So who the heck is this guy Paul? I honestly don't know, but I recognized this plane when Richard Stultz (my buddy in Indiana that helped me work up the Lanzo Bomber) sent me his drawings of it. This plane, the SkyNight, has the looks and lines of the kinds of Pattern Planes that people were flying back in the late-70's and early-80's.

Wanting to create a foamie with the looks and flying characteristics of those types of planes, Richard scratched up his impression of this aircraft. After a successful maiden of the prototype, he sent me another comprehensive set of drawings that I was able to use as my key in working up files for cutting the planes on our PhlatPrinters (Chuck, get ready to cut another one out for Richard! LOL).

This plane, like the earlier birds it's modeled after, is meant for precision and speed (the way we USED to fly through the Patterns! ). That being the case, some extra strengthening was required to keep it from blowing apart. The fuse, wing, stabs, and side braces are the customary 6mm Depron, while extra reinforcement comes from 3mm Depron (laminations on both sides of the fuse in the wing and horizontal stab areas, as well as KF steps on the top and bottom of the wing). Inexpensive carbon fiber arrow shaft stock is used in the aft end of the fuselage (12" in length) between the fuse side braces, and these areas have been relieved to fit in the stock (about 7.5 mm diameter per my calipers). Richard spars his wings with the same stuff by gluing it in to the wing just behind the KF step on the bottom side. I elected to not relieve this area, since I feel that many of you may prefer other types of CF (I personally like to use the 1mm x 6mm flat variety).

As for mounting the motor, I have relieved the foam for a 2.125" long piece of 3/8" square stock - the typical stick size I use for stick-mounting my motors. Glue on a 1.5" circle of 1/8" lite-ply and you should be "golden".

To cut this out on your Phlatty you'll need Depron in the 13" x 39" standard size - 2 sheets of 6mm and 1 sheet of 3mm. Please note that I have supplied the PhlatCode for both under-slung gantry machines (Original and MKII PhlatPrinters) and overhead gantry machines (PhlatPrinter III).

I think that Richard told me he was using a motor in the 400- to 450-class on his plane, but WOW!, that's over-kill! LOL To keep things cheap, I would recommend something like the TowerPro 2409-12 with a GWS HD 8060 prop. That will get you close to 60 mph with a 3S1000-ish Lipo.

As usual with my file packages, you get ALL of my work, so if you decide to build something a little slower, then feel free to eliminate the channels in the fuse and side braces that accommodate the arrow shaft. I think this plane would fly well lightened up(without the CF in the fuse and with a CF flat sparring the wing) with a good Blue Wonder-type motor and a 3S 500-800 battery.

Oh yeah (almost forgot), Richard says that the CG is back from the leading edge of the wing about 30% the Average Wing Chord.

Hopefully, within the next few days, I can work up a 40" wing spanned version of this cool project...

EDIT 11.2.2010: I've added the file package for the 40" wing span version. Note that 1 sheet of 3mm and 3 sheets of 6mm Depron will be required for this kit! Attached files Pauls SkyKnight 34.zip (6.3 MB)Â Pauls SkyKnight 40.zip (3.3 MB)Â

 

Nice one Mike! I like the high tail on this design
You are knocking out some really great planes lately
Great job and thank you for sharing!
Mark and Trish

 

Nice, it's got the nose of a Dirty Birdy and a Mach1 tail. Look forward to seeing the video Is there anheidril(?) in the tail like the original Skynight? That would be cool

 

Ya know tbird, I was thinking Mach None. I think I have a REALLY old pic of the one I had from way back. It was a GREAT flier