Sky 40 (Tony Nijhuis plan from RCM&E) in 2006

[Andy Mor]

Folks I have just got one of the Sky 40 plans and a big box of balsa in CNC form. its for a 40-46 motor. the plans were featured in RCM&E  during summer 2006.

has anyone built one and got photos / advice they can share? its the first model by me for 25 years

Andy

[Ashley Hanley]

HI ANDY  built this for my son fitted with an old O S 46

and flys a dream

ashley

[Andy Mor]

hi Ashley, any chance of any photos?

[Tony Nijhuis]

Andy,

Hopefully you should now have the pictures I sent you last night

Tony

[Andy Mor]

yes got them thanks Andy

[Allan Jordan]

Hi Andy, I think that I have the building insts. in my file system, If I can find them would they be of use to you? You can e-mail me if you wish. Regards Allan J..TTFN

[Ashley Hanley]

HI ANDY  sorry  but i  do not have any pictures at the moment

the build is very easy and the cnc parts fit together very well

the only tight fit i had was the cowling i am on my second

and this is starting to crack

enjoy your build

ashley

[Andy Mor]

folks, ive nearly built the frame for the fus. one area that concerns me is that the engine mounting wall / fire wall whatever is the best name. should slant to one side,  to overcome torque.

now the bottom fus panel is cut at an angle on its leading edge so that it mates up with the angled fire wall. but when i test fit the bottom fus panel they dont line up, its as if the fire wall is not 'sloped' enough. (at least not as much as the bottom panel)

i hope the above makes sense. if anyone has built this plane from the cnc wood pack could they please comment. have i gone wrong? is the wood pack not perfect, so i need to trim it and not worry? or any thing ive missed? 

thanks Andy 

[Reginald Richards]

can somebody give me the e mail for tony nijhuios

[Nick Burroughs]

recently built a sky 40 from the SLEC kit.  One problem is that the SLEC plan is bigger than it should be.  You certainly cannot build the wings directly on the plan.  The RCM&E free plan is the right size and I used that.  You can also build without a plan as the laser cutting is extremely accurate

[Michael Hickman]

Reginald

 

Tony is on the forum, why not try a PM?

[Chris Parsons 1]

I bought the CNC woodpack and plans for thus several years ago and thought it was about time I had a go at building it...but when I look at the plans the left wing is not shown. As the wings are not symmetrical there must have been one? Have I lost it, or how does one build the other wing?? The write up appears to show plans for both wings? I had three sheets of plans - and had to copy and stick these as they did not shows the fuselage and wing complete Chris

[Keith Evans 3]

HI Chris

You only get one drawing of the wing .Turn the plan over and draw the wing again if you want to .You only need a few points as the wing will self assemble due to the CNC structure

A few points to note .I have built three of these from the packs and the quality of the CNC parts need checking for fit ,as the older packs don't come out all that well compared to the earlier packs .

I would do away with the steering nose wheel assy. as it won't last long .I fix mine by adding a 6mm. ply plate let into the front lower part of the fus. , bending a nose leg to suit and use saddle clamps .

Forget the AUW as 12oz/sq. ft. it's more like 28 to 30 and is still a dream to fly .

The cowl is a weak point .I would suggest either glassing the inside or covering the inside with aluminium tape .Note SLEC sell the cowls ,but only along with the upper deck moulding as they come off as a pair in their moulding jig .

My latest version has flaps fitted .They are 15in. long from the inside position of the ailerons .They work a treat and are great for really slow landings .I do add about 5deg.down elevator on a mix .

Hope this helps

Keith.

[Broken Prop]

As a matter of interest, has anyone departed from the plan and built it as a tail dragger?

[Keith Evans 3]

Yes

[Chris Parsons 1]

Thank you Keith - I did wonder if I could scan the wing area off the plan and mirror the image but I guess tracing from the back might be easier? Although pretty crap for a learner's model if you will pardon my language!

Would it REALLY have been that difficult to have mirrored the wing and overprinted it??

The reason for the question was that the article refers to the left wing being overprinted and I am sure I could see this in one of the article photos??? (I am in the office and don't have the article here)

The last time I built a model aeroplane from a plan was 25+ years ago and the plans were always marked with the size of the wood etc - and you never had to photocopy and stick up the plan to get a complete plan of a wing/fuselage - all to save using a bigger bit of paper, good grief...even if they charged another 2 quid for the plan I would rather have had it complete.

