I am interested in maybe building this kit. Anyone had any experience with the Skybolt?

The Super Skybolt from Sig was an absolute joy to build and weight was in line with the design. Had a lot od flying with that plane and it was an honest performer.
Sadly it's no longer available as kit sales have tanked in the wave of the ARF invasions.
Great planes makes a nice Skybolt and while it's heavier then the sig it seems to have had generally good reviews.
Mind you both of them are not perfect builds but do offer a lot of reward for the effort expended.
If your interested in the Skybolt buy the Great Planes one before it also is a victim of our insatiable appitite for ARF planes. Of course it also could come out as an ARF. It COULD HAPPEN couldn't it.

Yes, the GP Skybolt is not an easy build, and it comes out pretty heavy, but it's a great flier

I looked at the instruction manual with die-cut diagrams at the GreatPlanes website. It struck me as an overly complicated design with too many pieces. Beautiful aircraft, though. While a Sig Hog-Bipe is nowhere near as pretty, it's a simple, straightforward build and a great flyer. I keep hoping for a larger Smith Miniplane from Sig, but who's going to buy and build it?

The GP Skybolt is a fantastic looking bipe. Its a little tricky to build, but I had a lot of fun building it. The instructions are detailed and the wood it great. The most fun I had with the kit was covering it. Not as hard as it looked.

Mine has a OS 91FX and flies unlimited with that combo. I think a 60 size would have been plenty.

Mike,
Just received a GP Skybolt kit that I bought here, based mostly on things you had said. (Planning on adding smoke as well. )Looking at the instructions I came to the conclusion that it might get heavy. (All that balsa block that needs sanding.) Having built one, do you think it's possible to lighten the tail (entire plane) significantly? Perhaps by adding stringers and sheet, rather than those blocks. Or are the blocks required for strength?

Firefox (and Mike),
I was hoping on using a standard .91 four stroke, but have a YS .91 I could use instead. What are your thoughts on power requirements? IS a 1.20 more practical?

(Sorry danafinance, not trying to hijack your thread, but thought you might like the info too.)
Thanks,
Dennis-

I'm building the GP Skybolt right now and its a blast. The cabane alignment was a little tricky but they turned out. I was really impressed on how my sheeting on the fuse looked, I actually surprised myself.

DBCherry,
I think a 91 four stroke would be plenty for that plane, The 91 two stroke was almost unlimited at less than half throttle. Unless of course you want to hang from the prop.

Just be fussy on the cabane alignment, the plywood blocks that hold the cabanes to the fuse will need to be shaved and adjusted to get the right incidence. Also, fuel proof the fuel tank compartment before its all put together or you will find out the hard way how difficult it is to get in there.

Good luck and get it done.

Also,

If you can, buy the fiberglass cowl, the two piece one that comes with the kit is a pain in the a!! to get right.

foxfire144 that is great looking plane. If it flies like it looks it is great. Makes wish I had one.

Thanks for the advice firefox. I'm looking for good vertical, large loops, maybe a couple of vertical rolls out of level flight, but don't care about unlimited. Prefer scale flight to 3D.

Will keep the cabanes and tank compartment fuelproofing in mind.
Dennis-

Where do you get the fiberglass cowl? You are right about the two piece one. It was a real pain!

Hi,

I purchased an Aeroglass fiberglass cowl for my Great Planes Skybolt. Very nice when compared with the two piece ABS kit cowl. I bought it from Dave at www.Quantummodels.com here's the link: http://www2.mailordercentral.com/qua...item=1&mitem=1

And a pic of it next to the kit ABS one.

Hello,

I've made a mistake by waisting time on the ABS cowl that came with the GP Super Skybolt kit. With an OS91FS, the cowl only lasted 8 flights. The vibration cracked the cowl in several places, especially at the mounting holes. I planned to CA some light fiberglass at the mounting holes to reinforce but there is no room. I've made the fuselage fit snuggly to the cowl. Believe it or not the ABS cowl came out heavier than the Aeroglass cowl. Because the top half of the ABS cowl is slight smaller than the bottom half, I ended up patching the top half with automotive bondo to make it even with the bottom half. Also, the Monokote matching paint by Top Flite made the ABS even more brittle. The nice thing about the ABS cowl is that the built-in thrust angle is perfect. The built-in thrust angle on the Aeroglass cowl is not all that perfect - leave an uneven gap between the cowl and the back plate of the spinner. This is small imperfection that I can live with. But overall I must say Aeroglass builds the best fiberglass cowl I have ever seen. For the price and durability on Aeroglass cowl, I will never touch the ABS cowl again! I also have ordered Aeroglass cowl for my Top Flite P-40E and P-47D yet to be built.

www.stansfibertech.com also make a great fiberglass cowl for the Skybolt. I have one for my still in the box kit.


Jason