Balsa USA Stick 40 plus

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I am in the process of building a swizzle stick from Balsa USA. At Warbirds Over Wisconsin Joe from Balsa USA have this to me to build and post my progress. Instead of the Nyrod wing setup with one standard servo I weng with two external 9grams which are easier to service. This is easy so far I just need help to cut the reliefs for the glow engine. The razor saw wasn't able to cut through and I think I will find someone with a scroll saw. It will be a "search and rescue" aircraft for the field because it is a perfect camera platform. I will use yellow monokote amd red ultracote srtipe. The other servos will be staandard size metal gear. (I probably should have posted this in the balsa section, whoops)
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OliverW

Legendary member
I am in the process of building a swizzle stick from Balsa USA. At Warbirds Over Wisconsin Joe from Balsa USA have this to me to build and post my progress. Instead of the Nyrod wing setup with one standard servo I weng with two external 9grams which are easier to service. This is easy so far I just need help to cut the reliefs for the glow engine. The razor saw wasn't able to cut through and I think I will find someone with a scroll saw. It will be a "search and rescue" aircraft for the field because it is a perfect camera platform. I will use yellow monokote amd red ultracote srtipe. The other servos will be staandard size metal gear. (I probably should have posted this in the balsa section, whoops) View attachment 144581 View attachment 144580
Nice! The only thing is that the 9 grams won't be enough servo..
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
The coating and painting job came out great. Next time I am going with all Ultracote because it was applied sooooo much easier than the Monokote. Next step is hinging, finishing the left wing, instaling the Sullivan Gold n' Rod for the rudder and elevator, and installing the power system.
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CMS_1961

CMS_1961
One of my first airplanes--great flyer but ground handling as a tail dragger is very sloppy!!! If you are a new flyer make it a tri-gear (nose stearing) like I did--overall much better take offs and landings!!!
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
One of my first airplanes--great flyer but ground handling as a tail dragger is very sloppy!!! If you are a new flyer make it a tri-gear (nose stearing) like I did--overall much better take offs and landings!!!
I've been flying for a year and a half and I wanted to build this as a tundra tail dragger that can cary a camera. I I am also building a trike Qtrainer from 3d lab prints
and I wanted some variety in trainer like aircraft. The Qtrainer would also be much worse off if it noses over. If I was starting out I would have built it tricycle gear style.
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
The servos are installed along with the nyrod. I cycled it for 3 minutes and nothing went wrong. I also applied the logo for my local flying club with clear coating over a pint out image. After what seemed like forever I am half way through sawing the reliefs for the glow engine.
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Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I finished the throttle servo connection to the OS FS 61 4 stroke engine. The fuel tank has also been installed and work on the second wing is halfway done. I tested the 9 gram servo with the aileron control surface and I kept adding weight (I didn't have anything that would stay on the aileron that was heavy enough to make it bind). Then I tried to push against the aileron movement and it took almost all of my strength to make it bind but no gears were broken. I finished the entire fuselage as well and now just need to finish the wings and re break in the engine just because I want it to be re-oiled (probably not the right term) with glow fuel. These are some images of the plane. P.S. it was my first time covering Balsa so it is a little iffy.
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Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I finished both wings and covered them last night in Ultracote and Monokote. Once the rubber bands, BEC, and skis come in the mail I or someone else at the field will maiden the aircraft either off of wheels or skis (it snowed 3 inches recently). The plane is very very nose heavy so I will need to figure out a way to balance it properly (maybe a wrench in the cavity where the tail is). I lost two parts of the wing so Joe from Balsa USA sent a whole wing kit for free :). Here are some more images of the plane with the wing completed.
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Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I have repositioned the engine to be much farther back, but the plane is still nose heavy withou fuel. I put some lead in the tail along with quarters which now gets it to balance. If I were ever to build one of these with a motor this powerful again, I would probably modify it so that the fuel tank sits back closer to the cg via hole in the canopy. I would then shorten the nose and move the engine back. If I ever get a smaller 4 stroke engine that would still work I might build a second fuse for the current engine and use the current plane for the smaller one. One thing is clear, it should have enough power. The skis arrived and they are quite weak so I will quickly make a Fusion 360 design for some the same size along with extensions for the rubber bands/bungee cables to attach to. Since it is PETG is should hold up, and because of the over sized wheels I can fly on the snow until the skis print. I would recomend the Dubro Snowbird Skis instead of their ABS parkflyer skis.
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I was talking to several other members at my field who fly glow for a long time and after a while they decided it would be worth waiting till the weather got above freezing for a few weeks so that the engine will reliably start, and so that there will actually be other members at the field to help me start it the first few times. I will probably contact Joe from Balsa USA and ask about wether I should upgrade the wing servos to something in between standard size and 9 grams because the plane should be flying almost twice as fast as usual. These Emax servos are beefier and metal gear so they might work better, and they actually have better torque and less delay than the standard servos I have. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RRWYXL9/?tag=lstir-20 What do you think? After I design my skis I will post it on Thingiverse and My Mini Factory, but that will probably take a while.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
I was talking to several other members at my field who fly glow for a long time and after a while they decided it would be worth waiting till the weather got above freezing for a few weeks so that the engine will reliably start, and so that there will actually be other members at the field to help me start it the first few times. I will probably contact Joe from Balsa USA and ask about wether I should upgrade the wing servos to something in between standard size and 9 grams because the plane should be flying almost twice as fast as usual. These Emax servos are beefier and metal gear so they might work better, and they actually have better torque and less delay than the standard servos I have. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RRWYXL9/?tag=lstir-20 What do you think? After I design my skis I will post it on Thingiverse and My Mini Factory, but that will probably take a while.
In my opinion, you kind of have to do standard size.
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
I got work started on finishing the wing. I talked with another field member and this time I remembered not to glue the servos in. He told me to basically try to save weight, but not to go cheap or small on the wing servos. I found some which after testing are as good as the rather old design metal gear servos I was originally going to put in, but lighter and faster. They are also much stronger than the 9grams.
 

Bricks

Master member
When you get ready to start that motor double lock the prop nut on and make sure they are tight. Four strokes are bad for back firing and throwing props.

Is it just the picture or are the motor mounting screws on the left side not getting into the nyloc part of the nut?.
 

Ryan O.

Out of Foam Board!
When you get ready to start that motor double lock the prop nut on and make sure they are tight. Four strokes are bad for back firing and throwing props.

Is it just the picture or are the motor mounting screws on the left side not getting into the nyloc part of the nut?.
They're bolted in. I will make sure the prop is tight. I'll probabpy bring a rachet to the field.
 

Bricks

Master member
They're bolted in. I will make sure the prop is tight. I'll probabpy bring a rachet to the field.


Bad choice of words should of used bolt does the bolt get into the nylon part of the nut so it locks the mounting bolts from vibrating loose? Don`t just tighten the prop nut double nut it and lock them together you will thank me later if it ever throws a prop with just the one prop nut on no matter how tight you tighten it..