I'll admit it, I love the GWS planes. One of my favorites for years was the original Slow Stick. They were cheap, good slow flying planes that could be used for everything from training to just goofing around. So when I was able to bring in some Micro Slow Sticks, I just had to have one for myself.
About the build, you should be able to build it in a night. Very simple. It only took me a month or so! OK, I built up and wired everything in the first night, but then Chris here at Aloft decided to make a fancy motor mount, battery tray, ESC mount and landing gear ALL IN ONE tray for the Micro. So I had to have one of those, but I sent him back to work on the CAD to add more lightness to the design. It was about a month before I had a chance to get back to the build table and install my new part. Woohoo he did a great job. We will be adding these to our web site soon. For now I am using the stock landing gear. Here are some pics of my build.
I built this one with an Emax MT1806 CW motor. This little motor fits the plane well, and is our cheapest option at this time. It is a 2280Kv running on a 2S800 battery.
https://alofthobbies.com/emax-mt1806-2280-kv-multi-copter-motor-cw.html
https://alofthobbies.com/tattu-800-2s-45c.html
And I'm running a 3 bladed prop. Why a 3 blade? Why not. I like the sound of them, and all the cool kidz are running them. LOL I have a pretty small prop on it as I do not need or want much speed, and the plane weighs very little. This little motor is capable of handling a lot of power, I am not using it that way.
I am using a small DualSky speed control, FrSky X4R receiver and some KS 47 servos:
https://alofthobbies.com/ks-hd-47mg-servo-1-2kg-16-6-oz-in-10-sec-5-6-grams.html
All controlled by my FrSky Taranis Q X7S transmitter.
Not much to talk about on the build, just make sure you slide the correct plastic parts in the correct order. About the only trick some people miss is the pushrod supports in the rear wing mount, and paying close attention to what side you should cut the V notch in the rudder and elevator for a cleaner look.
With the 3 bladed prop I have tons of ground clearance. Keeping the plane really light, and bending the metal gear legs forward makes for easy landing even in rocky landing areas as seen in the last photo. This power combo will take off with a small amount of throttle, and honestly that is the most fun with the slow stick. I seem to enjoy flying these with the smallest amount of power. But it is fun to blast the throttle for a little silly action from time to time, or know you can get off the ground with minimum ground roll should it be needed.
I have to say that I had not flown an electric for many months prior to yesterday. I was flying all new gear including the transmitter and I was flying at a site I had never flown from before and the winds were starting to pick up, but I had a total blast. It worked out really well. I was not sure what my battery drain rate was going to be, but I flew for a good 10 minutes shooting a bunch of take offs and landings in a tiny little landing strip and doing nice slow flights past myself at about 3 feet off the ground. Just having fun like the bigger slow sticks. The wind would bump me around at times or mess up a nice landing approach, but all in all it was a lot of fun. When I charged up the battery I found I only used 300mAh of the 800mAh pack! Looks like I could save some more weight and use a 400 or 500 sized battery. Will give that a try next.
The motor/prop/ESC combo works really well and is nearly silent. I am a fan of quiet planes (full size or RC) as the neighbors will not complain if they don't know you are flying.
Hmm, wonder if I could fly this on a 1S with a bigger prop. Might be fun..
Keep this plane light and it will be sure to delight. It encourages you to mess around and play with it. I think you will find that a Slow Stick is a hoot regardless of your skill level. In stock form they do not like a lot of weight or a lot of power. With that said, if that is your cup of tea, there are all sorts of mods you can throw at these, and this motor is capable of flying a much larger plane than this one, I have it propped way down from it's potential.
Will see if we can catch some video on a future outing. Also, thinking of dropping a micro FPV setup on this.. I think that would be a lot of fun.
About the build, you should be able to build it in a night. Very simple. It only took me a month or so! OK, I built up and wired everything in the first night, but then Chris here at Aloft decided to make a fancy motor mount, battery tray, ESC mount and landing gear ALL IN ONE tray for the Micro. So I had to have one of those, but I sent him back to work on the CAD to add more lightness to the design. It was about a month before I had a chance to get back to the build table and install my new part. Woohoo he did a great job. We will be adding these to our web site soon. For now I am using the stock landing gear. Here are some pics of my build.
I built this one with an Emax MT1806 CW motor. This little motor fits the plane well, and is our cheapest option at this time. It is a 2280Kv running on a 2S800 battery.
https://alofthobbies.com/emax-mt1806-2280-kv-multi-copter-motor-cw.html
https://alofthobbies.com/tattu-800-2s-45c.html
And I'm running a 3 bladed prop. Why a 3 blade? Why not. I like the sound of them, and all the cool kidz are running them. LOL I have a pretty small prop on it as I do not need or want much speed, and the plane weighs very little. This little motor is capable of handling a lot of power, I am not using it that way.
I am using a small DualSky speed control, FrSky X4R receiver and some KS 47 servos:
https://alofthobbies.com/ks-hd-47mg-servo-1-2kg-16-6-oz-in-10-sec-5-6-grams.html
All controlled by my FrSky Taranis Q X7S transmitter.
Not much to talk about on the build, just make sure you slide the correct plastic parts in the correct order. About the only trick some people miss is the pushrod supports in the rear wing mount, and paying close attention to what side you should cut the V notch in the rudder and elevator for a cleaner look.
With the 3 bladed prop I have tons of ground clearance. Keeping the plane really light, and bending the metal gear legs forward makes for easy landing even in rocky landing areas as seen in the last photo. This power combo will take off with a small amount of throttle, and honestly that is the most fun with the slow stick. I seem to enjoy flying these with the smallest amount of power. But it is fun to blast the throttle for a little silly action from time to time, or know you can get off the ground with minimum ground roll should it be needed.
I have to say that I had not flown an electric for many months prior to yesterday. I was flying all new gear including the transmitter and I was flying at a site I had never flown from before and the winds were starting to pick up, but I had a total blast. It worked out really well. I was not sure what my battery drain rate was going to be, but I flew for a good 10 minutes shooting a bunch of take offs and landings in a tiny little landing strip and doing nice slow flights past myself at about 3 feet off the ground. Just having fun like the bigger slow sticks. The wind would bump me around at times or mess up a nice landing approach, but all in all it was a lot of fun. When I charged up the battery I found I only used 300mAh of the 800mAh pack! Looks like I could save some more weight and use a 400 or 500 sized battery. Will give that a try next.
The motor/prop/ESC combo works really well and is nearly silent. I am a fan of quiet planes (full size or RC) as the neighbors will not complain if they don't know you are flying.
Hmm, wonder if I could fly this on a 1S with a bigger prop. Might be fun..
Keep this plane light and it will be sure to delight. It encourages you to mess around and play with it. I think you will find that a Slow Stick is a hoot regardless of your skill level. In stock form they do not like a lot of weight or a lot of power. With that said, if that is your cup of tea, there are all sorts of mods you can throw at these, and this motor is capable of flying a much larger plane than this one, I have it propped way down from it's potential.
Will see if we can catch some video on a future outing. Also, thinking of dropping a micro FPV setup on this.. I think that would be a lot of fun.