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Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Old 02-03-2012, 04:31 AM
  #1301  
u2builder
 
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Looking at those pictures, I don't see the servo mounts. Did you mount the servos coming out the bottom of the bottom wing? I don't have the plans in front of me, but I thought they show them on the top of the bottom wing. Putting them in the bottom seems like a better idea from a visual point of view.
Old 02-03-2012, 06:42 AM
  #1302  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

I believe the plans show the aileron servos mounting on the underside of the bottom wing. Most people have built them that way but a few have mounted them on top. I found it pretty tough to fit a standard servo in the wing bay without it protruding beyond the surface of the covering. I had to do quite a bit of carving to get mine to fit.

Jaybird
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Old 02-03-2012, 06:45 AM
  #1303  
JoshuaDA10
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

I appreciate the compliments gentlemen, and that is not black it is actually Pearl Purple Ultracote. I never would have thought to use purple, but I had my girlfriend with me at the hobbyshop and she pointed it out. I have to say that I am very happy with her choice, and having the purple against pure white really makes it pop. I do have the servos mounted in the wing bottom, and that is what my plans called for...did they make more than one version of this kit? U2, if your plans call for top mounts I would love to see that. Raydar, did your plans call for the servos to link throughh the top of the wing?

Josh

BTW - IMHO Ultracote is FAR superior to Monokote
Old 02-03-2012, 07:04 AM
  #1304  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

There is a full size Skybolt flown by Randy Harris that uses that same Pearl Purple in his color scheme...very good looking plane. I've included an exerpt from his website. He mentions how he first saw the skybolt as a model...cool!

By Randy Harris


Although many in the aerobatic community are moving swiftly to trade in their biplanes for monoplanes, there are still those of us who relish the attributes of a mature biplane design. The Skybolt is just such an airplane. It possesses many of the basic features a biplane is chosen for, and with some further development, it can become a solid performer in both competition and airshows.

Our Skybolt 300 was created with all of the latest available technology and the results are outstanding. The advantages of the monoplane can clearly be seen in aircraft like the Sukhoi SU-29 and Extra 300. Many times I have compared our Skybolt to the Extra 300 as they are similar in size and powered by the same 300-hp Lycoming engine. (See Table 1.) As you can see, the Skybolt empty weight is 75 pounds lighter than the Extra 300 even with the additional weight of a metal propeller. The Extra 300 and Skybolt 300 have similar performance. But I will concede that the Extra's seating and visibility are much better than in the Skybolt.


Starting with a Model


I got excited about the Skybolt some years ago when my uncle built and flew a one-fifth-scale R/C model of it. Flying qualities were exceptional. The control response was smooth and it was very easy to fly, and I wondered if the full-scale version flew similarly.


Later I flew Dean Hall's fabulous Skybolt, and I was hooked. In 1989 I sold my EAA Biplane and went searching for a partially completed Skybolt. What makes the Skybolt even more appealing is its large size, which is perfect for airshow work. For the last few years I had considered the possibility of getting into this exciting area of flying, and with a Skybolt I could get serious.


While attending airshows in the past, I have overheard several airshow spectators comment on the difficulty of determining the attitude and orientation of the smaller biplanes. The Skybolt would solve that problem, but it would require aerodynamic and control modifications to improve its agility to the standard set by the monoplanes.


Jaybird
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Old 02-03-2012, 07:14 AM
  #1305  
JoshuaDA10
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

The Sky Bolt is just a flat out pretty airplane! GP should never have stopped making this as a kit!
Old 02-03-2012, 07:55 AM
  #1306  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Your are right Joshua, the plans do show the servo on the bottom. I must have had them Upside Down. LOL.,
Old 02-03-2012, 11:55 AM
  #1307  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse


ORIGINAL: u2builder

Your are right Joshua, the plans do show the servo on the bottom. I must have had them Upside Down. LOL.,
It's OK ___they will be on the bottom when you fly upside down ___LOL

Zor
Old 02-03-2012, 12:31 PM
  #1308  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

I was wondering when someone would notice the servo arms on top of the bottom wing, honest I done it because I want to turn it into a float plane later on, its not a build error.
Old 02-03-2012, 12:49 PM
  #1309  
JoshuaDA10
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Raydar,

I must see video when you put it on the water!!!!

Josh
Old 02-03-2012, 01:27 PM
  #1310  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Ha, that's where I saw the servos on top, plus I was looking at the plan view and saw the single aileron servo on top. I see where they are normally mounted on the bottom, and haven't gotten to that yet.

