ROBERT BENSON 1

This is a short video about different wings constructions for Spatman. The weights are as follows; Foam core/brown paper/epoxy paint = 171gms Jedelski style - without covering = 152gms Wrap around foam core - without covering = 248gms (very quick to build and cost is approx 4 pnds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKeqk9zPHvI

Original construction details for SPATMAN

Good Job Ron, looks great. C of G is stated as 2-2 1/2 inched back from the LE. I have the original construction notes - I'll post them on this forum

Good to see all this activity on Spatman - I thought I was the only weirdo who appreciated minimalist models. I still haven't flown my recent build - have a bad attack of sciatica which has floored me. Good job Ron Gray on the foam wings - once you have a setup like that you can knock out tons of wings. Jeff2Wings - great job on the colour scheme and quality of graphics - you have a great imagination there. Regarding wings I am currently exploring the foam core board route. I have build one set Jedelski style and am now evaluating the foam core wrap-around style. I'll post pics when I have made progress. When I think about it I love building wings. Conventional built up wings are very light and I just love how they come together, though it does take a while. Foam and foam core are quick and easy and thus almost disposable. Executive from Trueline. Very similar to Spatman in terms of wingspan/chord and engine size. Build-wise a little more esthetic than Spatman (I think) hence some sanding to produce radiuses on fuselage. I had posted pics previously. I used to fly this when I lived in the village of Launton just outside Bicester. Spent many hours dislodging it from trees or hunting for it when it went out of site behind the railway embankment. Anybody else build one of these years ago? I'll post the plan on AeroFred and OuterZone. I also built a Spatman SunDuster. That was when I realized that Spatman was to hairy for me straight off. It ran on a .75cc DC Diesel. Although a lot more delicate in terms of crash resistance I got a huge amount of use out of this model. The wing was repaired dozens of times and only broke beyond repair when I attached it to the Spatman fus and attempted a loop. You know what happened. I hope someone can upload the plan as I have a PAW .06 that would be ideal for it. On one occasion, during a lunchtime, on a dreary autumn day I decided to have a quick fly over by the railroad tracks. The engine started on first or second flip. I launched and the plane climb slowly and banked to the right. That was the point I realized that I hadn't connected the receiver battery. And so it gently completed a half circle and buried itself in the brambles on the embankment. It started to drizzle a fine rain. I climbed over the fence and waded through the brambles. The model was amazingly undamaged. I legged it back to my take off spot, connected the battery and I was away again. As I gained height I started to lose site as it seemed to be disappearing in low cloud. But that was not the case, it was my glasses steaming up from my frantic bramble excursion - so I took off my glasses and wiped them with my diesel oiled fingers - not a great idea. I'm not sure how but I did get control back and landed safely. (Dad's Army - Stupid boy) Guess we've all had similar incidents.

Veneer seems to be hard to source these days. I used brown paper and it’s worked out really well. The paper I used was masking paper as used for painting and available at hardware stores. Sold in a roll. It’s strong enough and not too heavy. Used slightly diluted PVA as adhesive.

Apologies all, I have made a real knife and fork job of loading up the plans for Spatman. I find the AeroFred site somewhat confusing and in conjunction with me showing off my Executive and getting that all muddled I now don't know where I am. I did delete the original Spatman post but the new one I created has somehow not uploaded the plan. With regard Outerzone I will do what David has suggested and forward the file to them for them to post. From feedback I have received I guess you all wanting the Executive plan. I'll dig it out.

Hi Peeps, seems I'm having problems uploading onto Areofred. Like I just made two left wing panels. I deleted the post and re-entered but the plan is not showing up. Any suggestions?

I now have Spatman plans on a memory stick and have tried to upload them into AeroFred and AutoZone but it's more complicated than I thought. I'll dedicated more time to it shortly. Meanwhile here's another similar sport model I had a lot of fun with. It was a kit called Executive. I believe I have plans for this as well. I ran this on a 1.5cc PAW. 2 channel. Regarding my 2020 Spatman, the wings are about 1 " longer and the chord is probably 1/2 less. - the sharp leading edge is gone.

Copy of plan. I did make hard copies by using a scanner at a local postal outlet. I think it was somewhere in he region of $8 /copy. I suppose I could scan to a file and post it here. Would that violate copyright?

Spatman 2020. COVID got me building again. Here's Spatman from the original plans. I used balsa from my balsa box that I hadn't opened in the last 20 yrs. WIng is foam core with brown paper covering then sprayed with some random paint I had. A foam board Jedelski wing in the background. Not yet flown but should get it in the air in the next month.