OLY II

[Click image for closer view.]

Sky Bench is proud to announce the availability of the famed Original Airtronics Olympic II sailplane kit, better know as the OLY II. We are now producing this great flying and super durable Lee Renaud design.

Dave Garwood's photo's for his OLY ll kit review published in Flying Models magazine December 2004 issue.

The OLY II has been the best beginners R/C Sailplane for years and has taught thousands of r/c sailplane enthusiasts how to fly successfully. The OLY II will stay up on the slightest of thermal activity and produce long flights for the beginner, but don't be fooled into thinking it is only for beginners. The OLY II is still winning contests, Tom Kellevang flew his OLY to first place in the 2000 AMA/LSF Nostalgia NATS and the wind was fierce all day.

The kit was originally designed to build fast and now Sky Bench has improved on that with laser cut wing ribs that are stacked, and ready for immediate use with out needing to be punched out like a die cut kit. The fin is now a one piece laser cut part that saves building time and more importantly makes a much stronger tail section to better withstand a flip over landing. Both the stab and rudder also have laser cut parts to save building time and create more accurate and stronger flying surfaces. The fuse top and bottom are now laser cut and this will also save building time.

The wing leading edges are pre shaped and require minimal sanding, spoilers are optional, but installation is shown on the construction plan. All hardware to complete the model is furnished except the adhesives and covering materials, which are also available from Sky Bench. The 5/16" steel wing rod that joins the two wing halves is a competition level wing joiner.

Separate plans are furnished for the wings and the construction manual is illustrated with lots of photos to make building a snap.

OLY II Construction Tips

Oly II Testimonials with Photos

Click here See Ed Whyte's OLY II Instructions.
New instructions for Sky Bench's revised OLY ll kit will be written and posted here when completed.

Kit Price, $108.95

Bob Legue's Electric Conversion

Notice.......... January 2006

I have been continually striving to improve the OLY ll kit to improve the strength and the ease of assembly.

The kit now includes the Du Bro Laser push rod package and Du Bro metal clevises. This will improve the quality of the kit and make the building more enjoyable.

An electric motor mount former is also included in the kits. Use this to mount a Graupner Speed 600 motor for ease of launching. Other more powerful motors can be used.

Flight Battery and Servo Information:

I use a 4 cell, KR-1400-AE Ni-Cd Flight Battery pack from Batteries America, with a Hitec receiver protection rubber pad (1/8" thick) between the nose block and pack. This fits just right in my OLY ll. I have two quarters for added nose weight. I'm using the larger size Hitec HS 300 servos for rudder and elelvator.

Electric Motor mount former for Speed 600 (included in kit)
One part $1.85. Shipping is $1.25 for up to 4 parts or zero shipping cost if ordered with other items.

14 year old wins first place in his first contest flying an "Oly II"

Laser cut fuse parts. Snap lock parts totally reduces building time and the newly designed parts increase the fuse strength tremendously. Note the servo/switch tray and 1/64 plywood doublers, Lee Renaud would be proud of this kit.

The stab tips and leading edge center splice part, elevators with control horn mounting holes, rudder top and bottom and fin are all laser cut for fast building time.

This is my completed parts. The bottom of the stab and bottom of the fin were left uncovered for gluing purposes.

New OLY kits

OLY ll S

Looks just like the original OLY ll, but the airfoil is changed to S 3014 for great penetration. The wing's leading edge is sheeted, top and bottom, for a more accurate airfoil shape and added strength. The OLY ll s will be a terrific choice for electric powered installation.

The kit includes the material and laser parts to build the stab and rudder like the orignal OLY ll, builders choice.

Suggested Electric Motor Installation ......

AXI 2820/10, 13X6.5 folding prop, and a 7 cell 2000 mAh battery or 2 or 3 cell LiPoly battery with a Jeti "Advanced PLUS" 40 amp controller available from Hobby-Lobby.com

Kit price $128.95 sh $12.95

Bob Legue's Electric Conversion

OLY II S Instructions and Photos (9.7 MB PDF)

OLY ll S ........... It is going to build fast!

OLY lll

D-Tube Wing construction.
Wing Span 132"   Airfoil S 3014
Wing Area 1066 sq in   RES Flying weight 59 oz.
Wing loading in flight - 8 oz. per sq. ft.

Hello RES Arfs

Kit Price $148.95 sh $15.00
Kits are available within approx. 14 days of ordering

Joe Burns wrote:

Text enlarged and spacing widened for computer wrecked eyes and old folks-often one and the same.

Hope this adds something as it certainly helps me in the building process to see a pic with instructions.

