Das Ugly-E Stick.

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Hey everyone,
I was showing my Grandfather an old two meter Balsa Sailplane that I got from a good friend, and demoed it to him in 20 mph steady winds. After landing and talking to him for a while, he asked me why I never built anything using balsa, and I replied that I couldn't afford it. He asked me casually why I hadn't contacted my banker. I stared at him for a minute, and said "I don't have a banker." He replied quite seriously, "You do now."

A trip through the Outerzone plans netted a Das liddle stick plan, and off we went to the hobby shop.


image.jpg
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Thank you teach! Good to Have you around!
I got my first DT-750 today... I was not expecting it to be quite that big!
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Cool, it's always good to see more dust created! You might be surprised at how inexpensively you can build a balsa plane once you have the tools. I took delivery on all of the balsa and light plywood today which will allow me to build a 45" span F4F Wildcat as well as 40" span L-19 Bird Dog. Total cost for all of it with delivery was about $65.00 ($15 of that was delivery). The same stock at my LHS would have run a little more, but they don't have the best selection so I ordered it all from Balsa USA.

Subscribed!
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Ok, so after a MAD day of building, I am having second thoughts about that full symmetrical wing that is in the plans, as I have never successfully built a balsa wing of any sort, much less a symmetrical one.
Any thoughts? I was thinking that I could build a standard flat bottom wing with a symmetrical adapter to fit in the Fuselage saddle until I got the symmetrical one right, and I could still use it for training.
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
Build the wing symmetrical like in the plans. You'll be glad you did. Just prop up the main bottom spar and the back of the ribs will lay flat on your building surface. Like this in the wing from the kit I'm building right now.

l9kV10x.jpg
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
I'd agree, go with the stock wing for now. My thought is to focus on simply building it and getting it to fly first, and then maybe go back and modify it. As long as you don't go crazy with the throws on the control surfaces it should be very manageable - especially with some expo thrown in to keep things smooth. I was really worried about my Mountain Models Lucky ACE (basically the same design as your stick) the first time I flew it, but was surprised by how stable that design is.
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Thanks for the advice, and that photo is worth a fortune to me!
I have to restart the wing anyway, because my ribs are really soft balsa. Oh well.:p
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Yeah, I just managed to pick out the softest, weakest 1/16 balsa ever for my ribs. Oh well, Christmas break starts today. TallyHo lads, LHS at 12 o'clock low!
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
More progress! 13.10 oz. with Motor, ESC, servos and prop.
I'm budgeting for 26 oz AUW so I'm under budget here!
The original could fly well at 56 oz, so I should have a real floater if I'm careful!
image.jpg
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Ok, slight snag. I eliminated a 12x 3" piece of 1/8 ply that was to be the LG mount and engine brace to save weight, but... Now how should I mount the Gear? Sorry for all the questions, as my forum name implies I'm no balsa expert.
image.jpg

Here is a pic of the battery bay, it's intended to fly with anything from a 3 cell 1000 all the way up to a 6s 4p 2000 MAH lipo for test purposes.
image.jpg
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Thanks guys! I'm going to use the rubber band mount landing gear similar to the Flitetest design. This should help my bush plane Ops quite nicely, as well as help to save a less than perfect landing.
 
Last edited: