Author Topic: Building a Stork (Read 2404 times)

Larry Renger · « **on:** February 29, 2020, 05:49:20 PM »

I just got a Stork kit. I have flown several versions a decade or so ago and really liked the design. My last one was stolen. I never actually built one myself, they were all borrowed or hand me downs. Mostly they were ghastly, but flew great anyway. I look forward to doing one right.

Any hints, kinks, guidelines, specifications, recommendations, clues, wisdom, experience, or advice would be welcome.

Target weight, recommended power, tank size, lines, engine, prop, fuel. Of course, I have my own ideas but nothing beats the experience of others!

Thanks for your help!

ray copeland · « **Reply #1 on:** February 29, 2020, 07:26:20 PM »

Larry, mine is waiting for the weather to break for test flights. I did not use the flaps or the tips, they can be added if I think needed after testing, all monokote, no paint, norvel .o61.
Will get back once I get a flight on it. Good luck on yours , seems like a great design!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2020, 07:37:57 PM »

Considering the other models I have, I have decided to build the Stork as an electric and I’m looking at the Aerowind10 as recommended by Brodak. Does anyone have other recommendations?

Line length, battery size, whatever guidelines from ACTUAL, DIRECT, RELEVANT, EXPERIENCE, NOT OPINION, would be welcome.
Or, perhaps to be more clear, if you have built and flown an electric Stork, I would love to hear from you. The rest of you shut up.

Those who have built and flown electric Baby Pathfinders have totally valid information too, and that would be welcome.

Sorry for the rant, but “I haven’t done this, but” posts really get my goat.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2020, 08:30:59 PM »

Just opened the kit. Man, they do some things the hard way!

Plus, a 3/8 oz. tank? Unless the Brodak engine is unbelievably frugal on fuel, that should just about take you into the inside square loops before you flame out. Or is it flying on 20’ lines? (Line size not specified that I can find)

A Norvel Big MIG or AP Wasp.061 needs just an ounce on 48’ lines to do the pattern. The Tee Dee needs a bit more, oddly enough.

If you use the side pressure tap on the Tee Dee and drill out the venturi, you can match the .061 power level, but will need more fuel.

Medallion engines would be a fine choice, but I suspect the lines would have to be about 40’ or maybe less. Plus, keep the weight way down with park flyer film and clear finish on the wood.

Oy!!! Here I am doing it myself with the “I haven’t done this, but....”. Sorry gang, I’ll shut up.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #4 on:** March 11, 2020, 09:29:58 PM »

Well, the Stork is on the way!

Surprised to find it was designed by a guy named Dave Stork. I always figured it was due to the high aspect ratio wing.

The bench is cleared, the board dug out and leveled, ribs extracted from the sheets.

Contest balsa it ain’t! But that just means, go light on the finish and add power.

Photos tomorrow.

I am taking a lesson from Andy Borgogna’s Baby Pathfinder and going to use an Aerowind 10 motor, APC 7x5 prop and 1350 mAh 3s battery for power. Also a KR timer and 30 amp esc

Dave Hull · « **Reply #5 on:** March 11, 2020, 10:54:07 PM »

Larry,

Never seen a stork before. Had to go look it up in the Brodak catalog.

Lookin' forward to some pitchers as it goes together.

Might be a good candidate for a dieselly thing on the nose....

The Divot

Larry Renger · « **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2020, 07:02:11 AM »

A 1cc diseasele engine would pull it just fine.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #7 on:** March 12, 2020, 02:53:05 PM »

Here is the start of construction. The book uses a half jig and does the wing in halves and then joins them. I think this is better.

First you gotta make sure the board is FLAT!!!!

More as it progresses!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2020, 05:12:26 PM »

Fie!And Hi Fi! I just discovered that my jig supports were too long to let me assemble the leading and trailing edges to the ribs. I have to disassemble the mess and cut the supports narrower and set it all up again,

Ron Santia · « **Reply #9 on:** March 13, 2020, 07:26:43 PM »

Use a dremel to cut noches where the leading and trailing edges go..

paw080 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 13, 2020, 07:49:12 PM »

Quote from: Larry Renger on March 12, 2020, 07:02:11 AM

A 1cc diseasele engine would pull it just fine.

Hi Larry, I waited for awhile before responding. As much as I love using diesel engines; a 1.0cc diesel
is not a good choice for the Stork. The reason is that the engine is too heavy for this design.
The Paw 1.0cc sbr weighs 2.65ozs. These "Stork" designs were intended for TD .049 engines that weigh
approx. 1.5 ozs, that's one ounce less than the Paw.

