The windshield pattern was made up and fitted to the fuselage (above left). The pattern was then used to cut the acetate windshield. The tail section was aligned and glued in place (bottom left) using the wing as reference. The vinyl
places in between. Tape the vertical and horizontal stabilizers in place and run the rudder pull/pull cables in and tie them off at the control horn. Note the exact location where the cables exit the fuselage and mark it on the plans for reference after the model is covered. Mark the location of the motor mount
screws on the firewall, drill, and mount the motor and ESC. Connect the system and test run the motor (without the propeller) to insure the motor is running the proper di- rection. Test run the servos too, and make any necessary corrections now while the components are easily accessible.
Covering and final assembly The Gull II is built light, so Coverite Mi-
crolite, available from Great Planes/Tower Hobbies (
www.towerhobbies.com), and So- Lite from Stevens Aero (
www.stevensaero. com) are excellent choices for iron-on cover- ing for the model. For the purist, light silkspan and dope is also a good choice. Be- cause of the extreme weight and shrinking qualities I don’t recommend using MonoKote or UltraCote on the Gull. Before the cover- ing is applied, do a final detail sanding on all the frames to remove the last of the bumps and boo-boos. If you choose to go with the original color scheme, a graphics package is available from Callie Graphics (
www.callie-
graphics.com. Begin by gluing the rudder and elevator
hinges in place using Pacer Canopy 560 or Tacky Glue. Mount the wing on the fuselage and using it for reference, align and glue the tail section in place. Make a Z-Bend on one end of the .025-inch steel pushrod wire and install it in the guide tube. Make another Z- bend at the back end, centered on the eleva- tor hinge line. Align the elevator to the neu- tral position, slip the control horn over the pushrod, align and glue in place. Mark the location where the rudder cables
FLYING MODELS
decals from Callie Graphics (above right) were applied in the original Gull II color scheme to complete the model. In the air the Gull II is a very honest and docile flyer, perfect for those calm mornings and cool evening flying sessions.
will exit the fuselage and reinforce the cov- ering with clear tape. Make a small slit in the covering and pull the cables through the fuselage. Tie off and glue the cables to the control horn, center the rudder and secure under the screw on the servo arm. Mount the Rx on the instrument panel using hook and loop fastener. Mount the wheels and add the landing
gear fairings. Make up the windshield from .008-inch acetate using the provided pat- tern. The windshield can either be glued in place, or mounted using double sided tape to complete the basic model. Balance the model 31
⁄8 inches from the
wing leading edge using the battery location to your best advantage. Once the battery lo- cation is established, make up a tray from 3
⁄32
hard balsa and glue it in place on the fuse- lage bottom atop the cross pieces. Secure the battery with hook and loop fastener. Make up a plastic hatch as shown on the plans to finish the model. Set up the control throws as shown, and the Gull is ready to fly. The model finished at 13 ounces, and with a wing loading of 5.2 ounces/square foot, you know it’s going to be a real floater.
Flying the Gull II The Gull is an easy model to fly, and us-
ing the recommended motor, prop and bat- tery combination will cruise nicely at half throttle for 20 minutes or more. At full pow- er the model climbs with authority, but won’t go “straight up”, so fly it on the wing to avoid an unwanted stall on take-off. Control response is positive, smooth, and
docile, both under power and in the glide. The model turns flatter to the right than left, so when you get it into lift, the flatter right hand turn will net you the best results. And for those who like to kick back in the lawn chair with their feet on the cooler sipping iced tea with the model floating slowly over- head, the Gull II is really hard to beat.
Materials List
2 1 1 1 6 1 6 1 8 3 2 3 7 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
⁄16 ⁄8
⁄16 ⁄16 ⁄32 ⁄32 ⁄8 ⁄8 ⁄4 ⁄8
× 4 × 36 balsa (or Parts Pack*) × 4 × 36 balsa (or Parts Pack*) × 1⁄8 × 3⁄8
× 36 balsa × 36 balsa
sq. × 36 balsa × 1⁄4
sq. × 36 balsa × 3⁄16 × 1⁄2
× 36 balsa
× 36 bass wood or hard balsa × 36 balsa
diameter × 8 dowel
1 .078 diameter × 36 music wire 1 .046 diameter × 12 music wire 1 .025 diameter × 12 music wire 1 2208 or 370 outrunner motor 1 15–20A ESC w/BEC 2 9-gram sub-micro servos 1 GWS 9–4.7 propeller 1 pair 21
⁄4 -inch main wheels
2 rolls Coverite Microlite or equiv. 1 Sullivan #507 plastic pushrod tube 1 .008 × 5 × 8 acetate
60 inches nylon thread (rudder pull/pull cables)
Artists foam board (bowing patterns) Funky foam (landing gear fairings)
3⁄16
*Parts Pack available from the author at
www.patscustom-models.com
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