Mountain Models Smooth E User manual

SmoothE Specifications

Length: 31 in. (79 cm.)

Wingspan (SP): 40in. (102 cm.)

Wingspan (SF): 46in. (117 cm.)

Wing Area (SP): 312in2(2013 cm2)

Wing Area (SF): 293in2(1890 cm2) 355in2(2290 cm2)

Weight (without battery): 10-12oz. (284-340 g.)

Mountain Models SmoothE

Revision History

Date Revision Notes/Comments

5/17/2004 Document initial creation.

Thank you for purchasing the SmoothE. This plane is an aileron/elevator/rudder setup, designed

for the intermediate pilot who wants a fun, small field plane. The SmoothE makes an excellent

aileron trainer if set up for low rates.

This manual covers both the SmoothE SP (Sport Flyer) and the SmoothE SF (Slow Flyer).

Sincerely,

Doug Binder

[email protected]

Mountain Models

465 D Street

P.O. Box 762

Penrose, CO 81240

www.mountainmodels.com

Phone: 719.372.6727

Created by Ross Design Group for exclusive use by Mountain Models.

Mountain Models SmoothE 3

Before You Begin

Before you begin building your SmoothE make sure you read and understand all of the

instructions thoroughly.

Additionally, you will need to have the following items. Check to make sure that all of your

parts are there and in good shape, and review a couple quick building tips to make this

whole process go quicker and easier.

What You Will Need

• Smooth and flat work surface

• Wax paper to protect the plans

• Thin Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue

• Foam Safe Glue – 5 minute epoxy, white glue, or foam safe medium CA

• Hobby knife with #11 blades

• Needle nose pliers

• Wire cutters

• Sanding block with 200 grit sandpaper

• 90°triangle or small square to true the bulkheads and fuselage

• 2" packing tape for covering the wings

• 1/2" fiber reinforced strapping tape

• 4 channel radio

• 4 channel receiver

• GWS EPS350C-C motor with a GWS 9x7 propeller

• 3 micro servos (we recommend either the Hitec HS55s or the GWS Picos)

• Electronic Speed Control (ESC) capable of handling at least 10 amps

• 8 cell 650 mAH KAN NiMH battery pack

Parts List

The following table lists all of the pieces that are in your SmoothE kit.

Number

in Kit Description of Part

Wire

1 3/32” x 14” landing gear wire

3 1/32” x 18” thin music wire for the pushrods and tail wheel

Foam

2 Front wing sections

2 Rear wing sections

Bagged Parts

1 1/8” round x 9” hardwood dowel

2 1 3/4” wheels

2 Internal star wheel retainers

1 1/2” tail wheel

1 6” heat shrink tubing

Mountain Models SmoothE

Number

in Kit Description of Part

1 6” Velcro strip for mounting the battery and receiver

1 7” double-sided Velcro strip for battery strap

1 Neodymium canopy hold down magnet

1 Washer for canopy hold down

1 4-40 landing gear retaining screw and blind nut

1 #2 x 3/8” motor retaining screw

General Building Tips

• Tape your plans to the work table, and then cover them with wax paper to protect

them.

• Balsa is a lightweight and fragile wood, so you do need to be careful with it;

however, you will also need to use a little bit of force to make everything fit

properly, so don’t be too timid.

• Join all of your wood pieces using thin CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue, unless we tell you

otherwise. In general, only a small amount of CA is necessary to glue parts together.

• Use only foam safe glue to attach the wing sections. Regular CA will dissolve the

foam.

• Don’t remove any pieces from the balsa sheets until they’re ready to be used. That

way, parts won’t get mixed up or disappear.

• After you remove pieces from the balsa sheets, carefully remove any of the extra

material from where the piece was attached.

• Don’t over force your pieces together. If they aren’t going together properly, make

sure you have the right pieces and that they are oriented correctly.

• If you want to remove the charred edges caused by the laser cutting process,

dampen a cloth with bleach and gently rub the affected areas. Removing the char

will not increase the strength but will make it look better.

Mountain Models SmoothE 5

Assembly Instructions

Okay, so now you are ready to actually build the SmoothE. If you follow these simple

instructions, we can have you flying in no time!

The Entire Process A to Z

Well, I suppose if you want to get technical, it is W to E (wings to electronics), but that

wouldn't make much sense… Hmm, maybe a compass reference would have made more

sense…ah well.

Step 1: Prepare your workspace for assembly.

Step 2: Assemble the wings.

Step 3: Assemble the ailerons.

Step 4: Install the aileron servo.

