tipstall 131

Hi Guys,

This will be my first spad build and I need some help. I looked at the the plans for the the Spadstick on www.spadtothebone.com and I've decided to build it. The questions I have are:

1. What does the term "flashing" mean?
2. Is the spadsticks' wing the flat bottom type and if so, what do I have to change to make it semi- or fully-symmetrical?
3. I can only find white coroplast locally. Can coroplasted be painted to a lasting (fuelproof) finish and with what?

I cant believe how cheap spads are! Makes it hard to go back to the other planes and paying so much...

Thaks in advance,
Marius

Clean

Flashing is a process of moving a torch flame over the coroplast to burn off the manufacturing oils that are on the plastic. Just a smooth pass over the intended gluing area with a butane torch letting the flame touch just long enough that the material doesn't really change color (which it does when it heats up).

The wing is designed flat. If you make a symetrical wing by folding and gluing 2 mil then sliding a spar in and glue it in. You'll either need to cut the fuse sides to match the curve OR cut the center skin out of the wing to fit the fuse in while notching the fuse with the spar. Reference some of the early SPADs, I forget which one has the notched fuse but its a low winger. Also, search for the Sickle or Flipper as they both have the notched wing.

Coroplast can be scuffed and painted with Non metallic Rustoleum. Metallic and clear Rustoleum has a different mixture to keep them from yellowing which makes it not fuel proof. Krylon is not fuelproof. Eventually the paint will flake off. You can use the peel and stick strips of monokote trim or the sticky back ultracote. Sign shops also sell a similar material AND if you have a shop that makes signs for folks they probably have a trash bin that if they let you go through it you probably can get enough scraps to work with or buy some for yourself. One roll goes a long way.

tipstall 131

Thanks for the info Clean!

Have you had a spadstick before? Does the flat bottom airfoil have very diffirent performance to a semi symmetrical one? What I'm trying to get at is: is it worth it to change the wing profile? I'm just looking for a good, agile flier.

RE Paint. I''l see if I can get the sign place to cover the coro in vinyl. I think this should last longer.

Clean

I have a DPS, well, a modified DPS. I wanted a little more wing to slow the landing speed a bit. Then stretched the tail a little. The DPS and most of Deans planes operate fine as designed BUT you could also get 4 fuses per stick. I think it lets the tail wag a little so added a couple more inches back there. Hey, stick a streamer on a Daggar or a Dogfighter and you won't notice the waggle at all NOT a knock on Deans work. But with a little more wing the DPS floats in pretty well, add just a little flaperon and your really coming in slow. But I've landed with it upside down plenty as well, yes, on purpose. so it does fly upside down pretty much as well as right side up. It's less effort with a symmetrical wing. However, I do most of my flying right side up and landing or hanging over the bomb drop with the flat side down in high lift mode.

If I were you, I'd just build it per plans and give it a try. Then start messing with it. There are plenty of satisfied Spadstick pilots out there. Many times in all stages of RC flying pilots will do something, go 4 stroke, electric, symetrical, bigger engines, whatever and think because they've made that change they've made themselves better then the guy who was just flying flat bottom. It's not what you fly its that YOU fly. Heck, there are few times when I've more fun then some memories I have about coming down the runway as fast as my trainer would go, cutting the throttle and pulling straight up to see how high I could get it before it would stop, flop over and come back down. The nice thing about it was that after just a wee bit of drop that big old flat bottom wing was ready to fly away, more parachute then a symterical wing. And doing touch n goes as slow and tight as you can, thats fun too.

It's just what you do and that you do it. I've got a ton of giggles with a buddy as we would fly our 1/2A planes. First his, then mine, then together. We'd fuel fire toss for the other guy for hours it seems. Thems was the days. Looking to repeat that some time.

The hovering in slow with the flaperons down really comes in handy at spadfest when the boyscouts or the boys for that matter are hanging around the runway with the Painting equipment. be careful though, tipstalls can come in at the painters as well as go out, so make sure your rudder is effective.

tipstall 131

Thanks Clean,

Yeah, I firgured I would stick to the standard wing and fiddle with it later. These things are so cheap, the sky's the limit. Thanks for all the good info, I build it and then share my experiences here.


