Plane:
- Skywalker EPO with reinforced wings
- Brushless motor 3542/6T 920 kv
- ESC 80A 3-6S Professional S-BEC 3A
- Hyperion 4S 4000 mAh
- x4 HS-65HB servos

FPV:
- Gopro Hero HD
- Video tx with inverted v antenna (powered by a 3S 500 mAh Lipo)
- Video rx with 8dBi patch antenna
- EZOSD
- FY30-A stabilization system
- DT-3K head tracker (x2 HS-65HB servos)
- Fatshark base goggles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first cut was done today and it felt great! As you can see I did cut out the ailerons first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever read articles or even seen videos on RC-pilots snapping their Skywalker wings of in mid-air? I have, and something has to be done in order to prevent it. I bought 6×1 mm carbon strips and mounted two 350 mm long ones in each wing. Now the carbon fibre reaches almost the tip of the wing. If the wing breaks now I better find a new hobby;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carbon strips glued in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought the Turnigy servo tester recently and already I found a use for it:-) To find the neutral position of the servos was as easy as it could be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test mount of one of the HS-65HB servos. Notice that I’ve cut out for the servo arm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cover the servo with tape so that I doesn’t have to glue directly to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aileron servo glued in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic control horn in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudder was cut out. A key for successful FPV-flights is to get rid of the vibrations caused by weak materials. Therefore I choosed to reinforce the rudder section as well. Once again I used 6x1x150 mm carbon strips (one in each half).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carbon strip of the tail section is now glued in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This might not be the most interesting picture. I just wanna show you that I cut out some material for the servo cables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudder and elevator servos are glued in place and I used hot glue to attach the servo cables/connectors to the EPP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It ended up quite good I think since I found a way to the cockpit:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far as I could get this weekend. The last thing I did was to glue in the carbon fibre rod (included) to the tail section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good and easy way to fix the wings is to use rare earth magnets. It’s a bit difficult to see on the picture but there is one on each side of the wing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I routed two motor mounts (the one in wood is original). The ones I did are slightly larger. They are made out of 2 mm aluminium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the elevator rudder is ways to wide and thin to be unsupported by a carbon fibre strip. Therefore I bought a 3×1 mm strip that I used to strenghten it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up on the elevator mod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original elevator rudder hinge felt fragile and therefore I cut it out and glued three dubro hinges instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close look at one of the glued dubro hinges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is how my motor mount will work. I think this will make it really strong (I really don’t like the idea of just attaching the motor mount with glue).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cargo door open. This plane is huge!:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my own soultion for the EZOSD. I haven’t seen it anywhere else before. By mounting it like this I can use all three buttons and the gps module will have almost free sight. I hope this will work:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a cable for my Iphone so that I can find my model when I’ve crashed… But since the 1,3 GHz doesn’t support both telemetry and audio at the same time I had to move the audio cable from the fourth to fifth terminal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wohoo! I’ve waited a long time for this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic control for the elevator rudder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudder and elevator servos glued in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic control horn mounted and the push rod is in place. You’re really on your way when you see the rudders move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found some servo extension cables in my box with mixed RC things and those two seems to be perfect for the aileron servos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanna be able to replace the cable if the connection gets bad and therefore I just covered it with white tape. It’s not super pretty but it works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cut out part is for the servo extension cable from the aileron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot glue is perfect for this job. This picture shows the glued aileron extension cable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All servos and cables are plugged into the reciever and now the fun part begins. Here I’m setting up the FY30-A stabilization system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where I’ll place the reciever. I used a tooth pick to make holes for the two reciever antennas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Velcro is awesome! No doubt about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found these thick double sided tapes in the FY30-A box and I thought it might be a good idea to place them in the vibration absorbing plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reciever and FY30-A mounted in place. Try to place the stabilization unit as close as possible to the center of gravity since this will increase stability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Skywalker is a huge plane. I’ve mounted the FY30-A and my reciever and there are much room left for the rest of the electronics:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanna keep the cargo of my plane as clean as possible. I don’t like when there are cables all over the place and when everything looks more or less like a mess. I couldn’t find a better place to mount the current sensor for the EZOSD than in the ceiling of the cargo space. Velcro FTW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that I really like about the Skywalker is that is has a defined place to mount the video transmitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do I need to mention it? Velcro again:) I might use a zip tie to secure the video tx even better. Notice the white tape to support the video cables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used two dubro hinges/cargo door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EZOSD in place and the rubber band anchors are glued. I’m getting closer now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to my placement of the EZOSD I had to cut out an opening for the cables in the original cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve made two of these cargo door locks (one for each side) in 5 mm balsa tree. The cut out part in the middle is for a magnet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnet is now glued in place. This is the side that will facing towards the inner part of the cargo space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing special here. I just glued the included piece of wood on the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cargo door magnet. I used a soldering iron to melt a hole for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cargo door stoppers glued in place. I use a glue that needs a lot of hours to harden and therefore I use a lot of tape:) Notice that the magnet are ”hidden” inside of the balsa tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original cockpit of the Skywalker has a hole in it where you’re supposed to mount a pan servo I think … I’ll not use a pan servo with this cockpit and I since I wanna place the Gopro Hero HD cam as far to the nose as possible I had to drill a hole in it to support the double sided tape. Almost 40-50% of the Gopro mount will be placed over the hole in the cockpit and I don’t wanna lose my camera:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how it looks now. I think the camera and the cockpit will be the only things that will stay in place after a crash:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the underside of the Gopro mount. I used 5 mm balsa and some washers to support the lock nut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tata! The camera is in place and now it’s just the long wait for first premiere flight. I’m so looking forward to this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for its second flight …