New to the forum and new to classic pattern, but I've been intently following along for a while now. This is quite the group here! Glad to see it.

Always loved the look of the pre-turn around pattern ships and the history behind it all. Heard my fathers' stories of his experiences flying pattern and now have a chance to share with my own experience. And maybe get him to finish up his Aeromaster!

A couple years ago I bought a Skynight 6 off Don Peck at a local swap. The kit is in great shape and Don was very reluctant to let it go . Just now getting around to planning the build, but thought I'd offer up my thoughts to the experts before I make the first cut. Be gentle

Plan to gear it with Dave Brown mechanical retracts (as I believe Paul did his models this way). New Futaba radio gear throughout. And as of this Christmas thanks to Pops, I have a NIB OS 61SF-P and a Rossi pipe for it. The plans call for 1 1/2" of dihedral and 20 deg of anhedral for the stab. I suppose I'll stick to those angles... unless anyone has any experience otherwise? Your comments are welcomed!

Also, if there's interest for it... I'm considering sending the fuse off to Don (RCAIIR) to do a mold. I have a sneaking suspicion I may posses one of the few remaining Skynights in existance. I know there were few folks other than Paul Clements who flew them. That feeling is closely followed by a responsibility to do my part to preserve the history! So, let me know if you'd like your own Skynight 6 otherwise, I'll build up this one as is.

Looking forward to your comments,

Daniel

Daniel, congrats on your 1st post. Nice plane btw. Does anyone know why there is a difference between the stab/rudder on the box and the one on the fuse?

Welcome to the forum Daniel! Looking forward to your build!

I'm a little jealous over the NIB OS 61SF-P!

David, the fin on the box and fuselage look the same to me. What am I missing?

RG

Daniel, I think the top of the wing is actually flat. The dihedral will be from the bottom of the tip of the wing to the table top. So if you lay the wing upside down on the table, you will see that the bottom side (which is the top side with the wing upside down) will slant down to the tips. And that slant will equal 1 1/2 inches.

Check and see if there is a date on the plans, but I think the Skynight was a pattern ship dated in the mid to late 70's. It was at the beginning of when we started using epoxy glass in place of fibreglass (polyester resin ) in the kits.

I hope you enjoy building and flying it. It was a sweet pattern plane.

Frank

Ralph, I think I didn't look close enough.

Welcome, and congrats on your awesome airplane. I appreciate your attitude toward preserving the design. The Skynight reminds me of my favorite classic pattern airplane, the Vertigo II. I will enjoy following along with your build.

Best regards,
Robert Fish

Daniel,
Hey I am very excited to hear that you also have a Fliteglas Skynight-6 kit. I am really looking forward to following your build trend. I have the same kit deluxe kit new in box. I recently sold another skynight -6 a few months back here on RCU that was partially built when I aquired it. Good luck with it my friend.

Welcome back to classic pattern and the forum Dan! Very nice kit and you'll enjoy the way she flys. IIRC, Paul C was from Paoli, Indiana, he used to frequent contests in the midwest and was at ours quite a few times (Chicago area). The Dirty Birdy plans call for 3/8" of dihedral at the wing midpoint, setwith the wing upside down. Doesn't sound like much at all, but once you turn the wing over the dihedral is quite evident and looks like much more than 3/8". Your SKynight is a Fliteglas kit from Neoga, IL, most likely done (owned) by Ralph White who still lives in Neoga, IL. Maybe Ralph will see this and pipe in for us. Hope to see your build thread here Dan. Welcome.
Mark

I got one too!!

I remember Paul coming to all the local swap meets and hobby shows back in the day!!! Wow what and awesome paint scheme he had on the display model. If someone has a picture of that I'd sure like to see it!

Tim

I'm going to look through some old pics Tim, I thinkI have one of Pauls pics, but it might be a Vertigo. Though I don't recall who was flying a Vertigo in our area back then.
Mark

Daniel you got a good one there!! Welcome to the Forum.
I alsohave aSkynight 6
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">
Here is a pic of Paul&rsquo;s Skynight 6 plus one other from back in the day.</div>

So there's some left out there! Good to hear. Thanks for the link to the pictures. I've come across those as well. I plan to stay true to that paint scheme with the colors I use on my F3C helicopters (cream, orange, red, and white).

Frank, Mark,
Yep, Ralph White did this kit also. Be great to hear his comments if he's following along! The plans note the dihedral is measured at the wing tips, so I believe you are correct. I'll cross reference the plans too...

The plans are dated '79. The plan notes suggest using epoxy to bond the stab, but polyester resin to fuel proof the firewall area. I think the fuse is resin, not epoxy?

What are people using for bonding wing sheeting these days? I think I've read that polyurethane glues are popular now, which brand?

Daniel

Yes, my wife, Martha, and I did produce the Skynight 6 kits for Paul Clements. Unfortunately when we sold Fliteglas Models to Bob Dively around 1982 all the molds whet to him. He later sold the business to someone else. I have no idea if the molds still exist.

You are correct Daniel, the fuse is made from polyester resin not epoxy. Our resin was fairly flexible and a lot of people thought they were epoxy resin.

Paul Clements still lives in Paoli, IN. I ran into some friends of his at an old time music gathering last year. I don't believe he is active in modeling anymore. Maybe he'll come back one of these days like so many of us have done. I started back after a 25 year layoff.

I would think there is a good chance that Paul would have some molds or plugs of the Skynight 6.

I think the plans say to use Sig epoxolite to glue the stab in rather than epoxy

Daniel, would you weigh the fuselage. I think they weighed 16 oz, but I can't remember if that was with or without the bulkhead installed. We (Fliteglas) never used gel coat on our fuselages in order to keep the weight down. Your fuselage looks to be in perfect shape and looks as if it was laid up this week.

Ralph White

I also remember seeing Paul and his models at the Toledo trade shows. The finishes on his models were incredible! They definitely stood out over all the other manufacturers display models! The greenish one shown in this photo is the color scheme that I remember. It was gorgeous up close and from a distance!

RG

Hey what happened to the other picture

Tim

Here's Paul at scale/pattern meet in Lexington Ky June 1978. Visited Paul & Effie at Paoli several times. They also had pattern/scale meet at their home field.