Mountain Models DuskStik User manual

DuskStik Builder’s

Manual

Thank you for purchasing the DuskStik. The DuskStik has been designed to be easy to build, easy to fly,

and strong enough to withstand the abuse of a beginner pilot. The plans have been written for the first

time builder. Take your time and enjoy building this plane. It is a great, well-behaved flyer. I have had

many wonderful hours flying it and hope you will too.

Doug May 17, 2001

Last revised March 25, 2002

www.mountainmodels.com

(719) 592-1387

(719) 528-6125 fax

Required Equipment

To build:

! Xacto with #11 blades

! Thin and Thick CA – Cyanoacrylate glue (Super Glue)

! Sanding block with 200 grit sandpaper

! Smooth, flat work table

! Wax paper to protect plans

! Needle nose pliers

! Wire cutters

! Hobby Iron for applying covering – also called a sealing iron

To fly:

! Three channel radio (The FMA Extreme 5 is highly recommended, second is the GWS-R4P

micro receiver. The Hitec Feather with the Laser 4 transmitter provides a low cost solution for a

first time radio, however, the Feather receiver has a reputation for glitching easily. In my opinion,

if you can afford it, you are much better off starting with a good radio such as the Hitec Flash 5 G

with HS55 servos substituted for the HS80s that normally come with it.)

! Two micro servos: Hitec HS50s, HS55s, or GWS Pico servos recommended

! GWS A motor with 1047 propeller

! Motor Speed Control: GWS ICS50 or GS100 suggested

! Battery pack: 7 cell 300mAH Nickel Metal Hydride recommended.

Parts List

1 ea – 1/32” laser cut balsa spar webbing sheet

1 ea – 3/32” laser cut balsa sheet

1 ea – 1/16” laser cut balsa rib sheet

1 ea – 1/32” laser cut plywood sheet

4 ea – 1/8”x1/4”x36” balsa spars

2 ea – 1/8”x36” hardwood dowel leading edge

1 ea – 1/16”x3/4”x5” plywood battery holder

4 ea – 3/16”x5/16”x2 ¾” balsa breakaway motor mount (3 spares)

1 ea – .085”x3/8”x2 1/8” solid wood servo mount spacer

1 ea – 1/4" carbon fiber fuselage tube

2 ea – .050” carbon fiber pushrods

2 ea – 1/4"x7” carbon fiber spar reinforcement tape

1 ea – 1/16” landing gear wire

1 ea – 14” thin music wire for tail skid and pushrod ends

1 ea – Heat shrink tubing for pushrods and wheel retainers

1 ea – Velcro strip for mounting the battery

1 ea – Kevlar thread for attaching landing gear and skid to fuselage

1 ea – Wire tie pushrod retainer

1 ea – Tire Rubber

2 ea – 1/2” long aluminum tube wheel axle bearings

1 ea – Roll of covering material

Notes and Hints

• The plywood built up parts should be assembled with thick CA or white glue. Thin CA sets up

too fast to allow you to align the parts.

• The DuskStik has been designed with weight in mind. Parts and reinforcements were chosen so as

to keep the plane light. Special care must be taken when making glue joints to ensure that the

DuskStik can survive rough landings.

• There is very little that is critical when building the DuskStik. The only thing that requires special

attention is to make sure the wings are not twisted. If the wings are straight, the DuskStik should

fly hands-off without any trim.

• Heat shrink can be heated with a hairdryer, a soldering iron, or, if you dare, with a lighter. Pay

close attention to what is near the heat shrink when you are heating it.

• You really need the sealing iron. You will find putting on the covering so much easier. They are

reasonably inexpensive and invaluable

DuskStik Assembly

Motor Mount, Wing Mount, Wheel, and Servo Mount Assembly

1. Break apart all plywood parts, set control horns aside.

2. Glue two motor mounts together with thick CA.

Fig 1.

3. Cut out wing mount and wing yoke from 3/32” balsa.

4. Sandwich balsa wing mount with plywood wing mounts (plywood-balsa-plywood), glue with

thick CA or white glue. Do the same for the wing yoke.

5. Slide the yoke into the mount, insuring that the yoke is flush with the top of the mount. Glue with

thick CA.

Fig 2.

Wing Mount Flush Wing Yoke

6. Build wheels the same as in step 3, i.e., sandwich plywood-balsa-plywood. In this case it is

plywood hub, balsa hub, plywood wheel, balsa wheel, plywood wheel, balsa hub, plywood hub.

