Sky Viewer (oz16457)

About this Plan

Sky Viewer. Radio control sport model for electric power with E-flite 370 or equivalent 1,080 Kv brushless outrunner. Wingspan 41 in, wing area 399 sq in.

Note this plan is a free download available from the Model Aviation site at https://www.modelaviation.com/sky-viewer where it appears along with the full build text and some great build pics. Also a tiled print version of the plan.

Quote: "I never quit dreaming of another airplane that I would like to design. The Sky Viewer is one of those recent dreams. I was inspired when I saw a YouTube video of the Vulcan, which basically has a glass nose, giving the pilot an impressive forward view. The Vulcan is a twin-engine airplane with the propellers on the wings and the pilot sits in front of them. I was thinking about my own full-scale aircraft pilot training roughly 14 years ago and how I struggled to know when I was going to touch down because my forward view was obstructed by the forward-mounted engine and propeller. Of course, when flying RC, you don’t ever wonder when your airplane is going to touch down because you can clearly see when that will happen.

I like to design airplanes that potentially could be upscaled and flown by a pilot. For that reason, plus the fact that it looks great, I am using a rear-mounted engine and pusher propeller on the Sky Viewer. This model also has a nearly fully clear nose, which offers a much better view than what a front-engine airplane can offer a pilot. It also has extremely light wing loading for comfortable slow or dead-stick landings, and I kept it simple with a lot of dihedral in the wing so that only rudder and elevator are needed for flight control. A tandem, two-seat arrangement allows for a narrower cockpit for less drag, and this airplane would be fun to scale up to full scale. The passenger also gets a truly great view of the sky through the transparent portions of the wing. Let’s get into building.

Cutting Out the Parts: Figure 1 shows a stack of parts that I cut out to build this airplane. Everything was cut with a scroll saw, and I glued the paper patterns to the balsa or plywood with a glue stick. With some parts, stack your plywood or balsa so that you can cut two at a time, such as the fuselage side panels and wing ribs. Other parts have edges cut on various angles, and you will want to set your scroll saw to cut on the angles indicated.

Building the Tail Section: >Figure 2 shows the horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical stabilizer, and rudder all pinned and glued over the plans on the building board. Make sure that you cover the plans with waxed paper before you start gluing everything together. When all of the pieces have dried, slot the balsa strips as indicated for the nylon hinges. Test-fit the hinges, but don’t glue them in yet. Sand all of the leading edges (LEs) and trailing edges (TEs) to a small radius. This is the most tedious part of the build, which is why you are doing it first..."

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