Kadet Junior Night Flyer

[FlyingTyger]

I have been wanting to build a night flyer for awhile, and thought @Matthewdupreez Kadet Junior would be a great candidate.
You can find the link to his design here.
I printed the plans at 90% because I wanted to be able to cut the fuse sides as a single piece. This will give me a span of 43".
Power will be a SunnSky 2212-980kv motor on a 3S 2200mah pack and a 10x7 prop.

 

[FlyingTyger]

Parts have been cut and paper removed. I am doing this as a paperless build to help it "glow" as bright as possible.

First LED strip has been wired and applied to the fuse bottom.

The bottom has been glued to one of the fuse sides with the two main formers. This formers are not part of the original design, I added them to help replace the strength lost by removing the paper.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

This is looking awesome!!!!
Can't wait to see how it looks when all done

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Are you using coloured LEDs? Or just white ones?

 

[FlyingTyger]

Are you using coloured LEDs? Or just white ones?

Just white. I am hoping to just make it glow like the E-Flite night flyers.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

Just white. I am hoping to just make it glow like the E-Flite night flyers.

Awesome 😎

 

[FlyingTyger]

Firewall cut from 1/8" craft ply.

Battery tray and firewall glued into the fuse. Then the second fuse side was added.

 

[FlyingTyger]

LANDING GEAR

The mains were bent from some 1/8" steel wire. I then cut a bulkhead from 1/8" craft ply. The bent wire was bound to the ply with some embroidery thread.

Then the assembly was glued into the fuse with some clear gorilla glue. The 1/4" thumb screw is just there to hold it while the glue dries.

The aft end of the fuse received a 3/16" balsa mounting plate and a Dubro Micro tailwheel assembly was fitted.

Up on its feet for the first time.

 

[FlyingTyger]

The forward fuse was then closed up. The bottom skin got a strip of LED's.

The forward fuse top got a small strip the cap the firewall and another strip to form the base for the windscreen. I chose to try and reproduce the curved windshield option shown on the original Sig plans.

I am now as far as I want to go on the fuse until I have the wing and tail feathers built.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

HEY MAN THIS IS LOOKING GREAT!!!

 

[Bricks]

I have built a few night flyers from DTFB and really no reason to remove any paper, make sure you add light to help with orientation. Biggest issue for me was going away or coming towards me so I added 3 white LEDs on the back of the rudder. This way I can tell instantly which direction it is going.

 

[FlyingTyger]

I have built a few night flyers from DTFB and really no reason to remove any paper, make sure you add light to help with orientation. Biggest issue for me was going away or coming towards me so I added 3 white LEDs on the back of the rudder. This way I can tell instantly which direction it is going.

Thanks for the advice. The paper is already off of this one, so I am going to keep moving forward as such. It was an experiment I wanted to try anyway. But I will keep it in mind for the next night flyer I build.
I was hoping that the graphics would create a dark area to aid with orientation. If I do need more, the wingtips will be open and I could add red and green lights there.

 

[FlyingTyger]

WING PANELS

I am doing my wings a little different to eliminate any non-lit areas. Plus I prefer a smooth airfoil over the standard faceted airfoil.
Wing parts are cut out and prepped. The paper was left on the spar pieces for strength.

The spar and trailing edge spacer are glued to the inside of the bottom skin. LED strips are added to the front and back face of the spar.

The top skin is folded over and glued to the spar and spacer. I use white glue for this so I have more time to get everything positioned properly. Then everything was held in place with some weights.

Finished panels

My cross-section.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

3CH OR 4CH??
looking great

 

[FlyingTyger]

3CH OR 4CH??
looking great

4 channel. I used the aileron conversion details from the Kadet Mark I plans and scaled them down to fit the Junior.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

4 channel. I used the aileron conversion details from the Kadet Mark I plans and scaled them down to fit the Junior.

Awesome 👍

 

[FlyingTyger]

JOINING THE WING

The panels were blocked up 3/4" under each tip.

Then the root of each panel was sanded to so they mated up tight.

The joint was taped tight on the bottom.

The joint was then opened and glued with clear gorilla glue. The wing was placed back on the bench with the tips blocked back up 3/4". Then everything was left to dry.

With the glue dry, I added tape to the top of the joint to help reinforce everything.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Looking good. Lets see how many variations of this we can get going lol.

 

[Ligbaer]

Looking good. Lets see how many variations of this we can get going lol.

lol i have the first float kaddy

 

[Matthewdupreez]

lol i have the first float kaddy

pics???
or you don't have a float kaddy??