Giant Swizzle Stick
04-17-2006, 10:31 PM
#1
Giant Swizzle Stick
Some of you may remember this posting some months ago. I had a set of plans for the Balsa USA giant Swizzle Stick (84 inch span) and also the Swizzle Stick 30 plans. I made copies for a number of people, even some in Europe. Just wanted to report that the Stick 30 (3 channels) is flying quite well with an old OS19...and we just flew the giant Swizzle Stick (4 channels) last weekend with ST 51 and it was perfect. However we found that the 51 flew it well at barely half throttle!!!
I wonder if any that I sent plans to have built these planes and what their experiences were with the planes.
For what it is worth..when I found these plans, I called Balsa USA to see if they had wing ribs or anything, even a kit or two stuck away some where...and they laughed at me and said "Oh, we made those kits 30 years ago!!"....
Well, as I always say..."Everything good gets discontinued!".
I wonder if any that I sent plans to have built these planes and what their experiences were with the planes.
For what it is worth..when I found these plans, I called Balsa USA to see if they had wing ribs or anything, even a kit or two stuck away some where...and they laughed at me and said "Oh, we made those kits 30 years ago!!"....
Well, as I always say..."Everything good gets discontinued!".
07-12-2006, 12:45 AM
#2
Senior Member
RE: Giant Swizzle Stick
Some bunch of a dozen years ago I bought one for a young friend who was just getting into RC and had crashed another plane he got from me. The first night he worked on the kit's wing he called me with a problem. A problem with that wing? I couldn't figure it, so I went over and found him at his work table, plans spread out and the right wing section pinned down. I asked what the problem was and he looked at me and very seriously said "they didn't send me enough ribs to finish the wing, see?" I looked down at the wingtip and burst out laughing. He had pinned down the spar pieces full length and had installed all the ribs at their plan locations, but as the spars stuck out past the plan drawing he had no more ribs available to finish the wing out to the end of the spars. He hadn't read the instructions, so he didn't know he was supposed to cut the spars to the lengths shown on the plans. His young wife howled and embarassed him, but he had a great sense of humor and got over it quickly. In a matter of minutes he corrected his problem and finished his wing. The plane, as usual, was an excellent flyer, and with he learned to fly. In time this young man went to work for a dusting outfit as an Apprentice A&P. He went on to fly AgCats for them, evently taking over the business, got his A&P rating and took care of many other planes in the area, making repairs on engines and airframes while racking up around 5000 hours in many types of aircraft. He has built himself a reputation to be proud of. His full size flying mentors were two old WWII fighter jocks and they were hard taskmasters, but he was up to it. I watched him grow in aviation from a young man who didn't read the instructions to a most highly regarded pilot who has never bent a plane. It all started with a Swizzle Stick. A few years later I started another young man, a Ship's Captain, on a Swizzle Stick, and I have one about 15 years old I still enjoy flying. Sometimes I get into a spell where things just don't go right, so out comes the Stick and I get myself back on track real quick, while having some fun again. One of the best Trainers ever!
07-23-2006, 04:59 AM
#3
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RE: Giant Swizzle Stick
As long as we're waxing nostalgic, my first large real plane was a Swizzle Stick .40......
In the summer of 1980 I was 14 and getting ready to go into high school. I had been saving for awhile to buy a four channel radio. Up until then all I had was a Cox/Sanwa 2 channel and I was really wanting more. I had about $100 saved up when I saw a yard sale ad touting a radio control helicopter. "Helicopter ???" I thought..... hmmmm, lets go check it out. I jumped on my bike and rode over. When I got there, this older lady was selling a .40 size fixed pitch helicopter with all the ground gear (electric starter, box, panel, etc...). It had a K&B .40 and a Futaba 4 channel radio. Wow I thought, the whole 'kaboodle' in one shot. Thinking I could maybe borrow some extra money from my parents I asked the lady how much? She said $100.... [X(]!!! I couldn't believe my ears. My mother had given me a check for $20 of my savings as she was afraid I might get sidetracked with all that cash in my pocket. I asked the lady if she would take the check to hold the set-up until my mother could come and give her the rest. I couldn't get it out of my pocket fast enough when she said yes. Fearing she'd neg the deal and sell it to someone with cash in hand, I could have won the Tour-de-France I rode home so fast. Turns out she knew my mother through a mutual friend so when she saw the name on the check that set-up was mine no matter what. I also later found out that the lady's adult son and gone stupid and got himself thrown in jail. I don't know all the details but I think she was selling stuff for bail and legal fees. His loss my gain......
