Hi i was just wondering if anybody out there has built one? and the pro's and con's any building tips etc... I did purchase a thunder tiger pro .61 to put in it how will this pull it? let me know




Thanks

I hated the Sig kit when I built it years ago. The plastic turtle deck it the worst for blending in with the rest of the plane.

.61 would pull it well. I would put it on the GP Skybolt though.

My 2 cents.

Cheers

Definitely go with the GP SkyBolt!

Built and flew one several years ago. Tooo many small parts to cut out of sheets. Wings have a zillion small parts and you have to cut the ailerons out of a built up wing. The plus side was that it was a great flyer. I am now flying the GP Super Skybolt and it flys great with a lot of less building tim.

I had a Sig Skybolt that I modeled into a Super Skybolt before the GP kit was even thought of. I modeled mine after a TOC competetors plane I had seen in a magazine. The top portion of the fuse was scratch built. I HATE plastic anyway. One thing I have to say for this kit....it is built rugged! I built the 4 aileron version and it flew like a pattern aircraft.

Mike

Get the GP Super Skybolt. I've just finished building one. I started the project November last year. I am planning to fly it sometimes next year or as soon as I finish breaking in the OS 91FS II w/pump for it. The shape and detail on the GP's cowl look much better the Sig's. The cowl also fits better, too. I assembled the entire fuselage using wood glue from Home Depot and assembled the wings using CA glue. The reason for the wood glue is that it allows you time to do minor readjustments after you rubber-band the parts into place. You need lots of rubber bands to conform the fuselage into shape while the glue dries. Use a really wet spone to soak the fuselage sides before bending them to the formers. Even with the heavy OS, I still need to move the servo tray way forward. It tends to be tail heavy! I can't get it to balance correctly even with the EMS on-board glow driver and batteries way up front, I ended up destroying the original servo tray to move the servo forward. I didn't like the original servo tray anyway. I made new one and arranged the servo in V-shape to accomodate pull-pull ruder and still have the elevator push-rod perfectly center. I used 40-lbs fishing line for the rudder controls. Don't use the given fixed tail gear. Get a Sullivan removable tail gear. Be sure to build a strong plywood plate to support the tail gear (just cut away part of the original belly cover at the tail). Use blindnuts to mount it. Also, don't build the main gear to the fuselage as suggested. Make the cut-away part removable. I mounted the cut-away part using blindnuts and screws. I drilled 2 holes on the gear and expoxied the blindnuts behind it. They go in at an angle to avoid hitting the mounting plate. The whole thing balances perfectly without extra weight with a 4-strokes and glow driver. The wings are easy to build, just need to do it twice. It looks better and flies better with airelons on both wings. Mine is 10.65 lbs dry.

I considered both the SIG and the GP Skybolts, and decided upon the GP version. From the searching I did it seemed like the better of the two kits.

If anyone is interested, I've been keeping a website with the build progress. Enjoy!

http://home.maine.rr.com/wydah

-Fitz.

WYDAH:

Looking good , I will be embarking on this adventure soon. BTW how do you keep your building area so darn clean when building ?

Tim

Check out my gallery to see a series of pictures of my Skybolt.

TopGun: Very nice indeed! How well does she fly? What engine are you running, and what's the finished weight?

Tim: Bench is about the only thing I try to keep cleaned off. The rest of the basement is a total mess

LQ: Got any pics of the bolt u just finished?? Would love to see them.

Joined the bottom wing halves tonight. More sanding and bottom wing sheeting perhaps tomorrow night ....

Well the first(X) wife made me sell all of my aircraft back around 1990, but the Skybolt flew with authority on an OS 91 FS. IT was a very groovy plane that flew very well and it liked landing with just a touch of power on as most bipes do. 4 ailerons made the rolls fast, crisp and axial. What you don't see in the pic is the gold checkerboard on the bottom of the wings...it just looked beautiful in the air. I wish I still had it (along with all of my other stuff) Oh well I am rebuilding again!

I just finished my GP Skybolt with Saito .91 and Replacement tail wheel assembly. I agree that this thing builds tail heavy. I used pull-pull on both rudder and elevator as well. I moved the engine up about 1/2", added a fiberglass cowl + moved the servo tray up quite a bit + put the battery in the nose AND I STILL HAD TO ADD WEIGHT!!! IF I were you, I'd really focus on that tail in keeping it light. Other than that, it's a showstopper in the air....totally beautiful. Total dry weight came out to 9.6 lbs....just so friggin mad I had to add nose weight....maybe on my next skybolt

Here are some pics of mine:



And the tail:

