Spirit of yesteryear Dallaire Sportster

Model Airplane News, May 2000 by Gimlick, Greg

When folks talk about "old-timers," I often don't know whether they mean my peer group in modeling or the classic models of the past! In this case. however, I'm talking about the Dallaire Sportster: a Spirit of Yesteryear* RC offering that was originally a 1937 tree-flight model. It you remember those days, you probably recall getting the plans and carefully selecting the balsa, but today, we're spoiled by companies such as Spirit of Yesteryear that select premium balsa and laser-cut the pieces so they fit better than if we had cut them by hand. The Dallaire Sportster is designed far either 1/2A glow or electric power and comes with firewalls to support either. I chose the electric version, but whichever you prefer, you won't be disappointed with this kit.

Ifyou've never built a stick-and-tissue plane, building the Sportster will open up a new world of design and construction for you. Everything comes neatly packaged and grouped in a sturdy box that protects the parts from shipping damage.

FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION

This is where it all begins. The pieces are mostly made up of 1/16- and 1/8-inch sticks that you cut to length as you build. Sizes are clearly marked on the plans, and all you'll need is a razor blade and some sandpaper. There are a lot of angles to cut as you fit the stringers, so take your time and work carefully over the plans to be sure you make matching sides. If you decide to use transparent covering to show off your woodworking skills, take extra time to make the joints fit perfectly; they'll look better and be sturdier. Construction is straightforward. One of the nice things Spirit of Yesteryear has done is to supply precut gussets and doublers, so look at them carefully before you use them; some are cut for 90-degree joints, and a few are cut at 92 degrees. That doesn't sound like much of a difference, but if you try to use the wrong one, you'll know it at once. Be sure you use the dihedral braces as a guide when you set the top fuselage gussets in place so that the wing will be seated properly. The only problem I ran into during construction occurred when I was a bit heavy-handed; I broke some of the 1/16-inch stringers as I was handling the completed fuselage, so be careful.

You'll also have to make some decisions when you build the nose of the fuselage, depending on the power source that you select. Spirit of Yesterday provides a firewall for a Texaco engine and one that will fit a direct-drive Speed 400 motor. I used a geared motor and had to build my own mount, but there is plenty of room to work in, and it was easily accomplished.

WING AND TAIL CONSTRUCTION

The wing halves are built directly over the plans and joined to form the dihedral angle. All of the ribs and wingtip pieces are laser-cut and clearly identifiable on their carrier sheets. All of the parts were easy to remove from the sheets, and the consistency of the balsa was excellent. The wing design incorporates an I-beam main spar that is easy to build because of the precut shear webs. The shear webs are placed as you use them to space the ribs, and it's recommended in the instructions that you use white glue instead of CA because of its flexibility. I used Pica* Gluit throughout most of the kit and found that it dried almost as quickly as CA and was much easier to sand. Wing construction proceeds quickly, and as long as you pay attention to the plans and instructions, it should present no problems. Be sure to use scrap balsa to support the lower aft spar because of the undercambered airfoil; if you don't, you'll end up with a spar that is not fully seated into the ribs.

All of the tail assembly is built flat on the plan out of precut pieces and square stringers. The elevator halves are joined by 1/16-inch wire that you will have to bend to shape. When the pieces are complete, you can sand them to shape according to the cross-section on the plan.

LANDING GEAR AND RADIO INSTALLATION

The landing gear is made up of four, prebent pieces of music wire that you solder together. If you haven't done this before, you may find some pointers beneficial. Fortunately, I found the prebent angles were perfect; that's usually one of the hardest parts for the builder to get right. Remember to clean the wire before you solder it. I found that by using a wooden jig to hold the wire in place, I was able to do everything without worrying about damaging the fuselage while I soldered. After thoroughly cleaning the wire pieces, I placed them in the jig so I was able to wrap the provided copper wire around the joint before soldering. I used a little silver soldering kit from Great Planes* along with a small torch. I find silver solder is not only strong but also easier to use on music wire than regular 60:40 solder, but use whatever works for you. When the gear is completed, slide it into each side of the fuselage where you built in the small brass tubes. When I did the final assembly, I used a bit of silicone in each hole to hold the gear in place. The wheels are made of plastic halves that need to be glued together and painted.