Step 5: Assemble the fuselage.

Step 6: Assemble and install the stabilizers, rudder, and elevator.

Step 7: Install the elevator and rudder servos.

Step 8: Assemble the landing gear.

Step 9: Install the motor.

Step 10: Attach the electronics.

Step 11: Finish the kit up with the tail wheel, batteries, landing gear, throws, and center of

gravity.

Final Step: On a calm day, find a field without too many trees or light poles and go fly.

Step 1: Preparing Your Workspace for Assembly

Before you begin assembling the SmoothE, you must prepare your workspace.

Making space in what is probably the most crowded place in your home

1. Lay out the plans on a flat worktable, and then tape them down.

2. Cover the plans with a sheet of wax paper. This will protect the plans from glue.

Step 2: Assembling the Wing

The first thing you are going to assemble is the wing of your airplane. This involves

assembling the spar, attaching the right side wing halves, attaching the left side wing

halves, and then applying the packing tape.

Do not let non-foam safe CA touch the foam. Regular CA will dissolve the foam.

Assembling the Spar

The spar is created by attaching the two balsa spar pieces together to create a single long

spar, and then attaching the plywood spar doubler. Although these pieces are shaped

differently depending on whether you are working on the Sport (SP) or Slow Flyer (SF) wing,

they all go together in the same way.

Mountain Models SmoothE

To remove the pieces, gently flex the balsa sheets until the pieces fall out. You may find

that you need to carefully trim the extra pieces of wood that originally held the piece to

the sheet.

For the spar, you will need:

• 1/64" plywood spar doubler for either the SP or SF version (Bagged Parts)

• Foam wing pieces for either the SP or SF version (Foam)

• 2 balsa spar pieces for either the SP or SF version

Sport Wing spar (you will only have this if you have the sport wing)

Slow Flyer spar (you will only have this if you have the slow flyer wing)

! Putting together the spar

1. Position the two balsa spar pieces together to form one long spar, applying thin CA to the

joint once it is snug and flush. It won't take much glue to do this, since it's wicked into the

balsa to form a secure bond.

Be careful to keep your fingers as far away from the glue as possible; otherwise, you

might become a part of the model permanently. If you do get stuck, remove yourself as

carefully as possible, trying to avoid taking any of the wood with you. Once separated,

remove the CA glue from your fingers using nail polish remover, or acetone, making

sure you wash your hands thoroughly when done.

2. Glue the 1/64” plywood spar doubler to the center of the spar, using the center joint

marks (located on the top edge of the spar) as a guide.

The image above is for the sport wing; however, the slow flyer

spar goes together in the same fashion.

3. Once the glue is dry, carefully remove the spar from the wax paper.

Attaching the Wing Pieces to the Spar

To attach the wing pieces to the spar, you need to understand a bit of terminology…once

you have this, these steps will become much clearer.

Mountain Models SmoothE 7

! Putting your wing together

1. Carefully determine which wing piece is which. To do this:

1) Lay the pieces out flat on your worktable.

2) Determine Top and Bottom: Note which side has more curve; the topside

has more of a curve then the bottom side. You now know what is the top and

bottom of your wing.

3) Determine Left and Right: The wings are tapered so that the "fatter" end

goes towards the wing root.

Now your wings are right side up and you know which left and which is right.

2. Position your right rear wing section flat on the worktable. Using the center joint marks

located on the top edge of the spar itself, position the balsa spar against the front of this

wing section, making sure that the spar is lined up with the center marks, and that the

plywood spar doubler is facing forward.

3. Apply foam safe glue to the back of the right-hand portion of the spar. Make sure that the

right rear wing section is still flat on the table, and then press the spar into the spot you

determined in Step 2. Wait for the glue to set up before continuing.

You can speed up the drying rate of CA by increasing the humidity. In the case of the

wing, you can lightly mist the foam with water on the side that does not have CA

applied to it. Once the other side with the CA hits the water, the CA will set up quickly.

In addition, if you choose to use a slower drying glue, you can use painter's tape (it's

the blue tape with low stickiness) to hold your wing pieces together as they dry.

Notice that the spar

doubler is facing forward,

so you can't see it here.

Mountain Models SmoothE

4. Apply foam safe glue to the front of the right-hand portion of the spar. Make sure that you

line up the right front wing section with the right rear wing section, taking care to ensure

that the left sections will also join up with these right sections properly, and then press the

wing into the spar. Wait for the glue to set up before continuing

The image above shows the right hand wing portion, it is just

turned around so it's facing you.