Slide the parts over the aluminum tube and get everything aligned. The smaller round punch-out

with the axle hole is the wheel hub. Flow thin CA over the wheel to glue it taking care to not get

CA in the aluminum tube.

Fig 3.

Wrap the tire rubber around your wheel to measure it and cut it 1/16" too short. Glue the ends

together with CA. You now have a ring. Slip the ring over the wheel, center it then glue it to the

wheel with thin CA.

7. Using four plywood servo mounts and solid wood servo mount spacer, glue up servo mount with

thick CA. Spacing is determined by the servos you use. The servo should fit snug but not tight.

Trim excess solid wood.

Fig 4.

Spacing determined by servos.

Vertical Stabilizer, Rudder, Horizontal Stabilizer, and Elevator Assembly

The tail assemblies are made up from parts found on the 3/32” balsa laser cut sheet. The plans are laid out

on a flat worktable and taped down, and then a sheet of wax paper is laid over the plans. This will protect

the plans from the glue. The pieces of balsa are positioned over the plans. Each joint can be glued by

holding the two pieces in place and applying a drop of thin CA to the joint. In the past, you may have

used pins to hold parts down, but I find this process to be faster and you don’t have to worry about the pin

damaging the 1/8” balsa. You do have to worry about keeping your fingers far enough away from the

joints or your fingers will become part of the model.

Fig 5.

Rudder

Vertical Stabilizer

Horizontal Stabilizer

Elevator

1. Tape plans for vertical stabilizer and rudder to a flat building surface, and cover with wax paper.

2. Using the drawing as a guide, glue with thin CA the vertical stabilizer and rudder. When dry,

remove from wax paper and reinforce joints with thick CA. Set aside.

3. Using the drawing as a guide, glue with thin CA the horizontal stabilizer and elevator. When dry,

remove from wax paper and reinforce joints with thick CA. Set aside.

Wing Assembly

Note: The wing can be built as a dihedral or polydihedral, standard 42” or extended 50” wing. There

are two extra ribs on the 3/32” balsa sheet for the extended wing. The standard wing is a good, all

around wing, which can handle small amounts of wind. The extended wing is more suited for thermal

chasing and slower flight but will be more susceptible to gusts. The polydihedral wing is an excellent

wing for beginners. It is very stable and handles slow flight exceptionally well. The dihedral wing

will loop better and is more fun at higher speeds.

Building the extended wing involves adding an additional rib to the end of each wing and moving the

polydihedral break out one rib.

1. If you are not building the extended wing, cut off the extra length of the trailing edge. Cut outside

the notch (keep the notch).

Fig 6.

If you are building the extended wing, glue the trailing edge extensions on to the trailing edge

pieces with thick CA. Why didn’t I just make the trailing edge 25”? The laser cutter will only cut

up to 24”! Fig 7.

2. Sand the rear edge of the trailing edge to make it rounded.

Fig 8.

Back of Trailing Edge rounded

3. Remove ribs from 1/16” balsa sheet. Stack up the ribs and lightly sand the edges to remove the

little nubs that held the ribs in the sheet.

4. Tape the wing plans down on a flat building surface and cover the wing half you are building with

a sheet of wax paper to keep the glue off the plans.

Polydihedral Wing Assembly (To build Dihedral Wing, go to step 26)

Note: R1 through R8 indicate rib 1 through rib 8.

Build center wing section

Fig 9.

5. Cut trailing edge and lower spar (1/8”x1/4”) at the polydihedral break as marked on the plans.

This is 14 inches out, or 17.5 inches out for the extended wing. Cut outside the notch on the

trailing edge.

6. Position trailing edge and lower spar over plans.

7. Position ribs R2 – R4 (R2 - R5 for extended wing) on lower spar and trailing edge. Note that you

are not gluing the end ribs on now, just the middle ribs.

8. When everything is aligned, glue ribs in place with thin CA.

9. Use rib gauge as shown to angle R1 inward. This creates the proper wing angle between the

center wings.

Fig 10.

10. Use rib gauge to angle R5 inward (R6 for extended wing) inward.

11. Position top spar (1/8”x1/4”) across R1 – R5 (R6 for extended wing), mark length, cut, and glue

with thin CA. Cut the spar so that the cut matches the angle of the ribs.

12. Position 1/8” leading edge dowel from R1 – R5 (R6 for extended wing), mark, cut, and glue with

thick CA. The 1/8” dowel commonly has some warp to it. It is not necessary to remove the warp

but it is a good idea to orient the bow horizontally, not vertically

13. Cut to length and glue with thin CA the 4ea 1/32” balsa spar webbing between R1 and R5.

14. Glue the eight ¾” triangle braces in place with thick CA.

Fig 11.