I'll try to get my friend to bring his digital camera up this weekend so I can share some pictures with you guys. I must re-emphasize that this thing is really tail-heavy. I put the rx batteries side-by-side with the fuel tank. (Oh, don't rubber band the fuel tank as the manual suggested, it is a stupid idea! I just stuff the black-gray packing foam around the fuel tank and battery. This way, I still can remove the fuel tank and and battery in minutes.) Also, I mounted the sub-C size glow battery in the engine compartment. The servo tray is almost next to the rear of the fuel tank. Place the tray in a way that it is not interfere with the removal of the fuel tank. You might have to remove the servos before removing the fuel tank.

tmproff, my trim design looks almost like yours, except I used white instead of yellow. I used gold-white checker pattern under the wings and tail.

here's my Sig Skybolt, built at the age of 14. And it won 2nd place at our mall show in Sport Scale (back in early 90's). it was a builder's kit, but not as bad as it seemed. probably a bit heavy by today's standards.

LQUAN

Can you post some pictures of the modifications you are talking about for the main and rear landing gear?


Topgun2mo
I would like to look at your pictures, what is the address?

Just click the "Gallery" button under one of my posts and you will see all of my RCU pics I have uploaded.

Nice planes guys!

Now about this tail heavy problem with the GP Skybolt... I've anticipated some of this and have located the servo tray a few inches forward of the plans, and have placed the RX battery pack up against the firewall under the tank. I'm planning to use a GMS .76 engine with a jtec pitts which together weighs just over 2lbs! I'm hoping that this engine will be enough to at least pull it around the field. I'm not necessarily into the unlimited vertical etc. If I can do some simple loops, rolls, circle the field, and land in one piece I'm happy. With the 2 cycle I had to add three spacer blocks to the engine mount which also puts the weight a bit more forward than the 4 strokes. Was wondering what the weight of some of your engine/muffler combinations was, and if it was as much as my 2lb anchor. I suspect they total a bit less than that, and I may be OK without adding any more weight to mine.

Time will tell...if I ever get this thing finished up. More sanding on the bottom wing tonight to prepare for the bottom sheeting.

http://home.maine.rr.com/wydah

Chuck I, you have to wait until Saturday when I get my hand on a digital camera to show you some real pictures. But if you are as anxious as I am when it come to model airplane, I jsut quickly put together a (loudsy) sketch of what I am talking about. This is the straight view from the front or the rear of the plane. The plane is up-side-down.

LQUAN,
Thanks for the sketch, I will look this weekend for your pictures.

Chuck I, at last I got a hold a digital camera to show you the pics. Take notice of the blind nuts that I epoxied on top of the main gear. I bent the 3 teeth on nut back flat to the washer or you can cut them off. I drilled the holes for the blind nuts slightly larger. This way I can tilt the nuts in the direction I want then expoxy it in place. I expoxied the blind nuts with the belly cover mounted to the gear. I did not need to mount the gear the plane to do this. Mount the belly cover to the gear then expoxy the blind nuts. When it dry, the nuts will tilt in the correct direction. Notice, the un-painted area on the gear is where the gear mounting plate fit. The blind nuts just go next to the gear mounting plate. You don't want to drill extra holes on the gear mounting plate to weaken it.

I also used blind nuts to mount the main gear. I did not want to use the provided wood screws. After all, the whole reason for making a removable belly cover is to replace damaged landing gear. This is a 10.5lbs airplane, the provided landing gear is too weak for it. I welded supporting brace made out of 2-56 pushrod between the gear. Also, notice the recess hole on inside of the belly cover for one of the rearward hex screw. The screw cap recess into this hole. Hex screws are much stronger than those wood screws.

Chuck I, here is another picture with the belly cover turned over. The belly cover mounting screws that I used were 2-56 x 3/4" with washers. You need to use Locktide on the screws, otherwise you will be making a new belly cover within 1 flight.

LQUAN

Thanks for the pictures and instructions. The red finish on the cover looks very well done. What sort of finish did you use are on plane?

Bougth one 10 years ago, took me another 5 to build it (too many kits).
It's a old design, don't build as fast as the GP version. Builders would love it tough. Construction manual is detailed and very well done, takes more time than usual to build. Plastic parts fit well.
However, it's a solid plane, construction and flying wise and it's just plain gorgeous!
Have been flying it for 3 seasons. It's a bit heavier than other .60 size planes, I would go for a .75 if you want to have long verticals.
Plane has no bad habits, stall is soft and straigth ahead, a very docile but also aerobatic plane.

I haven't built or flew the GP version. so can't comment on it.

Sharp333

This is going to be interesting. I have built the fuselage for the skybolt with a OS .61 attached. I decided that what this plane really needs is the Saito 150 4 stroke. So now I need to tear off those extra blocks that I glued on for the OS and install the Saito.

ChuckI, I use only MonoKote, white, missle red, and metallic gold. The cowl is LusterKote missle red. The landing gear is white and missle red. I'll take some more pics to show you this weekend.