A bones shot showing the wing test fitted into the fuselage (above left). Note the additional 1
⁄32
-inch sheet spar webbing that Dave added to the wing on each
side–one of the few deviations from the plan. The wing has been covered (above center), and the fuselage fully covered except for the wing slot area. The wing is glued in place, and a top saddle piece fitted to it. This is an area where you are a bit on your own, as the kit does not really provide much for this
plete, you have one more task before break- ing out the tissue. The plan calls for the one- piece wing to be slid into a cut-out that you will make in the fuselage. Fuselage formers F5 and F6 have laser-dotted lines where they get cut to make way for the wing. Use a new knife blade to make these cuts, and once they are cleared, handle the fuselage with great care. It will be weak until the wing gets cemented in place. The kit is supplied with red Easy Built tis-
sue, which is a very good quality domestic tissue; it’s a tad heavier in its raw state than Esaki and not as easily workable when wet, but it’s strong, inexpensive, has excellent color, and with care produces a very good covering that requires no additional color. Pre-shrinking is strongly recommended. I get good results applying it with UHU brand glue stick. Cover the wing, stab and rudder first.
Now cover all fuselage surfaces but leave the area between F4-F7 above the wing sad- dle open (if you have scalloped fuselage for- mer F4 at the top between the stringers, you may also need to leave the top front area un- covered as well, as per the photographs). Slide the covered wing into position in the fuselage cut-out, and glue securely. Using some scrap 1⁄16-inch, form a top sad-
dle stringer that conforms to the airfoil at the wing root and glue it to the fuselage and wing, making sure that it runs fair to the fuselage profile. You may need to fill in some of the other fuselage stringers in this area. Alternately, you could fill in this whole area with 1⁄16-inch sheet wood—stronger and eas- ier to cover to, if a shade heavier. Once this top wing saddle assembly has been complet- ed, you can finish out the covering of the fuselage. Don’t forget the little fillet pieces at the wing trailing edge! At this stage, you’re in the home stretch. Looking pretty dangerous isn’t it? If neces- sary, water-shrink the tissue, then trim the various vacu-formed pieces from the plastic sheet, paint to match the tissue (or use tis- sue on the plastic) and attach to the fuse- lage. Apply the Tissue-Cal markings to the model and give the whole thing a couple of light coats of clear dope or Krylon. I used a Sharpie marker for control surface outlines and miscellaneous details. The spinner will need to be cut to accept
the prop. This is one of those tedious chores that someday will be done by talented and
FLYING MODELS
detail. Study the picture and go at it slowly, and you’ll be fine. When you’re done, finish covering the top of the fuselage over the wing. Ready for the races (above right). There are a number of tissue-cal markings and vacu-formed plastic bits to be applied, that really sharpen up the looks of this already intriguing airplane. The big, open ended spinner makes it easy to fit whatever prop free-wheeling device you prefer.
willing robots. Until then do your best, marking the backplate of the spinner for your entry points, cutting through it, and bit by bit cutting and dry fitting the spinner neatly to the prop. Once you are satisfied with the fit, and you
have your prop shaft/freewheel mechanism in place—the spinner is large and open in the front, and the model is able to handle just about any freewheeling device you like— check that the spinner is centered one last time and glue it securely to the prop. Paint or tissue it to match the fuselage, then step back and admire your handiwork. Take pictures now, because you may not get another chance. The supplied Peck prop running on four strands of 1⁄8-inch Tan Super Sport will pro- vide plenty of motivation for your Mr. Smoothie to fly away at a moment’s notice, so find a big field and do be careful. I use a Gizmo Geezer adjustable thrust button (part #PFW-03,
www.gizmogeezer.com) in the front end of practically all my models. They are great for fine tuning thrust adjust- ments. Dave N. states in his build notes that his model flies left, and the plans spec 2 de- grees down and 2 degrees right thrust, which is generally a good starting point. However, as my model wanted to auger left when I wound it to higher turns, I wound up
trimming it to fly in a right hand pattern, and I think I ended up with probably 2 de- grees down and 4 degrees right thrust. I don’t have good records, though: the blasted thing went OOS after three test hops on its first full-winds flight. Despite my impassioned pleas to Hung (God of Ther- mals) and multiple venomous expletives di- rected at the recalcitrant DT, it circled up ever farther, ever higher, before disappear- ing with a last flash of red against the clear blue Virginia sky. (Note that this is a com- mon theme in the annals of Mr. Smoothie builders. You have been warned.) Thus relieved of my brand-new model, I
had to swallow my disappointment and build another. Now at last you know the rea- son for the delay of this review! The finished Mr. Smoothie in these pictures is build #2. It has so far shown every bit as much po- tential as its predecessor. The model has about 72 square inches of wing area, and fin- ished at just under 30 grams weight without motor. Put in 10 grams of rubber and you have a 40-gram model with a very re- spectable wing loading of .55 grams/square inch and a looong motor run. And it will han- dle more rubber than that if you are a glut- ton for punishment. That is, as they say in the trade, Hung bait! Enjoy!
PHOTO: PAT DAILY
And they’re off! Sadly, the real Mr. Smoothie never saw race action due to problems with its retractable landing gear. If the performance of the model is any indication, it would have been a winner!
55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68