Airfield Models - Rebuilding My Stik 30

My Stik 30 Rebuild

December 18, 2021



Home
About
What's New
History
Models Gallery
Model Building Safety
Articles
Mail & FAQ
Site Map
Site Feedback
Contact
Add to Favorites
Comments
Search Airfield Models

Back to Rebuilding My Stik 30

 

Airfield Models (http://www.airfieldmodels.com/)The Landing Gear

The original tail wheel bracket was an aileron horn set into the fuselage tail post.  The tail wheel wire was bent and set into a plastic tube glued into a hole drilled in the rudder.

The setup worked very well but couldn't be used with the new rudder.  The old rudder came down the fuselage such that it just cleared the elevator when it was full up.

Rustik's tail wheel wire broke and can not be fixed as it was without removing the rudder.  That will require surgery and it's not an option.

Rustik is now using a skid but if this idea works well I'll probably do the same for Rustik so it can have a steerable tail wheel again.

The new rudder for My Stik 30 is flush with the top of the fuselage as is Rustik's.  Learning from my experience with Rustik I knew that I had to find a different way to steer the tail wheel.

 
 
The original dural aluminum main landing gear weighed 112 grams. The original dural aluminum landing gear weighed 112 grams — approximately 4 ounces.
The wood landing gear weighs 81 grams. The wood landing gear I made for Rustik was a little too short and didn't give much ground clearance.  It is the perfect size for this model and weighs only 81 grams over one ounce lighter than the aluminum gear.

Rustik needs a new landing gear now.

The new "improved" tail wheel bracket.

The tail wheel wire is bent from 3/32 music wire.  I drilled a second hole in a 3/32" wheel collar to receive steering arms.

The steering arms are cut from a 4-40 pushrod with a hole drilled through the rod just past the end of the threaded portion.  The arms were chucked in a drill and a small point was ground into the end of the arm so that it can bite into the tail wheel wire.

I drilled a hole just past the threaded portion of each arm so that I can insert a wire to tighten the arm.  I also used Loctite on the arms and all set-screws.

The inside of the axle has a stainless steel washer silver soldered which I think always looks nicer than a wheel collar.  Because the hub is plastic I didn't attempt to solder a washer on the opposite side.  I used a wheel collar instead.

The tail wheel is steered using pull-pull controls. Adjustable horn brackets are threaded onto the steering arms.

Clevises are threaded onto 2-56 shanks cut from a threaded rod.  These are drilled the same as the steering arms to receive the pull-pull lines.

I used 10# line for the tail wheel because I'd rather the line breaks than the servo gears strip.  I'm not sure if it will work that way.  10# line is probably too strong.  So far the setup has worked very well and I don't expect any problems unless the lines get snagged on some weeds or something.

The pull-pull cable exits and antenna tube. Here you can see the entire setup.  I glued 1/8" plastic tubes into the bottom decking and sanded them flush with the decking.

Balsa exit fairings were carved, sanded and glued over the tubes to neaten the appearance and to keep crud out of the tubes.

After gluing the stabilizer in place I drilled through the stabilizer and into a balsa block in the fuselage to receive hardwood dowel hard points.  The dowels were drilled to receive the screws for the tail wheel mount.

I made an antenna tube from a balsa stick.  The stick was run through my table saw to about 2" from the end.  The outside was shaped on my router/shaper table.

A hole was drilled in the bottom of the fuselage and the finished tube was glued in place.  A piece of music wire with a small hoop bent on the end was slide into the tube.  The antenna was put through the hoop and then pulled through the tube.

I wrapped about 12" of the antenna around a bobbin that was included with the Hitec receiver according the Hitec instructions so that much less of the antenna trails behind the aircraft than shown here.

 
 

Previous —
Next —

Rebuilding the Tail Feathers
Apply Fiberglass Cloth to a Model Aircraft

Comments about this article

 
 

Back to Rebuilding My Stik 30
Airfield Models Home

 
 

Copyright © 2006 Paul K. Johnson