Willy Nillies Jr. Skylark 250 "BUILD ALONG"

[TooJung2Die]

They both look really great, Joe. Well done. I know how good the metallic red looks in person. I doubt I would've used the green on the Eaglet if you didn't show me how it looks on another airplane. I like the carved silver bubble canopy on the Skylark. It shows up better than the clear canopies you usually see on the Skylark.

 

[Turbojoe]

Thanks guys. I'm really looking forward to the maiden. 6 batteries charged, TX and camera charged. As long as the cricket players aren't there tomorrow I'm good to go to fly both planes. I don't expect any problems.

Joe

 

[speedbirdted]

She's finally DONE! Well about as done as she's gonna get. It's not perfect but I did my best to make it looks somewhat like the original Jr. Skylark. I'm happy with it because that metallic red Solarfilm looks SO good in person. The camera can't do it justice though. I wish I had a few more rolls of it.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome overall. A.U.W. with the 500 mah battery is 7.19 ounces and it balances right on the spar with no ballast added. I set it up with aileron droop matching the wing curve. I had to take a shot with the Skylark and the Eaglet together. Hopefully both will fly tomorrow. Weather looks good and batteries are charging now. If the cricket club is using the area then I'll have to wait until Monday as there just isn't anywhere else around here that is as good to fly from.

Joe View attachment 158014 View attachment 158016

Gorgeous.

 

[rockyboy]

Beautiful build! And the covering job looks great from here - fly her proudly!

 

[Turbojoe]

Maiden was a major SUCCESS!! My apologies for another raw, unedited video. Sorry guys but I'm just not interested in turning video editing into yet another hobby learning experience/expense. Not gonna happen......

Anywho.... Here's the YouTube link: MAIDEN

Many millennia ago when I first started flying the old Pterodactyls in the club told me to always trim in a bit of up elevator for a maiden flight as it's easier to trim out a climb than it is a dive for the ground! I had trimmed in 5 or 6 clicks of up for this maiden. You'll hear me quickly trim them out as they weren't needed at all. Aside from constantly looking out of the corner of my eye for the loose running dogs and fighting the curling winds coming off the top of the bowl she flew pretty much hands off. She did climb a bit with full power but that is probably due to the aileron droop rather than motor thrust as I was saying in the video. The droop helps low speed flight so much that if I do anything at all I'll mix in just a little down elevator with the throttle. I'll likely just leave it alone though. I flew for just over 5 minutes. The battery took in 181 mah to fully charge.

Jon, the 2 inverted scenes should tell you they fly just fine inverted with some aileron "droop". I expect my Eaglet tohave zero problems with it as well.

I only got the one flight in today as just after I landed the cricket team showed up. They have the field reserved on weekends until sometime in April so next flight will have to be this Monday. Then I hope to fly the Eaglet again after making all the minor changes. I'm sure she'll be a habds off flyer as well.

Joe

 

[Willy Nillies]

That is GREAT Joe!!! WE love hearing you chuckle and have fun! Makes our day!

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

 

[Turbojoe]

Thanks Doug. I see 17 views already! Somehow I blew it and had comments disabled on YouTube. Hopefully it works now.

Loved the plane. I was really hoping to fly the Eaglet too but I should have gotten there earlier. That's OK. Monday I'll have the place to myself. (Hopefully no loose running dogs...)

Joe

 

[Turbojoe]

That is GREAT Joe!!! WE love hearing you chuckle and have fun! Makes our day!

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

I think I may have gotten a few interested participants from the cricket team today. They had tons of questions about the planes and the hobby. They wanted me to fly more but more team members were starting to arrive for practice and it just wasn't possible or I would have given the best show I could. In the coming weeks I'll try to work my weekend flights into just before they arrive. Maybe I can get them to build and then fly before or after cricket. There's a slight barrier as I don't think any of them speak English as a first language. That's OK. We can work through that too.

Joe

 

[Willy Nillies]

That's great! That'd be a lot of fun! Hmmmm.... maybe they will get you to play some cricket with them! Ha Ha!

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

 

[Turbojoe]

That's great! That'd be a lot of fun! Hmmmm.... maybe they will get you to play some cricket with them! Ha Ha!

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

With my back problems they'd be lucky to get me to watch croquet much less play! They did seem quite receptive to the hobby though. I'll be sure to work on them in the future as I run into them....

Joe

 

[TooJung2Die]

She flies like a dream and looks great doing it, Joe. That was a fantastic maiden flight! I sure miss the mild Mojave winters and year-round flying. I lived in Las Vegas until 3 years ago. I have two more days off this holiday weekend. I am dying to fly the Eaglet. Hope the weather cooperates. Fingers crossed.

 

[Turbojoe]

I've only been to Vegas a few times and it looks like the farther you get from the strip the better it is. My son lived there for a few years as well.

I strongly recommend doing as Doug suggested and drooping the ailerons a bit. As you'll see in my Jr. Skylark video it doesn't negatively affect inverted flight. Unfortunately I only got to maiden the Jr. Skylark and didn't get to fly my "adjusted" Eaglet today. That will have to wait until Monday. I hope to push all 6 battery packs through them then..

Joe

 

[Turbojoe]

I got the 2nd flight in on my Jr. Skylark 250 today. Couldn't be happier!

Joe

 

[Willy Nillies]

Total Awesomeness Joe!😁

Sincerely
Doug and Becky

 

[TooJung2Die]

Very nice flying airplane! The black and red looks very good too. You don't have orientation issues with it blacking out and silhouetting against the sky? I would.

 

[Turbojoe]

Very nice flying airplane! The black and red looks very good too. You don't have orientation issues with it blacking out and silhouetting against the sky? I would.

Absolutely! I also have terrible depth perception. That's why my landings are not as good as they used to be. I really need glasses but it seems no matter the vision company I check into they have many more negative reviews than positive. That and especially money is why I keep putting it off.

Joe

 

[BryanKD]

Beautiful build! And so original! I have the box and plans from my Skylark and yours matches that scheme so well.

I am also amazed that they sound exactly the same running across the ground, must be the combination of wing structure and gear design.

Here is a photo of mine. Built in 1968, converted to electric in 2020. I am busy adding a canopy to it and I now think I need to find the type of motor you have used the looks like an IC motor.

 

[Turbojoe]

Beautiful build! And so original! I have the box and plans from my Skylark and yours matches that scheme so well.

I am also amazed that they sound exactly the same running across the ground, must be the combination of wing structure and gear design.

Here is a photo of mine. Built in 1968, converted to electric in 2020. I am busy adding a canopy to it and I now think I need to find the type of motor you have used the looks like an IC motor.

View attachment 226724

You can buy that "IC" 3D printed motor from Willy Nillies. Amazing 3D printed and fits perfect. Much better than any file on Thingiverse or anywhere else. I bought several. Well worth the VERY affordable price! I bought them rather than try to design and 3D print my own. Doug did a simply amazing job on these "glow engines". They should be added to each and every kit purchase you make.

Joe