn off the ESC switch, then turn off the transmitter
switch.
Now it’s time to hook up the servo output arms to the control
horns on the elevator and rudder at the rear of the model. I
38 MODEL AVIATION
Left iron is set at roughly 30% heat for initial tacking. Right iron
is set at 80% of full power for final adhesion of covering to solid
wood surfaces and to shrink out wrinkles in wing’s open bay
areas.
Bob used red and “GELB,” which is actually yellow, transparent
UltraCote Lite to cover the Scratch-One.
The top of the fuselage is in the process of being covered. You
must provide a cutout for the two servos.
One side of the stabilizer has been covered with the edges
wrapped around to the other side.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:46 am Page 38
selected the Du-Bro Micro Push Rod System (catalog number
847). It consists of two lengths of .032-inch-diameter wire that
slips inside a clear plastic jacket (tubing).
At one end the wire is bent at a right angle. You insert this
into the outer hole of a Du-Bro Micro Control Horn (catalog
number 848) that has been attached to the rudder and elevator.
The wire is held to the control horn with a small E/Z Link Keeper
(which is supplied).
At the servo end you must attach the supplied Mini E/Z
Connectors to both output arms. These connectors will let you
adjust the control-surface positions. Once set, you tighten the
screw on top of the connector.
When making that final control-surface adjustment, your
transmitter and receiver should be on and the trim levers set at
their neutral positions. When moving the control sticks, observe
that right is right, up is up, etc. If the controls are backward, open
the Neon transmitter case, find the cable for the appropriate
channel function, unplug it, rotate it 180°, and plug it back in.
Then the control should be in the right direction.
The last item is to place an anchor for the control-rod sleeve
approximately halfway between the servos and the control horn. I
also made an additional support on the elevator control-rod sleeve
in the vicinity of the stabilizer leading edge.
The Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connector supplied with the catalognumber-
847 pushrod system is sold separately as Du-Bro catalog
number 845. If you order these connectors by number 845, they
come with a long and a short mounting pin. To mount the
connectors on your servo output arm, you will need the longer pin
version. A good source for this Du-Bro hardware is Gabe
Baltaian at Air Dynamics ([718] 396-4765 or www.airdyn.com).
Also, you will have to drill out (enlarge) the holes on the servo
output arm to accept the longer pins of the Du-Bro Mini E/Z
Connector.
While you still have everything powered up, it is a good idea
to check the amount of control throw for the rudder and the
elevator. The rudder movement that worked best for me was 1⁄2
inch either side of the neutral position. The elevator movement
turned out to be more than I wanted—so much more that it even
interfered with the rudder movement. Fortunately the Neon
transmitter lets you adjust the amount of elevator control. I was
able to reduce the throw to 5⁄16 inch (either side of neutral), which
worked out perfect.
Among the last things to add are the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter
wood dowels; two are used as wing hold-down dowels. I use six
No. 33 rubber bands to keep the wing in place. The three other
dowels hold the battery pack and connector set in position. Just
January 2004 39
The other side of the stabilizer has been covered, and the edges
are wrapped around to the other side. This way there is no joint
or seam between the top and bottom halves of the covering.
Covered tail feathers are ready for assembly to fuselage. Bob
removed an area of covering from bottom of stabilizer exactly
where it will be cemented to fuselage so that cement will make
better contact with wood.
Before forward top fuselage is sheeted, install motor, ESC, and
switch that is attached to ESC. ESC servo cable passes through
hole in former F3 then plugs into CH3 port on Hitec Electron 6
receiver (located under the wing).
The eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack goes into
compartment on bottom of fuselage. Note position of
connectors. Dowels have not been installed yet.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:48 am Page 39
40 MODEL AVIATION
Use masking tape to hold elevator and tab in position while
applying SR Batteries’ Gapless Hinge Tape. Separate surfaces with
1⁄16 balsa spacer at hinge line for clearance when surface moves. Bob affixes the SR Batteries Gapless Hinge Tape.
Pin vertical fin in place. Once aligned, tack in place with thin
CyA. Follow with five-minute epoxy for added strength.
All of the five 1⁄8-inch-diameter dowels are in place. The forward air-scoop intake cools the motor.
Stabilizer is in place. For better cement adhesion, remove
covering where you expect to cement vertical fin.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:52 am Page 40
insert each dowel, apply a small amount of thin CyA, and follow
with a light spray of accelerator.