5. Attach the left wing sections in the same manner that you attached the right wing

sections, gluing the left sections to both the balsa spar, and then to the right wing

sections.

Pay close attention to the alignment of the left wing to the right wing. A poorly

aligned wing will cause the airplane to roll, necessitating the purchase of a new kit.

6. You may choose to round the leading edge of the wing tip with some 200 grit sandpaper.

Test fit the wing into the fuselage to make sure it fits flush. If the

wing does not fit flush, you need to sand the trailing edge where it meets the fuselage. Be

careful not to overdo the sanding.

Taping the Wing

You will apply fiber strapping tape to the wing for strength and to improve its

crashworthiness.

1. Lightly sand the entire wing. Remove all the dust or the tape will not adhere.

2. It is advisable but not essential to lightly mist the entire wing with 3M 77 spray adhesive.

Allow the adhesive to dry for 30 minutes before continuing. You can also use a very light

coating of water based contact cement.

Back of the wing

Front of the wing

Back of the wing

Front of the wing

Mountain Models SmoothE 9

The adhesive spray is known to contain acetone which will eat foam. In order to

minimize the problems, you must have a clean nozzle emitting a fine mist, which is

kept a good distance away from the wing and moved quickly. Apply a very light

coating on the surfaces, allow some dry time, and then apply another light

coating, letting it evaporate a bit before bonding. The slight eating of the foam

ends up being part of the bond.

3. Apply a strip of fiber reinforced strapping tape across the bottom of the wing at the spar,

overlapping the wingtip by 1” and wrapping it around the side. Apply a second strip 1” in

front of the spar, also wrapping it around the side. The tape should be tight, but not so

tight as to warp the wings.

4. Apply strapping tape across the top of the wing in the same manner as the bottom.

Covering the Wing

Next, you are going to cover the SmoothE using either colored wing tape, or clear packing

tape. You can use additional colored tapes to give your wing detail.

Choosing a Pattern

Make sure you choose a high contrast pattern using at least two colors, with the darker

color on the bottom and the lighter color on top. This will help you differentiate up from

down and left from right. Try drawing your pattern out on paper before attempting it on

your wing.

For a more in depth discussion of color and visibility, you may want to

read the article "Don't Color Me Gone", written by Dr. Robert Suding, located at:

http://www.ultimatecharger.com/color.html

Applying the Covering Tape

For the SmoothE, we recommend using wing tape (a colored tape) which can be purchased

from Mountain Models or clear packing tape which can be purchased at many office supply

stores.

1. Spray the bottom of the wing with 3M 77 and let it set for about 5 - 15 minutes, until it is

tacky.

See the warning on the previous page regarding the adhesive spray. In order to

minimize the problems, you must have a clean nozzle emitting a fine mist, which is

kept a good distance away from the wing and moved quickly.

Mountain Models SmoothE

2. Starting on the bottom of your wings, apply the wing tape (don't stretch it, just pull it

from the roll and smooth it on) across the center joint, overlapping the top of the wing by

1/2". Repeat for the top of your wings, overlapping the bottom by 1/2".

3. Starting from the trailing edge and unrolling the tape towards the leading edge, cover the

bottom of your wings, overlapping each piece by 1/2". The tape should also extend past

the center of the wing by 2” and past the wing tip by 1/2".

Keeping your scissors or hobby knife clean is very important to the covering

process. After every five to ten cuts, wipe your blade with a Windex dampened

paper towel. The residue from the tape can make clean cuts almost impossible

since the tape will stick to the blades and just rip instead of cut.

4. Once the bottom of your wings are done, trim the excess tape so that there is only a slight

bit left, which will be used to wrap the edges.

5. Repeat Steps 3-4 for the tops of your wings.

You can use permanent markers to decorate your covering if you don't want to add

weight or covering complexity.

Smoothing out the Covering Tape

Using a heat gun, you are can carefully shrink the tape until you get a glassy finish. This is

not a required step, but will make the surface look more polished.

1. Start shrinking the bottom of the wings first, beginning at the leading edge and moving

towards the trailing edge. Do the middle areas last.

2. Follow the heat gun's path using a covered hand (you can use a thick, clean sock or a

towel), pressing down firmly, smoothing the surface and allowing the tape to adhere to

the adhesive. Be careful around the pushrods as the tape may pull in that area.

3. Once the bottom is done, shrink the top in the same fashion.

Step 3: Assembling the Ailerons

The ailerons will be assembled and then attached to the wing. You will need:

• Aileron pieces (Sport wing)

• Aileron pieces (Slow flyer wing)

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