IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/02
Page Numbers: 15,16,17,18,19,20,22
IF YOU HAVE built the SkyCrawler
design (that was published in the May 2001
MA), you have probably had a great deal of
fun with it. It is slow, stable, and does well
in calm conditions (almost no wind).
I built a SkyCrawler for my brother
Blake who lives in Indiana. He had never
flown an RC airplane before and basically
learned how to fly with this model.
However, after roughly six months he
started saying, “Hey, have you got anything
a little faster and a little more challenging?”
That started me thinking, so I began
thinking about the SkyStroller. I wanted to
design a model that was basically the same
size as the SkyCrawler but with a wing
with much less drag. Using the same motor/
propeller setup as the SkyCrawler, this
model would fly faster and climb better.
Keeping the basic size and weight the
same as the SkyCrawler’s, it would be easy
to carry in the backseat of any car and fly at
the nearest park or soccer field. I also
wanted to keep the design simple enough
that it could be built in approximately a
week, with four or so hours a day dedicated
to construction.
With all those thoughts in mind, the
SkyStroller was born. Let’s get into
building.
Tail Feathers: I don’t know why for sure,
but I like to start at the rear of the aircraft.
If you don’t have a cork building
board, use a piece of drywall for this
phase. You will need to cut the parts
indicated on the plans made from 3/16 balsa
sheet. I traced them onto balsa using
carbon paper.
After you have cut these pieces (the
dorsal fin, the elevators, and the rudder), lay
them over the plans and glue them together,
holding them in place with T-pins. Make
February 2006 15
BY CLARK SALISBURY
From any angle this model is well styled and sporty. It’s also easy to construct, making it
the perfect first-time builder’s project.
Three-channel electric
design’s scale features
set it apart from the
average park flyer
sure you use the 3/16-inch round dowel to
join the elevator halves.
After the glue has dried, install the
hinges and sand the front of the elevator
and rudder to a V shape so they can
deflect without binding. Do not glue the
hinges in place yet, but do test-fit them.
Sand the LEs of the stabilizers and the
dorsal fin.
Fuselage: Working forward, the fuselage16 MODEL AVIATION
The SkyStroller’s tail feathers are a combination of sheet and stick balsa. They are
shown being constructed over the plans.
The basic wing is easy to build because the flat-bottom airfoil
allows the ribs to sit flat on the plans.
The spar and LE sheeting are shown installed. This makes the
wing rigid and resistant to warps.
Clothespins are used to clamp the formers to the sides in the
cabin area. The fuselage is all sheet balsa.
The sides are bent in a clamp to the forward formers, giving the
fuselage shape. This is strong but light construction.
is next. Everything in it is made from 1/8
balsa or light plywood (poplar). I cut the
parts from the plans with scissors and laid
them on balsa with a glue stick.
Note that many of the parts need to be
made as doubles. You can easily stack the
balsa and cut two at a time. Once you
have done this, you may start gluing the
fuselage together.
Glue in F6 and F5. Hold the rear of the
fuselage together with rubber bands, and
don’t glue in more than those to start with.
Now you need to fabricate a couple
subassemblies (which are necessary to
give the formers enough strength for when
they are put in the fuselage later). Glue
the wing mount to F4 as shown on the
plans; this is the first subassembly.
February 2006 17
The 1/16 plywood wing-support strut attachments anchor to the
bottom of the SkyStroller’s wing.
The landing gear is made from flat sheet
.040-inch-thick aluminum. The author
polished his nicely!
The wing-mount bolt supports have been installed at the wing’s
center-section.
The aft end of the fuselage sides is held together with rubber
bands while the glue dries.
The plywood wing-spar joiner has been installed and is clamped
with clothespins until the glue dries.
Glue the landing-gear mount to the
bottom of F3, and glue the forward wing
mount to the top of F3 as shown. This
becomes the second subassembly.
Let the subassemblies dry and then glue
them into the fuselage. This is a good time
to glue in the servo mount plate.
