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Big Ugly to StarLite
By Mike Phillips
7/9/2006 1:11:38 AM
About six or eight weeks or so ago I acquired what its previous owner called ‘the Big Ugly’. I have wanted a larger aircraft for some time and this nine foot wing span twenty pound + Cessna 172 look alike caught my eye. I knew it was a beauty underneath the skin. And I found out there was more to her then met the eye.
While inspecting the wing I noticed the port wing structure was loose from the joiner guides. I couldn’t see how far along the wing this failure ran so I decided to remove the covering and inspect the wing properly. Underneath I found evidence of some repairs that had been done several owners ago. And they needed some more work.
Additionally, several areas along the leading edge had been glued back together and plastic wood filler applied. It was a bit rough so I sanded these areas down smooth and re-glued the ribs & loose spar.
After the repairs it was time to re-cover and decide on graphics. With the forth of July approaching I wanted a style similar to my old Avistar. Red, white & blue just felt right and I normally include a star or two on all my planes. So …. I give you the Skyward 120 Star-Lite (at 23 lbs).
Now, you might say that with a model or scale plane transportation would not be a problem. I would suggest yo give serious thought to just how you move the plane from your house, garage or reckroom ceiling before proceeding. After my first attempt at loading up I realized it was just going to have to be moved in 'parts'.
I took her out for the first flight on July 2nd. Using the power of the Saito 180 and some 20% nitro her climb was direct and smooth. Now this will never do a hover but she is very stable and glides in rock solid. You just have to cut power and let it glide … and she will glide! A slight flair at the runway and she settles in like a feather (although a heavy feather).
On the 4th of July she again graced me with several great flights this time showing her roll, loops and yes even inverted flight skills. All great … not a Funtana but fun.
Recent my research has discovered a Canadian who reported the following: "the Skyward 120, (Skyward R&D, Udisco, of Montreal)Canada was one of the first ARF aircraft (1970?) and also the largest of its kind in Canada having a 9 ft wing span & weighing roughly 20+ lbs flyable. Its somewhat rare. Skyward never built very many of the 120's and there is a pretty good reason for it."
"Skyward R&D made hundreds of ARFs, the 25, 40, 60 and 120. The company no longer exsists but apparently are now part of the Udisco hobby distribution company. They also made the Sporty 40 and the Electrosoar sailplane. The company was like many Quebec companies, founded on a government grant."
"Their claim was to develop an almost ready to fly model to literally take the RC industry by storm. They were quite successful but when their grant ran out they shut down the company. They really had no interest in making money (This is what I hear)."
"All the ARF's (Except the 120) were built in Taiwain. The 120 was built in Quebec. That's the main reason the 120 is rare. They quickly found out how expensive it was to produce a 120 sized ARF. Not to mention demand at that time was also very poor, not many had $700 to fork over just for a model plane let alone the space for it except the really big die hards. So they only produced, to my knowledge, roughly 100. Until now I havn't seen or heard of another 120 surviving. I wouldn't be surprised that there are many though."
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Last Updated by: Mike Phillips
7/12/2006 2:12:51 PM
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