Update on Tandy Walker's Speed 400 Cleveland Cloudster

Second Cloudster 300

On May 3, 2010, I had a fly away on the third test flight of my new 300 sq. in. electric Cloudster. Which prompted the purchase of a Walston Retrieval System.

On May 11, 2010, the lost Cloudster was found in the back yard of an Arlington home eight days later after two rain storms.

It had suffered rather extensive damage.

I decided to jump back in and build another 300 sq. in. Cloudster for the Speed 400 event! It was too good of a flyer for me not to have one for this year's SAM Champs, if it could be built quickly. I concluded that I could build a second one in a much shorter time using what components I could salvage and my own construction reports as a guide.

The right wing panel was missing and the center section was badly damaged, but the main plywood spar brace was in tact.

A completely new right wing panel was built.

The new wing panel was integrated into the salvaged wing structure.

A complete wing structure emerged.

The wing structure was covered with transparent red UltraCote Lite.

The color scheme and trim were duplicated and the exact same Cajun graphics were applied to the wing.

When the vertical tail covering was cleaned off, it was discovered that the tip of the fin had received a moderate blow to the top edge, leaving the silk covering on one side of the tip wood a little wrinkled. Distilled water was injected into the crushed balsa through the covering with the syringe and a little heat was applied to the area, which expanded the damp balsa underneath and tightened up the silk covering.

The elevator control surface has been subjected to exposure and over stressing, which had significantly wrinkled the covering.

It was necessary to remove all of the covering from both the elevator and stab so each joint could be inspected and reglued as necessary. Discolored wood from water damage was bleached out with household bleach. The elevator and stab were recovered with transparent red UltraCote Lite.

The fuselage was so damaged that it was not salvageable so a new one had to be built. To add a little weight and reduce ballast, I used heavier 3/16" balsa strips in the fuselages primary structure.

To save time an aluminum motor mount was used. This aluminum motor mount for the Speed 400 motor was machined by a guy named "Loren Kramer".

The main landing gear was salvaged with a little straightening and rust removal.

Because of all of the water damage, two new servos along with new receiver, ESC, battery, and motor were purchased.

2.4 GHz antenna guides and push rods were installed.

Balsa blocks were glued together to form the blank for the new cowl.

The new cowl was carved and sanded to final shape.

The fuselage and cowl were double covered with white silk over Polyspan Lite and given seven coats of clear nitrate dope.

The fuselage and cowl were double covered with white silk over Polyspan Lite and given seven coats of clear nitrate dope.

The fuselage and cowl were given one thin air brushed coat of clear satin Klass Kote.

The covering was cut out to form the four side window openings.

The windshield and side windows of 0.005" clear Dura-Lar were installed.

Red striping tape was used to seal the bottom of the windshield as well as trim the side windows.

This second Cloudster was finished this morning, 64 days after the decision to build a new one.

The Cloudster's balance point is at 48.7% as per the Jim Adam's plan and the total weight is 16.05 ounces................Tandy