ratshooter

Thought I would post a few pics of my new SPAD. Its pretty much a SpadStik without the angled wingtips and round fin/rudder of a traditional Stik type model. I haven't flown it yet. The winds have been 15-35MPH the last few days. It weighs 5lbs on the money and has a new LA 46 for power. My buddy is building a full size Falco and had a sheet of aluminum left over that he gave me and I made the langing gear myself. I pretty much had everything on hand to build it except the wheels. I can't wait to fly it. It looks cool sitting on my workbench.

planeboy95

My Feedback: (1)

Good looking plane. The spadstick is one of my favorite flyers.

draftman1

thats awesome!!! good luck on the maiden

ratshooter

Thanks for the replies guys. I expect the maiden to be a non event. This is only the second SPAD I have built but the first flew as good as any trainer I have ever flown. I crashed it twice, spun it in once and hit a curb on landing the second time and both repairs took less than an hour to make. These planes are as tough as their reputation says they are. I passed my first plane on to a friend so he would have a sturdy trainer to fly. I sure hope he gets it flying soon. (Yes Eddie, I am talking to you). Plus being able to build one in just a few hours and have the color built right in without buying monokote is just great. Its a new building experience from wood. A few new tricks to learn and you have a tough as nails plane to fly.

I sure hope the wind dies down soon. I have itchy thumbs in the worst way.

[email protected]

Your SpadStik looks awesome! I bought a 4' X 8' sheet of coroplast to build an aircraft like this. Everyone but me probably knows, but are there plans for this aircraft? If yes, where?

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

http://spadworld.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17203

ratshooter

Thanks for your kind words. I made 3 changes from the original plan. I made the wingtip flat because its easier to lean the wing on the tip without the angled "Stik" wingtips. I didn't do the round fin/rudder. I also made didn't sandwich the ailerons between the wing skin. They are part of the bottom wing skin like on a Debonair. The wingspan is 48" for a 600inch wing area. That should be about perfect for an LA 46 sized engine without being over powered. Here is the link to the plans is used. At the top of the page in blue boxes are the selection of different plans. Just click on the Stick Series.

http://www.spadtothebone.net/freeplans.htm

ratshooter

dherk you will also need 2mm coroplast for the top of the wing. I had to order mine from a place called Pack & Seal. I had them cut the 4x8 sheet into 4 pieces for shipping. They were 2x4 sheets with the flutes running the 24" part of the sheet. They already no about SPAD builders. When I was ordering my plastic they asked if I was building model airplanes. And be patient. They are slow to fill orders.

http://www.packandseal.com/

stumblebum2

rat,
I get my coroplast from Leon @ MRPLASTIC in North Little Rock, AR. It is a 350 mile round trip. Depending on how much I pick up or order, sometimes it is cheaper to make the drive and pick it up.
Did you order only 1-4X8 sheet? What were the shipping charges? Did they charge you a cutting fee?
You may answer via pm if you want this info kept private.
Thanks in advance.

ratshooter

Stumblebum I ordered two sheets IIRC and can't remember for sure if they charged a cutting fee. I think they did.It seems like it cost me between 50-60 bucks but I am not sure. Sorry I don't have better info for you. You can give them a call and I beleive the prices are are on the site.

I tried to log in to packandseal but couldn't get it to let me. I wanted to see if my old order info was still there. If I get it I will post it here. I have no secrets.

ratshooter

Okay I got into my account and the total was $55.78. i ordered one sheet of red and one sheet of yellow. The yellow was $19 and the red was $15. It didn't show a cutting fee so I guess the shipping was $20. I should have ordered a couple more sheets. Next time I order it I will have it cut different too. I really wasted some of the material by cutting it like I did.

stumblebum2

Thanks rat,

Next time I need some I will contact them. $20 sounds like fair s&h compared to $55 flat rate from where it was once suggested as an ordering place. I get some 48" X 96"cut to 4 - 24" X 32". This leaves2 very usable pieces of 16" X 48". I get some 48" X 96"cut to 24" X 48" for fuselages and/or longer wings.

ratshooter

Hey Stumble. You don't have to have 2mm coro to build a good flying plane. Have a look at the Debonair that uses 4mm for the wing top and bottom. Here is a youtube vid of a Deb flying. I don't know what else you could ask from a sport plane. This guy also does some 3-D flying with this plane. Also watch another video from him called Dingbats Spad. Its a neat looking plane too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nma5sYEvP40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsKn7...feature=relmfuThe 3d stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVRV6ZXC9EM Dingbats Spad

stumblebum2

rat,
Thanks for the links to the vids. I am familar with 2 mm and 4mm on wings. I had one Spadette and two BUHOR's with wings both ways. Both flew fantastic. I am in the process of building one of the Bad Boys of spadflyer.com. It is supposed to fly like a sport plane. I also have a Dogfighter with Andy Erwin's modified 2mm wing. That thing is a hoot to fly with a K&B 28 on it. Even added main gear to it. Just couldn't do much with the hand launch.

ratshooter

Hy Stumble. I had forgotten about spadflyer.com. I had looked at their site about a year ago. Since you are building one of their planes I have a question. They show the wing leading edge having a rounded shape to it instead of the more angular shape that the Debonair wing has. Are the flutes cut on the inside of the top skin and sub ribs used in front of the spar to give it a rounded shape? That to me was the whole reason to use 2mm because it makes a better looking airfoil. The 2mm is only a little bit lighter in weight than 4mm because the only difference is the height of the middle spacing plastic ( i can't think of a good term for it) so not having to use 2mm would be a money saver for sure.

I had tried an experiment with 4mm and cut some of the flutes at the leading edge and then a couple more cuts between the leading edge and the spar and got a better looking airfoil. I just never built a full size wing with 4mm and sub ribs.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

I have several planes from Spadflyer. They're great to work with; and I have no complaints about their service or products. Thanks; Ernie P.

stumblebum2

rat,
I purchased the Bad Boy kit from Ed at spadflyer.com. In answer to your question about the cuts. The inside only of the coro at the fold.Cutthe 4mm skinat the leading edge in 2 or 3 flutes. I plan to put an OS LA 40 on it. I will let you know how the plane flies. I have had other projects that havekinda put a hold on finishingthe build. Had some trouble getting the new BUHORbalanced. Must have written a measurement down incorectly. Thing was really nose heavy and caused pitch problems. That problem,some wind and cloudy, caused me to almost lose it friday morning. Got so far away Icouldn't tell if it was going or coming. Finally got it in a coming at me attitude. It seemed forever before Igot back to the field. Man, that thing was a long wayoff, probablyhalf to three quarters of a mile. Got it re-balanced and plan to try it again thisthursday or friday.

ratshooter

StumbleI went back to the spadflyer site and clicked on the left hand picture. This brought a closer veiw of the wingtip and there are sub ribs in the picture to help form the rounded airfoil. Plus in the pic you can see they cut several of the flutes on the inside skin so the plastic would roll over. Plus one flute behind the spar. If I build anothet SPAD I will give that a try with a 4mm wing. It would be nice not to have to hunt down 2mm sheeting.

ratshooter

Okay I have test flown my new Spad and after a few tweaks it flies like a dream. At first it climbed like crazy and had to have a large amount of down trim to fly level. Power changes cause pitches that had to be trimed for. Checking the incedenc I found that with 0 on the stab the wing had 2 degrees of positive incedence. So I lowered the wing by cutting the wing sadle and I also shimmed the motor mount down about 3 degrees. Now it flies as good as any plane I have ever flown. I like it much better than the GP Big Stik 40 I have.Its a real pleasure to fly.