Marc

I haven't built a kit in about two years. I have a 1400kv 35-30 motor, 30amp ESC, 3S 2200 mAh lipos, and a receiver from a previous crash that need a small high-performance plane to fly. Performance plane kits are hard to find, but I found this one in the Aliexpress.com Realhawk store for a cheap price. They just call it a "sport airplane", but I think it has pylon racing DNA. I ordered the kit, two meters of covering, and five 9-gram servos for $85 with free shipping.

I got my order in good condition in about a month. The kit contained two molded canopies, two molded cowls, and landing gear with wheels. Included was a bag of CA hinges, magnets for the hatch, control horns, and lots of screws and bolts to put everything together. The full-size plans were more like a blueprint of what-goes-where than step-by-step instructions. The laser cutting of the pieces was very accurate and easy to separate. I started by sorting the parts into piles for the fuselage, wing, and tail and checking them off on the plans.



I apologize for not taking not taking many pictures during the fuselage construction. I just got so enthralled in the building that I forgot. I bolted pieces of dowel to the firewall for the motor standoff. The cowl(s) included with the kit were slightly different than advertised, but they were made to work. I spray painted just the inside of the cowl, but the color was a poor match to the covering.



Planes that have a tapered wing chord are prone to tip stall. This is caused by the laminar air flow over the outboard surface of the wing breaking up before the inboard part of the wing at low speed as the angle of attack increases while landing. This turbulence causes the ailerons to have no effect and the plane abruptly falls out of the sky. Tip stalling is very common in WW2 warplanes and aerobatic planes - both models and the real thing. I found a post that said this plane is no exception. The solution is to lift the trailing edges at the wing tips called washout. I actually did this work outside because of the noxious effect of CA on my sinuses.



Shown below are the two wing halves posed together. The aluminum forward wing joiner was supplied in the kit, but the rear wing joiner was missing. A 1/4" inch dowel should serve the purpose.



For control linkage I prefer a z-bend on the servo end and a nylon clevis on a threaded coupler soldered to music wire on the control horn end. If the music wire passes through the fuselage, I enclose it in a small plastic tube.



This picture is presented for any visiting aerodynamicists to weigh in on the washout achieved. Yes, that is a 72 mHz antenna that was fished through the fuselage during construction.



The hatch is attached with pegs in the front and magnets in the rear. My much too swollen lipo is a snug fit. I need to order new ones.



The plans for the wing showed no leading edge and only a lite-ply trailing edge. Two unlabeled tapered sticks of balsa the length of the leading edge were included with the kit, but I cut and glued them to the lite-ply trailing edge to attach the aileron hinges. I fashioned a leading edge from scrap balsa. This accounts for the wing tips being too short. I think it was a design flaw. I fly over a hay pasture in the backyard, so no need for landing gear.



I'll post a flight video as proof of concept when weather permits. Thanks for visiting.

ddlawrence

Hi.
Instead of z-bends, just use 2-56 threaded rod and nylon clevises on both ends.
They thread right in there no problem.
They are much better to adjust and are more secure.
On the downside, they have no flex, so you may strip servos in a crash.

Don Sims

Hope it flies as nice as it looks Marc. Good luck on that maiden.

Marc

I velcroed a Car Keys 808 micro-camera to the bill of my cap to make this. I bet everyone wishes they had a flying field like this in their backyard.