Welcome back to part two of the Cloud walker 65 review. I’ll go over the processes I used to cover the plane, as well as get it ready to fly. For those of you that missed it, or just want an easy like for a refresher on part one, Click Here.
Covering the Tail Sections
I started the covering process with the Horizontal stabilizer. Being a flat part made it an ideal starter part before covering the wing. The covering was ‘tacked’ down in several places, working my way around the outer edge of the stab. For this economical covering I found on Ebay, I found that applying the covering was best done at 250° F, and shrinking at 300° F.
After sticking the covering to all of the balsa, it was trimmed and shrunk. The eliptical shape of the stab required a lot of working, stretching, and sticking the covering in place. I found that hanging the the part over the edge of my work bench made it easier to work the part, while the part was held to the table with a sandwich bag full of sand. With the bottom side of the stab completed, I flipped it over and covered the top side in the same manner.
The elevator, vertical stabilizer, and rudder were done in the same manner, using two pieces of the transparent blue covering per part. As you can see, the structures are lightweight and look great when you can see through the covering!
Covering the Wings Halves
Moving on to the wing – I knew I wanted a two color trim scheme, consisting of the transparent blue and solid white. I wanted the transparent blue covering over the open wing areas, and the solid white to cover the balsa wing sheeting. I started buy applying the transparent blue covering in two pieces to the open wing areas on the top of the wing, overlapping the covering on the wing rib with a cap strip (at the outer polyhedral, or upward bend in the wing). The blue covering was then applied to the bottom of the wing in the same manner as the top of the wing.
White covering was applied to the wing root and tip areas, followed by the trailing and leading edges to complete the wing covering.
The other wing was then covered in the same manner, to complete the pair.
Covering the Fuselage
Because of the compound curvature and ‘stick-built’ nature of the fuselage, I decided that multiple pieces of covering would be required. The bottom part of the fuselage was covered in halves, beginning with the left side. If you look closely, you’ll see that the elevator and rudder servos have been installed – this was so much easier before the covering was in place.
Other Items Used for Completion
For the basic build of the Cloud Walker 65, I will be using a few different adhesives. For the main fuselage box, I will be using Titebond original wood glue. This will allow me time to position the individual sticks correctly and pin them in place over the plan. ZAP Brand Thick, medium, and thin CA will also be used in places as needed, mainly where the hardness of the CA will not make sanding the balsa difficult. ZAP CAs are the ONLY CAs I trust when I’m building a kit or assembling an ARF!
Equipment Used for Completion
To complete the basic build, I will be using my trusty Hitec Aurora 9X 2.4 gHz transmitter. Inside the Cloud Walker 65, a Hitec Minima 6L 2.4 gHz receiver will be sending commands to the elevator and rudder servos. The Minima 6L and Aurora 9X have plenty of range for my flying field – if you plan to fly at a very large field, you may want to step up to Hitec’s Optima or Maxima lines of receivers.
APPLICATION / SUITABLE: Glider, EP Airplane & Car ( 1/16, 1/18 or 1/24 )
SPECIFICATIONS: Torque At 4.8V4.2 kg-cm / 58 oz-in Torque At 6.0V4.7 kg-cm / 65 oz-in Speed At 4.8V0.16 sec / 60° Speed At 6.0V0.14 sec / 60°
POWER SUPPLY: Operating Voltage Range 4.8V ~ 6.0V ( 1 ~ 2S LiPo / 2S LiFe)
MICRO SERVO: Control System Analog
MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS: Ball Bearing: Single Gear : Metal Gears
Motor: Brushed Motor
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS: Dimension: (mm)26.4 x 13 x 31 mm / 1.04 x 0.51 x 1.22 in Weight: (gram)16.3 ± 0.5 grams / 0.57 oz
OK, Back to covering…
Before I forget to mention it, I decided that I wanted to add a cooling hole to allow fresh air into the fuselage to keep the battery and ESC cool. Not that I’m planning to fly the Cloud Walker 65 hard, but electronics run better at cooler temps. This hole was made with a 1/2″ drill bit and the sanded smooth.
The second half of the bottom covering was applied and shrunk.
