Great Planes Spectra Electric Sailplane Kit - GPMA0540 - Manual (Page 5)

you have to do is connect the battery, push one button and
come back when its done.
OTHER ITEMS:
Iron-on Covering Material-2 rolls (we recommend Monokote
for the wing because of its superior strength)
Latex Foam Rubber Padding (1/4" thick)
#64 Rubber Bands
Your local hobby shop can be very helpful when
deciding what types of accessories to purchase. We highly
recommend that you consult with and support your local
hobby dealer when purchasing the above items. He can
also be a tremendous help if you have problems building
or flying your models.
SUPPLIES AND TOOLS NEEDED
OPTIONAL HOP-UP ITEMS:
FOLDING PROP - A folding prop can be used instead of the
8 x 4 nylon prop supplied. It will fold back against the
fuselage when the motor is not running and enhance the
soaring performance of the plane. Sonictronics makes sev-
eral nice folding props and we have found the model #174
8 x 4 folding prop to work well on the SPECTRA with the
GOLDFIRE motor. The spinner may have to be carved out
slightly to clear a folding prop. Because the prop may have
a tendency to keep spinning after the motor is shut off, the
switch/motor should probably be re-wired to provide dy-
namic braking to the motor. This is easy to do and will make
the motor stop turning so the prop will fold back. There is a
sketch on page 35 showing this wiring modification.
LIGHTWEIGHT RADIO - There are several "Micro Sys-
tems" on the market that come with smaller servos, receiver
and batteries. Futaba makes a radio especially for electrics
(model 4NBL Attack E) which works well with the
SPECTRA. It comes with two S-133 Micro Servos and a 4
channel Receiver with a fully proportional electronic speed
control built in. This unit also has BEC (Battery Eliminater
Circuitry). This feature allows the radio system to be pow-
ered by the flight battery (6 or 7 cell). It will automatically
shut the motor off before the battery is totally drained, leaving
another 20 minutes or so of flying time in the flight battery.
These smaller radio systems can save several ounces of
valuable weight which will improve both the climbing and
soaring capabilities of the plane.
1 oz. Thin CA Adhesive
2 oz. Medium or Thick CA Adhesive (We'll refer to it as
"thick" in the instructions)
2.5 oz. 30-Minute Epoxy
Hand or Electric Drill
Drill Bits: 1/16", 3/32", 1/8", 1/4"
Sealing Iron
Heat Gun
Razor Saw
Hobby Knife, #11 Blades
Pliers
Screw Drivers
T-Pins
Assorted Rubber Bands
Straightedge
Masking Tape
Sandpaper (coarse, medium, fine grit)*
T-Bar Sanding Block (or similar)
Waxed Paper
Lightweight Balsa Filler
Dremel Moto Tool or Similar (optional)
*NOTE: On our workbench, we have four 11" T-Bar sanders,
equipped with #50, #80, #100 and #150-grit sandpaper. This
setup is all that is required for almost any sanding task. We
also keep some #320-grit wet-or-dry sandpaper handy for
finish sanding by hand before covering.
COBALT MOTORS - A GOLDFIRE motor is included in
this kit. It is a 550 size motor designed especially for
airplanes. It is an inexpensive motor that is as powerful as
many motors costing 3 times as much. We do not recommend
that you use any of the 540 size "Car'' motors. Their smaller
size and higher RPM requirements do not work well when
trying to turn a propeller at 12,000 rpm. If you want a higher
performance motor, we recommend you use an Astro Fight
.05 Cobalt Motor (Model 6605 or 6605 S). These motors are
very powerful and will make your SPECTRA climb like
crazy with some sacrifice in run time. We recommend that
you use either Sermos Power Pole Connectors or Deans Con-
nectors on the battery and motor when using high perform-
ance motors. These connectors have a very low resistance
and will carry the larger currents better than the more popular
connectors provided.
A WORD ABOUT ADHESIVES
If you looked at the "ITEMS NEEDED" list above, you
probably noticed that we recommend only two basic types of
glue for assembling the SPECTRA. . .CA adhesives and
Epoxy adhesive. Glues have come a long way in the past few
years and these two types of adhesive are all that is needed to
build a strong and light structure.
CA (Cyanoacrylate) - These are the "Super Glues". They
have revolutionized model building by eliminating t h e "wait
for the glue to dry'' phase of building. CA'S will be used for
95% of the building. They come in several viscosities but we
will only require the "Thin" (Runs like water) and the
"Medium" (Like a thin syrup). The thin CA will be used
where there is a nice tight fitting joint. It is applied after the
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