Anyway... fast forward about six months and I gave up trying to fly that contraption so I pulled the K&B .40 and the radio gear and traded the airframe to my best friend who wanted a go at it for some R/C car stuff. Not having a bunch of money I settled on the plain box Balsa USA Swizzle-Stick kit from the local hobby shop. I covered the wings in Monokote green (in retrospect the most god awful color ever) and painted the fuse/tail in white Formula U because I flew on 75.640 aka green&white frequency flag. Man do I remember having fun with that plane. It flew great and taught me alot. I spent plenty of lazy afternoons just boring holes in the sky with it. Once trimmed out I'd just fly it around keeping it level until it was just a dot in the sky. I'd throttle back a few clicks until it was low then throttle up a few clicks and do it again. Later, I traded the Stick airframe to that same best friend, who wanted it for his dad, for an Enya .45X I wanted. They ended up finally flying the pants off it and I ended up building another Balsa USA kit. I don't remember the name but it had a parasol wing and Phaeton Bipe looking fuse and tail. It too flew very well.
Several years later while I was in college, my friend had joined the AirForce and was killed in an aircraft accident. Every now and then I still see his father at the flying field and we talk about him and that ugly green beautiful Swizzle Stick we all flew.
Hmmm.... I really should build another one. How do I get plans for this Giant one?
Mike
In the summer of 1980 I was 14 and getting ready to go into high school. I had been saving for awhile to buy a four channel radio. Up until then all I had was a Cox/Sanwa 2 channel and I was really wanting more. I had about $100 saved up when I saw a yard sale ad touting a radio control helicopter. "Helicopter ???" I thought..... hmmmm, lets go check it out. I jumped on my bike and rode over. When I got there, this older lady was selling a .40 size fixed pitch helicopter with all the ground gear (electric starter, box, panel, etc...). It had a K&B .40 and a Futaba 4 channel radio. Wow I thought, the whole 'kaboodle' in one shot. Thinking I could maybe borrow some extra money from my parents I asked the lady how much? She said $100.... [X(]!!! I couldn't believe my ears. My mother had given me a check for $20 of my savings as she was afraid I might get sidetracked with all that cash in my pocket. I asked the lady if she would take the check to hold the set-up until my mother could come and give her the rest. I couldn't get it out of my pocket fast enough when she said yes. Fearing she'd neg the deal and sell it to someone with cash in hand, I could have won the Tour-de-France I rode home so fast. Turns out she knew my mother through a mutual friend so when she saw the name on the check that set-up was mine no matter what. I also later found out that the lady's adult son and gone stupid and got himself thrown in jail. I don't know all the details but I think she was selling stuff for bail and legal fees. His loss my gain......
Anyway... fast forward about six months and I gave up trying to fly that contraption so I pulled the K&B .40 and the radio gear and traded the airframe to my best friend who wanted a go at it for some R/C car stuff. Not having a bunch of money I settled on the plain box Balsa USA Swizzle-Stick kit from the local hobby shop. I covered the wings in Monokote green (in retrospect the most god awful color ever) and painted the fuse/tail in white Formula U because I flew on 75.640 aka green&white frequency flag. Man do I remember having fun with that plane. It flew great and taught me alot. I spent plenty of lazy afternoons just boring holes in the sky with it. Once trimmed out I'd just fly it around keeping it level until it was just a dot in the sky. I'd throttle back a few clicks until it was low then throttle up a few clicks and do it again. Later, I traded the Stick airframe to that same best friend, who wanted it for his dad, for an Enya .45X I wanted. They ended up finally flying the pants off it and I ended up building another Balsa USA kit. I don't remember the name but it had a parasol wing and Phaeton Bipe looking fuse and tail. It too flew very well.
Several years later while I was in college, my friend had joined the AirForce and was killed in an aircraft accident. Every now and then I still see his father at the flying field and we talk about him and that ugly green beautiful Swizzle Stick we all flew.
Hmmm.... I really should build another one. How do I get plans for this Giant one?
Mike