Joe's rendition of Bob and Terry's instructions. (1.6 MByte)

Bob Leque's Oly III Instructions
MS Word Document Version(780 kByte)

Terry Forbes OLY III Instructions

Tips on adding carbon to the wing spars.

Jim Allen's mighty fine looking OLY lll

Tom Scully's winning OLY III, Toledo 08 Show.

Windlord for Electric or Winch

Ken Bates assembling his Windlord at Wood Crafters

Superior Flying Wing performance designed by Ken Bates

Semi Kit includes: Laser cut parts,
5/16" Wing rod - brass tubes

$89.00 sh $12.95

See Ken's build thread on RC Groups

Windlord Laser Cut Parts

Legionair



1978 F3B Team Selection Finals, Pennsacola, Florida.

The famous Legionair series of sailplanes designed by Cecil Haga are coming back. Cecil's son Bill has given exclusive rights to Sky Bench to kit the whole series of Legionairs. Cecil designed several versions of the Legionairs, 2M, 100", 132",140" and the Shuttle in 2M and 100". The Legionairs were very popular and well know and exceptional performers. The airfoil was designed to handle the Texas high winds with a low wing loading which will allow today's rc pilot to penetrate and search for lift far from the confines of the flying field and still thermal out in light air. Prices and more information will be posted when available. Send an email and you will be notified when the Legionairs are available, pricing, etc. I will not be able to respond to questions due to time constraints on Sky Bench. We are swamped, but I wanted to let everyone know this great flying sailplane will be available.

A special thanks goes to Bill Haga, Jack Womack, Bill Maserang, Jim Ealy, and Jim Deck for their help in this project.

Building tips and parts change notification

Ray,

You asked me to send you a picture when I had built my Legionaire 132. I attach a couple of it albeit as yet uncovered. When I finish it off (should be in about a week's time) I will send you a couple more pics - do with any or all of them whatever you may wish. I also recently came across a photo of me taken in the mid 70's with my original Legionaire 132 - I will include that also in the next email just for interest. I also found it slightly confusing to built to a plan which did not fully represent the variant you have (very sensibly) kitted. As such to help my friend who has yet to start to his 140 version, I typed up some expanded building notes as I went along. These I also attach in case they are of any use or interest to you. Obviously no-one builds models of this type without a fair bit of prior experience so, by and large, such notes are probably redundant for most builders. However as they now exist you are welcome to a copy. In passing the kit was excellent - the key features of the fuselage pod and canopy being a vast improvement on the original and the oher key feature of the laser cut ribs also being a perfect fit. The carbon wing spar should make for a pretty strong wing able to stand brutality on launch and the fuselage boom (of bigger dia carbon) is clearly going to be a vast improvement on the original 1/2" alloy boom which flexed at high speed and was susceptible to "permanent set" type damage. In short - thanks for the nice kit, it made up very easily.

Best wishes, Robin Sleight

Robin Sleight's Legionaire Notes

Jack Womack's Legionair 100

SKY BENCH'S LEGIONAIR 140 LASER CUT PARTS

Fiber glass pod and carbon boom

Full Kit to build 100" or 132" or 140" versions...$350.00 + $19.00 SH
AU and UK shipping approx. $35.00.
Full Kit includes: plans (state which plan) and modification list, laser cut parts, machine cut stab mount, beautiful fiberglass fuse pod and canopy, 1/2" aluminum wing joiner rod, carbon tube and wood spars, carbon boom, all sheet wood and tip blocks, Dubro Laser Nylon Push Rod pkg and hardware.

CHALLENGER


(Otto launching his Challenger
at the 1974 Soar Nats)

(Otto Heithecker with Jim Vanderzyl's
Challenger, Wood Crafters 2002)

Gary Bussell and his beautiful Challenger at LOFT field 1975 (?).
Look closely and see the chute coming off the tow hook due to a tow line break.

CLOUD BOUND 4

Cloud Bound 4, designed by Don Drury and published in RC Modeler May 1977. This is a versatile design that can be flown in Nostalgia events and yet, due to the availability of programmable radios, can give the flyer all the controls possible. It can be set up with flaps, flaperons, flaps and ailerons, and spoilers. Click on (more info) for graphics and specifications. The Cloud Bound 4 can also be constructed with just spoilers to qualify for RES rules.  I am going to build mine for RES, but include the short landing brakes that can be de-activated during an RES event.

Using an Aquila airfoil, the wing can incorporate spoilers and short or long span landing flaps for precise landing speed/decent control as well as camber changing.