Remember, The Stork only has about 195sq"s of wing area.(200?), that would require adding ballast to the
tail area which adds more total weight to the airframe if using a Paw .049-.061 diesel engine.

Barry Baxter built a Stork and used a Cox Medallion.049 glow. It flew the Stunt pattern easily. He then mounted
a Paw .049BB diesel, and had to add tail weight to maintain the correct CG. It turned into an absolute Flying PIG.
If you insist upon using a heavier than 1.5oz glow engine, then you must use longer than 40-45' lines and
fly the Stork like Jim Wright used to fly his .25cu" powered "Flying Clown" on 60' lines in the OTS event.

Barry B. gave me his old worn out "Stork" and I flew it using an early prototype CS .049 glow engine targeted for
the beginning modeler. It flew great on 35' 1/2A Combat lines.

Best Regards Tony G

Larry Renger · « **Reply #11 on:** March 14, 2020, 06:22:04 AM »

The wing area is 216 sq.in. As far as the cg is concerned the nose could easily be shortened about 1 1/2” to get the balance.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #12 on:** March 21, 2020, 06:08:16 PM »

Mea culpa! I have been seduced by an eight volume fantasy set of books, locked in our dungeon by the evil forces of Gavin Newsom, so haven’t done more than shorten the jig supports and reassemble the wing to where it was before.

Happily, only three books to go. The speed reading course I took in high school has stood me in good stead. And I do have 4 competitive 1/2 A models flyable at present, so there is no rush. It would be nice to have a real killer electric, though....

Dave Hull · « **Reply #13 on:** March 21, 2020, 10:15:16 PM »

Would you then have to call it the "Electrocutioner?"

The Actual Divot

Larry Renger · « **Reply #14 on:** April 06, 2020, 08:43:11 PM »

Finally got my tail in gear and returned to the workroom, however briefly. Here is part of the setup to stabilize the jig and parts for gluing. Everything wants to wander around and needs to e locked down, and then how do you get the glue in place if you don't want to use CA (I hate CA, it sticks to me, not the parts). It is coming together, finally!

It has been a long time since I built anything, so I have to relearn a bunch of stuff. Embarrassing!

Plus, this isn't how I would build a wing, but it isn't my design, but that is MY problem, not Mr. Stork's. The final result is excellent, and I bought the kit, so who am I to criticize? Similarly, the Baby Pathfinder is a Bi*&%h to build but a superb model. Sacrifices must be made, I guess.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #15 on:** April 09, 2020, 08:59:51 AM »

Progress!

Leading edge sheeting next. Then the bellcrank mount.

Once I got the jig supports stabilized with the steel blocks, it all went a lot easier!

Dave Hull · « **Reply #16 on:** April 11, 2020, 12:43:10 AM »

Now you're making good progress! It looks good!

Dave

Larry Renger · « **Reply #17 on:** April 11, 2020, 12:09:10 PM »

More Progress. Even though I soaked the leading edge strips in water overnight, they required massive pinning to stay stuck down!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #18 on:** April 12, 2020, 05:28:19 PM »

Acqtually, just realized that before the wing comes off the jig it needs the cap strips. Man, I haven’t done those since forever, and certainly not on a 1/2 A!

Oh well, if that’s what it takes...

. How did I get myself into this? ???d

Just to make life more difficult, the current plan is to do laminated wingtips instead of the solid sheet ones. Strong, way lighter and easy to do adjustable lead outs with the multi-hole eyelet system. Hmm, should be able to put a small ply plate inside the outer tip with a T-nut so weights can be attached outside. Crude, admittedly, but a bit of outboard tip drag is not a bad thing.

Reviewing the instructions, the caps should be done later, but my judgement is that the more structure locked in while on the jig, the straighter the final wing will be. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the remaining build sequence where the caps will be a problem. I guess, if so, I’ll find out the hard way.

Dave Hull · « **Reply #19 on:** April 13, 2020, 03:03:31 AM »

I would think the capstrips would go on while still in the jig. Agree with your concept of locking in alignment. Are the strips (and the LE planking) 1/32"?

Thanks for sharing your project!

McDivot

Larry Renger · « **Reply #20 on:** April 13, 2020, 10:47:06 AM »

Sheeting and strips are all 1/16”. I think 1/32” would have been adequate.

kevin king · « **Reply #21 on:** April 16, 2020, 09:00:51 AM »

Quote from: Motorman on March 13, 2020, 06:35:35 PM

One thing's for sure, those plans ain't going to blow away.

😂😂😂

Larry Renger · « **Reply #22 on:** April 17, 2020, 09:55:39 PM »

Slowly, but surely!

