NOTE: the computer printout of airframe parts cut out with a sharp knife and the pieces taped to appropriate balsa blanks to facilitate the easy formation of pieces needed. Note that all parts are laid out on these printouts with the wood grain running horizontally.

FUSELAGE

Using the outline on the plan, cut two fuselage sides from 1/16th balsa. Cut the two fuselage nose doublers from 1/16th balsa sheet. Glue the two nose coublers into place on the fuselage sides.Note that there is a left and right side, so make sure this is taken into account when gluing therse doiublers in place. Using a balsa stripper cut 3/16th wide strips from 1.16th balsa sheet to make the doublers that run along the fuselage sides and at the former locations. Note that the nose doublers are used to align the firewall later in construction. Two degrees of downthrust is built into the shape of these formers. The 3/16th fuse doublers coming up to the nose side pieces should terminate 3/16th of an inch from the nose pieces. This allows for the insetting of the firewall later.

Also install the 1/16th balsa wing hold down doublers . I used skewers from the local supermarket, which have worked well. NOTE: the hole sizes shown on the plans are approximate and should be determined by the type of dowels you will be using. Some people are using stiff nyrod and other types of plastic rod as hold down dowels.

Build formers F2 and F3over the plans using 3/16th square balsa stripped from 3/16th sheet. Glue both formers to one fuselage side aligning carefully with a square. Glue directly on top of the F2 and F3 1/16th doiublers already in place. Remove this side from the plan and place it (and the glued F2 and F3 formers) over the plan top view. Lightly pin both F2 and F3 formers in place on the plan. Align the other built up side over the plans and glue to formers F2 and F3. The straight edge of the fusalege bottom aft of the wing makes it easy to do this.

NOTE: The position of the forward wing hold down dowell in these pictures has been changed since the prototype has been built and is reflected in the plans.

Cut the nose/firewall from 3/16th sheet and drill the motor and mounting screw holes. I used a one inch forstner bits forthe main motor hole and a 3/8th bit for the smaller shaft hole. It's probably easier to drill the screw holes before cutting the larger ones. A bit of CA in each screw hole is necessary to strengthen the wood enough to accept the motor mounting screws. Alternatively this firewall could be cut from plywood or liteply. In this case the fuselage stringer doublers would have to be adjusted at the rear of the nose doublers to reflect the new thickness.

Cut the stab and fin parts (uncluding rudder and elevator halves) from 1/8th balsa sheet. Sand the leading edges of the fin and stabilizer rounded. Find the exact center of the stabilizer and draw a line 90 degrees from the trailing edge forward. Use this line as a guide when gluing the fin to the stabilizer.

The fuselage floor from the wing area aft is perfectly flat so align both sides over the plan top view, pinning lighyly through formers F2 and F3 to hold things in place. Align acrefully and glue the second fuselage sides to the formers. Slide the completed fin/stab assembly under the fuselage as shown and pull the fuse rear together aligning carefully before gluing everything together. The fiurewall shown at the nose below is placed between the fuse sides using the rear node doubler as a guide. Align carefully and glue together pulling the nose sides together slightly. There is a built in two degrees of down thrust, but should be no right thrust.

Install your radio system at this point using 3/16th square balsa rails glued alongside the fuselage (glued to F2 and F3). Cross pieces of 3/16th balsa are used to mount the servos and a piece of crossgrain 1./16th balsa with velcro attached is used to support the battery. Make this support long enough so that the battery can be moved forward and backwards to achieve proper balance. A small piece of scrap balsa 1/4 inch thick placed between the battery mounting rails and the fuse sides at the approximate location of your fingers while hand launching firms up the fuselage sides.

After the pushrods are in place and exiuting the fuselage in the proper location you can go ahead and sheet the fuse top before and behind the wing saddle. We used crossgrain balsa. At the fin area a piece of balsa with a 1/8th slot cut to accomodate the fin was used.

If you will always hand launch the SNOOPY, there is no need to install landing gear. However, if you wish to enjoy it in a paved parking lot (under the lights at night is great fun) now is the time to install ¾ inch strips of 1/32nd ply across the fuselage as shown on the plans.

WING CONSTRUCTION

Note: the wing is built in three pieces; the center section to both polyhedral breaks first and the outer polyhedral pieces last. When building the outer panels, remove the center section from the plan to avoid gluing problems.

Cut 15 1/16th balsa wing blanks, align them in a stack and tape lightly together. Tape the wing outline from the computer printout to the rib stack and cut the ribs using the hacker of your choice. Sand the ribs in a stack to remove saw irregularities.

Strip wing spars (3/16th square) from 3/16th balsa, ensuring the grain is pretty straight and there are no imperfections, which could compromise spar strength. Cut two spars to the exact length of the center section and pin the two lower spars to the plan just to the polyhedral breaks. Cut a piece of 1/8th balsa one inch wide by 24 inches long and pin to the plans as shown to form the wing trailing edge, again only to the polyhedral breaks. . Align the ribs for the center section over the plan, and glue in place. It is particularly important that the outer ribs on the center panel be glued in place at 90 degrees to the building surface and 90 degrees to the leading edge. This will help greatly in joining the outer panels later. A misalignment here will result in a crooked wing

Install and glue the top center section spar. Use a strip of 3/16th balsa to make the leading edge. When everything has been added and glued in place, remove the center section from the plan and carve the leading edge to the section shown on the plan.

