mods for GWS Pico Stick-FD

[AirWarriorBelgy]

as all great test pilots do; i too have pushed the outside of the envelope on the Pico Stick FD.
7-4-02 while flying the stick after the 3rd wing folding incident ...the wings folded for the last and final time.
the wing is now beyond repair as is the fuselage

so here's the scoop
an eps300c motor 5 amp esc 400mah nicad (6 cell)
although handling quite nicely, the airframe was already too frail from previous wrecks (i do push the outside of the envelope a bit too much lol). i went into a shallow dive to start my forth loop of the morning, all looked well, slowly i pulled up and decided to go for a stall loop instead of a full loop, as she flipped into nose down
( perfect stall execution) the wing sheared off completely, right at the wing joint cover
i waited till she was about 15 above ground and tried for a flair out, no success.... perfect auger
:eek:

well i have lotsa parts for a scratch built now....lol.... but this air frame is shot
7-5-02 went to LHS and bought a new stick fd....:D (i love this plane) and decided to put all i have learned done with the old one to good use

from the start she got a better set landing gear ( including wire)
and she got wing struts - might as well since they were already made...they didn't break in the crash ;)

so here is photo of new stick

[AirWarriorBelgy]

the biggest problem with the fd as it comes stock; was the landing gear, always spreading and bending as it was rog and the wheels breaking on on rough landings (a major flaw on all gws planes in my opinion, with exception to the tiger moth)

i had put a spreader (made from spare linkage wire) on the gear
to hold it in place, but this didn't stop the aftwards bending, taking the from a posting a posting (don't remember if it was here or at ezonemag) i tried fishing wire over the engine mount stick to the framework just above the wheels. The very next hard landing brought the 8 lb test spider wire through the mount stick like a garrot, subsequently the plane toppled and bent the ips driveshaft
(thats when the eps300 came into play)

SOLUTION:

picked up some 1.6mm piano wire (solid rod) and used the wire gear from the new kit as a guide.. and got some light weight foamies for tires.

results...perfect match for this set up. i have flown it today practiced touch and goes, landed many times; and no deviations to the gear at all!!:D
no spreading while taxiing, and most importantly no broken wheels ( i hate those little gws wheels) and at no time di dthat stupid rubber tire fall off either, cause it doesn't exist now!!

and it looks good too!!!
(other than the white spot where the excess titebond i removed at 5:30 am was, hmm will get this painted tonite...just a touch up though)

[AirWarriorBelgy]

the photo above also shows the wing struts (installed this time with "hangar 9" 6 min. epoxy (not the gws ca like last one)

if you want exact locations e-mail me i'll send em to ya

this bird flies great now and although i refrain from steep dives
she loops and stall loops pretty good now , but she ain't no moth baby ( and i do miss the power of the eps300 )
anybody who buys one will definately want to spend the time on these mods to increase flight pleasure and reduce hangar/ repair time.

by the way in many posts i mention time in the "hangar"
the dining room table that these photos were taken on ....is the hangar ( it doesn't usually look this good, usually its covered with newspapers, and wifey just refuses to put centerpieces and knick knacks back on) no wonder Mrs. Belgy is upset with my hobby
:D
when this ips "A" motor dies, and it will as they all do...i will put 300eps back on (if the airframe isn't too weak again)

<<S>> all Knights of the Sky