The top/sides of the fuselage were each covered with a single piece of covering per side. Because of the construction of the fuselage behind the cabin area, Another piece of covering will be needed. I decided that will be covered in white.
Here, you can see the white covering behind the cabin area. The nose will also be white – the compound curves made it necessary to use multiple pieces of covering to get the job done without major wrinkles.
The last of the nose covering required lots of stretching to get it smooth, and I think it turned out pretty well! The upper cabin area needed something other than the transparent blue, so I added the white covering. A 1/4″ white stripe was cut from the covering, and covers the darker blue overlap of the transparent blue covering. I really like how well this covering went on the airplane!
The last piece to cover was the battery hatch. I added a small tab of covering to make it easier to remove the magnetic hatch.
Time for Assembly!
Assembly started with removing covering on the bottom of the horizontal stabilizer and the stab mount on the fuselage. The Horizontal stabilizer was then attached to the fuselage using ZAP Thick CA. Now, I know what you’re thinking – why not epoxy? Well, I decided to use CA because of the nature of this airplane. It’s a gentle flyer. Besides, the CA is still stronger than the light ply and balsa in the tail…
It’s time to add the main landing gear wire. The gear is slid into a slot in the bottom of the fuselage, and secured with a laser cut ‘wedge’.
I drilled a small hole and added aDuBroServo Screw to secure the wedge in place.
Since only two wheel collars were included in the kit, I cut the axles to length and filed a flat spot to each for the wheel collar set screw. The wheels were then slipped onto the axles, and the wheel collars were secured. A small drop of ZAP Z-42 Blue Thread Locker is all it took to keep the set screws tight!
With the main gear done, it’s starting to look really good! You can also see the wing retainer dowels that were slid into place and glued with ZAP Thick CA.
A T-Pin was inserted through the middle of each CA hinge required. There were six hinges for the elevator – all were inserted into the elevator and then the horizontal stabilizer.
The pins were removed, and a few drops of ZAP Thin CA were applied to each side of all the hinges. When the CA had cured, I tested the hinges and flexed them several times to break them in.
The rudder was attached to the vertical stabilizer and fuselage in the same manner as the elevator. A small piece of hardwood dowel was trimmed to fit and glued to the bottom of the tail to help protect the softer wood when taxiing the plane.
I mounted the Himax HC3516-1130 Brushless Motor according to the instructions, along with a hook n loop strap and rubber pad to secure the battery .
The pushrods were slid into the guide tubes and attached to the elevator and rudder servos. A pushrod quick connector was secured to the control horn and the control horn was slid into position on the pushrod. The control horn mounting holes were then marked and the control horn was removed.
I drilled the control horn mounting holes and attached the horn. After centering the servo and rudder, the pushrod quick connector was tightened, and the excess pushrod was cut and removed. The elevator control horn was then completed in the same manner as the rudder.
The wing halves are glued together, with a plywood joiner. The two-piece joiner was glued together with wood glue. When it was dry, the wing halves were glued together with ZAP 15 Minute Epoxy.
The side windows and windshield were glued in place with Pacer Formula 560 Canopy Glue. The windshield is just a flat sheet of plastic, so I found it helpful to heat it slightly to bend. The canopy glue was applied, and the windshield was held in place with clamps (the rubber bands are providing a gripping surface, so the clamps don’t slip) until the glue had dried. I covered the edges of the windshield with some adhesive backed vinyl trim strips.
The nose is pretty short on the Cloud Walker 65, and it was slightly difficult to balance it on the recommended CG. Instead of adding a whole lot of ‘Dead’ weight, I decided to make room for a larger battery. This 4S 4500 mAh LiPo battery should keep the Cloud Walker airborne for a VERY long time… In addition to the battery, I added two ounces of lead weight to the nose – one once on either side of the brushless motor.
Summary
Well, That’s it for now – Until I can get the Value Planes Cloud Walker 65 out to the field to test fly, I will leave you with this – this plane has been a very enjoyable build and a lot of fun to cover and assemble. I can’t wait to go flying and test this magnificent model! That’s all for now – from my shop to yours, I wish you many happy landings! -GB
