Stevens AeroModel Daddy-O 525 Build Log

[Stevephoon]

Look what the wife got me for Christmas. (Ok, she let me buy it back in Oct when they were on sale on the condition it was her Christmas present to me and that I wouldn’t start on it until after Christmas.) Well, it’s after Christmas morning, so I have finally taken the wrapper off!

Here’s some quick data from StevensAero.com
Airframe Construction Balsa
Product Origin Colorado, USA
Wing Span (in.) 52.5
Wing Area (sq. in.) 485
Length (in.) 42
Flying Weight (oz.) 36

The complete information can be found here: http://www.stevensaero.com/StevensAe....-p-19952.html

I’ve had my eye on this kit since it was prototyped last year. I think it’s the perfect 1st Mid sized sport plane for me to fly at the club with all of the gassers. It’s my first Stevens AeroModel kit and I’m looking forward to getting started.

I’ve already picked a power system as well. Everything is from HeadsUpRc.com
Motor: 3542-10 http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the...lectric/Detail
ESC: EMax 40 Amp http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the...Amp-ESC/Detail
Servos: EMax ES08MA http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the...2g-EMAX/Detail
Receiver: ?? Still need one. Most likely a Spektrum AR600 if I can get one at a decent price.
Props: APC 11x 5.5 or a Xoar Wood Electric 11x 5 (This should look pretty!)

I’ve opened up the kit and boy it seems big to me. There are 4 separate 48 in balsa wood spars that came with the kit, so the box is huge. I have pulled everything out and inventoried it. Everything is there that is supposed to be. The balsa is of good quality and the cutting looks great. I have to be careful so the parts don’t fall out. I think my only issue is going to be the size of this kit. My biggest plane so far is the Mountain Models Eva Sport. About ½ the weight of this plane.

Wish me luck! I plan to build this slowly and carefully most of the winter and sometimes work gets in the way, so don’t expect a quick build.

Steve

[rcers]

Excellent - subscribe.

[offtom]

Nice looking plane.

Should be fun to watch.

[dumo01]

Great looking plane
Looking forward to the build
Subscribed

[Stevephoon]

Thanks everyone for looking in! I'm sure I'll need some help along the way, so it's good to have you along.

I've made a tiny bit of progress tonight. 12 parts assembled and two of the 45 instructional pages of the manual are complete!

This is the start of the fuselage. These parts are almost all 1/8 in light plywood. Much stronger than little planes I currently have. I am at a step where some thick CA needs to cure, so I'm done for the night.

The fits so far have been perfect. Like a good jigsaw puzzle. Most of the fuselage will be built just while tack gluing. The final glue doesn't get applied until most of the major pieces are together and (hopefully) nice and straight. This is according to the manual, which is very good. Every step has a photo that goes with it. So far, even I haven't needed to reread or redo anything. I am sure that that time is coming, I always screw something up at some point!

Steve

[texasclouds]

Cool! Subscribed!!

[offtom]

Originally Posted by Stevephoon

I always screw something up at some point!

Steve

Don't think of it as screwing up, think of it as a "Learning experience."

[rcers]

Make a right wing and a left one, same for fuse sides. Other than that you can generally get by with mistakes.

The jig saw nature of these laser cut kits helps too.

Mike

[smokejohnson]

The Daddy O looks awesome, can't wait to see it come together. I love SA kits, they're fun to build.

[Stevephoon]

Two more pages of the manual are complete and two sheets of wood are now empty! It’s just beginning to look a little like a fuselage. The internal ply structure is now bonded to balsa sides. The sides of the fuselage are big enough that they are in 4 separate pieces. See the attached pictures. All bonding is being performed using thick CA or med CA per the instructions. I’m using odorless med CA because it is much easier for me to work with since I’m building in an enclosed basement. The med CA is the default glue to use for this kit. The odorless CA does take a little longer to dry, but having it not irritate me is well worth the extra time it takes to use.

The instructions have you manually ream out the landing gear holes. I could not manually spin the 1/8th drill bit to open the holes. Maybe I was too sloppy with the glue and/or the ply it is inserted to is extra strong. I had to use the drill on an ultra low speed with an extra long drill bit to clear the rest of the structure. So now the pre-bent landing gear wire can slide in with only a tiny bit of encouragement. I also just realized I don't have a picture of the bottom of the fuselage. I'll do that tomorrow.

Steve

[Stevephoon]

A couple more pictures of the bottom of the fuselage. The battery attaches here on the bottom. There is lots of room and quite a bit of fore/aft movement available for CG corrections. In the picture with the landing gear, they are only slightly in. It was difficult to remove the wire once it is fully seated and I didn't want to risk anything by assembling/disassembiling again.

Also notice that at the rear of the battery opening there is also room for a wire landing gear mount. This is for the float option! This plane is already designed for mounting floats. I remember that that the first prototype video had shots of the float version. I have never flown off the water, so I am not planning on instaling floats but there are lots of lakes around me so maybe someday.

Steve

[Stevephoon]

Todays's build progress was another 2 or 3 pages in the manual. Nothing to report. The instruction manual is good, the wood cutting is excellent and everything fits like a champ! Just slowly plugging away when I get a couple of spare hours. The nose sheeting is 3/32 balsa on this model. That seemed really thick to bend around the nose, but the windex trick worked like magic. Tomorrow, when it's dry, it will get glued down.