I had a heck of a time getting the bottom wing lined up. It wanted to be more forward than it should be. I had to jigger the ends of the interplane wires a bit and also sand a little off the leading edge. Then I laid it straight on the plans and put the dihedral braces in and glue it together. Then I trial fitted it and it is OK now. It was a scary time for a while. I see why Zor waited to close in the front end! I think I will be OK. The incidence seems reasonably OK but I'll recheck it and tweak things when it is done if I need to.
Old 02-03-2012, 02:12 PM
  #1311  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse


ORIGINAL: u2builder

Ha, that's where I saw the servos on top, plus I was looking at the plan view and saw the single aileron servo on top. I see where they are normally mounted on the bottom, and haven't gotten to that yet.

I had a heck of a time getting the bottom wing lined up. It wanted to be more forward than it should be. I had to jigger the ends of the interplane wires a bit and also sand a little off the leading edge. Then I laid it straight on the plans and put the dihedral braces in and glue it together. Then I trial fitted it and it is OK now. It was a scary time for a while. I see why Zor waited to close in the front end! I think I will be OK. The incidence seems reasonably OK but I'll recheck it and tweak things when it is done if I need to.
Now you know what I was talking about.
When I was at the stage of joining the bottom wing It was sitting 3/8" too far ahead to have a straight leading and trailing edges. Since the interstruts had been made exactly sitting on the drawing as per the manual I had to back up the top wing by that amount. The cabane wires were bent at the wrong angles.

You are a fellow with a way when you have a willl .

Zor

Old 02-03-2012, 02:52 PM
  #1312  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Yep, exactly what happened to me, except I had the front all closed in. It was a rather shocking development. I couldn't bend the front cabanes much at all since they were all soldered and buried, so I bent the interplane ends a bit back and readjusted the slope of the ends so the incidence would be correct, and then I sanded a little off the leading edge of the wing. I think it will be OK now.

I just realised I put the short dihedral brace on the back instead of the long one so I have had to slather it with CA debonder and pry it off. On step backward. Oh well, its not the first thing I have screwed up. I also spend a fair amount of time looking for things that I misplace or drop on the floor.
Old 02-03-2012, 05:40 PM
  #1313  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse


u2,

You do not have to be " a copy cat" and do all those things that I constantly do.

I better trim this ___Where the heck is my Xacto knife ?
3 minues later ___ Oh! there it is, right in front of my eyes.

Now I can glue this little piece in place ___Where did I put it?
I put it right there but it is not there.

Search ___search ___search ___more search ___
No surprise I am a slow builder
Oh! ___there it is.

I guess I did not trim this enough ___

Ah! ___GheeeWizzz ___Where the heck did I put that Xacto ?

Don't give up u2 I am right with you ___

Let us "cheer" together.

Zor
Old 02-03-2012, 07:15 PM
  #1314  
Cougar429
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Don't feel bad. I tore though the build room Wednesday evening looking for my standard allan wrench set. I had used it a few days before to install the spinner on the Bear. After nearly 3 hours the wife asked what I was doing and offered to help. Not too confidently I showed her the metric set that was identical except for the color of the holder and she pointed at them and asked if those were the offending bits. I could have screamed since I had completely emptied the shelves and drawers directly underneath the saw they were resting on several times.

THAT'S when you know you're tired!
Old 02-04-2012, 04:08 AM
  #1315  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

I guess we all copy each other. There are a lot of tools and a zillion parts to clutter the work bench. Plus balsa scraps everywhere and then the hardware. I had to make one of the interplane securing springs cause I lost one and knew I would never find it. Every screw or tool I drop on the floor goes under my workbench.

I should clean up my mess and take some pictures today.
Old 02-05-2012, 08:22 PM
  #1316  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Hi guys,

You wouldn't know if anybody makes an ARF, kit or plans or ??? of the Skybolt in a size to take a 30-50CC gasser, would you? I'm guessing that the wingspan would be about 80 inches, more or less. I built a larger version of the GP Skybolt in my RealFlight program, and it's so much fun to fly that I've found myself hoping that I'll be able to find a REAL R/C model in about the same size. I already have the GP Super Stearman set up with a 30CC gasser, and it's a nice bird and a good flyer, but nothing flies quite like a Skybolt, if you ask me.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not in any rush, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled from now on.[8D]

Jim
Old 02-06-2012, 04:44 AM
  #1317  
Zor
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse


ORIGINAL: TexasSkyPilot

Hi guys,

You wouldn't know if anybody makes an ARF, kit or plans or ??? of the Skybolt in a size to take a 30-50CC gasser, would you? I'm guessing that the wingspan would be about 80 inches, more or less. I built a larger version of the GP Skybolt in my RealFlight program, and it's so much fun to fly that I've found myself hoping that I'll be able to find a REAL R/C model in about the same size. I already have the GP Super Stearman set up with a 30CC gasser, and it's a nice bird and a good flyer, but nothing flies quite like a Skybolt, if you ask me.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not in any rush, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled from now on.[8D]

Jim
Hello Jim,

Depending on your outlook on this hobby, your facilities (drafting), your availability of material (balsa, plywood, steel wire), and your sense of material properties (weight, strength, dimensioning), and guidance from the kit drawings (two sheets drawn by Paul Carlson) and the time, it could be a most enjoyable project to increase the size by a factor of 150% making the model 85.5 inches wingspan or even double it at 114 inches wingspan.

It would not be necessary to draw all the details as seen on the kit drawings.

Example for the wings ___you increase the outline of the airfoil and make the ribs with the same thickness and hardness of balsa and ply. There is many ways to do that again depending on your facilities.
You then draw the outside dimensions of the larger wing and a single line to show the position of each rib.
You decide on the size of the spar material and just draw two lines showing its position. Any details are drawn in your mind (if you understand what I mean).

You keep in mind that doubling a linear dimension increase the area by the square of the ratio and the volume (weight) by the third power (eight times). That is simple enough.

If you decide to go that way, and I do not know any better way, there is many fellows in this forum that can help you in your endeavor.

I agree with you on the flying qualities of the Skybolt. That is due to some minute (small) factors hard to define or explain. I very recently wrote that the only other model with similar qualities is the original Astrohog.

I can try to explain these flying qualities by analogy to a woman's face. What makes a pretty lady compared to an ordinary one or an ugly one. They all have two eyes, a nose, two lips, two ears, hair on the top but as often said and written "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" ___ .

The decision is all yours. All that can be done through the forum is help wih advices and suggestions.

Good luck,

Zor





Old 02-06-2012, 05:16 AM
  #1318  
smithcreek
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Wendell Hostetler makes plans for one that would be the size you are looking for. I'm sure there are a few kit cutters that could supply parts. No way I would bother to scale up the GP kit. It flies ok, but it's not even stand-way-way-off scale.

[link=http://www.hostetlersplans.com/skybolt.html]Hostetler Skybolt[/link]
Old 02-06-2012, 06:16 AM
  #1319  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse


ORIGINAL: smithcreek

Wendell Hostetler makes plans for one that would be the size you are looking for. I'm sure there are a few kit cutters that could supply parts. No way I would bother to scale up the GP kit. It flies ok, but it's not even stand-way-way-off scale.

[link=http://www.hostetlersplans.com/skybolt.html]Hostetler Skybolt[/link]
When you open the URL you have to go to the very bottom and click on to go to the home page and find the prices of the set of drawings.

Zor

Old 02-06-2012, 06:46 AM
  #1320  
PacificNWSkyPilot
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Thanks, guys.

I found a few sources for the Hostetler kits, and I think they're all associated with each other. The model looks like it's going to be pretty heavy for the size, though I'm sure it'll fly okay.

It's about 5" more wingspan than my GP Super Stearman, and I think the extra weight is due to old-style stick building design versus the weight savings of today's lite-ply engineering we now see so much. My Super Stearman (at 15 pounds and 1440 sq inches) should be highly-powered with the 30CC engine it has, whereas the Hostetler model at estimated weight of 24 pounds and 1660 sq inches would be an underpowered dog. They recommend 50CC minumum.

I don't have all the info yet, so I'll keep researching it.

I'm not concerned with scale, smithcreek. I really like the looks of the GP Skybolt. If it doesn't look like it's scale, then I probably wouldn't like the actual full-scale Skybolt as much as I do the GP. I finished with scale modeling years ago. Sure, they look good, but scale modeling means extra weight to me, and nothing more.

Jim
Old 02-06-2012, 10:14 AM
  #1321  
EJWash1
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Jim,

ORIGINAL: TexasSkyPilot

I found a few sources for the Hostetler kits, and I think they're all associated with each other. The model looks like it's going to be pretty heavy for the size, though I'm sure it'll fly okay.