After that is dry, glue in formers F1 and
F2. Make sure not to glue in the center part
of F1 and F2 because this is where the
cheek cowls will be later.
When that is dry, glue in the triangular
pieces that form the top and bottom of the
cheek cowls. Glue in the instrument panel.
When all of that is dry, sand the top and
bottom of the fuselage sides to match the
bottom and top of the formers. Make sure
you sand on an angle to match the top and
bottom of the formers. When this is done,
you are ready to add the top and bottom
plates of the fuselage.
Glue the plates in, starting at the rear,
and hold the entire assembly together with
rubber bands. Use at least one rubber band
every half inch to hold this together
because the top and bottom of the fuselage
are curved quite a bit. If the balsa doesn’t
bend easily, sometimes you can wet it on
the outside surface to help it flex.
After the glue has set, remove all the
rubber bands and sand the entire fuselage.
Try to keep your radii consistent; this step
will make a big difference in how the
model looks when it is finished.
Wings: Stack the rib-stock balsa two high
Photos by the author
and cut all the wing ribs. Do the same with the light plywood to cut
the wing spars, but you only have to cut one wing joiner. When
you have done this, cut the wingtips.
I traced the last rib, R9, onto the 1-inch-square balsa block to
cut the wingtips. You can then sand the balsa block to a 45° angle
or cut it with your scroll saw to that angle (from front to rear).
Make sure you create a left and a right wingtip when you are doing
this 45° cut. When you are cutting it on the angle, it is easiest to
put the scrap part of the balsa block back on the wingtip that you
cut out earlier (when cutting to the shape of the last rib).
It is time to start gluing everything together. Start with the nine
ribs glued to the 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel in the front and the
3/4-inch TE at the rear. Make sure you are creating a left and a right
wing. Lay the ribs over the plans and make sure they are exact.
After this has dried, you are ready to install the wing spar. This
spar goes through the middle of the rib holes. If you have cut it
exactly, it will rotate up into position. Hold it there with pins. You
can also glue in the 1/32 sheeting at the top of the LE at this time.
To adhere the wing halves, the dihedral angle needs to be set.
Glue in the wing joiner and hold it in place with clothespins or
small clamps. If you want a lot of dihedral (7°), place 23/8-inch
spacers under the R9 ribs on both ends of the wings while the
middle of the wing is held flat on the table.
If you want minimal dihedral, use a couple 2 x 4s cut to 6-inch
lengths under the R9 ribs. The 2 x 4 is 11/2 inches thick, which will
give you approximately 4° of dihedral. Less dihedral will make the
airplane a bit less stable but more responsive to rudder control.
At the same time the wing joiners are added, add a short piece
of 1/4-inch-diameter balsa dowel at the LE of the wing and a short
piece of 3/4-inch TE to the rear edge of the wing at the center.
Glue in the two wing mounts, which are made from plywood, at
the front and rear of the wing. Glue in the upper balsa wing mounts
that have the clearance holes.
When all this is dry, test-fit the wing on top of the fuselage.
Sand the upper balsa wing mounts to the shape of the wing and
sand the rest of the wing.
You can add the nylon mounting bolts at this time by drilling
through the plywood wing mounts and drilling and tapping the
holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32. This is also a good time,
with the wing on the top of the fuselage, to add the wing-strut
mounts.
Depending on the amount of dihedral, the wing struts will be
longer or shorter. The drawing shows struts for the maximum
dihedral amount (7°).
Make the wing struts. Slot the ends of the struts to allow for the
short threaded rods, and epoxy the threaded rods in place. Adhere
the wing-strut mounts in the fuselage and to the wings at this time.
Make sure the mounts are glued in at the same angle as the struts.
Wheel Pants: The wheel pants are made mostly from balsa, but the
inside wall is made from light plywood. Cut the balsa and the light
plywood to the pattern shown on the drawing. When the wood is
glued together, make sure you are fabricating a right and a left
wheel pant (which is determined by the side to which you glue the
light plywood).
