SPACEWALKER Staite a cu tone aircraft designedby Jesse Angin who formed Country Air Inc. in North Carolina, USA. Being a member of the Experimental Aircraft Associa~ tion, | received their monthly magazine Sport Aviation, and it was inthis magazine that fist saw apc ‘ure of Spacewalker when itmade its debut at Ostkosh in 1986. It really attracted me, and | thought with its striking colou scheme, made the ar- craft a perfect subject for a super model, A number of letters, plus a telephone cal were necessary to get the information, but | finaly had all that was required to make a start this was in Sept-Oct '87. | really needed to keep the weight below our 111s limit, not only to be able to fly in Windsor Great Fark, but tobe able topoweritwitrasaor 1 twostroke engine. Since | the large mode's, | ‘chose 316 inches to 1 foot, giving a 91 inch span and chord of 15% in ches almost 10 scuare feet of wing If 1 could keep the weight around 10 lbs we were lookrg at 16 07 sq{00t wing loading. | didi! All models fy better if they are lighter (within reason of course) remember gliders have about 9-12 oz per sqoot, so we are not really looking ata paper ag, just a lightly loadec scale model, that will fly at a realistic speed, and be adquately powered with any sport 61. | powered mine with a Merco 61, areal favourite of SA The built up assembly makes for a strong and light structure. mine for many years. This model handles well, and is @ grat crowd pleaser. If you are interested, here's how to build it MBBS start with the wings ') These are quite conventional cut ll the bs as shown (nate thatthe main spar poston onthe left wing i Ye RC Model World, November 1988SPACEWALKER A gorgeous 91 inch span scale model for 4 function radio contro] and .61 two-stroke engines designed by Dennis Tapstfield.SPACEWALKER so that they wil ovetap in the centre}. Buld each wing over the drawing in the usel way, ignoring the ailerons at tis point jst build the complete wing; when the spars axe i, rol the wing ono the lower traling edge, and uetherisinpos- itn; when se, add the top portion of the trang edge, With the leading ge in place, the structure is reasonably iniegl, so remove it from the plan, andtien add webbing between the spars, the top and bt- tom leading edge spars, lst the leading edge sinh sheet covering Tho best way stomake up the whole piece with tre inch wie shets fg glued to produc a sheet 8x 40 inches. you ae not sure how to make up the skis, proceed as fol lows:— trim the edges ofthe inch shoot balsa, wih astaight edge and balsa kif, but the edges close o- gether, and cover the joint wih Se letape (inch is OK) for the ful length). Open the joint tke a book, ve the exposed edges (ake sure {hat the gue you ase wil sand easiy — balsa coment is OK) close the Joint, remove the excess gue and Seltape over tha side. When com- pletely cry, wet the conve ouside surface of the sheet with 50/50 household ammosa and water, and amply white alue to the ribs, spars ad leacng edge, where the shet Will contact. Wrap the leading edge Ys inch sheet covering around the leading edge, and holdin pace with "inch or % inch wide Sellotape on each rib by wrapping arcund from top to bottom. When you have done this, immediately place the wing back onto the plan, withthe Ye x Ye inch packing n place underthe wing toproduce the washout you wlfind you can twist the wing othe corect Position before the glue sets, got it Fight, as the wing is very trsionally stitf when ais dry. Next cu the bs in the alleron area to size, add the aileron spar, cap strips ete. Com- Plete the wing with the aileron servo and push rods, hor etc; the tip is made from laminations of ¥ inch sheet hollowed out and shaped as per drawing, the wing cleaned up, the aileron separatec, and hinged in place. I do not glue in the hinges at this time, not until the wing is co- vere Fuselage Bul theses onthe drawing using ery hard balsa Ye» inch forthe longerons and medium forthe re- mainder. Cutthefrewal rm Ysinoh iy, remove the cente andbuld out the box to cary the engine mount, making sur that th amourt the box protrudes suts your engiemount combination. rack he topand bot- tom longerons at 8-81 an¢ jon the sides, starting at the fewal in the Usual way. Ft the mm ly wing mounts inside the fuselage, fush withthe bottom lngerons, isis im- portant as it controls te ving in dence. Make sure eventhing is square, and complete the fuselage to drawing. Note tha the tp longe- ronis tapered off to provide postive incidence onthe steblisr. ri the landing gear mount ‘A’ bette glue- ing iin, this is important. is now time to make and bott the landing gear in place. Go over the drawing careuly to meke sue alte bits are inl Don't fo-get apiece of nylon tube forthe reaver antenna inside the fuselage! Nake the cow from lami- nations of 1 inch balsa, shape 25 show, buiding onto the inch ply former, dil holes for access to glow plug and carburettor needle ete tis 8 good idea to have the engine and spinner ited at tis imo, to ine ev eything up arazor planes ver use- {ul too, there's a ot of wood to cut away. Tho dummy engine is wall worth takrg a bt of trouble wih, made the Gyinders trom Jeluton, but hard balsa or someting similar willbe OK. Saw cuts simulate the fins. The rookar covers aro cast in resin, | made a mode in pasticine, mounted iton as inch ply base the