It's about 5" more wingspan than my GP Super Stearman, and I think the extra weight is due to old-style stick building design versus the weight savings of today's lite-ply engineering we now see so much. My Super Stearman (at 15 pounds and 1440 sq inches) should be highly-powered with the 30CC engine it has, whereas the Hostetler model at estimated weight of 24 pounds and 1660 sq inches would be an underpowered dog. They recommend 50CC minumum.

I don't have all the info yet, so I'll keep researching it.
I have the Hostetler Skybolt plans and a kit by Precision Cut Kits. Glass engine cowl and wheel pants by Fiberglass Specialties, aluminum main landing gear from Abell Hobby. The kit is a little more than three years old now, and was cut by CNC router before PCK swithed-over to laser.I have a Zenoah G-62 (62CC) with a Toni Clark electronic ignition conversion.

The Hostetler 'Bolt plans are a 1/4-scale (76.5") enlargment of Sig's 1/6-scale 'Bolt plans, with slight building differences here and there. Sig modeled thier 'Bolt after Steen's debute 1970 edition, therfore the same for the Hostetler. I have the Sig 1/6-scale kit as well and have made the comparisons bewteen it and the Hostetler plans. Being larger, and being Hostetler, Wendell added some areas of support not needed in the Sig. One area I'm not too wild about is that Hostetler followed Sig in using solid balsa sheet tail surfaces. The vert. stab/rudder - hori. stab/elevators are 3/8" balsa. I'd be far more comfortable with open-structures using laminated outside edges. Far-stronger and far-less susceptible to warping like sheet balsa. Needless to say that as the builder, modifications can be made to suit.

Last summer, I came across a guy selling a set of Dario Brisighella's 1/4-scale 'Bolt (78"). Brisighella's presentation is truly scale. The main landing gear is a built-up wire structure emulating the full-size 'Bolt instead of "strap" aluminum gear. The tail surfaces are built-up, open-structures utilizing laminated outside edges. The plans themselves are a work of art, and I'm very lucky to have come across them.

Between the two, I'm really conflicted because I have the kit and all the major components for the Hostetler, but I really like the Brisighella better...
Old 02-06-2012, 12:02 PM
  #1322  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Thanks, EJ,

I can see you've put a lot of thought into these two. As far as how to build the tail, I have to wonder about the CG of this bird, whether it's prone to tail-heavy or ?? Typically bipes are tail heavy, so I think you're probably right about the built-up tail versus solid balsa sheet. Stronger, lighter, and will last longer through times of humidity, etc.

I was thinking that if the tail was built nice and light, the gas engine could be one of the new 55CC gassers they have out now. They're quite light and strong runners. It's always a tough call on the engine, and the plane's tendencies toward nose or tail heaviness can dictate what you must use.. So far, I'm not finding any build reviews on the Hostetler or the other one.

If I could have exactly what I want, I'd have something that would hold a Syssa 30CC. That's equivalent to good-running 1.80 glow.

My GP Super Stearman was a beautiful match to the Syssa. The instructions and the guys building it almost all had to add 19 ounces to the nose when using the specified glow motor, and the Syssa was exactly the weight of the 19 ounces plus the glow motor.

It would be nice to find a Skybolt with a 72" span. I'll bet that would be just perfect for the Syssa. That's probably a tall order, though. I know the kitcutters can resize plans to order, and that might be the way I have to go.

If you have all the major parts, you should probably go with it, because making another cowl would be a bear. That's what I'd be facing if I had the plans resized.

Jim
Old 02-06-2012, 12:44 PM
  #1323  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

The picture of the wing shows why I lose stuff on my workbench. I finally got the wings finished and attached. Getting the wings right on this plane was a bit of a struggle. I had them on and off numerous times. The lower wing was not zero incidence with respect to the fuselage and I had to sand the saddle a little bit. It all seems pretty good now. I have the lower wing at zero, the tail at plus 1.5 give or take a little, and the top wing at about minus .8 at the root as well as the wingtips. I think it is as good as it is going to get.
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Old 02-06-2012, 12:45 PM
  #1324  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Maybe Bob Dively plans. I'm not knowledgeable on his Skybolt plans, but his Pitts plans built into a light plane.
Old 02-06-2012, 01:13 PM
  #1325  
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Default RE: Skybolt hangar and clubhouse

Bob Dively just wrote me back.

He's apparently discontinued everything related to the Skybolt. Drat.

Jim

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