2019 Build Along: Just another Stick? No, a really BIG Stick. AKA: the GIANT STICK.

[Joker 53150]

Planetex is the stuff I was thinking about using until I heard Balsa USA has a new product coming out, supposedly to replace Solartex. The Poly-Tak adhesive to apply Plantex is reported to be only semi-smelly, but the Poly-Brush primer to fill the weave and prepare it for paint is supposed to downright nasty.

 

[Joker 53150]

Another step forward, test-fitting the Quadra 50 gasser. It's a beast and much heavier than new engines of similar displacement, but this is a old plane that I think needs an old engine. Tomorrow I'll pick up the remaining hardware so I can finish the test-fit.

 

[TooJung2Die]

I'm awed by the scale of this airplane. Is that a door or a wing? Head downwards is probably the proper way to mount the engine but wouldn't it look wicked with those exhaust stacks pointing up?

 

[nhk750]

Very cool!

 

[Joker 53150]

I'm awed by the scale of this airplane. Is that a door or a wing? Head downwards is probably the proper way to mount the engine but wouldn't it look wicked with those exhaust stacks pointing up?

The engine could be mounted either way, and stacks sticking up would look cool, but would blow exhaust across the plane and dirty it up. My other Quadra 50 is mounted with the cylinder up using a different muffler. I may take that muffler and use it for this plane as it could let me reroute the exhaust away from the front wheel.

 

[Joker 53150]

Plans call for 2 degrees of right and down thrust for the engine. In some kits that is achieved by designing the fuselage to have the firewall at that required angle, but this kit did not do this, the firewall is at 0 degrees. To achieve the angles I'm adding some hardwood shims which will be sanded as needed to change the angles. This isn't just "any" hardwood, it's part of an original 1930's full scale Pietenpol wingspar. A few years back I was building a 1/4 scale Piet and a guy online saw the build and offered me a chunk of a wingspar - he was involved with rebuilding the plane and that included replacing the spars, and he asked if I wanted to use some original Piet in my model. Heck yeah! Now I've got a little bit of it left over and use it sparingly.

 

[Joker 53150]

When you're dealing with a lot of weight or a lot of stress on the firewall it's a good idea to "pin" the firewall to the fuselage sides. This ties the structure together better than just using epoxy. Basically, if the firewall comes loose now it's going to take a lot of force. I also noticed that the extra material used to shim the right side of the engine (far side) was put on upside down, so it's sticking up slightly above the other material. Oops... Easily fixed later on, and it's purely cosmetic.

Here's another "tool" that I recently got and am finally trying it out now. This glue dispenser has two different nozzles so I can either lay down a stripe of glue or a thin bead. Because of how it's designed I can also squeeze it when it's upright and it'll still dispense glue - no need to invert the bottle. Using the small tip made squirting a bunch of glue in the dowel holes for the firewall very easy and much cleaner than it normally would have been.

For those interested, here's the label. I got it from Menard's, but it's probably available elsewhere. This is the smaller version.

 

[heli-pilot]

Yes!! That is an awesome glue bottle!!! So much more precise and less over glue since I’ve started using it!

 

[Joker 53150]

I've only used it for pinning the firewall so far, but am pretty sure I'm not going back to the regular bottle ever again! Now all they need is a long applicator tip for it so it can reach down into the balsa structure a bit...!

 

[SlingShot]

I've only used it for pinning the firewall so far, but am pretty sure I'm not going back to the regular bottle ever again! Now all they need is a long applicator tip for it so it can reach down into the balsa structure a bit...!

Would a syringe give you the effect you want?

 

[Joker 53150]

Would a syringe give you the effect you want?

Yes, the longer tip on a syringe would potentially answer the need. I've got a few plastic versions with a big enough bore to handle glue, although they haven't impressed me as much as the new glue bottle. One big plus with it that wasn't mentioned is that when you stop squeezing it to apply glue it starts to suck air back in, along with any extra glue on the tip so it stays clean with less effort. Plus you simply apply the cap when done.

 

[nhk750]

I purchased these from Amazon and they work great too. Small refillable applicator.
I'm still using my first one on third build, just refill with Titebond.