Truly an elegant V-Tail r/c sailplane design.  I am proud to make Don's creation available as a laser cut kit. Wood kits provide two levels of gratification. It is a wonderful feeling to see your hand-built kit, first arriving as a box of wooden parts and requiring your building skills, then soaring high with the clouds.

The wing joiner system and spar has been updated to handle modern day winch launching. The diagonal wing rib construction has been retained and all ribs are laser numbered. After talking to Don about his design, I decided the fuse may not be strong enough to handle the extra load (twisting) the V-tail exerts and decided adding laser cut 1/16" balsa sheeting fuses sides would solve the issue.

Like the Aguila, the Cloud Bound 4 will provide a fairly wide speed envelope and definitely be able to spec out on light lift.

Kit includes the magazine construction article and plans, building tips, all wood and laser cut parts, and hardware.

A BEAUTIFUL NOSTALGIA OR RES DESIGN.
Full Kit price..........$134.95

Ray's Cloud Bound 4 fuse modifications

Ray,

Here is the picture of the Cloud Bound 4 we talked about at the Wood Crafters Event last week-end. It was great to see all the different planes and meet so many friendly people during the Wood Crafters Event. It was a great week-end. As you can see the Cloud Bound is one impressively large plane. I enjoyed building this plane and hope to fly it soon.

David Howell
Cleveland, Tennessee

PIERCE 970

Click here for kit details.

Click here for text info.

Beautiful symmetrical stab and fin. Stab ribs include building jig tabs for accurate and easy construction.

The top photo is my 2nd Pierce 970 I had way back in 1977. Hard to see, but I put flaps on this one. The airfoil is a thin flat bottom and was one of the best at lifting out in light lift. Adding carbon and vertical shear webbing between the spars will make this a very strong wing (included in the new kit). Ed Slobod is famous for his Paragon design, but I think when the Pierce 970 starts showing up at the flying fields, you fellas will see the light and want a 970 quick. The flight speed envelop is much larger due to the thin wing. Back in 77, we didn't have carbon to beef up the wings and so the 970 was a bit fragil, but not anymore. More info and pics to come. This is a big sailplane with 120 inch wing span that is very easy to build and one of the great all time best flyers. You Wood Crafters can build it with flaps or spoilers or both and have a ball in 2004.

Thanks to laser cutting, I have saved the builder a lot of construction time on this kit. The wing rib cap strips have been eliminated, the wing is set up for a single wing rod instead of two, the inner wing panels have 1/2" wide spars with precut vertical shear webs between the spars, the stab ribs do not require cutting in half like the original kit did, but still has a sysmetrical section and the stab control horn can be built attached to a stab root as shown on the plans or within the fin to reduce drag and protect it from breakage.

The fuse sides, top and bottom are laser cut for a fast build with tab and slot former construction to keep the fuse straight. 1/64" plywood doublers are used at the nose/wing joiner and at the fin junction. The fuse wing joiner area has been modfied to greatly increase the strength.

PIERCE ARROW

Another famous design by Ed Slobod. This was the forerunner of Ed's Paragon and has now become a popular conversion to Electric by adding three more ribs in each center wing panel to extend the wing to 91 inches.

This laser cut kit includes the six extra ribs.

Pierce Arrow specifications: 

• Wing span: 76"

• Wing area: 500 sq. in.

• Weight: 26 oz.

24 oz. flying weight shown on Ed's construction plan. Extra six ribs adds 112.5 sq. in. wing area.

Partial Kit Only, Laser cut parts include:

Beautifully accurate laser cut wing ribs, plywood wing joiner braces, balsa tips and center section of stab and plywood canopy pieces.

Fuse sides, strip wood, spars and tail stick stock not included.

Partial Kit price including plans and instructions: $46.95

WF-XL
inspired by the

Wing span 116"   Wing area 780 sq in.   Airfoil S3014

Plan drawn for RES plus optional flaps and ailerons.
Easily powered by electric

Plan drawn by Ray Hayes for Sky Bench

See Building photos and instructions on Skybench.com

WINDFREE

Greg Smith at Wood Crafters 2003
Ray with his new Windfree at Spring Break, April 2003, getting ready for Wood Crafters 2003 "One Of A Kind Event"	The cover of R/C Modeler showing the Windfree. You can find links to the entire article at our Links page.

 

Mark Smith with Windfree
1974 SOAR NATS

 
My Windfree sporting two new decals on the wings and soon it will have smaller Windfree decals for the fin or fuse sides. Decals also available for the Windward.

Specifications: wing span: 100", wing area: 555 sq. in.