The battery pack is held in place with several No. 33 rubber
bands. It is easy to remove for charging purposes or to swap with
a freshly charged battery pack. You can do this without removing
the wing.
It is a good idea to unplug the battery when you’re not flying.
That’s a general safety tip for electric-powered models. I also
learned that even with the Jeti switch turned off, some power is
still consumed and that will run the battery down in only a day or
two. That’s another reason to unplug the battery.
Final Balance: The center-of-gravity (CG) point on the plans is
the typical 25% back from the wing leading edge. The Scratch-
One balanced perfectly with everything as shown on the plans. If
for any reason you end up nose- or tail-heavy, just reposition the
battery to achieve the correct balance.
Motor/Battery Parameters: Motor current will average 10-12
amps on the eight-cell 1100 mAh NiMH battery pack. The rpm is
13,900 with the Gunther 5 x 4 propeller. Power to the motor is 90
watts. The calculated motor run time at full throttle is roughly six
minutes, but at reduced throttle settings you could expect up to
roughly 10 minutes.
Flying: Flying the Scratch-One was much the same as flying the
Aero Craft Pogo, which was described in the September 2003
installment of “From the Ground Up.” Since the Scratch-One has
no landing gear, it is always going to be hand launched.
Although it’s an ounce heavier than the Pogo and using the
same power system, the Scratch-One seems faster in the air. That
makes it easy to throttle back, thereby reducing the motor current
and increasing flight time. I normally get 10-minute motor-run
time with a lot of throttling back. On many occasions I’ve caught
a thermal and increased my flight time to almost 15 minutes. The
more time the model can stay in the air, the faster you are going
to learn to fly.
Landings are slow with power throttled back or turned off,
giving the beginner a chance to line up and judge distances
properly. This airplane just doesn’t have any bad habits.
I have been using the same Gunther 5 x 4 propeller on the
Scratch-One. Without a landing gear I suspect that a propeller
will get broken every once in awhile. In colder weather the plastic
propellers can become much more brittle. If that is the case I
recommend using a folding propeller assembly such as the
Graupner 6 x 3, which can be obtained from Hobby Lobby.
Motor and Radio Control System (RC) Reference: The RC
system and the electric-power-system components were
January 2004 41
Lower air exit hole passes cooling air outside fuselage.
Front lower skid is made from 1⁄32 sheet plastic material and held
in place with double-stick foam tape.
Du-Bro’s Mini E/Z Connectors (at left) come in long- and shortpin
versions. Make sure you get the longer version.
Hitec Electron 6 receiver in position on top of battery floor. CH1
is rudder servo port. CH2 is for elevator. CH3 (although it doesn’t
look it) is for ESC cable for throttle purposes.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:54 am Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Control rods run from servo output arms back to control
surfaces. They were left exposed to make installation easier for
beginners.
Du-Bro Micro Control Horns and keepers hold wire control rods
in place. Wire moves inside clear plastic tubing.
Du-Bro Mini E/Z Connectors on servo output arms (outer holes)
make control adjustments extremely easy.
Receiver antenna is attached to top of vertical fin with help of
small nylon tie. Do not cut off excess antenna wire!
Bob’s three-digit AMA number on top of wing reflects 50-plus
years as AMA member and induction into Model Aviation Hall of
Fame.
Wing stays in place. Battery pack is accessed for charging or
swapping from bottom of fuselage. Rubber bands hold it in
position.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 10:58 am Page 42
previously described in this series. Rather than duplicate all of
that data, I will list the “From the Ground Up” articles published
in Model Aviation. You can also find them on the AMA/Model
Aviation Web site (http://modelaircraft.org/mag/index.htm).
The electric power system was described in the July 2003
“Introduction to Electric Power” installment starting on page 56.
The Hitec RC system was described in April 2003’s “Radio
Control Systems—the Real Basics,” page 54, and in May’s “Radio
Control System Installation,” page 24. Further information was
published in June 2003’s “Radio Control System Operation”
installment, page 46. A product review of the Hitec Neon system
was published in the September 2003 issue. MA
Bob Aberle
January 2004 43
Bob holds the model so you can see the underside.
Bob is ready to fly the Scratch-One at his home field on the east
end of Long Island in the town of Calverton.
The model is in the air. All of Bob’s hard work paid off.
Bob makes a low pass with the Scratch-One. His buddy Tom
Hunt is on the digital camera.
01sig2.QXD 10/27/03 11:01 am Page 43