 

[Joker 53150]

Here's a quick project on the Quadra 50 that doesn't need to be done NOW, but will have to eventually be done. Since I had only a short time to play in the workshop today I decided to get it done. Currently I've got two Quadra 50 engines, the one on this Giant Stick and one on my 1/3 scale Sopwith Pup. I got the Pup's engine running last year after cutting new gaskets for the carb mount by hand. They were a bit ugly, but worked well enough to see if the engine actually ran. The engine being used on the Stick had no gaskets for the carb block so I could either make them or buy more precisely made pieces. Gaskets are cheap, so I spent a few dollars. While doing so I found there is also a new carb block available (all from B&B Specialties), so I ordered that as well. In fact, I got the gaskets and carb block for both Quadras, as you never know how long these parts will be available for a long discontinued engine.

I also picked up an exhaust gasket to replace what was left of the previous gasket. Yes, those two little pieces of scrap is all that was left of the original gasket!

 

[Joker 53150]

A quick distraction that is sort-of Stick related. I went to a swap meet this morning and ran across this beast, marked as a "Nothin' Extra", which is basically a variation of the Stick design. A buddy of mine picked this same plane up in a different color about 2 years ago, complete with an over-sized gas engine. We tried a few times but couldn't find anybody who knew what the heck it was, so we assumed it was some kind of "Frankenstein" build or maybe a bash of a few different planes. Turns out we were wrong! So this plane was sitting on a table for sale, with an asking price of $125 - no engine or electronics, never been flown. It's a big plane, probably worth close to their asking price, but nothing I wanted/needed, and I knew Mike wasn't looking to spend that kind of money for a second one as a bare fuselage.

About 30 minutes later the people running the swap meet started doing some auctions on various planes and this one came up so I gave an opening bid of $5.00 just to get things rolling. However, the bids did NOT roll! Nobody else bid on it, although quite honestly I don't think the organizers were making a big enough deal about the auction so many didn't even notice it was going on. No other bidders, so the seller declined to sell it for $5.00. Can't blame him, I wouldn't have sold it either. A few minutes later the auctioneer found me and told me the seller wanted to see me about making a deal so he didn't have to take it home, and he asked for $20. I couldn't argue with that price so the deal was done. Again, I didn't really want it (but I can't pass up a great deal) so after it was loaded I called Mike to see if he wanted a spare for $20 and he thought I was kidding. He jumped on it quickly, so now I just need to hand it off to him in the next few days. Some days I feel like a drug dealer for RC planes!

 

[Joker 53150]

Looks like I might be keeping that new bird now, my buddy loves the plane but is looking to build more kits so I hooked him up with a different plane instead. Not sure when I'll get around to this one, but the work should be fairly quick. It needs electronics installed, an engine (or electric motor??), etc., but the overall plane is otherwise complete and needs no work.

 

[TooJung2Die]

That is a beast. Too bad the name "Ugly Stik" was already taken. Do you think it was a kit or a scratch build?

 

[Joker 53150]

That is a beast. Too bad the name "Ugly Stik" was already taken. Do you think it was a kit or a scratch build?

I'm leaning towards it being a kit, but it's hard to say. Both this one and Mike's appear to be identical other than covering. Wing tube is the same, and I don't see any glaring deviations from one to the other. The landing gear may be different, I'll have to check his plane out again to be sure. The quality of the builds both appear very good, leading me to think it's a kit. Strange that there are now 2 of them living 1/2 mile apart and I've never seen the design before. When weather improves a bit I'll post a better picture. It's ugly, but not THAT ugly!

This one WILL be electric, by the way. I saw a deal on a 1.6 equivalent electric motor yesterday (about the same as a 40 cc gasser) and grabbed it. Only servos and a big ESC will be required for future purchases, as I've got all the pushrods and other misc hardware needed to finish it up. The motor is designed for 10S power, so I'll run a pair of 5S 5,000mAh in series. Depending on the weight and flight time I could also run a pair in parallel to the two in series to increase flight times. Hopefully the first 2 give me a decent flight time so I can fly twice on the batteries I already own without having to buy more of them. Either way I think there is plenty of room for the batteries either in the nose or in the center of the fuselage.

 

[TooJung2Die]

I found a little bit about the "Nothin' Extra". It was a kit by Northern Model Aircraft in 2001.

 

[Joker 53150]

Nice find! Thanks for the info!

 

[Joker 53150]

Looks like very limited info out there on the Nothin’ Extra, very similar to this Giant Stick I’m building. Here’s a different pic of the Nothin’ Extra, looks like a “Skinny Stick” to me!