First Balsa Build: Willy Nillies JR. Skylark

Lilbanks96

Junior Member
Hey everyone! I am a complete newbie to balsa building. But I want to try my hand at balsa building and probably breaking :).

In this thread I’ll document my experiences and hopefully get some helpful advice :).

Where to begin...
 

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Turbojoe

Elite member
You came to the right place! Lots of us have built Willy Nillies kits and are eager to help. I built the Jr. Skylark, Eaglet and Super Sport. You'll love the Skylark. Just be sure to ask questions here before gluing anything you're unsure of. Doug (Willy Nillies) hangs out here and is usually very quick with answers to build questions.

Joe
 

Lilbanks96

Junior Member
Alright, first question. Are my formers in the correct position?
 

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TooJung2Die

Master member
Alright, first question. Are my formers in the correct position?
Yes, that looks right. Willy Nillies kits are a very good choice for your first balsa build. I built the Eaglet and will build the Skylark after I finish the Twin Cyclone old timer I'm working on. I can't do multiple builds like most of the guys here. Maybe I'm too OCD. :)
 

speedbirdted

Legendary member
The Willy Nillies kits are lovely. I built the Eaglet and despite me smearing it with modifications it was still the most stress-free kit I've ever put together, and it flies amazing. Can't imagine the Skylark would be much different. At this point there's enough knowledge floating around here from other people that have built them to basically walk you through the whole build.

Did you buy the dubro pushrod kit they have on the website? I used it and it made the servo setup much easier.
 

speedbirdted

Legendary member
That's why you double check all your part fittings lol. What consistency CA are you using? For most of the kit, the fit is so good you can use thin CA and don't need much of it. Fine point applicators are incredibly helpful for this!
 

speedbirdted

Legendary member
Uh.... I didn't build a nose gear :ROFLMAO: I ended up changing it to a tail dragger configuration. But normally, that is what you do. Some folks here have even modded Eaglets and Skylarks to have a steerable nosewheel though most of the time this requires 3D printed parts.
 

speedbirdted

Legendary member
I believe so. The nose gear wire is then bent to fit into the cut out section. There is then I think another piece of balsa that is identical to the cut out section without the L shaped cutout, which goes over top of it as a sort of "cap". This lets you epoxy the nose wire in sandwiched between the two pieces of balsa and the firewall.

How does it prevent it from fitting? These are beta kits afterall so some trimming of things here and there might be expected.
 

Lilbanks96

Junior Member
Shouldn’t that nose gear structure fit behind the Firewall ?
 

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speedbirdted

Legendary member
wat

Well, I have a hunch that that piece might get glued to the other side of the middle piece and the wire will run down through it. Though it seems to me like that makes even less sense. After all, my knowledge of this kit comes from the similarities it shares with the Eaglet and seeing others build them
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
Yeah I’m confused as well.
Where's @Turbojoe !?
That makes three of us so far. These kits assemble according to the same basic idea. Here is different model, the Eaglet. There is a cutout for the front landing gear in the battery tray. Right now it's a mystery why your Skylark doesn't have one.

IMG_1754.jpg IMG_1752.jpg

Assemble the landing gear bulkheads before gluing them in the fuselage.
 
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Willy Nillies

Elite member
I just checked my drawing file and for some reason on the Skylark I didn't notch out the fuse crutch for the nose gear. You are correct in how it should be installed. You will have to notch out the fuselage crutch to install the nose gear and doubler. I'll fix the drawings so this won't happen on future kits.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com
 

Lilbanks96

Junior Member
Will do! Those pictures are super helpful. More work to be done this week. Not sure when I’ll be back at it.

But WOW so far this has been fun. Very rewarding to build something. Looking forward to more problem solving!
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Where's @Turbojoe !?
That makes three of us so far. These kits assemble according to the same basic idea. Here is different model, the Eaglet. There is a cutout for the front landing gear in the battery tray. Right now it's a mystery why your Skylark doesn't have one.

View attachment 168751 View attachment 168752

Assemble the landing gear bulkheads before gluing them in the fuselage.

Remember, I got crazy again and made steerable nose gear for the Skylark too. I should have learned my lesson after doing it on the Eaglet. I never seem to learn. :confused:

Joe