ElectriFly | Li'l Poke Product Review

GREAT PLANES LI'L POKE PRODUCT REVIEW
by Randy Wrisley

SPECIFICATIONS
Name LI'L POKE
Aircraft Type Park Flyer
Mfg. By Great Planes Model Mfg. Co., P.O. Box 9021, Champaign, Illinois 61826, (800) 682-8948, www.greatplanes.com
Mfg. Sug. Retail Price $64.99
Available From Retail Outlets
Wingspan 36 Inches
Wing Chord 9.6 Inches (Avg.)
Total Wing Area 346 Sq. In.
Fuselage Length 27 Inches
Stabilizer Span 14 Inches
Total Stab Area 65 Sq. In.
Mfg. Rec. Motor 280 w/4:1 Gearbox
Rec. Battery 7 or 8-cell, NiCd or NiMH, 1200 mAh
Rec. No. of Channels 3 or 4
Rec. Control Functions Rud., Elev., Throt. (opt. Ail.)
Basic Materials Used In Construction
Fuselage Balsa & Ply
Wing Balsa & Ply
Tail Surfaces Balsa
Building Instructions on Plan Sheets No
Instruction Manual Yes (24 pages)
Const. Photos/Drawings Yes

RCM PROTOTYPE
Radio Used Hitec SS III Tx, GWS Flight Pack, 2 Servos + ESC
Motor 280 w/4:1 Gear Drive
Battery Used 7-cell 8.4V, 1200 mAh NiMH
Weight, Ready to Fly 14 Oz.
Wing Loading 5.8 Oz./Sq. Ft.

SUMMARY
WE LIKED THE: Appearance, good quality wood, completeness of kit.
WE DIDN'T LIKE THE: See text.

The Great Planes "Li'l Poke" is an electric powered Park Flyer version of the popular SlowPoke. This is an assembly kit, not a ready to fly model. Opening the 39" x 5" x 2" long box revealed careful packaging. The laser-cut wood sheets were packed on the bottom. The strip stock was bundled and packed beside the two sheets of rolled plans. The hardware package including a small sheet of plywood parts and lightweight wheels was bagged in plastic to prevent loss or damage. A 24-page photo-illustrated instruction manual, preformed landing gear and the decals fill out the box. The quality of the wood in the kit was excellent. The Li'l Poke is also a very complete kit requiring only a propulsion system, radio, adhesives and covering materials to complete. The model is designed around the popular 280-size motor with a 4.1:1 gearbox. We liked the fact that Great Planes has developed a complete motor system for the kit. Those of us who are "electrically challenged," can purchase the system shown on the plans and feel confident the completed project will fly. After reading through the manual, and studying the plans we began construction.

CONSTRUCTION

Tail Surfaces:
Building the tail surfaces is the first order of business. These structures are made from 1/8" square balsa. Be careful not to pin through the wood, as it may split. Select your wood carefully. Use the hardest strips for the leading and trailing edges to prevent warping during the covering process. A single-edge razor blade is the best tool to use for cutting the strip stock. You may find as we did that it takes a little practice to achieve good, tight-fitting joints consistently. We chose to use thin CA as our primary adhesive. When applied sparingly, the good joints set instantly, the bad ones did not. A bit of baking soda filler usually resolved the problem. Because the grain of the wood runs in many different directions, we used a small sanding block to round the outside edges of the surfaces. We had all the surfaces finished in a very short time.

Wing:
Next up was the wing. Ailerons are shown on the plan as an option. We decided against them to simplify the construction and save weight. The center section is assembled first. After laying down the bottom spars, center section and trailing edge sheeting, the ribs are glued in place. Again, the wood sizes are small, especially the sheet stock, so take care to avoid damage. With the ribs down, the top spars, leading and trailing edges are fitted. The shear webs and top center section sheeting complete the basic assembly and the center section can be pulled off the board. Fitting the center section sheeting to the leading edge requires a bit of patience to prevent splitting. We soaked the sheet in warm water prior to bending it around the front of the ribs. The parts fit was great except for the notches in the ribs at the trailing edge. The bottom notch was about 3/16" too long. Since it was on the bottom and did not affect the strength of the model we just ignored it and went on to construct the wingtips. The wingtips are built much the same as the center section. Use the polyhedral gauge to ensure both wingtips get the correct polyhedral angle when joined. After final sanding, the wings were joined with 30-minute epoxy. The plywood polyhedral braces fit well. After admiring our work we set the wing aside and proceeded with the fuselage.

Fuselage:
The first step is to mark the inside of the fuselage sides with the former locations. Next we glued up six formers from 1/8" square balsa. The fuselage is erected upside down over the plan. We wished the fuselage top deck had been laser-cut instead of cut from a template. It must be accurate to ensure the fuselage builds straight and true. While the fuselage sides matched the side view, when we bent them to shape over the top view, they were 1/4" too short at the tailpost. Once the bottom of the fuselage is complete, it is removed from the board. The firewall and round top formers are glued into place, followed by the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces. We had to modify the last former on the fuselage to get the vertical fin to fit properly because the fuselage was short. When you epoxy the tail surfaces in place, be sure to double check the alignment with the wing before the glue sets! It's downhill from here on, only the top stringers, and a tiny bit of sheeting need be installed to complete the Li'l Poke. This project was fun to build and went together fairly quickly, in spite of the discrepancies noted. We believe someone who has built a kit or two would stand a greater chance of completing the Li'l Poke than a first-time kit builder. However, a beginner could build the model if they had access to experienced help.

Covering:
We selected Nelson Hobby Specialties "LiteFILM" to cover our completed Li'l Poke. LiteFILM weighs in at only .6 ounces per square yard and requires no additional adhesive. Being a plastic material it shrinks more than the tissue type coverings. One must take care, however, as the material is very thin. Static electricity generated when pulling the covering away from the backing sheet can cause it to double back on itself and stick together. We found that unrolling the covering material and leaving it flat overnight helped eliminate the problem. Jerry Nelson passed on to us a handy covering tip. We tried it and it worked great. Prior to covering your model with any iron on film or fabric, lightly spray the structure with regular women's hair spray and let it dry. The lacquer in the hair spray seals the grain in the wood. The process adds no extra weight and helps the covering stick better. Contact Nelson Hobby Specialties at: www.nelsonhobby.com for more product information. With the covering behind us, we began final assembly.

Final Assembly:
After installing the tail skid, we mounted our Hobbico CS-5 nano servos on the fuselage sides with double-sided foam tape. Compared to most Park Flyers, the Li'l Poke has a large fuselage. We had no problems finding space to install the radio equipment! A GWS receiver and Electrifly C-5 nano ESC were also installed in our Li'l Poke. The control surfaces were hinged with cellophane tape, and the pushrods assembled. These pushrods are made from thin aluminum tubing and piano wire. One end of the rod is fixed with CA and the other end is free to slide in and out. Once you have the surfaces centered, a drop of CA fixes the loose end and your done! The pushrods are more than strong enough to handle the tiny flight loads encountered. We found another error when we went to cut the slots for the pushrods to exit the fuselage. They are mislabeled. Use the one marked rudder for the elevator.

The wheels were installed on the gear legs with the neat little nylon retainers included in the hardware package. The landing gear is attached to the fuselage with rubber bands. The profile pilot was assembled and decorated with colored pencils. The builder must invent a means of mounting him in place as none is shown on the plans. We also found the provided windshield material much too thick to bend to shape and mount on the thin 1/32" balsa cockpit sheeting. What worked well for us was a section cut from a 20-ounce soft drink bottle. It was clear and already bent to shape prior to installing it. The wing was installed and the model balanced by shifting the 1200 mAh 7-cell NiMH battery pack to achieve the correct C.G. No ballast was required and our completed Li'l Poke weighed a modest 14 ounces with the battery in place. After charging the batteries, it was off to the flying field!

Flying:
Once at the field, we assembled the Li'l Poke, and checked the controls. The little C-5 ESV has an arming system where you must apply full throttle until you hear the controller "beep." Once that happens, go back to low throttle and the motor will run fine. On the first flight I held down elevator to get the tail up quickly and the Li'l Poke tracked straight and jumped into the air in about 30 feet. Climb performance could best be described as moderate. Turns are crisp on just rudder and the model is surprisingly stable in pitch. We found we could slow the Poke down to almost a hover prior to getting it to stall. When it did stall, it was gentle with just a fairly sharp nose drop, and showed no signs of snap rolling. Mild aerobatics like loops and rolls can be done, but be patient and get some altitude prior to attempting them. Landing this little feller is really easy. I made the first approach into about a 5-mph breeze. To say the landing happened in slow motion would be an understatement! The touchdown was made at about zero ground speed and the roll out could be measured in inches. My only caution would be not to doze off while on final! Flight time with the 1200 mAh NiMH pack was around 11 minutes, most of which was at full throttle. We later switched to an 8-cell 400 mAh NiMH pack and felt the model performed better. It was just a tad lighter and climbed a bunch better. We could even throttle back to extend the flight time, which turned out to be in the 8-minute range. Overall we found the model flew very well.

Conclusion:
The Great Planes Li'l Poke is a moderately challenging kit to build. The small wood sizes and intricate joints required to build the tail surfaces require patience. There are some minor little problems with the kit which won't stop a model builder from finishing the project. The reward upon completion is a model that exudes character and personality! This little Walter Mitty putt-putt shouldn't raise your blood pressure at the field either because it flies slow and easy. The propulsion system designed for the model works pretty well, but a little extra power from an 8-cell battery pack ads icing to the cake. The kit is sold complete with the hardware and wheels making it a good value. If a slow and gentle Park Flyer that just begs you to make one more low flyby appeals to you, try a Li'l Poke, you just might be glad you did!

Photos by Randy Wrisley. Reprinted with permission.
July, 2002 R/C Modeler Magazine
Editor: Patricia Crews