Easy Built Models Mr. Smoothie
Getting plenty of hang time isn’t a problem with this smooth operator!
By Dave Mitchell PHOTOGRAPHY: PAT DAILY W
hen Dave Niedzielski unveiled his new kit of the Pearson- Williams Mr. Smoothie at the 2010 FAC Nats in Geneseo, I
knew I had to build one. Having been regu- larly thumped by my friend and rival, Walt Farrell, and his 24-inch Dave Rees-designed Smoothie at various contests, I reasoned that if I couldn’t beat ’em, I should join ’em, but I had not quite been able to muster the energy to tackle the big Rees project. Here, then, was an ideal alternative: a 19-inch wing span laser-cut kit, part of the Easy Built “Pro Design” series, which meant I could expect premium balsa, nifty “Tissue- Cal” markings, and a freshly-rendered plan. I snatched one up, and could hardly wait
to get started. “But that was two years ago,” I hear you say. “Why the delay?” Well, due to events beyond my control, no pictures of the finished model were taken
before...be- fore...well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. More on that later. The kit balsa is superb, and color-coded as
to weight, with specific instructions on the plan as to where to use what grade of balsa. You’ll want to follow these notes closely, as the kit provides just enough building mate- rial. Laser cutting was clean, with no “over- burn”, though there was a bit of outline jit- ter on some of the curved pieces—nothing that wouldn’t be sanded clear in the process of preparing the model for covering. The plan is clean and spare—like the materials,
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there’s just enough there. The Easy Built website rates the kit for “experienced builders”, and I would agree with this, not so much because the structure is particular- ly complex, but it is lightweight, and in some places the building methods will take you “outside the box” and ask you to use your imagination a bit. I’ll mostly focus on those areas in this review. Let’s start with the fuselage. Overall, the construction is conventional, but very light. It’s built using the classic half-shell method, but instead of making the vertical keel pieces up from 1⁄16 × 3⁄16-inch as one might expect, 1⁄16×1⁄16-inch is used. There is a mod- erately strong bend in the top forward nose keel piece; easy to bend into the 1⁄16-inch stock, but I recommend brushing it with a bit of water once it’s pinned down to help set the bend. Glue the formers in position, mak- ing sure they are at right angles to the keel, and run all the stringers for that side. Don’t forget the stringer that forms the
base for the wing saddle, and the rear motor peg mounts. Remove the completed half- shell from the plan and repeat for the other side. Owing to the light keel, take care that you don’t get the fuselage bent out of shape. Construction of the air scoop at the bot-
tom of the nose is a bit vague. Three cut keel pieces are provided here (F11); one is a part of the main lower keel assembly, but the po- sition of the other two is not clear on the plans. One photo shows my solution which
AT A GLANCE Type:
Construction: Wing span: Wing area: Airfoil: Length:
F/F sport scale balsa
19 inches 72 sq. in. flat bottom
21.25 inches
Weight: 30 gms dry, 40 gms w/rubber Wing loading:
2.82 oz./sq.ft.
Manufacturer: Easy Built Models PO Box 681744,
Prattville, AL 36068 334-358-5184
www.easybuiltmodels.com
requires the remaining two F11 pieces to be notched to fit to former F2. Glue the instrument panel in place and
apply the cockpit decking. The plan provides a template and suggests using paper for this, but I like to use translucent drafting paper (vellum). When you apply colored tis- sue to it, the tissue color will match the sur- rounding area nicely. If you apply glue stick to the tissue rather than the vellum when
SEPTEMBER 2012
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