Watt-Age Lite Stik

Model Airplane News, Jan 2001 by Post, Roger Jr

A relaxing backyard flyer

With Hobby People's* introduction of the Watt-Age Lite Stik, I believe the "stick" concept has proven to have about as many lives as a cat. From the original Das Ugly Stik to the recent Ultra Stick, a generation of modelers has learned to fly and has had fun with these airplanes. Now with the Lite Stik, modelers can enjoy flying in confined outdoor areas or indoors.

The Lite Stik reminds me of the rubber-band airplanes I used to buy for 15 cents in the '60s. The fuselage is a 22-inch-long, 3/8 x 1/4-inch stick; however, construction of the wing and tail surfaces has been updated: they are made of stiff, closed-cell foam instead of balsa. The landing-gear wire will bring back some memories, and the custom, spoked, ultralight wheels look really neat. The rubber-band motor has been replaced by Grand Wing Servo's new, geared, cored 180 motor, and thanks to the micro RC world, these stick models can now be guided around the sky or the gym.

ASSEMBLY

After thoroughly reading the instructions, go back for a second look at the photos. Note the orientation of the servos and their arms to the fore and aft sections of the fuselage and the wing's fore and aft mounts.

The first step is to cycle the battery pack three to five times for maximum performance-go for five. (This is extremely important in the achievement of optimum flight performance during the first flight.) While you let the motor cool between runs, you can mount the tail surfaces.

If your fuselage is warped, soak it in a 50:50 solution of ammonia and water and lay it on a flat surface with some weights on it. I accidentally snapped the fuselage in half when I tried to bend it by hand, but I simply glued it back together with a straightedge running down its length as a guide.

Mark the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer as shown in the instructions, then draw a line along the hinge lines of the elevator and rudder that have been cut into each stabilizer. Flex the control surfaces on these lines (no more than 45 degrees) to create the hinge. Ensure that there is equal deflection in both directions; if there isn't, run the pen down the hinge line again. You need to create a "V" in the line so the control surface can achieve its full deflection. (This will help later when you try to turn.) On each stabilizer, note the orientation of the slot for the control-surface horn. Glue the horizontal stabilizer into place with the provided special glue that dries in 20 minutes.

While you wait for this to dry, you can attach the wing dowels to the leading and trailing edges of each wing half. The long dowels go on the leading edge, and the shorter dowels are for the trailing edge. Each dowel is glued into place and then secured with a piece of clear tape from the decal sheet (cut these out before you glue the dowels into place). This should take all of 20 minutes, and when you've completed these steps, go back to the fuselage and glue the vertical stabilizer into place.

Assemble the landing gear as instructed, and cut all required plastic parts from their "trees." Note that there are two front wing mounts: the taller one provides a higher angle of attack for better slow-flight characteristics. The landing-- gear wire is pushed into the slot directly underneath the wing-dowel receptacles of the front wing mount.

Mount the vertical stabilizer, and after the glue has dried, slide the pushrod guide, the rear wing and servo mounts, the battery tray and the front wing mount (with landing gear installed) onto the stick fuselage. Attach the servos and servo arms and orient them as shown in the photos.

Before attaching the tailskid, I increased the angle of the bend near the fuselage to 90 degrees, then I measured 1/4 inch from this bend and bent the tailskid wire down to form the required tailskid. This 14 inch provides the wire with more contact area on the fuselage bottom and, when it is glued into place, this modification prevents the tailskid from pivoting in the predrilled hole.

[Editor's note: the manufacturer has also made this modification to subsequent kits.]

Now attach the motor/gearbox, the propeller and spinner and the remaining radio gear per the instructions (don't glue the receiver mount into place at this time). Attach the control horns to the rudder and elevator (note the placement), and Install the pushrods to the control horns; slide the wires through their respective holes in the pushrod guide.

With great care, attach the wing panels to their forward and rear mounts. The dowels fit very tightly in the slots, so push them in gently to avoid snapping a wing panel in half. Then apply your decals of choice.

FINAL TOUCHES

Mark the CG point under each wing panel, and check the Lite Stik's balance. If it is tail heavy, slide the wing mounts aft. (You might have to slide the battery tray and rear servo mount aft, as well.)

After you have balanced your model, turn the radio on and center the servo arms, Bend, cut and attach the wires to the servo arms as per the instructions. You might have to move the pushrod guide back to help support the wires. The instructions are quite clear as to servo placement and control-arm movement, so there should be no need to reverse the servo directions. Double-check to ensure that up-elevator is up-elevator and right rudder is right rudder, etc. Now press the motor safety switch, and test the motor with the propeller attached. Hold the model while you do this because the motor and propeller do generate some thrust.