Spar Webbing Braces Sand flush with rib

15. Sand the ends of the leading edge, trailing edge, and two spars so that they are flush with ribs.

Build outer wing section

We will build the outer wing directly onto the center wing to ensure a good fit between the two. The

outer edge of the center wing will be held down with tape to hold it in position, and the inner edge of

the center wing will be lifted to form the correct angle between the center and outer edge. See Fig 13.

16. Tape R5 (R6 for extended wing) to wax paper over plans.

17. Lift R1 until it is 5” high, measured from the bottom of the rib.. This will set the proper dihedral

angle for the outside wing (for the extended wing, measure 5” from R2).

18. Sand outer-lower spar until it mates with center wing section lower spar. Cut to length.

19. Sand outer-trailing edge to mate.

20. Position trailing edge and lower spar over plans.

21. Position R6 and R7 (R7 and R8 extended) over spar and trailing edge and glue with thin CA.

22. Position top spar (1/8”x1/4”), mark length, cut, and glue with thin CA. Cut the spar so that the cut

matches the angle of the other spar so that they meet flush.

23. Position 1/8” leading edge dowel, mark, cut, and glue with thick CA. You should sand the dowel

so that it is flush with the inner leading edge dowel.

24. Cut to length and glue with thin CA the remaining 1/32” balsa spar webbing. On the extended

wing, the last rib bay does not get spar webbing.

25. Add the four ¾” triangle braces.

26. Make other half of wing following the previous steps.

27. Go to “Completing the wing”.

Fig 12.

Outer rib of center wing taped to plan. Inner rib raised 5”.

Dihedral Wing Assembly

28. Cut trailing edge and lower spar (1/8”x1/4”) to length as marked on the plans. This is 21 inches

out, or 25 inches out for the extended wing. Cut outside the notch on the trailing edge. The

extended wing trailing edge is already the correct length.

29. Position trailing edge and lower spar over plans.

30. Position ribs R2 – R7 (R2 – R8 for extended wing) on lower spar and trailing edge. Note that you

are not gluing the center rib (R1) on now.

31. When everything is aligned, glue ribs in place with thin CA.

32. Use rib gauge as shown to angle R1 inward. This creates the proper wing angle between the

center wings. (Fig 10)

33. Position top spar (1/8”x1/4”) across R1 – R7 (R8 for extended wing), mark length, cut, and glue

with thin CA. Cut the spar so that the cut matches the angle of the center rib.

34. Position 1/8” leading edge dowel from R1 – R7 (R8 for extended wing), mark, cut, and glue with

thick CA. The 1/8” dowel commonly has some warp to it. It is not necessary to remove the warp

but it is a good idea to orient the bow horizontally, not vertically

35. Cut to length and glue with thin CA the 6 1/32” balsa spar webbing between R1 and R5. (Fig.11)

36. Glue the five ¾” triangle braces in place with thick CA

37. Sand the ends of the leading edge, trailing edge, and spars so that they are flush with ribs. (Fig 11)

38. Make other half of wing following the previous steps.

Completing the wing

39. Glue wing halves together using thick CA. Rather than concern yourself with the angle of the two

halves, ensure that the halves meet flush and that you have a good glue bond.

40. Glue the 7” strips of carbon fiber tape to the top and bottom spars where they join using thin CA.

The CA must flow under the entire length of the carbon tape. Use wax paper to hold tape down.

Fig 13.

41. To prevent the outer ribs from bowing in when you cover the wings, glue a piece of 1/8” x 1/4"

balsa from the trailing edge to the spar webbing and another from the spar webbing to the leading

edge. Fig 14

42. Set aside for covering later.

Fuselage Assembly

1. Lightly sand the carbon fiber fuselage tube to remove any coating so that the CA will stick to it

better.

2. Bend the 1/16” music wire landing gear as follows:

2a. Bend the 1/16” music wire in half.

2b. Measure back ¾” from bend and make the second 90 deg bends, angling out slightly from

each other.

2c. Create the final bend for the wheels 6” from previous bend insuring that the legs are the same

length.

Fig 15.

3. Attach landing gear 2” back from end of the carbon fiber tube. Wrap the gear and fuselage with

Kevlar thread then apply a few drops of thin CA till the threads are soaked. Save some thread for

the tail skid. Fig 16.

Two inches back from front of fuselage tube.

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