weathervane

A friend just gave me a stack of coroplast along with some square pvc tubing. I have been looking at the Spadtothebone web site. I really like the Spads on rails. So, are there any do's and dont's when building a Spad. Where can I find plans for the flying dog house? Can you cover or paint coroplast?

Thanks, Andrew

mclina

I need to find better friends.

If you stick to the plans on STTB, you can't go wrong. I have been building mine on aluminum angle/channel/tube because I can't find square PVC.

If your club has combat, you should find out what type of planes they fly. My club has a few guys who fly Derelict .25's, so I built something similar using 1" aluminum angle and a Defender .25 wing.

I haven't seen plans for the doghouse. I would like to build one, or a lawnmower. The kids would love them.

Good luck.

draftman1

thats the best part about spads NO COVERING!!! a few graphics are put on the surface for coloring and top/ bottom distinction. usually it is vinyl sign stick on material scraps that your new buddy, the sign shop owner, will give you have fun!!! i just started spads and there great!!

huck1199

Mclina,

If you have an Agway store near by, they can order it for you -about $15 for a 10' piece, it is 2 1/2" vinyl downspout. A 10' piece makes three 40" fuses.

Huck

Villa

Hi mclina
Just noticed you use aluminum square tubing, angles, and channels for the SPAD fuselages. I have been doing that for 3-4 years. I use the 1" square tubing on my flying lawnmower. You can download the plans and building instructions from our club website at

http://www.wilsonrc.org

It flys fantastic. Three or four experienced club members have flown mine with no problem. Have you seen my COROPLAST CANARD? You can search for it on this website. If you build these let me know how they fly.

mclina

Thanks Villa. I definitely want to build a mower. I'll post pics when I get it under construction.

weathervane

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to my first build.

Andrew

broke_n_bummin

I built a SPAD canard about a year ago. Don't know if it was Villas or not. I have built everything on STTB and a few others I found on other pages. My favorites were the Sickle, Diamond Dust, Corostang, Corsair, BUHOR and of course the SPA3D ( I even converted a Gnat to a mini SPA3D). The best thing about them is no matter how deep you plant a SPAD plane, 20 minutes with a hot glue gun and you're back in the air.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Welcome to SPADs
you can paint coro with Krylon but clean it first with solvent and rough it up with fine sand paper or steel wool but REMEMBER paint is HEAVY so just for stripes or contrast and GO very light with the spray. let it cure for a couple of days. Works better away from exhaust.
If you have downspout skip the alum angle stuf and go for a Das Plas Stick make your wing as simetrical as possible and it will be a great flyer. I like the fold it first method then insert the yard stick spar for a very simetric wing.

The two best Spad tips I ever got are ... 1. don't over apply the CA (and give it plenty of time under pressure to set).
2. use a jig or have a hepler when it comes time to fold the wing
have fun[8D]

weathervane

Ok, My first SPAD build is under way. A few pics for everyone to ponder. I do have one question, What is the propane torch used for???

-Andrew

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Its called "flashing". Coroplast has an oily film on it from the manufacturing process. This film can be removed with a quick flash heating of a torch or by wiping it off with solvent such as denatured alcohol or acitone. The glue works much better if this is done.
If you do use the torch practice on a piece of scrap first. Sometimes you can see the vapor of the oil go off the sheet but it is easy to melt the plastic.

weathervane

Ok, Thanks. I wish I had asked before I started to build my wing. ( problems with the CA sticking )

-Andrew

Villa

Hi weathervane
If you worry about the CA glue holding wing together, add a few of the very small nylon tie wraps to the glue joints.

weathervane

That is a good idea. Thanks
-Andrew

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Well it is a spad so anything goes. I have often stapled seams such as the TE and aileron seam using a household staple gun and then a needle nose pliars to role the ends. Very strong[8D] REMEMBER SPAD RULE #1 if you got it you can use it! RULE # 2 if you ain't got it go get it

weathervane

OZMO, I like your rules. I have found out one thing. I suck at building SPADS. This wing of mine just does not want to work right. I'm going to start over with a new piece.

-Andrew

jimgee1

My Feedback: (3)

Weathevane, If yoiu're building a 40 size plane, don't throw the wing away.. Send it to me! I'm tired of joining small pieces of Coro to get the size I need..

jimgee1

plugsplanes

My Feedback: (1)

Hey guys,
I've had no problem bending the leading edge of my wings perfectly straight edges.
Mark where they need to be folded and then find someone who has a sheet metal brake and ask them to bend it for you.
Most metal fabrication shops have them and a lot of dirt track racers use them to bend the bodies for their cars.

Does anyone know where to find a good supplier of coroplast in the Southeastern US?

cncswiss1

a good straight score makes the LE much smoother, use a strong straight edge and clamp/pin it down good, score in multiple passes with a philips screwdriver.

Spadinator

I have never flashed my Coro......I just sand it with 100 grit paper and clean it with alcohol. I have never had a glue joint fail. Both methods work well though!!!

draftman1

I use a small router with a 1/4" round nose bit. I make a pass almost 3/8" wide. it makes a perfect leading edge and it relieves the tension on the panel and it folds over real nice. the panel wont pop if the glue doesnt stick perfect

plugsplanes

My Feedback: (1)

DRAFTSMAN,
ARE YOU CUTTING ACROSS THE FLUTES?
PLUGSPLANES

draftman1

Yes I am. I do that when ever I have to bend coro that is against the flutes. perpindicular or angled, it works great. for cutting with the flutes, I just use the flute cutting tool thats on spadtothebone

Villa

On many of my SPADS the leading edge turned out a little wavy(crooked). It may not affect the flying much but I never cared for the poor look. When I built my recent SPAD Biplane I decided to use three score lines for the leading edge to get a more rounded LE. The three lines simply had to be parallel!!!
I have always used a long metal ruler as a guide for my scoring tool, holding it with one hand while running the scoring tool with the other. Well, the ruler kept moving on me. For my biplane, this time I clamped down one end of my ruler guide, and held the ruler in place with the other hand. My score lines are just perfect now. For the past few years I score the coroplast with a rolling toll used to replace mosquito screens and sold at Lowe's for around $7.00. It is a handle about 7 inches long with about a 1" diameter wheel at each end. Works great.

richg99

My wife just gave me an idea to create three or four parallel multiple scoring lines. Use a metal eating fork! Sounds good, though I haven't tried it yet. Rich