Requires 2ch radio or if you want spoilers we stock the Hitec 3G ss 3 ch. complete radio system with two HS-80 servos and an inexpensive micro servo for the spoilers.

Would our line of Nostalgia and RES sailplane kits be complete without a Hobby Hanger Windfree? No way, this is a timeless design with great looks and fantastic flight performance.

The airfoil is a flat bottom E 387 and will work light lift extremely well or with a couple ounces of ballast will fly in gusty turbulent windy conditions.

It is perfect for those evening Flying sessions when the lift is very light and the fading sun glitters on this beautiful glider. The wings have D-tube construction that is necessary for an accurate airfoil and a strong wing. The wood selection in the kit is very good and light. The average weight is 25 to 30 oz. and easy to build.

Mark Smith made the Windfree famous in the seventies winning major contests all over the USA.

KIT NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Ray: I cut my R/C soaring teeth on the Windfree in the early seventies. The modifications I made to it were narrowing the fuse and reducing the fuse height as maybe noticed in the photo of my current red Windfree, sometimes I would sheet the top of the wings (I probably built at least ten of the Windfrees back then).

My current Windfree weighs 23 1/2 oz.. A sharp leading edge on the inboard 2/3 of the wing produces excellent results for working very light lift. Years ago, I discovered how to fly upside down in thermals with the Windfree for added kicks.

The best looking Windfree I had was all white with red monokote on the bottom of the wings and stab. Enjoy. 

WINDWARD




(Kitted with permission
from Mark Smith)

Correction to an old misprint, this is Rod Smith, not Ron, he is Mark Smith's farther. This was their start in the model kit manufacturing business.1971 photo, second annual Nationals Soaring Event that became known as The SOAR Nats. Click here or on photo for larger pic and magazine text.

Dan Pruss, John Nielson and SOAR crew hosted seven consecutive events, 1970 thru 1976.

Wing Span: 72 in., Wing Area: 532 sq. in., Weight: 24 oz.

Kit Price $58.95 Now in stock

The Windward won the first Chicago Soar Nats in 1971 and the 1971 Western R/C Soaring Championships and is still a very good performer today. The Windward design lead to the 100" Windfree kit designed by Mark Smith and both models flew exceptionally well, the Windward kit is extremely easy to construct. The rudder and elevator are pre shaped sheet balsa wood, laser cut wing ribs, and many other laser cut parts, and original Mark's Models kit plans and instructions. The wing dihedral joint and spars are beefed up for today's strong electric winches. Rudder and elevator control only, however, spoilers and ailerons are an easy builder option.

Designed for high performance slope and thermal soaring, the Windward is easy to fly and an ideal trainer. Enjoy.

Ray: I have seen the Windward fly and always wanted one, now, at last I can enjoy building and flying a Windward. I will also build one with a geared Speed 400 and narrow the fuse.

Pictured above are the laser cut parts for the Sky Bench Windward kit. One of the areas I work on when I redo old kit designs like this Windward, the OLY ll and other kits to come, is try hard to reduce the parts count which means quicker building time for you and me. Some important changes I made to the Windward is moving the spar back to the high point of the airfoil. This requires wider wing sheeting stock, but improves the wing strength and the airfoil. The trailing edge was changed from built up 1/16 sheet to Trailing Edge stock which is also more costly than the original kit, but sure reduces building time. The original kit didn't have a fuse former, it does now. I substituted some balsa fuse parts for plywood parts plus changed the wing dihedral braces to improve strength in critical areas. Remember, they used 6 volt winches when the original kit was introduced. The wing tip parts are laser cut according to the plan as well the center rib angle template is included.

All wood parts, hardware, original construction plans, instructions are included. The vacuumed formed canopy is not included, but a balsa block is. I hope you builders will reduce the width of the fuse, especially from the wings leading edge (that is where the new former is located) forward to the nose block. The wide nose section on the original was due to the large size of radio equipment back then.

Hi Ray,
Thought you might like to see how the Windward kit I purchased from you turned out. You may recall I was in AZ when I ordered the kit and have since moved to TX. It was quite hot and humid when I got here so it gave me something to do while I was staying cool indoors. Most of my tools are in storage yet so kind of hacked it out by hand but it did not seem to ham the way it fly's. For its test flight I hand tossed it from a green down a fairway on the golf course here and was starting to wonder if there was going to be enough course. It sailed along about 250 yards before landing. It is going to be a good one. Bill Batzloff PS thinking about the Lil Bird next. Bill Batzloff

VIKING

Terry Koplan's Viking

Dale Leggett and his Sky Bench Viking ...Electrified!

