Welcome to Sky Bench's partial kits. Some of the kits are manufactured by other vendors and not all of the kits are laser cut. I will be adding more kits in the near future. A special feature of this page are the Frank Ziac designs that are classics and will always be a part of model aviation. Other classic designs will also be listed. Convert these designs to electric power. All kits include plans.

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING CATAGORIES OF PARTIAL KITS FOR PHOTOS AND INFO

Windrifter

Laser Cut Parts include: wing ribs, plywood wing root caps, re-designed fuse rmers that have tabs, and fuse sides that have corresponding slots, fuse top and bottom, plywood hatch, and bottom and 1/64" ywood fuse doublers that were not part of the original kit as produced by Craft Air.

No leading or trailing edges, spars, wing joiner parts, no hardware or ick/sheet wood for the wing, rudder and elevator are furnished. Partial Kit as shown with plans $78.95

Jim Velleman's Windrifter, ready for Wood Crafters 08.

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

Viking MK I and MK II partial kit

Includes plans and instructions, laser cut fuse and former parts, wing ribs, stab root parts and wood stab bell crank. Needed parts to finish kit are: spars, wing sheeting, 1/8 sq spruce wing turbulators, leading and trailing edge, push rods, stab and rudder balsa, wing joiner rods and brass tubes.

Partial kit $89.95 plus $13.95 USA shipping.

Both Wing Rods and Brass tubes kit .... $28.50

shipping to Australia, Europe $42.00

Click here for Viking info.

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.

Specifications:

76" wing span, 500 sq. in., 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

Osprey 900

Ray Hayes and his Osprey 900, 1978 F3B Team Selection Finals, Pensacola, FL. This is an original flat bottom airfoil that I fully sheeted. The wing plan shows D-Tube sheeting and cap strips. With today's programmable radios, the flaps can be coupled to the all flying stab for precise landing or uncoupled at your Tx for thermaling and penetration or set it up with flaperons. The plans show a steel blade wing joiner system, but I recommend a Sky Bench 5/16" case hardened steel rod. A lot easier to build and stronger too. The plan you will receive is an aging copy of my original hand drawing that includes a longer tip panel that I called Osprey 1000. Airfoils, poly joint braces, plywood shear webs and fuse formers are drawn and the design is basic 101 balsa built up construction that build's quickly.

Specifications:
Osprey 900 ws 100"
Osprey 1000 ws 122"

Ray's Plan $4.00 plus $4.00 USPS shipping

The Osprey 900 was published as a construction article in Model Aviation's January 1980 issue, plan # 285.

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 ........................................ $ 76.95
Steel Wing Rod and Brass Tubes.... $ 18.50

Gulf Coaster Building Tips (PDF)

Purchase Plans and Instructions from Air Age

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 as shown in photos.

Partial kit ... $89.00
5/16" Wing rod - brass tubes ... $18.95

See Ken's build thread on RC Groups

Windlord Laser Cut Parts

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 plans and instructions from
Flying Models Magazine 1-888-526-5365

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

Carl Lorber never had this in mind when he designed his great flying Thermal Queen. Installing e power in RC Sailplanes is very, very popular these day's. Bruce built his TQ from a Sky Bench kit and reports the design is a real floater.