Steve

[CHELLIE]

Looking Good, The motor you picked will work great Too, Subcribed, BTW if you get tired of building that Plane, just Put all the parts in a big box and send it to me LOL, Just kidding, Take care and have fun, Chellie

[Stevephoon]

Chellie, I'm glad you like the motor selection. I was beginning to think it might be a little big for this plane. But, I'd rather have a little too much power instead of not quite enough. I'm sorry but this plane is staying with me, but if you're ever in Michigan, please stop by and I'll let you fly it!

I've finally found some picts of the float version. They are on Thayer Syme's site. He is the designer of the prototype version.
http://www.gryffinaero.com/models/ff...525/index.html

Steve

[stuart]

steve,its great to see a build thread goin on this winter,i may not post a lot but count me suscribed. looking foward to watching and reading the progress reports......by the way,pictures look good.

[smokejohnson]

The more I see of this plane the more I like it.

[surfer dude]

Nice looking plane, I really like the old time look. Should be a nice relaxing Sunday cruiser.
I predict James (Smoke Johnson) will have this plane by Summer.

[Stevephoon]

The bottom stringers have been installed along with a couple of doublers per the instructions. I really like the shape of the fuselage. I hope my basic covering skills can do it justice. Just the top stringers are left to do, then the main fuselage wood structure is complete. It's nice to have this week off of work, so I have time to build.

As a side note, smoke and surfer_dude, I plan on trying to start up a combat group at my club this summer. I've been reading your thread on yours and it sounds way too fun. The FF plane seems simple enough to build and cheap, so I was planning on recommending a plane with those specs to use. If you have or know of any real rules that are already written, can you point me to them? (Other than the start of your combat thread.)

Steve

I was just looking at the picts of this plane again, and the fuselage has a little of a whale shape to it. I think that's why I must like it!

[offtom]

That's srtating to come together nicely.

The shape kind of reminds me of some of the old racers.

[CHELLIE]

Originally Posted by Stevephoon

Chellie, I'm glad you like the motor selection. I was beginning to think it might be a little big for this plane. But, I'd rather have a little too much power instead of not quite enough. I'm sorry but this plane is staying with me, but if you're ever in Michigan, please stop by and I'll let you fly it!

I've finally found some picts of the float version. They are on Thayer Syme's site. He is the designer of the prototype version.
http://www.gryffinaero.com/models/ff...525/index.html

Steve

you can never ever have to big of a Motor for your plane if it will fit in the cowl, with out sticking out, its just right I like using the biggest motor that will fit in the cowls on my planes, reason being, is that I never have to add any nose lead weight to get the CG just right, i hate to have to add dead weight, i would rather the weight needed to balance the plane be the motor weight More Power Take care and Happy New Year to All, Chellie

[CHELLIE]

Originally Posted by smokejohnson

The more I see of this plane the more I like it.

I Always Knew that you had good Taste James Your better half will agree too, because you picked Her

[surfer dude]

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/show...01&postcount=1
Here is the link for the E-Combat in Tulsa thread. The first post list officail rules for combat, and then there is a pretty good descusion on page 10 about rules. We started out using a few rules, streamers, etc..., but now that we have 8-12 pilots every time we fly, we don't even bother with the streamers half the time, and just fly full combat, last man up wins. We like the carnage
We start flying the F&F on page 24, it's a fast build and a great flyer, perfect for combat. (I built one this morning) I have the plans on my hanger photos, just click on my avatar. I did modify a little. I added 1/2 inch depth to the ailerons, and the elevator, and shortened, and lengthened the vertical by 1 inch in both directions.

[smokejohnson]

Originally Posted by Stevephoon

As a side note, smoke and surfer_dude, I plan on trying to start up a combat group at my club this summer...

I can do some digging later and PM you some links with info on what other guys are doing around the country. Combat is a blast you're going to love it.

The Daddy O is looking good, keep those pics coming .

[Stevephoon]

I got back to it today. The next parts to install are the rear upper stringers, then the push rod tubes. The push rod tubes are just a little tricky because they cross just before going through the last former. There is not a picture in the instuctions of the elevator side exit hole. It must be the foreward hole. This is where the tube wanted to exit and I wanted the least amount of bending. I'm not sure why you install the tubes after the stringers. It would have been easier to do the tubing first. The tubes have been glued in and I've tested putting the push rods thru. No binding. no problems.

Next was the battery cover. One thing a little different is that this does not build at right (90 deg) angles. This should help the battery hatch open easier, and it keeps all of the formers at the same angle. There is also a special piece of 1/64 ply for air exit holes. It should look nice once it is covered. The magnuts are set in a long way. I used the eraser side of a wood pencil to push them in place.

I am really enjoying this build. The kit so far has been excellent. Everything fits perfectly and the instructions are really good. I like when there are no surprises!

Steve

[Stevephoon]

Originally Posted by surfer dude

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/show...01&postcount=1
Here is the link for the E-Combat in Tulsa thread. The first post list officail rules for combat, and then there is a pretty good descusion on page 10 about rules. .....

We start flying the F&F on page 24, it's a fast build and a great flyer, perfect for combat. (I built one this morning) I have the plans on my hanger photos, just click on my avatar. I did modify a little. I added 1/2 inch depth to the ailerons, and the elevator, and shortened, and lengthened the vertical by 1 inch in both directions.

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely check out your plans.

Steve