Sand the wheel pants until they have a smooth, beautiful shape,
but don’t sand so much that the wall breaks through. It will be
necessary to slot the end of the 1/8-inch-diameter axles so a
screwdriver can be used when installing the wheels in the wheel
pants. The detail drawing shows how it all goes together.
You will probably have to drill the wheels to a 1/8-inch diameter
to fit the axle. Do this on a drill press, if possible, to keep the hole
straight. Make sure the wheels turn freely before you tighten the
elastic stop nuts of the axle.
Covering and Final Assembly: After sanding the entire outside
structure smooth, your SkyStroller should be ready for finishing.
Spray-paint the front of the fuselage to approximately the first
window, and mask off the rest of the fuselage. I found that three
coats of paint were required to make the balsa look smooth. Sand
the paint between coats.
Paint the wheel pants in the same manner. Glue a small stick to
the bottom of each wheel pant; this makes them much easier to
handle when painting.
When covering the tail surfaces, apply the transparent
MonoKote and then the white around the edges. Do the same with
the wing.
Watch carefully to ensure that you don’t warp the wing when
covering. If you do, you may have to twist it back to shape and
reheat the MonoKote while you have it twisted. On the fuselage,
cover everything except the bottom. (You will need access later
when adding the pushrods.)
If you want to add the “SkyStroller” logo, the lettering is
Harlow Solid Italic printed at 72 points on a sheet of Avery clear
ink-jet labeling paper (number 8665). The nice thing is that after
you have printed the logo onto the paper with your ink-jet printer,
just peel off the backing and it will stick to the fuselage sides.
With the entire airplane covered, glue the tail surfaces to the
back of the fuselage. This is a good time to epoxy the control
surfaces to the tail. I learned that by applying a dab of Vaseline to
the movable area of the hinge first prevents the epoxy from getting
into that part.
You can install the wing by making holes using a 1/8-inch drill
and then tapping these holes in the top of the fuselage to #10-32
for the nylon bolts. Drill the holes in the wing to 7/32 inch in
diameter.
The adjustable struts can be mounted now. Make sure they do
not pull the wing down or push it up.
Mount the motor, speed controller, and receiver. The battery
needs to be mounted fore or aft in the bottom of theYou will need two 2.5mm x 10mm
screws and washers to mount the
motor/gearbox. Mount the landing gear to
the fuselage using #8 wood screws.
After cutting the window pattern and
bending it, mount the windows with #2 x
3/8-inch-long wood screws. The drawing
shows backup plywood pieces (1/4 inch
square) to mount the windows. These
should be glued in first so the screws can
attach to them.
Flying: I took my SkyStroller to the local
flying field for its maiden flight. I had my
good friend Dave Stuart fly it for the first
time.
I hand-launched the model into a
slight breeze, and it took off at roughly a
20° climb. Dave slowed it with the speed
control when it reached a couple hundred
feet, and it descended so I could take
photos. I took pictures for roughly five
minutes, and then Dave let me fly. I was
pleased with the responsiveness.
The SkyStroller flies great at
approximately half speed, but it doesn’t
quite loop at half speed. Loops are simple
to do at full speed. The airplane is easy to
see in the sky; it is quite a sight with its
transparent covering. Dave did try to stall
the model, but it would only mush down,
with no tip-stalling tendency.
Landing was routine, although the
small wheels and wheel pants probably
do dictate hard-surface landings. Dave’s
landing was on asphalt.
If you want to land in grass, I suggest
using wheels that are approximately 2.5
inches in diameter, with no wheel pants. I
like the looks of wheel pants, and maybe
keeping them for looks is good if you
want to do grass landings with the bigger
wheels.
The SkyStroller is capable of a good,
brisk “stroll” through the sky at 25 mph
or faster. I suggest this as a second
airplane for anyone who has experience
flying RC. Have fun! MA
Clark Salisbury
[email protected]