lil lightnin instructions

LiL-Lightnin First of all, thank you for your purchase. This is a fast building, fun little Twin

Motor model. It also makes for a pretty good aileron trainer. Items you will need

to build and fly the model are listed below:

2 (two) GWS EDP 50 motors (note these come with 2 3x2 props included)

2 (two) GWS 3x3 propellers (GWS Part #EP3030)

1 (one) GWS 8 amp ESC (electronic speed control) model number ICS-100 or

ICS-100E (or equivalent, Castle Creations Pixie 7 ect.)

3 (three) GWS Pico Standard or Pico + servos (or equivalent, HiTec HS-50 or

HS-55s ect.)

1 (one) GWS 4 Channel Receiver, any of the R-4P models will work (or

equivalent, small and light weight are a must)

3 (three) pieces of .032 piano wire, 1 (one) 9 long and 2 (two) 3.5 long (these

lengths should be longer than actually needed, but will give you room for error)

3 (three) Dubro Mini E/Z Connectors (come in pack of 2 (two) part number 845)

1 (one) 2 (two) cell Lithium Polymer Battery Pack (around 1.4 oz in weight works

great, E-Tec 700 or Thunder Power 860s both work well)

If you do not have a Radio with servo mixing (for the ailerons) you will also need

a servo Y Harness.

Also some 14 gauge wire (to wire the motors to 1 plug in parallel) or a twin motor

wiring harness.

Additionally you will need the following common foam plane building tools and

supplies:

X-acto knife (with a good sharp blade), scissors, needle nose pliers (or z bend

pliers for making the ends of the control rods), fine tip Sharpie (or pen that you

can mark on foam with), packing tape (for hinges and to securely route wires),

sanding block with some 150 to 200 grit sand paper (for beveling the ailerons

and elevator) and some Foam Safe C/A or 5 minute epoxy (or whatever foam

safe glue you like to use on your foam projects).

LiL-Lightnin

A Wing Panels (left and right)

B Ailerons

C Twin Tail Bo oms

D Main Fuse/Canopy

E Battery Tray Sides

F Horizontal Stabilizer

G Elevator

Shown but not lettered are the (3) Control Horns, and the servo/canopy

templates.

Not shown but also included is this instruction manual.

Page 1

LiL-Lightnin Instructions Take the two template pages (one with the canopy and elevator servo cut outs

on it, the other with the aileron servo cut out on it) and cut out the black portions

of the templates (Photo I ). Once you have them cut out, take the templates and

lay them onto the Main Fuse/Cockpit (part D) and the Twin Tail Booms (part C)

line up the wing slot on both templates with the wing slot on the Main

Fuse/Canopy and the Twin Tail Booms (you will have to do this on both Twin Tail

Booms). Mark the servo cut outs and the canopy with a fine tip black sharpie

(Photo II shows the Twin Tail Booms ). Cut out the servo holes with your x-

acto knife and color in the canopy (Photo III ). ***NOTE*** your servos may be

bigger or smaller, adjust your cut size accordingly .

Photo I Photo II

Photo III

Page 2

LiL-Lightnin Instructions

Now its time to do some building. Take the pair of wings (Part A left and right,

they are pre-creased for the airfoil) and make some reference marks 3 from the

root on each panel. (photo IV) These will be the locations of the Twin Tail

Booms. Mark each aileron (part B) L and R for each wing panel and remove

them from the wings (they are attached with tape to each wing). Now take each

panel and bend them on the crease slightly until they match the wing cut out on

the main fuselage. You will probably have to over bend them just a little to get

them to stay the proper shape. Once you have them holding the proper shape,

glue them together (photo V). I use no dihedral on mine. If it makes you more

comfortable, block the tip of one wing up 1 for just a tad of dihedral.

Photo IV Photo V

Next its time to sand and attach the ailerons (part B) to the wings (part A), and

the elevator (part F) to the horizontal stabilizer (part G) (separate the elevator

from the horizontal stabilizer; it is also attached with tape).

Page 3

LiL-Lightnin Instructions Take the two ailerons and the elevator (photo VI). You need to sand a 45 degree bevel in the leading edge off both ailerons and the elevator. The angle should have its deepest part on the bottom (photo VII) Photo VI Photo VII

Once they are sanded, its time to hinge and attach them to the wings and horizontal stabilizer; this is where the packing tape comes in. Start with the elevator/horizontal stabilizer. Place the elevator into the cut out on the horizontal stabilizer with it at its down most position (the 45 degree angle against the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer cutout, with the top edge of both pieces even. Run a strip of packing tape along this seam and burnish it down. Photo VIII). Turn the horizontal stabilizer over and hold the elevator at its uppermost position and run a strip of packing tape along this seam starting from the elevator and burnishing the tape onto the 45 degree angle and the thin edge of the horizontal stabilizer. Then roll the tape down flat against the bottom of the horizontal stabilizer (photo IX shows the tape just before rolling it down flat) Photo VIII Photo XI

Page 4


Now attach the ailerons to the wings with the same technique. Once you have

the ailerons and the elevator hinged, set them off to the side (photo X ), its now

time to work on the Main Fuse/Canopy (part D). Take the Main Fuse/Canopy

and the Battery Tray sides (part E) (photo XI shows these parts).

Photo X Photo XI

Glue one of the Battery Tray halves onto each side of the Main Fuse/Canopy.

