Skywalker 50 (oz13765)

About this Plan

Skywalker 50. Radio control slope glider model.

Quote: "Readers who have been with me more than four years now may recall seeing the accompanying photos of a very small and highly maneuverable slope glider called the Skywalker. I first mentioned it in my March 1984 column, and from that first mention have received many letters of inquiry, some as recent as only a few months ago. Because many of you out there on the slopes keep digging up this article and asking questions about the model, I feel that it would be worthwhile to run it again, this time with a miniature 'construction' article as a bonus.

To bring you up to speed on the Skywalker, let's take a look back at the original review:

Just in case you think I'm making this up, I've included photos of what I think is the most fascinating little slope glider I've ever seen. The gentleman you see holding this little gem is Dick Vader - no, not Darth Vader and no, he is no relation to George Lucas. The glider is called the Skywalker. Yes, the name was taken from the Star Wars epic, but the name was given to the glider by Dick's friends at the slope, he had nothing to do with its choice. It was a name that just simply stuck!

I became acquainted with this design soon after moving to Costa Mesa, California (that was in 1982). Terry Troxel, who literally lives (he moved too!) a stone's throw from the slope overlooking the Santa Ana River, was first to show me its abilities, and his own. I couldn't believe my eyes. There wasn't anything this little aerobatic slope ship couldn't do, and it could do it all in a mere puff of wind on a short section of cliff.

Close inspection of the Skywalker design reveals its simplicity. I believe its wingspan is 50 inches (52 including optional vortex tips), and its root chord is about five (oops, it is really six!). he wing is carved from solid balsa sheeting into a thin, highly cambered airfoil. Jack Chambers (an aerodynamicist) is credited with the design of the seven- or eight-percent thick section. The carved and sanded wing is then joined and reinforced with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin in the center, and merely resined everywhere else sans F/G cloth. Believe it or not, there is enough strength imparted by the resin alone to allow the Skywalker to be one tough customer.

Breaks in the wing caused by crashes are very easy to repair: just pick up the pieces and five-minute epoxy them together again. You could even use the thick CA glues for these repairs. I've seen some pretty ratty-looking Skywalkers, and they just seemed to fly better with age.

The fuselage on these critters are of the pod and boom variety. The pod is fashioned out of foam and fiberglass. The foam is hollowed out for the two-channel receiver and micro servos. A 100 mAh battery pack does the energizing from way up in the nose. The boom is a fiberglass arrow shaft.

The tail surfaces are shaped from 1/8-inch light sheet balsa and are likewise shaped and coated with epoxy resin. Cellophane tape hinges are used for simplicity and lightness.

My overall impression of the Skywalker is that it is a small, lightweight, knockabout, leave-it-in-the-car type of glider that you wouldn't hesitate to fly at any slope you might find while on your way to anywhere in your car. You wouldn't fear breaking it (it repairs too easily), you wouldn't fear weak lift (you can throw a Skywalker high enough that you almost don't need any), and you can always expect to be challenged by this model's near limitless agility. Like John Dyal said earlier (in the original article): Having fun is good for you.

The original Skywalker section ended with a paragraph about Dick Vader making ready-to-fly models for a fee. Well, that was just not practical for him to do on any scale above just his flying buddies at the slope, it also proved very expensive and required the loan of the complete radio system for the custom radio installation, not very attractive to long-distance business.

Well, from a not-too-recent telephone conversation that I had with Dick, I learned a few more details about building Skywalkers. I also came into a three-view of the plane from the Model Builder office which had dimensions for me to work from. I redrew the three-view, included the airfoils at full size, and included a few extra details and notes which now make it possible for you to make up a Skywalker yourself, if you should so desire.

First you will need to make a pair of templates of the JC airfoil from a sheet of .020-inch aluminum or brass (available from the K&S supplies rack at your hobby shop). Do this by photocopying the two airfoils from the three-view at 100 percent. With this copy you will make three templates (two identical six-inch and one four-inch). Cut out the airfoils from your photocopy. Use some 3-M 77 Spray adhesive (or similar) to stick each airfoil drawing to the metal.

By whatever means you have (ie hack saw, band saw, files, etc) cut and shape the templates right down to the lines and smooth them with 400-grit paper. You can stack-sand the two identical six-inch templates to assure their accuracy.

You will need three long, flat sanding tools, such as the 22-inch Tee-Bar from your local hobby shop, some spray adhesive, and three grades of sand paper: coarse, medium and fine. Cut the sand paper to fit the tools and apply with the spray adhesive. We are going to use these tools to shape our wings out of the sheet stock. A razor plane will also be handy to use, but not essential.

The wings are made from two sheets of 1/2- x 6- x 36-inch light balsa. The entire constant chord wing center panel may be made from one 36-inch sheet in two pieces (2 x 14 inches). Cut each panel 14 inches long. Sand the four end-grain edges smoothly with as near to a 90-degree edge as possible, use 400-grit. Very sparingly, tack glue the two 6-inch templates to the ends of one 14-inch panel using a thick CA. Use the coarse sandpaper (and maybe even a razor plane, but be careful not to over do it) to rough shape the top surface's contour, then progress to the medium, and finally fine grade papers to sand all the way down to actually touching the templates. Don't grind into the templates or they will be ruined! If it looks like the templates are moving relative to the wood, increase the tack glue points. This is similar to cutting a foam core, but the sanding blocks replace the cutting wire, and when you are finished, there is no core bed left over.

Flip the panel over. Carefully repeat the previous sand-down procedure. Make sure you sand over a flat surface so that you are always pressing directly over the line where the curved top surface is touching the workbench. The airfoil is pretty thin towards the trailing edge, and therefore fragile. Also, make sure the workbench doesn't have a rough surface or wood particles lying on it which will make a bad impression on your finished top surface..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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