Willy Nilles "Jr. Skylark 250" Beta Kit Build and Flight

[TooJung2Die]

All done with the Hobby King burnt orange film (looks like yella to me) 🙂.

The adhesive on this film is weak. You have to be careful when shrinking this film because the edges will pull right off. The first wing panel I covered turned into a do over. I was finally successful by gradually increasing the iron temperature until it was just hot enough to make it shrink and also very careful to keep the iron away from the stuck down edges.

Jon

 

[Willy Nillies]

Looks great Jon!

 

[TooJung2Die]

I'm slow and take my time when it comes to covering. It took several sessions over a few days but everything is covered and wrinkle free. The red film is Monokote. It's not bad at all to apply. I don't know why everyone says it sucks.

It's getting close to finished!
Jon

 

[Willy Nillies]

Very Nice!

 

[Piotrsko]

Ever try 3M77 spray sticky on the edges before covering? With my fumble fingers it helps a lot

 

[Turbojoe]

Ever try 3M77 spray sticky on the edges before covering? With my fumble fingers it helps a lot

Believe it or not hair spray helps adhesion as well. I have a huge can of Aussie max hold that I use mainly for 3D printing but will use it for a quick spray on areas I'm concerned about while covering. It only helps with heat though so won't provide an initial "grab" like the 3M77.

Joe

 

[TooJung2Die]

No, I haven't heard of that tip. I'll keep it in mind for sections that are hard to tack down. 👍

 

[Piotrsko]

I admire Aussie's, we have politically correct hairspray that barely works on hair

 

[Turbojoe]

I admire Aussie's, we have politically correct hairspray that barely works on hair

I'm not an Aussie. It's just the brand name of the hair spray. LINK

Joe

 

[TooJung2Die]

Chipping away at the to-do list. I like this type of push rod connection. It's adjustable, secure and removable.

Elevator and rudder control horns. The laser cut holes for the wire were too big so I plugged them and drilled holes sized to better fit the wire. A yellow permanent marker colored the wood to match. All the CA hinges are made from Tyvek.

Aileron control. After the length of the wires are exactly right put a drop of thin CA on both ends of the heat shrink tube. The CA wicks up inside the tube and locks the wire in place.

Instead of using a Y-cable adapter for the ailerons I soldered the left and right leads together. There will be less wire to tidy up inside the fuselage.

The FS2A receiver is on the bottom side of the servo shelf. A drop of low-temp hot glue secures it to the little added shelf for the receiver. I saw online that several people lost the antenna on these tiny receivers so a drop of hot glue at the antenna connection should prevent it from coming off.

There's lots of room up front under the battery bay for the ESC.

Almost there!
Jon

 

[Willy Nillies]

Very Nice! Great detail pics with explanations!

 

[speedbirdted]

Great work so far. Wish my Willy Nillies projects would come out this clean, especially with the internals like that.

 

[rockyboy]

Looking great inside there! That hot glue drop on the antenna is a great idea for receivers with a soldered on antenna too - the strain relief it provides prevents antenna loss or damage (I learned that the hard way).

I need to remember the heat shrink push rod connectors more often when doing little builds like these - it's so much easier to put together, and takes less hardware than just about any other way (except a perfect one-piece wire, which I've never been able to do).

 

[TooJung2Die]

Great work so far. Wish my Willy Nillies projects would come out this clean, especially with the internals like that.

Thanks! I have been looking for a spot for the receiver up by the nose but I realized if I put it back there it would really simplify and clean up the wiring. It gets the antenna far away from the other electronics too.

I need to remember the heat shrink push rod connectors more often when doing little builds like these - it's so much easier to put together, and takes less hardware than just about any other way (except a perfect one-piece wire, which I've never been able to do).

Thank you. I totally agree for small airplanes. It's simple, it's very light weight and I've never had one slip or pop out (yet). I can't make z-bends to the perfect length either. On really light airplanes I make a 'V' shape bend before the z-bend. Make the 'V' wider or narrower to change the length of the push rod.



Jon

 

[Tench745]

Thanks! I have been looking for a spot for the receiver up by the nose but I realized if I put it back there it would really simplify and clean up the wiring. It gets the antenna far away from the other electronics too.

Thank you. I totally agree for small airplanes. It's simple, it's very light weight and I've never had one slip or pop out (yet). I can't make z-bends to the perfect length either. On really light airplanes I make a 'V' shape bend before the z-bend. Make the 'V' wider or narrower to change the length of the push rod.
View attachment 180925

I've done the little adjuster V too, but I've read that over time the point of the V can get brittle and crack. A U bend is supposedly better.

 

[rockyboy]

I've done the little adjuster V too, but I've read that over time the point of the V can get brittle and crack. A U bend is supposedly better.

How many times are people changing their control rod adjustment to have a V bend break? Jeeze....

 

[Tench745]

How many times are people changing their control rod adjustment to have a V bend break? Jeeze....

It's more that it creates a point of stress for a fatigue crack. That little bit of flex or vibration in the control rod, over time, concentrates there and causes a crack. I'm more amazed that anyone has a plane fly long enough for that to happen.

 

[TooJung2Die]

I'm not worried about it breaking. There's no stress on the V-bend. The airplanes that have that kind of adjustment weigh around 2 ounces or less. Once the V-bend is set the radio is used for trimming.

 

[TooJung2Die]

Ready for the Maiden Flight Photos

The "Jr. Skylark" was copied from a Carl Goldberg kit box photo. The bird silhouette is a skylark. The Cox .020 motor mount is the cherry on top of the sundae. Everyone asks, "Is that an .049?" Nobody sees the electric motor!

Jon

 

[Merv]

Great looking plane.