I always fancied building a DB Barnstormer and bought the plans - this is a fairly big biplane and the plans were complete, both wings, both sides and the fuselage! Same for the first trainer I built, a Tyro Major which is a similar(ish) size to the Sky 40.

Is this progress? I guess everyone goes for the ARTF (plane in a box) approach but building for me was 75% of the fun

Point about the CNC sizes is interesting, I will check first - I bought the wood pack 3 years ago, be just my luck...

I actually fly full size and my aircraft (G-EFOX) is a tail dragger, which has got me thinking!

Chris

[Chris Parsons 1]

Correction - it was a DB _Bi_ Stormer - the Barnstormer was the single (top) wing version

Regards

Chris

[Keith Evans 3]

The SKY 120 version from SLEC is a tail dragger .

[Chris Parsons 1]

Looks like the design was sold to SLEC and the plan they have shows both wings - although they did tell me they have had problems getting the plan printed to scale.

In any event I have bought another plan off them and will see if this is any better than the one from RCM&E...

Saw the Sky 120 - big model, perhaps a bit too big for a first attempt in many years but interesting, thanks

I didn't even know there was a 'Large Model Association', amazing some of the size of the models people build!

Chris

[Tony Harrison 2]

Interested in these recent posts on an older thread, since the Sky 40 is on my shortlist of "next project" possibles. It's available from SLEC, complete laser-cut parts + plans + hardware ("..which includes: Pre shaped Undercarriage & clamps, Pre shaped steerable nose leg, Engine mount, Fuel tank & tubing, all control horns, hinges, snakes, clevises, nuts-bolts-washers, Vac-formed cowl & canopy and pre cut black windscreen transfers..": does this mean the moderately high price of £86.88 is actually not high at all? How much might the requisite remaining electric bits add to the final bill?

I'm not reluctant to pay this sort of money at all, just trying to run some comparisons between a few kits that interest me. The Sky 40 certainly looks the business, and various threads here seem positive about it as a plane and a kit.

rgds Tony

[kc]

I always use tracing paper to redraw the wing. It only needs the main lines - LE.TE, spars and a single line for each rib. Details such as wingtips or ailerons are not needed really. Tracing paper is then overlaid onto blank white paper to make lines visible.. This saves the main plan from damage and enables work to continue on other items whilst the glue dries on the wing.

[Chris Parsons 1]

I got the replacement plans from SLEC - and they look to be to scale, and are much better than the RCM&E plans, two sheets and show everything (both wings) as well as how the pre cut parts are laid out on the balsa/ply sheets

Wish I had gone to them in the first place!

Chris

[kc]

Regarding the cost of the electric motor, ESC and Lipo. It is really much the same as a 40 size glow. From HobbyKing a motor can cost 15 pounds and an ESC 20 pounds and one 4S3000 Lipo as little as 12 pounds. Uses 1 servo less with electric too.

However converting a glow model to electric does take a little knowledge as finding a place to fit the Lipo where it balances the model yet still can be changed easily takes a little thought. In particular a tricycle u/c may be inconvenient. Also for safety it is preferable to be able to connect Lipo whilst upright not inverted. Easy for experienced builders of course.

If your flying is beyond the trainer stage consider SLEC Funfly which is available in electric version. Same with SLEC Limbo Dancer.

[Tony Harrison 2]

Thanks kc. I'm not an experienced builder, though my first KeilKraft balsa/tissue jobs were round about 1966... However, my ongoing build of a 6'-span glider has gone well on the whole, and I really enjoy this kind of stuff. I think I could handle the Sky 40 build. Re your interesting point on substituting electric power for what was originally designed as an IC model, I thought that in its current form (e.g. from SLEC) it could be built for either, from the start..?

I don't know enough to understand why a tricycle undercarriage might be inconvenient: could you expand on this? Neither do I get your point about not inverting the model for battery disconnection.

Related to these areas of ignorance, no, I'm not beyond the trainer stage! For reasons to do with limited time, still working for a living, the lousy English weather (etc) I've been unable to get together with my training buddy more than intermittently: I have barely flown an aircraft at all... I did manage to crash my Radian Pro glider, though, so I've acquired some repair skills... Really like building, so I'm already anticipating my next, and which kit to buy.

rgds Tony

[Keith Evans 3]

HI the original SKY 40 was designed both for i.c and electric .All the conversion parts and assy. instruction were outlined on the original plan .

I believe the original build article even suggested an appropriate set up .

Keith