Keeping the top edge of each half even with the bottom battery tray cut out in the

fuse and starting with one end of the Battery tray half even with rear most edge

of the battery tray slot. (photo XII )

Photo XII

Page 5


Set the Main Fuse/Canopy with the Battery Tray halves glued in place off to the

side. Now we will attach the Twin Tail Booms (part C) to the assembled

wing/ailerons. Take the completed wing assembly and slide one Twin Tail Boom

over each wing tip. The Twin Tail Booms have the wing slot cut out to match the

shape of the wing. Be careful with the ailerons while pushing the wing through

the Twin Tail Booms. Slide the Tail Booms onto the wing until the inner edge of

them is even with the marks you drew 3 from the root of each wing panel. You

want 6 of space between the two tails once they are on the wing (photo XIII).

Before you glue the tails onto the wing, slide the elevator/horizontal stabilizer

onto the tails. There are slots in both tails and the horizontal stabilizer that join

these together. Make sure that everything is lined up and square, you may need

to move one or both of the tails in or out just a tad to line everything up right.

(photo XIV)

Photo XIII Photo XIV

Once you are satisfied with the alignment, glue the Twin Tail Booms to the wing

(making sure that they remain vertically true to the horizontal stabilizer). Then

glue the horizontal stabilizer to the Twin Tail Booms. Next up is installing the

control horns for the ailerons and the elevator.

Page 6


Take the plane and turn it upside down, on the ailerons make a mark from the

root end of the aileron on the hinged edge (photo XV ). Now looking at the

elevator from the rear of the plane make a mark 2-5/8 from the left side on the

hinged edge (photo XVI ).

Photo XV Photo XVI

Take your x-acto knife and make a small slit on these marks (photo XVII ). Insert

the control horns, make them straight and level. All the control horns go in from

the bottom. The holes in the control horn should face forward and be about even

with their respective hinges (photo XVIII ).

Photo XVII Photo XVIII

Page 7


Once you have all thee control horns installed you should have an airframe that

looks something like this (photo XIX ).

Photo XIX

Now you need to wire up the motors. I used some 14 gauge red/black wire to

join my two motors together. I cut the leads off, and wired them in parallel (red to

red, black to black) and then those wires are attached to one plug ***NOTE, THE

EDP5 0 MOTORS ARE WIRED AS PUSH ERS, YOU WILL NEED TO REVERSE

THE + AND WIRES AT THE S PEE D CONTROL*** (photo XX).

Photo XX

Page 8


Next is the motor and Main Fuse/Canopy installation. The motors are pushed

into the cutouts on the front of the Twin Tail Booms. Looking down from the top

both motors should be given just a tad of right thrust (I did not try to measure; I

just tweak the front of the motors slightly to the right, photo XXI shows the

angle). Once you have the motors in and adjusted for the slight right thrust,

simply glue them in place. Now take the Main Fuse/Canopy and slide it onto the

wings, route the motor wire through the slot and into the small wire cutout in the

Main Fuse/Canopy (photo XXII ).

Photo XXI Photo XXII

Move the wings all the way forward into the wing slot and center the Main

Fuse/Canopy on the wing joint. Holding the Main Fuse/Canopy horizontal to the

wings and keeping it centered on the wing joint, glue it in place (photo XXIII ).

Photo XXIII

Page 9


Now its time to install the electronics (the receiver, speed control, aileron and

elevator servos). First you need to hook up all the electronics (except the

motors) and make sure they are all functioning correctly and the servos are

centered. The servo horns for the ailerons and elevator are the single arm type.

The aileron servos go into the slots you cut in the Twin Tail Booms. Push them

in from the outside, or the wing tip side, also make sure the servo horn end of the

servo is towards the rear of the airplane (Ph otos XXIV ). Looking at the plane

from the bottom and the rear, the elevator servo goes in from the right side, again

making sure the servo horn end of the servo is toward the rear (photo XXV ).

Photo XXIV Photo XXV

Now you can mount the speed control and the receiver. Use two way sticky tape

(servo tape) and mount them under the wing on the side of the Main

Fuse/Canopy. It does not matter which side you put them on, do some trial and

error arrangement without the tape to see where they fit best for you with the rest

of the wiring. Photos XXVI and XXVII on the next page shows how I mounted

mine.

Page 10


Photo XXVI Photo XXVII

Almost done! Once everything is placed, use scotch tape to neatly route your

wires and then glue the servos in with just a dab of glue on each of the mounting

tabs. Finally, you install the control rods. I use a Dubro Mini E/Z Connector on

the servo end and a z-bend on the control horn end. Do whatever you are

comfortable with. However make sure that your control surfaces are flat and

even with the wings and horizontal stabilizer.

Well, thats it! Now all you need to do is double check your connections and

make sure that your servos move the proper way. Slap a 2 cell Li Poly in this

little sucker and take her for a test flight! I use a home built 2 cell pack that

weighs 1.3 oz. The E-tec 700 or ThunderPower 860s will work just fine (I am

sure there are others that will work just as well, these are just some examples). I

made the slot type battery tray so that you can use different size batteries in the

same plane.

The C/G for the LiL-Lightnin is just behind the crease in the wings where the

Twin Tail Booms are attached. Start of f with it a little nose heavy and then adjust

in small increments until you get it fine tuned to your liking. If you find a C/G that

works better for you, please pass it along and I will be happy to add it.

Thank you again for your purchase and please dont hesitate to contact me with

any questions or comments. I am always looking for input to make my products

better.

Glenn R. Viveiros [email protected]

Page 11

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lil lightnin instructions

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