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SkyEye Mini

Designed by Clark Salisbury

Free plans from Winter 2016 Park Pilot.

Free Plans

Click here to download your free, full-size plans (contains pages 1 &
2).
Click here to download your free 11"x17" plans (contains pages 1 & 2).

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Click here to download your free 8.5"x11" tiled plans (page 1 only).
Click here to download your free 8.5"x11" tiled plans (page 2 only).

Bill of Materials
Click here to download the bill of materials.

Fifteen years ago, my original SkyCrawler design was published in

Model Aviation magazine. At that time, LiPo batteries and brushless
outrunner motors were unavailable and video cameras were still big
and bulky. As the new batteries and brushless outrunner motors became
accessible, and HD (high-definition) video became available in small
point-and-shoot cameras, I decided that my old SkyCrawler design
needed an update.

I changed to a lower landing gear position on the model, so a camera

wouldnt hit the ground if I installed one. This also allows takeoffs
from grass fields that might not have been mowed for a while.

In my updated SkyEye design, I use a brushless outrunner motor, and a

3S 1,300 mAh LiPo battery. This airplane has been a lot of fun to fly,
and hand launching is unnecessary because of the models big wheels
and high stance.

The video camera that I carry on the SkyEye is a 1.5-ounce Polaroid

Cube (polaroid.com/cube) camera that records the flight in 1,080p HD.
I thought some of you might enjoy doing what I have been doing
shooting aerial video. This videography is just for fun, and AMA rules
need to be followed at all times.

The SkyEye is fun to fly, even without an attached camera. It will take
off from any larger grass field and lands nicely on the same. Lets build
the SkyEye.

First, cut out all of the pieces for the entire airplane. The oak
suspension mounts should have the holes drilled in them before they
are cut to shape. As noted on the drawing, some of the parts require
two, four, or even 16 of the same parts to be built. Stack balsa or light
plywood, and carefully glue around the edges, then cut out the multiple
parts as noted. I used a glue stick to put the patterns on the wood.

The horizontal and vertical stabilizers can be glued and pinned to the
building board or a piece of drywall and then allowed to dry. Waxed
paper should be laid over the plans so the pieces dont stick to the
plans. When the pieces have been removed, slot the edges for the
hinges after you mark the centerline in the balsa using a T-pin. Test fit

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the hinges into the slots.

The ribs of both wings are glued to the LE (leading edge) and TE
(trailing edge) wooden dowels. Pinning the front dowel to the plans
before gluing and pinning the front of each rib to the dowel works well.
Then, lay the rear dowel up against the rear of all of the ribs. Put a dab
of glue into each spot where it will contact a rib, and then roll the rear
dowel forward to glue it to all of the ribs at the same time. Also in this
step, add in the diagonal ribs. When the wings have dried, add the
wingtip support pieces to the outer three ribs.

The ribs of both wing halves have been glued to the LE and TE wooden dowels.
Pinning the front dowel to the plans first, and then gluing and pinning the front
of each rib to the dowel, works well.

The wingtip pieces will need a bit of sanding as they are joined. Let the
glue dry between each step of the five-step operation.

Pin the left wing to the building board, and make sure the wings touch
each other at the end of the dowels. Put a 2-inch spacer 51/2 inches
from the center of the wings under the right wing to space it up for 20
of dihedral (I used two VHS tapes). When that has dried, glue in the
four light plywood wing mounts, then sand the wingtips on both sides.

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The wing halves are glued together with the dihedral joiners. Pin the left wing
half to the building board, and make sure the wing halves touch each other at the
end of the dowels. Put a 2-inch spacer 5.5 inches from the center of the wing
under the right wing to space it up for 20 dihedral.

This is a good time to glue in the strut mounts, and use the 1/2-inch
thick balsa strut mount jig to get the correct angle. Make sure that you
install the #2-56 blind nuts into the strut mounts before covering the
wing, because it will be impossible to do so later.

For the fuselage, note that the first of the 1/4-inch dowels that connect
the firewall to the oak suspension mounts have 1/16-inch scrap spacers
under them. The firewall itself has 1/8-inch spacers beneath it.

The two nose pieces are glued to the firewall, and the motor mount is
glued to the nose pieces. Put the nose piece on the right side as
indicated on the drawing to provide some right thrust, which is helpful
on takeoff. The firewall should be spaced up with a 1/8-inch-thick
piece of scrap wood. Add the ESC mount when the nose pieces have
dried to the firewall.

Cut the 7/16 dowel to proper length and flatten the rear with either a
sander or a scroll saw so that you have a flat area to glue on the tail
mounts. Glue them on along with the tail skid support.

To keep the firewall perpendicular to the fuselage stick, I used the VHS
tapes and a crack in my flooring. The alignment tool holds the rear of
the fuselage at the elevator servo mount location.

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The 1/8-inch plywood pieces (number four), are glued in place. I found
it easiest to hold the entire fuselage vertical for this step. When that has
dried, glue in the 1/8-inch plywood strut mounts on both sides.