Cheers,
Marius

zs6smi

Tipstall131 Look for post by Bex his home is in North Cape he built a lot of planes more electric and one which is also intresting is the Witblitz and there is the Mig guys from PE doing slope soaring their design Mig3 We use hotglue gun to construct the planes and for yardstick we use Maranti woord that is used in the building industry select the pink one or grey to pink co;our they are not to heavy Bex also uses pine but I have found Maranti bit better it is your own choice. Only thing out here where I stay it is hard to get straight flute coro but Maizey's is a good source.
Hope this helped and enjoy it

tipstall 131

zs6smi,

Sorry for the late reply and thanks for all the info. I have seen the witblits and a lot of people fly it here. Its a bit small for my taste and I like glow. The straight flute coro is a bit of an issue. Maizeys gave me the curved ones by mistake so I ended up laminating 2mm coro to get the desired 4mm thickness. The curved stuf is good for flat wing bottoms where bending is not required.

What do you use to add colour to your planes? It seems I can only find white and yellow coro here. Oh btw, I found yardsticks at archneer stationers in hatfield, pretoria. They seem to be good quality stuff, although a bit pricey. R 17.50 each. I'll check for the meranti stuff but its a bit hard for me to cut it to spec since I don't have a table saw or scroll saw. Ill also give the glue gun a try.

Cheers,
Marius.

Villa

Hi tipstall 131
I add color to my SPADS with colored stick-on vinyl sheets. The people that make political signs using the Coroplast material also use vinyl sheets. The red color on the main wings of the attached photos is the vinyl sheet I use.

MrGreenSpeed

Yup Sign vinyl a razor and patience

draftman1

if your plane is E-power, you can use any spray paint you want, if its glow power then you can only use gloss rustoleum, its fuel proof

i have used sign vinyl, colored packing tape, duct tape or what ever else I can find thats sticky and colorfull

tipstall 131

Thanks all for all the info and knowledge.

Me thinks vinyl might be the way to go. Unfortunately the corro we get here is only white so no nice base colour to start out with.
In other news, I've started building the fuse and its coming along nicely. The tip on the glue gun was a good one and it works well, giving strong, load bearing joints. For the other stuff I use contact adhesive (I'm fresh out of CA). I'll see if I can get some pics up later.

Cheers

Edit: Spelling

zs6smi

Genkem we found to be beter feul proof than the other types sold arround here

Gert

tipstall 131

As luck would have it, thats just what I use. This "goop" that they refer to on STTB, is it Poly Urethane glue? Can you get PolyU glue in SA?

Clean

Goop is a clear, rubbery plastic type of adhesive that uses Toluene for a thinner and comes in a collapsible metal tube (like old toothpaste). Poly glue is moisture activated and is a maple syrup/amber in color and a little thinner then Molases. When you get water mixed into it it foams up a nice than color.

zs6smi

Tipstall131

Where I stay is in the Northwest so the kooperasie is the biggest hardware store try search gorilla glue and some guys use some other glue as well you have a better change to find it in Pretoria I saw afew links that guys were talking about the different glue's that one get if I see them again I will let you know.
http://spadworld.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=7
Gert

tipstall 131

Sorry for the long break, work has been keeping me very busy. I have been using genkem contact glue and that works very well. Thanks for the tip on that. The spadstick is coming along nicely but I havent had a chance to work on it lately.

Cheers.

Clean

Try to do something a night. I hope for an hour but sometimes I get less. Yesterday I mounted my engine then worked on my motorcycle for 3. Today I needed to replace and alter some of that hardware but maybe I'll get some further fuse work. Spent 2 hours getting tires on my truck. Need to hit the treadmill.

Bit by bit it gets done.

tipstall 131

I agree, slowly slowly. The last couple of weeks I had to do a lot of field work (I'm a geologist). The field work is quite physical so I get home totally beat and not in the mood for planes. However now I'm getting my fleet flight ready for the weekend (long weekend) so I will probably work on the spadstick next week or so.

joeskeeter

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bumper stickers are fun and stick good.