Marked the centers of the ribs fore and aft with a soft pencil to be able to locate the cap strips nicely. Then pinned the leading edge down, bent the strip over to the trailing edge and sheared the strip off parallel with the trailing edge strip. Pinned that down, and there you are!

I don't build much, but I try to do it well! I am addicted to reading science fiction and mystery books and they are so much easier.....

Just as aside, I saw a laser cutting machine on Amazon for $400 that would cut up to 12" length pieces. Surely that would handle any ribs anyone would want to use? It looked like it would take .jpeg and other simple art files, too!

kenneth cook · « **Reply #23 on:** April 25, 2020, 07:43:18 AM »

Larry, I started my Stork about the same time you started this build thread. I have the Golden State Model. I also have the A&J Freeflight version which was before Golden State. The quality of the A&J in my opinion is better and I elected to build the Golden State version. I got disgusted very quickly as this kit is just blocks in a box to put it mildly. Not that I'm not capable of taking on the task, it's too much for a profile 1/2A. Against my better judgement, I moved forward. The leading edge is two sections requiring carving, I threw that out quickly and went for my .15 sized leading edges which matched the print exactly . Everything in this kit is inked on balsa just like the old Comet kits.

I cut the ribs out, they didn't match the print either which was causing problems with the bellcrank due to the tight configuration, I threw them out and cut out new ribs to match the print. I should've cut them out to omit the cap strips, another stupid idea on a 1/2A. There's a lot of things on this kit that I question and cutting out the fuse to put the wing in seems absolutely silly on a profile but the gear configuration doesn't allow any other way.

The target weight on the print says 12 oz., that seems like a awful lot for a 1/2A balsa model seeing that the Cox Me-109 weighs in a a tad over 10 oz's. I understand that there's considerable wingspan but the chord on the Stork is rather narrow. I'm somewhat glad I increased the thickness of this airfoil to match the print. I probably will use SLC covering to just cover the wings and probably clear dope the other areas with a touch of tissue here and there for a bit of decoration. I can only bet that your model will be lighter than this version.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #24 on:** April 29, 2020, 08:32:00 PM »

Several books later, got back to working on the Stork. With the local flying fields shut down, no real incentive. ( BS!!!! I just prefer reading science fiction and slouching on the couch to building)

Anyway here is the latest progress.

The trailing edge didn't come out straight for some reason, so I hauled out my sanding board and got it perfect.

Next, I started building the inboard wingtip so it will be adjustable. You will see how that works in following episodes. Send in your box tops and 25 cents to join the Junior Stork Patrol League.

Next it is being glued to the inboard wingtip (I hope I got that right).

And finally, a start on the outboard tip. I really don't like the construction the way the kit does the tips! So I am doing my own thing. Nyeaaa, neaaa, neaa!!!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #25 on:** April 29, 2020, 08:46:18 PM »

For some reason the trailing edge got a bow to it, so I hauled out my sanding board. It is a long board with two different grits of paper glued down to it. You just rub the offending item back and forth over it until it is straight. It is also useful to even out the whole surface of a small wing!

Anyway, here it is!

once the tips are solidly on I will shape the leading edge.

Then the final steps are the controls and flaps.

Dave Hull · « **Reply #26 on:** April 29, 2020, 10:47:29 PM »

Nice progress!

Reminds me of something from my younger days--

There was a crooked man, and he built a crooked plane,
He took a crooked kit from a cabinet with crooked panes;
He bought a crooked motor which came with crooked prop,
And they all flew together on some crooked black top.

McDivot

Larry Renger · « **Reply #27 on:** April 30, 2020, 05:35:06 PM »

I have been looking at that fuselage and thinking that if the Baby Pathfinder can get away with being a skeleton, why not? The Kit wood could be used to build a log cabin.

I can position the battery wherever it needs to be for correct cg, so the tail weight is only a structural issue. Similarly, lightening holes in the stabilizer and elevators.

I shoul have completed wingtip photos tomorrow. A watched glueseam never dries.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #28 on:** April 30, 2020, 05:41:12 PM »

Quote from: Larry Renger on April 30, 2020, 05:35:06 PM

I have been looking at that fuselage and thinking that if the Baby Pathfinder can get away with being a skeleton, why not? The Kit wood could be used to build a log cabin.

I can position the battery wherever it needs to be for correct cg, so the tail weight is only a structural issue. Similarly, lightening holes in the stabilizer and elevators.

I should have completed wingtip photos tomorrow. A watched glueseam never dries.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #29 on:** May 01, 2020, 08:28:11 PM »

AARGH! This program hates me! This is the fourth time I have tried to post this item. Let's hope the gremlins are looking the other way this time.