Next is the camera mount. The vertical balsa support pieces should be
spaced exactly 13/8 inch apart from each other. Epoxy in place the
small galvanized plate that accommodates the Polaroid Cubes
magnetic mount. The 1/4-inch diameter hole in the center can
accommodate a small point-and-shoot camera such as a Sony
Cyber-shot (Sony.net), which can shoot 1080p HD video. It should be
noted that the Sony camera weighs roughly 41/2 ounces, whereas the
Polaroid Cube is 11/2 ounces.

The SkyEye Minis performance will vary depending on the camera

you choose, and the takeoff distance is considerably longer with the
heavier camera.

The wing mounts should be glued in at an 111/2-inch spacing, as

shown on the drawing. It is easier to first glue the wing mounts
together as a subassembly. For the battery, I glued in a 1-inch-long,
1/4-inch dowel into the front hole to anchor an elastic to retain the
battery in flight. This entire battery mount can be glued on top of the
7/16-inch dowel fuselage stick, to attain the correct CG (center of
gravity) in the range shown on the drawing.

Only one battery mount is required. The battery is used as a jig to support the
side pieces as they dry. A 1-inch piece of 1/4-inch dowel was glued into the front
hole.

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I measured my CG to go with the lighter-weight Polaroid Cube. When I

attach the heavier camera, the CG is moved forward slightly, but it does
not seem to hurt the models flying qualities. Dont do the final gluing
of the battery and its mount until all of the other components are in
place.

Covering and final assembly include gluing the 3/16-inch gussets to the
top of the horizontal stabilizer. This will allow the vertical stabilizer to
be glued in place after covering.

The landing gear, made from 1/8-inch steel rod, needs to be bent and
attached. It can be bent with a hammer and a vise, but a more precise
method is to use a press brake. I dont own one, so I took the steel rod
to a local machine shop, and the proprietor bent it for me.

When the landing gear is attached to the fuselage with nylon ties, the
front oak pieces will need to be grooved with a Dremel tool, to stabilize
the formed landing gear. Also glue in a 1/8 x 1/4 x 41/2-inch plywood
piece on top of the landing gear and attach it to the 1/4-inch dowel.

Attach the wheels, and retain them with the 1/8-inch wheel collars.
Using nylon screws, mount the wing to the fuselage by drilling and
tapping the oak wing mounts of the fuselage to #10-32 thread. The
3/16-inch wood dowel struts should be built at this point. Place a
1/16-inch drill bit so it is coming out of the drill no more than 3/8 inch
to prevent it from wobbling. Drill the dowels to a full 3/8-inch depth.
Now the #2-56 threaded rods (cut to 7/8-inch length) can be inserted
into the dowel struts, and epoxied. They should stick a 1/2 inch out of
the dowel.

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The front of the fuselage has the battery mount and ESC secured with a nylon
tie. The landing gear, made from 1/8-inch diameter steel rod, has been bent and
put in place.

After all of the outside edges have been sanded smooth, the structure is
ready to be covered. Cover the wings first. Only the upper surfaces are
to be covered. This creates a lot of drag, but it also makes the airplane
slower and easier to fly. Make sure you wrap the MonoKote at least
three quarters around the LE dowel and the TE dowel so it will stay on
during flight.

When the wing is covered, the dowels will bend upward slightly. Try to
have the same amount of bend on both sides. The nylon hinges, which
attach the control surfaces, should be epoxied in place. I drilled
1/8-inch diameter holes partway through the balsa and through the
nylon hinge, and filled the holes with epoxy so that no epoxy jams up
the hinge operation.

Solder the connectors to the ESC wires and battery. Attach the servos
with the extender wires. The ESC and receiver can be held in place by
wrapping electrical tape around the fuselage stick. Use the gauge
supplied with the plans to achieve the correct amount of elevator and
rudder travel.

The struts are attached to the strut mounts using the adjustable ball
joints. Make sure that the TE is higher than the LE at the outer part of
both wings. This provides some washout and will make the airplane
easier to fly. Try to make the amount of washout equal on both sides.

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When the model is completely assembled, hold the battery and its
mount with elastic bands and check the CG. When the correct position
of the battery is determined, glue the mount in place.

Probably the best thing about SkyEye is its flying qualities. The aircraft
will take off from nearly any grassy or hard surface. I prefer to take off
from grass because the tail skid drags. This helps keep the airplane
straight without having to use a lot of rudder. If you take off from a
hard surface, you will need to use more rudder correction.

Flying is simply fun and relaxing. The SkyEye Mini will do loops from
level flight. If you do fly to take video, I found that the best video
comes when the airplane is flying straight and level.

Be careful not to fly it too far away when shooting video, and make
sure to get permission to fly over certain areas. Golf courses (after or
before hours) are perfect for this. I always fly where there wont be
people, and I think this is common sense.

When landing, cut the throttle and the airplane will quickly drop. As
you get close to the ground, feathering up with elevator will probably
not be enough for a smooth landing. You will need to add a touch of
throttle to grease the landing.

I promise you will have fun!

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