• Wing Span: 118"
• Wing Area: 1200 sq. in.
• Flying Weight: Mark I 52 oz., Mark II 54 oz.
• Wing Loading: Mark I 6-1/4 oz., Mark II 6 1/2 oz.
• Airfoil: Mark I 11-1/2% Flat Bottom, Mark II 12% Semi-Symmetrical

The Viking was an extremely popular kit design back in the days of NOSTALGIA and today it will qualify for both RES and NOSTALGIA CLASSES. Introduced in May, 1978 by Tom Williams of Craft - Air, the Viking and line of Windrifters dominated the r/c soaring scene in the early years.

Terry Koplan of California flew a Viking in the 1978 FAI Team Finals, Pensacola, Fl., to 2nd place beating out the Aquila Grandes, Grand Esprits, Aquilas, Paragons, Legionairs, others, and I'm sure he still has one or two of these beauties still flyable [see below]. This is still one of the best "Floaters"

A couple of the main reasons for the designs success was the large wing area and light wing loading. The wing proved to be very strong and should have no problems with todays 12V winches, back in the good ol'e days, we used 6 volt winch batteries and smaller test tow line. Sky Bench includes some tips and parts to strengthen the fuse weak spots, just in front of the fin and wing.

Features we are proud to present in this kit are the laser cut fuse parts with TAB-SLOT construction for quick accurate building and superbly laser cut wing ribs that will make this kit a joy to build. The kit is furnished with all hardware, wood, and clear plastic canopy, original construction plans and instructions plus a copy of Tom Williams very good article "The Art Of R/C Soaring in Thermals". Two Sky Bench Case Hardened Tool Steel Wing Rods, 5/16" diameter, are furnished.

I know you will be delighted with the flight performance and ease of building this design and I can't wait to have mine completed and in the air. Enjoy!

Beautifully Laser Cut Viking kit, Mark I or Mark II
Full Kit ... $148.95

Available as a partial kit, Laser cut parts only ... $89.95

Terry Koplan and his twenty two year old Viking, still going strong. This photo was taken July 2001, This is the same Viking Terry flew to 2nd place in the 1978 FAI Soaring Team Finals.

Is this a Sky Bench assembly line? It is the 2001 Leesville, High School Aero Space program students putting together a whole bunch of Sky Bench Viking kits. Last year they built and flew the 2M Lil Bird kits.

Ray's Viking under construction

Test flight was April 1st resulting in a 45 min. test hop (no Aril fools here). What a great bird. Why didn't I fly one of these in the late '70's? CG was at trailing edge and this NOS will come back up wind when the flat bottom designs leave you short of home base.
Very pleased Ray.
Tom Gressman

Windrifter

Cal Posthuma and his brand new Sky Bench Windrifter built from our partial kit.

Partial Kit as shown with plans $78.95

Windrifter 100" now available as a partial kit, click here to go our Partial Kit page. See a Photo of the laser cut Windrifter parts, vastly improved engineering from original kit produced years ago that includes tabbed formers and slotted fuse sides with 1/64 plywood doublers.

Carl Lorber's Thermal Queen

144" wing span Eppler 385 airfoil
Nothing floats as good as this one.

Laser cut plywood and balsa wood parts only $85.00

Partial kit includes: Wing, stab and rudder ribs, fuse formers, plywood wing dihedral braces and 1/64 plywood fuse side doublers.

Order the plan from Carstens Flying Plans 1 800-474-6995

Carl's construction article appeared in the November 1970 issue of Flying Models magazine. The laser cut wing ribs have been modified from two bottom spars to two top and two bottom spars, this allows the builder to fill between the spars with vertical balsa shear webs and shear webs on the sides of the spars. I built a Thermal Queen in the early seventies and will build another one from this Sky Bench kit. Watch for my construction photos.

Fly the Queen after dinner, it will go up in the slightest of rising air. Building this kit is simple for me, but I have over sixty years of building experience and don't need instructions to build any woody sailplane. If you're an instruction word by word, step by step builder and haven't learned how to "read" a construction plan, forget this kit.

Thermal Queen Instructions
Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Gulf Coaster

Don Harris has been flying his Gulf Coaster in the Nostalgia event for several years with great success. Don built his GC from scratch.

Now you can have this great flying old timer from an easy to build laser cut kit with an accurate Clark Y airfoil.

Wing span 108" ......... Easy to install Electric
Partial Laser cut kit, parts shown in above photo.

Kit Price ........................................ $ 59.95
Steel Wing Rod and Brass Tubes.... $ 18.50