Chapter 1 - My First Slow Flyer
My Stik started as a "box stock" project. I used all the items supplied in the kit and built it almost exactly according to plans except for the dihedral addition (I knew about this before I started).The wing needed to be pushed almost to the middle of the fuse stik to balance it. With radio installed and motor/ESC hooked up, I was ready to fly (if I could call it flying - keep reading), so I packed up and headed for the front yard.
Chapter 2 - OH NOooo! My LiteStik is a LemonStik
I didn't weigh the Stik but it seemed fairly light. I charged up the 6-cell Sanyo NiCd pack I made and hand-launched it from about 6 ft. It climbed all of about 10 ft. and after a circle or two in the cul-de-sac it descended to the ground. I think it was about a 10 second flight.Blah :-( :-( :-(
You know that feeling when you spend a lot of money and time to do something and it's supposed to work but doesn't? Yeah you all know it... well this was my n'th such experience and I hate that feeling.
Subsequent tests with a new 7-cell 280 mAh NiMH battery pack produced roughly the same results. It was cold outside, about 30-35 deg. F., so I didn't expect much from the NiMH batteries anyway.
"Hm, I wonder if I can sell all of this on Ebay"
At this point two things could happen:
1) You quit the hobby (optional but not required: you step on the plane, stuff it into the garbage can and go back to watching \ golf on TV), or
2) You get determined to make the thing fly.Being a modeler for 38 or so years ( I'm 43 now, and remember my first model I tried to build with contact cement - ??!!), I selected option 2 above and proceeded to figure out what was going on.
Chapter 3 - 2001, a Lite-Stik Odyssey
I did a search on google.com for 'Lite Stik' and found www.nyblimp.com's World-Renowned-LiteStik-Pages and read EVERY single page. (You guys have AMAZING imaginations and inventiveness!)I then:
1) decided which mods I needed to do and wanted to do (in that order), and
2) figured out how to made the mods I wanted WITH STUFF I HAD ON HAND.Step 2 is crucial if you want to get your model done quickly and it avoids discouragement, thinking you need to use exactly what you see someone else using in order to make something work.
I had noted from the LiteStik pages that a lot of modelers were using carbon rods and tubes to do all sorts of amazing things to their Stiks. I also noted that some people were also accomplished machinists, and had access to some equipment that would make the rest of us drool with envy. Oh well, I still like my X-acto knife and my sandpaper block. Besides, the only carbon rods I had on hand were in the I.F.O. kit I had, and I didn't want to pirate anything out of it.
Chapter 4 - Re-building America, One Lite-Stik at a Time. Here are pics and details about how I re-built my Stik:
- masking tape - clear packing tape (servo, rx, ESC, wingtip dowel mounting) - 1/8" dowel (battery hold-downs) - 1/16" sheet balsa (battery mount, tail skid) - 1/8" sheet balsa (wing spars to attach bamboo dowels) - 1/8" square balsa (pushrods) - Oral-B plain waxed dental floss (mint could also be used) (:-) |  | Plastic servo mounts Plastic battery tray Rubber tires Rubber spinner Decals |
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| I sanded the rear of the fuse stik into a triangle shape to reduce weight. The tail is a little more flimsy but only along the rotational axis of the fuse and it doesn't affect up/down or left/right movement. I used a Dremel Moto-Tool with a small drum sander but if you do this after the tail is glued you have to be VERY careful not to damage the foam pieces | The tail skid is 1/16" balsa - lighter than the wire skid
and more rigid. I completely cut through the rudder/fin & stab/elevator and hinged them with clear tape. The control horns are stock from the kit. | |
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| The pushrods are 1/8" sq. balsa and the wire from the kit. It works fine, I don't need a pushrod guide, and I can change to high-tech carbon in the future if I want to. Putting the elevator control horn on the TOP is a really great idea, as you can hand-launch the model by holding the fuse just behind the wing. | That pesky wing mount needs more dihedral. The front wing mount/landing gear mount is stock, but I made some changes to the wing. I made some balsa spars out of 1/8" balsa and glued them to the L.E. and T.E. where the bamboo dowels where supposed to go. Then I attached the dowels to the spars, incorporating a little dihedral by angling the dowels. It turned out that I didn't add enough dihedral, so if I did this again I would angle the dowels even more. This would also require making the spars a little higher. | I added dental floss and 1/8" dowel to wingtips to increase dihedral |
 |  | I made two 8x280 mAh NiMH packs but I might try some Lithium cells in the future. |
| The radio is a stock GWS Pico with .2 oz servos,
.2 oz rx, and (I think) 2 gram ICS-50 ESC
| I copied the idea about wrapping the servos in tape and this worked REALLY well for me. First I wrapped the servo with 1 wrap of clear plastic tape, and then 1 wrap of masking tape. I CA'd the servos, receiver, and speed to control to the fuse this way. It is really neat and strong as well. | |
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| The battery mount (1/16" balsa, 1/8" dowel) works really well for me and makes battery changing very easy. | ||
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Chapter 5 - Orville and Wilbur would have been proud.
It was about 3 pm, a bit chilly, maybe 25-30 degrees F. I just charged my new 8-cell NiMH pack, rubber-banded the battery to the mount, connected it to the radio (I don't use a switch) (be SURE to turn on the TX first!) checked the control movement (about 20 deg each side of neutral for all surfaces), and holding it by the fuse just in back of the wing, I hand-launched it into the very slight breeze.After a few turns in the cul-de-sac it STARTED TO CLIMB!!!! This is every modeler's favorite moment - you know it works, you don't know how well, but it looks like it's going to be GREAT!!
After about 30 seconds, I was up about 75 ft. or so and just circling around at a little over 1/2 throttle. A couple kids across the street saw the plane flying and seemed to like it too - "Hey look at that, what kind of plane is that?" "It's a radio control, see that guy standing in his front yard in the snow flying it"
They were right about the snow, and I was starting to get cold fingers, so I pulled the throttle back to about 1/3 and started coming down nice and easy.
In a 50ft. diameter cul-de-sac you have to make a fairly tight circle to avoid the trees, but even with that I managed a nice smooth landing.
Now, for newcomers to modelling, you've probably seen this before - after a great flight and a perfect landing, the modeler slowly walks over to his plane, picks it up, and slowly walks back to the flight line - all the while appearing as though this is 'par for the course', 'this is what always happens', 'it was an "okay" flight, nothing more', etc. Well I GUARANTEE you that if you could see inside that modeler, he is doing cartwheels, jumping up and down with excitement, shouting how great this is, and generally acting like a little kid! At least that's what I did as soon as I got inside the house!
That's what is so great about modeling - you try something new and it's like starting all over in the hobby.
Chapter 6 - A Happy Ending and Thanks to All
A few minutes after this first great flight with the 'new' Lite Stik, I logged on to the internet and sent Gabe an e-mail about what just happened, thanks to the info I got on this site. Like I told him, if it weren't for ALL you guys who contributed your experiences and Lite Stik modifications, I for sure wouldn't have been airborne so quickly. I want to thank each and every one of you for your help in getting my Stik going and for that great feeling of being a kid again with his first plane - this is what it is all about.Peter Delevoryas
Feb 18, 2001
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