The one difficult spot in the wing construction is the sanding of the wing trailing edge to an airfoil shape. I removed each panel from the plan and placed them close to the edge of my workbench so a sanding block could be more easily used. Be careful not to damage the rear of the ribs when sanding. The trailing edge does not need much removed; in fact a final thickness of about 1/16th inch is fine. Also note that the leading edge has to be sanded to the curvature shown on the plans.

Now build both outer panels using the same method. I made both spars in these panels about 1/8th inch longer than shown on the plans to allow some extra wood for sanding the polyhedral angle. Using the computer printout cut the wing tip parts from 1/8th sheet balsa. The innermost rib on the outer panel is aligned using a jig cut from 1/8th balsa using the provided template. Carefully align these ribs to the proper dihedral andgle making sure they are exactly 90 degrees from the wing leading edghe. Install the tip supports (1/8th balsa). Once both panels are completed, remove from the plan and carve both the leading and trailing edges exactly as done with the center section and sand the tips smooth.

To join the wing sections first locate the center panel back over the drawing. If you've done a good job, the outer panels are simply aligned with the outer ribs in the center panel using clamps. When a perfect fit has been realized, glue the panels together using a slow drying Ca or other glue. Note that NO dihedral brace was used in the prototype and NO brace is necessary providing the joints are nice and tight fitting. The wing will still have a bit of flex in it at this point, but once covered this will disappear. The wing is plenty strong without bracing.

Bevel both elevator halves on the bottom to allow a hinge movement. I didn't bevel both sides of the rudder; just one and this has worked perfectly. Clear cellophane tape over the entire rudder and elevator hinge lines after final assembly and covering makes for a simple and foolproof hinging system. The elevator halves in the prototype are joined using a 1/8th inch dowell.

Make two control horns from 1/6th ply as shown on the plan and cut 1/16th slots in the rudder and elevator at the appropriate spots (in alignment with the pushrod exit holes). Glue both pushrods into place with Ca.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

The motor installation is pretty simple. The gearbox is held to the firewall with the four small screws supplied by GWS. We are using the GWSPO443 EPS motor and gearbox at 4.43:1 ratio with an 8 by 4.43 prop. We have also used the 8/6 prop with great success. Owners of the "A" gearbox will find that it drops right in place as well.

Flight times with the "B" gearbox we're using are 8 minutes on 500mah NIMH cells.

Now is the time to install the landing gear. Bend 1/16th music wire as shown and install using small plastic straps cut from a margarine container or similar. Use very small lightweight screws. Use lightweight foam wheels designed for park flyers. The wire and wheels I use add 1.5 ounces to the airframe, which is about a ten percent increase in weight, about the same as adding a pound to a ten-pound airplane. The addition of wheels in a small lightweight plane like the Snoopy is noticeable in performance and general flight characteristics. The plane is more agile hand launched without wheels. At the same time it is a different but very enjoyable airplane on wheels, especially if you, like me, enjoy touch and goes. The 1/8th lightply skid is glued to the fuse bottom under the stabilizer as shown on the plans.

FLYING

Note: The CG is located at the wing spar and should be adjusted by moving the battery pack fore or aft as needed.

Motor input in my setup is 35 watts (five amp static draw by 7 cells), which results in 8 minutes at full throttle on 500 MAH NIMH cells. I've gotten 16 several times this summer (full throttle) on calm days with just cruising around. My personal Snoopy has .5 inch up and down and .5 inch of rudder throw both ways. That may seem like a lot, but it's a pussycat to fly with those throws. I don't find it twitchy at all, but keep in mind that I don't necessarily use all that, just enough for whatever I'm doing. I would use full up in a loop at times, especially if I'm right down on the deck and I want to make sure it comes out before it hits the ground....I do a lot of low looping. That gets people's attention. When you realize that a plane always comes out a loop higher than it goes in (given you don't relax the elevator) it's not very scary.

It'll fly right out of your hand with a slight shove. Obviously you can't just drop it and expect it to fly off, but you do not need a hefty throw either. It'll loop from level flight early in the battery but might need some nose down to gain speed later on. It lands very slowly and I pull a lot of elevator at the very end of the landing approach (when just a foot or so off the ground) to keep the nose up and slow it a lot so it's easier on the prop. I've had no damage to the prop despite some faster harder landings than necessary.

I attach the wing with four #33 rubber bands, two on each side. No more are necessary. Without wheels, just pick this little plane up, raise it over your head and give it a little shove straight ahead. It should be released level or slightly nose down as in all hand launches. There is plenty of power and the plane will just fly off. Landings are slow and easy and just a matter of removing throttle as needed and flaring just before touchdown.

Taking off with wheels from pavement is another matter, and is difficult in any wind as even a slight breeze can upset this light airframe when it starts to move, particularly in any crosswind. The trick is to ease on throttle VERY gently and get the tail up and flying. From that point the plane tracks straight and takes off briskly. What is really neat flying from pavement is the touch and goes. I find about 30 percent throttle works well when on final and it's almost like flying in slow motion. Taking off again during a touch and go is not the same as starting from a dead stop. The tail is still up and flying and the plane behaves like it's on rails as long as the flight path is close to being into the wind.

Any questions may be directed to me at astroflyer@rushcomm.ca