The Tin Donkey
After a couple of months flying and crashing and fixing 2 Litestiks and a J3 stick I thought it was time to move on. What should I build/buy next? I wanted something that was more challenging and that looked more scale and more durable and used all the hardware I already had. I had made replacement wings for my stiks from Bluecor 1/4" blue foam insulation and I had liked its qualities. This is what came of the first attempt. Below is a poor attempt at a Junkers D1. Built with standard micro servos/receiver/esc and GWS DXA gearbox. Airframe cost minus electronic/motor $2 or less. It is very sturdy, withstanding hard landing that would have sent my litestick to the bench for splinting/gluing/clamping. I do cartwheels for fun now. Fuse design allows for quick remove of servos/hardware and no extra hardware.
Yes, It can Fly!
I made some early attempt to fly with wing dihedral and just elevator and rudder. I did not like the way it flew and I liked the look even less. So I retrofitted ailerons and removed the dihedral string. I set my controller throws way back and off it goes. After flying this I went back to the litestik and felt like a granny at the wheel of her lead sled. It does a real fun tip stall trick if you work it right.
New Looks
Now it was time for a paint job. I could not find the right purple paint and I had a can of green, so it is green with some black and white detail. I was not trying to copy a particular paint job. The "odd jobs" 1/3 size spray paint cans at "Walmart" work good on this material, most paints will eat the foam. And check out that new prop look, MMMMMmm.
STATS
Wingspan: 30"
Length: 23"
Chord: 6"
Weight: 7.0 oz with paint ready to fly with 42gram battery. Can be trimmed to 6 oz.
Speed: Faster than the litestick.
Build time: 4 hours or less minus glue time
Tools: Razor knife - Polyurethene Glue - A clue
Material: Bluecor 1/4" foam insulation - tape - skewers - ect.
Skill: Not much.
What's next
After this I think maybe Fokker D8 - Zero - Any cool WW1 biplane - WW1 pusher - Help me! - Mustang or Corsair - Fokker DR1 - I can't live without a seaplane and .....
Check out the second in the series The Little Red Trainer.
Check out the third in the series The Fokker D VIII
Check out the Fourth in the series The Rohrbach Roland.
Check out the Fifth in the series Zippy
Check out the Sixth in the series a Cheap Stealth
Check out the Seventh and Eighth in the series New Blue Planes.
Check out the Ninth in the series a Biplane.
Check out the Tenth in the series a WWII Zero.
Check out the Eleventh in the series a 1908 Antoinette.
Check out the Twelveth in the series a Corsair.
Finally #13 is Catsup and Mustard a faster aileron plane..
Here is #14, Homemade Brushless Testbed - motor made from an old cdrom drive.
Airplanes by Jonathan Townsend - email - jon@jastown.com