Anyway, here are the two wingtips and the layout for cutting out the fuselage to lighten it up.

I hope.....

Dansrans · « **Reply #30 on:** July 19, 2020, 01:18:04 PM »

Any more progress??

I have recently started building a Stork from the Brodak plan and have got to a similar stage. This is my first 1/2a build so I will no doubt have questions along the way if that’s ok.

I am also going electric, I have a Emax GT2210 1470kv (which seems on the large side to me but it is what others are using on similar sized models) probably with a APC 7x5 pusher. I have a 15A helicopter esc which has a governor mode (but that might be changed for a 15A CC Talon) and something like a 3s 1200mah lipo. I fancy trying a scorpion 2208 as it is a 10 gram weight saving (45g vs 55g) but the 1280kv seems a bit low??

I am also wondering about cutting lightening holes in the fuz and tail but don’t want to weaken it too much. Are lightening holes the norm for 1/2a builds? My original plan was to cover the wing with tissue over Mylar and tissue over the fuz and tail but I see a few folks using lightweight polyspan, I can get a similar product here in the UK but I’ve never used it before.

I’m planning to use 1mm thick fibreglass board for the bellcrank and the motor mount which I think should be plenty strong enough, if not I have some 1.5mm carbon board. I’m also going to reduce the 1/16 doublers on the fuz to 1/32 to save some weight.

Sorry for rambling on, hopefully it’s ok posting this here?

Where do folks get their pictures resized so I can post some pics.

Thanks

Dan

Dansrans · « **Reply #31 on:** July 20, 2020, 12:06:00 AM »

I have found a picture resizer from the App Store so will see if it works??

Dan

Larry Renger · « **Reply #32 on:** July 20, 2020, 07:52:02 AM »

No doublers needed with electric as no vibration. Also, I plan to hollow out the aft fuselage similar to the 1/2 A Baby Pathfinder.

Look at the SLC over Polyspan thread in the finishing section. Mylar over tissue with no dope is lightweight and incredibly tough!

Your progress looks good. 👍

Otherwise I need to get back on that project.

Dansrans · « **Reply #33 on:** July 21, 2020, 01:33:58 PM »

Thanks.

No doublers at all then?

The slc over polyspan looks a good method which I will give a try, thanks for pointing it out.

I also find it very easy for a project to slip by the wayside for a while.

Dan

Larry Renger · « **Reply #34 on:** July 21, 2020, 02:32:16 PM »

If no doublers makes you nervous use 1/64” ply.

Dansrans · « **Reply #35 on:** July 28, 2020, 09:24:25 AM »

No doublers seems like it would be a bit flimsy to me but perhaps I need to get that out my mind to keep the weight under control.

I got the out board tip on and rough sanded. A large amount of time for not a lot of progress but it’s progress at least. The last rib seemed quite flexible with all that structure hanging off so I tied it to the next rib with a piece of 1/16”.

Larry did you get any further with your adjustable lead outs? I’m thinking of doing that but would probably end up making it too heavy.

Also a picture of the rib template method I use, nothing new so it’s probably been seen before. Cut the template from a suitable material, I used 1/32 ply as this rib isn’t large. Glue pins into the template so they are sticking out around the thickness of the ribs to be cut. I mostly use pins but this time I sharpened some 1mm carbon rod with my dremel tool, drilled 1mm holes along the chord line then glued them in. On the reverse a piece of balsa is attached to cover the pins so they can’t push out, this also provides a small handle and stiffens the template.
The pins stop the template moving around when in use so the balsa sheet can be moved without the template losing position halfway through a cut.

Cheers

Dan

Larry Renger · « **Reply #36 on:** July 29, 2020, 07:40:10 AM »

Nice work.

I am using the adjustable leadout, multiple hole/ slot and fitted eyelet system. If you look closely at the photo of the inboard tip you can see it. Simple, light and works perfectly.

Oops, just looked at that photo, and will have to reshoot. Sorry!

Larry Renger · « **Reply #37 on:** July 30, 2020, 11:26:37 AM »

Here is a good closeup of the adjustable leadout system.

Dansrans · « **Reply #38 on:** July 31, 2020, 12:33:49 AM »

Thanks for the picture Larry.

Makes sense now I see it. A lot simpler and definitely lighter than what I was thinking of building.

Cheers

Dan

944_Jim · « **Reply #39 on:** July 31, 2020, 08:28:01 PM »

Thanks x2, Mr. Larry! I need to try this on one of my next models. The pics will be printed and stapled to my Hobby Closet walls for reference.