shape of the cover, coated it with clear dope when dy, brushed ona fim of Vaselire to prevent the layer ‘of siicone bat» sealant rom sticking to it coat the whale thing with bath sealant; leave to dy for 48 hrs. The resuitis a good mouldinto which you Pour the mixed resin A Ye x 8x He inch piece of balsa reduces weight and provides a suface to stick to if pushed down fushn theresin, abar laid across the top ofthe mould will oop itn place, Tail Unit This is quit straigtforward, though perhaps | should explain the lami- nated rudder autine and tip, it wil be found easier if you, having cut the laminations, insert a row of pins on the inside (this is important) of the ‘curve, gv th laninations together with PVA (whe) gle and whilst wet ‘RC Model World, November 1968wrap the uni around the pins, plac- ing pins around the outside as you 99, and leave the whole thing to set; the result is aight, very strong out- line, better than any other way | know. The restis simple enough, just ‘don't build in ary warps! Use epoxy to fit the homs, rough them up wall here the epoxy holds. ‘No doubt you can now start o get the whoo thing together to soe what itlooks lke. Thisis the time | get the radio installed, together with the ‘cable runs for the rudder and elevator, the closed loop system works wel, | usad the lager T arm ‘on my Flet seros, they work very well Both my Fhet PCM and the 35 ‘meg FM system handle the ong ex- tension leads required for each aile- ron servo perfectly well, make sure that your radio doesnot object to the long leads, sorre makes require @ choke to overcome gltching, the im Porterimanufacturer will no. doubt know about this. Check thatthe su- face movements are correct to the drawing. The throttle servo is ‘mounted on an alleron servo tray on the left inside te cockpit just for- Ward of the insrument panel, and fairy high up, you may have tore-lo- Cate yours depending onthe engine. ‘The battery is pushed into a cavity cutinto apiece of hard reconstituted foam beside the fuel tank, the re- ceiver ison a shel above the servos in the fuselage, pushed into a cavity cut into a block of soft foam glued to the top ofthe shef, an extension forthe on-off switch sa wie carried forward into the cockpit area. Re~ ‘member you may have to re-locate the battery depending onthe cere of gravity requirements. ‘The spats re vacuum formed ABS and are trimmed to th lines to be seen inside the mouldings, and can be best fitted togetter with cyano, Reinforce te inside facesforleft and right with ABS offeus, and fit the ‘mounting plates; the pips on the ‘mauidings show the axe positon ‘Small fingers of ABS cyanoed inside leach half keep the edges in ine for final joining with cyano. These wheel spats areavalabe ram me and can bbe contacted via Radio Control ‘Model World Covering Note: The Registration and Colour ‘Scheme as shown is Authentic Mymodel was coveredusingred(not Fokker Red) Solarspan or Black Baron fim. The rim design looks cif- ficult, but gone about the ight way, {is reasonably easy; you should cut cut the trim shapes, lay them in pos- ition on the model, and mark their Positions using a ball pont pen. Mask of around the shapes the tape shouid lie onthe area that isto be red). | did not mask the round por- tions, since as | was brushing the black Solariac | could paint around them. When the paint is touch dry, remove the masking tape, and allow to dry completely. Meanwhie, cut a lot of 4s inch wide strips of white Solartrim, by taping the sheet onto a board use a stel straight edge and balsa knife. The rounded aortons must be cut to shape, | usec a balsa knife biade in a par of compasses, it worked out OK, and it stcks ke the provorbill Just ne thing, ry not tohandle the adhesive surface more than you can help, | found that a pair of tweezers was most helful. The undercarriage i covered i wth Sol artex and painted black. The spats are first painted red (matchirg Solar- lac Red (S) 8X) when dry, mark on the shape ofthe trin, mask of, and paint with black enamel. The Mis inch ‘white lines are cut irom Solarrim to the correct shape, using win blades Ys inch apart (see Solartriminstruc- tions). The trim shapes forthe fn and stabliser are cut drect fron Solar- ‘tim and stuck on. For registration letters | used 72 point Letraset on white Solarrim, which were cut out leaving the white border, the whole thing then stuck onto the rudder. It worked out perfectly. Now check out the balance point, do get this right, a tle nose heavy is better than tail heavy. Youcan now add the screen, the cockpitcoaming and other exter- nal details; he instrument panel con- sists ofa piace of scraper board be- hind the apertures inthe 4 nch ply facing, withthe instruments marked ‘on with a pointed instrument. Fiying ‘Choose a iy large propeller forthe ‘model, the Merco is quite happy to swing @ 13x 6, and produces more than enough power forthe model. Take off is very realistic, and the climb-out is good, The speed en- elope is very large, the model can be flown very slowiy, yet on full ower is suprisingly fast and man- ‘euvrable, oops, rolls, and inverted flight are all’ well within its capabiities, and smooth siow land- ings are the ru rather than the ex- ception. | do hope you enjoy the bulding and fling ofthis unusual i- craft as much as | have. Good luck with your project. Happy Landings. oO