(Keep It Simple Schtyk)
Phase II
K.I.S.S. K.I.S.S.
Here’s the second step in scratchbuilding the original K.I.S.S., this time with a full fuselage and a glow engine!
PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIEL WALTON & CYNTHIA WALTON W
hen one starts on a journey by taking a first step and then an- other, putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on down the road, sometimes it seems perfectly clear where the road is leading. And at other times you wonder “Why this road?” as the objective is never clear and shrouded by mists that obscure the way. But you keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going. Eventually you find your way.
Phase II of this journey should be reason- ably clear in this case as you have already taken step one and built the original version of the K.I.S.S, or read the original article in the April 2009 issue of FM. Hopefully you had good success with the building process and developed some of the necessary basic skills for building planes of your own design which is very much a part of this hobby of ours.
For this next step you will be using the wing and the tail from the project already completed and then, if you are on a limited budget, some of the radio equipment, such as the receiver and the two servos. This project will expand on the amount of work by building an enclosed box fuselage with a glow engine or “wet” propulsion sys-
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tem. The enclosed fuselage is sort of a neces- sity with this type of propulsion system as the engine throws a lot of goo from the lubri- cants in the fuel while the electric propulsion system on the original K.I.S.S. is very clean and dry and easy to install and work with. Of course, you can install an electric propulsion system similar to the one in the original K.I.S.S. but the complexity of the glow sys- tem is a next step that many will have to take if they wish to go in that direction. The fuselage retains the simplicity of the all balsa and plywood construction like the wing and tail, but now adds the challenge of a simple covering job using just plain old MonoKote or similar plastic film covering to protect the fuselage from the residue thrown off by the engine.
Probably the most difficult part of this project will be locating a glow engine for the project. Unfortunately you can’t just go into a hobby shop and buy one of these small ½A engines any more (although there are rum- blings now and then on the grapevine that the Norvel series of small engines will return to production as the NV line of engines). There are several options open to you. The first one would be to find someone locally who is willing to sell you one that he owns and could probably help you with learning to
By Daniel Walton
AT A GLANCE Type:
Construction: Wing span: Wing area: Length: Weight:
Wing loading: Prop:
Engine: Radio:
R/C sport
balsa and ply 45 inches 279 sq. in.
38–42 inches 18.6 ounces 9.6 oz./sq.ft.
Master Airscrew 6–3 .049–.09 two-stroke 4-channel
run it and what supplies would be required. Any of the old Cox .049–.09 sized engines would be acceptable or, if you can find one, the Norvel .049 or .061 engines work well too if it has been properly broken in. [Brodak Mfg.
www.brodak.com sells an .061 of their own brand, with a carburetor if desired. – Ed.]
I’ve found mine to have good throttle re- AUGUST 2013
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