WindyHill Hobbies 60" Swift

[mlachow]

WindyHill Hobbies Swift

Wingspan 1520mm (60 inches)

Length 820mm (32 inches)

Weight 700g (25oz) 27 oz actual

Manufacturer WindyHillHobbies

Web Site https://windyhillhobbies.com/product/swift-60

Main WIngs - Two Piece

Main Wing Materials - EPP Foam, Fiberglass Rods, CF Strip, PLA 3D Printed root/servo mount, Balsa ailerons. 5mil covering material

Airfoil - ?

Fuselage - EPP Foam, 3D Printed servo, wing rod mount, 3D Printed tail cone, tail mount, square CF tube , ply, vacuum formed canopy

Tail - removable balsa tail with 3D Printed inserts

Control Surfaces - Ailerons (2), Rudder, Elevator

[mlachow]

I noticed this kit on RC Groups. I haven't built a slope ship in a long time but this one looked interesting enough. It used a whole bunch of different materials that I had not used too much in building. The last EPP foamies I built were back in the days where they got covered with strapping tape and covering. And 2.4 wasn't even available yet. This wing uses some fiberglass rods for spars and uses a 3D printed part for the root/servo mount. The only 3D printed stuff I have used has been more for tools and stuff around the shop. It also called for clear gorilla glue which I haven't used before. And the covering material is 5mil laminating film, something else new to me. About the only old thing is the aileron. Some balsa that I'll get to cover with monokote....

The box comes with all the foam parts, 3D parts, rods and hardware.


Here are the 3D printed parts.


There is a little fuzz on the 3D printing but the printing was fine. There was two minor problems with the foam cores. One top surface had a ridge in it that looks like it might have been caused by a minor defect in the foam hanging up the wire a little during the cut. I could see one hard spot where the ridge happened. But it wasn't too bad. The cores are cut along the chord and then the root us cut out for the 3D printed part. One panel had the cutout shifted forward about 1/32. The only disappointing part was the elevator balsa which had a bow in it. It's hard to get good balsa these days.

[mlachow]

There is a nice PDF assembly manual. I started with the wing. The first order is installing the 3D printed part in the core. I noticed on one panel the grooves for the fiberglass rods did not align with the core.

I cut the back edge of the core to place it in line with the spars. Then I added some thin balsa to the front of the 3D part to fill in.

I taped the core bottoms to the work table and aligned them to get ready to glue in the 3D parts. A bit of glue on the cores and a wipe of the plastic with some water. Everything was placed in the core beds and taped.

I did have to fill in the cutout part of the bed and I used some plastic film to make sure the beds don't get stuck in the glue up. Add weights and wait.

[mlachow]

Well this goop stuff takes time to dry, at least 2 hours clamped. So it is time to move to the fuselage.

The foam for the fuselage is really just an outside shell. The real structure is all buried inside. The front pod is built up of some 3D printed parts and plywood. The boom is a square carbon rod and then a 3D printed tail piece. The tail piece has some holes in it for push rods, the square tube, and some reinforcing rods. The plastic is not the strongest thing so there are two holes in the tail piece to insert some fiberglass rods. Those get glued with CA.

Make sure you check the holes for the push rods. I needed to clear the one for the elevator pushrod.


The front pid requires some short plastic rods that are in the hardware pack. Those rods are inserted into holes in the side of the 3D parts and glued with CA. Those rids then fit into holes laser cut in the ply parts and things get glued with CA. I used some weight while gluing up.



THis is what you have once both sides are glued.


The next step is to fit the carbon rod. I used a small file to clear out the square slot on the front and tail pieces. Don't go crazy filing, just to the minimum to get it to slide together tightly. I had to trim the length about 1/8 to get the fuselage length to match up with the foam sides.


The last thing to do is measure an cut the guide tubes for the pushrods. The guide slides into the front and tail. Slide in the actual pushrods to make sure that things move smoothly. The inside of the fuselage was nicely cut to hold all of this stuff.



Now everything is ready for a final glue up with the Gorilla glue. I cut some plastic to fit between the fuse outside beds while the glue dries. Make sure you get glue in all the right places, assemble, and then weight and wait,,,,

[Steve P]

Nice! You’re so right, the foamie world has made some great progress. Thanks for sharing.

[mlachow]

The tail is simple. Glue in some inserts for bolt holes. Then shape LE, hinge lione, TE before covering.

[mlachow]

After gluing in the wing root / servo piece it is time to add the spars. The non foaming clear gorilla glue requires some moisture. The spar has to be wiped with a damp cloth to get this stuff to kick. The safest thing to do is one side at a a time It is a bit harder to attempt to do spars on the top and bottom at the same time. The blue tape is not sticky enough for EPP foam. The yellow paint masking tape worked better. The glue takes a few hours to set, You might be able to move along after two hours but 3-4 hours is probably safer. After you peel the tape off, you still might want to wipe down the wing with water in case there are any spots that did not cure yet.




After the spars cured overnight the TE carbon gets added to complete building the wing.

[mlachow]

The fuse was clamped overnight but there was a little gap between the two foam pieces on the fuse bottom in the servo area. I put some more glue in there and clamped just that edge of the fuselage to squeeze it together.

The next step was a little shaping on the fuselage. The corners need to be rounded a little. EPP foam so coarser grits are needed than balsa and don't apply too much pressure to avoid pulling out beads. Lets see what it looks like assembled.


I also trimmed the canopy. It still needs to be painted. I saved a few of the pieces trimmed off to use for testing paint. Plenty of servos will fit. I had four JR396 servos in the basement. They will fit the fuselage and the wing. The plans call for a 4-cell 2/3A NiMh pack but I hate NiMh especially for things I don't use very often. I am going to put in a 4-cell AAA Eneloop square pack. My RX will also slide under the servos. This means there is some more space in the front. I should have built a tow release before assembling the foam on the sides. I still think I can cut into the bottom and add a release and add a servo in the space inside.

[mlachow]

I did a little testing of the 5mil film that is provided for the model. I set the iron for 230F and that worked fine for putting the plastic on some scrap foam. Time to figure out the color. I have some film I can use for balsa parts but I also have some Oracal that I could use.

[mlachow]

Wing covering isn't too bad. The laminating film doesn't shrink like regular model covering. Applying it you start from the middle and work out, keeping things smooth. The laminating film is cloudy before covering but when the heat activates the adhesive, it turns clear. You end up moving the iron a little slower since the film is a little thicker. The covering weighs 0.8oz per wing panel. That is for approximately 266 sq in of covering with some overlap on the LE and TE. I didn't paint the foam so it is all white. I'll cut some Oracal stripes to add some color.

[Sinkhappens86]

I built these Crash Test Hobbys Assassins last year, was my first time working with laminate. I painted the foam before applying it and was really happy with how it turned out.

[Soarntz]

I have one of these in a box on the shelf . Guess I'm gonna have to get to it! I think it's an interesting design. Martin is working on a 60 inch wingeron

https://www.facebook.com/windyhillhobbies/posts/250012336736614

[mlachow]

I dug out some old Super Monokote down in the basement. It still works after all these years, I have no idea how old it is. Possibly early 90's vintage. The tail is covered all red and I hinged the tail with blenderm tape. I also mounted the servos in the fuselage. The JR396 servos fit perfectly. I just bent the front of the pushrod 90 degrees at the servo to finish up the pushrod. The ailerons are covered red and white so it looks like the a regular aileron instead of a strip aileron.

[Soarntz]

Looks nice Mike

[Soarntz]

I'll have to get round to mine after a couple of depron foamies