Maverick is a 1.5-meter full-house balsa RC electric glider designed for thermal hunting and F5K competitions.
It features mainly wooden construction, reinforced with composite tubes and rods.
The entire design of the kit was using the idea of a simple build process that will make more people try F5K and thermal soaring. However, you will need to have some building experience already to finish this kit successfully.
For some inspiration, build tips flight reports and more, check Maverick RCGroups Thread, and feel free to share your builds there as well.
Sharing is caring!
Below, you will find an instruction on how to build this model.
Let’s get started!
Part 1. Vertical Fin & Tailplane
Before you start, prepare a flat surface and use a plan provided with the kit as a reference for building a fin and tailplane.
Pro Tip:
Cover the plan with some clear film or clear sticky tape to avoid the kit parts sticking to the paper during assembly.
Collect all the “TP”-marked parts and place them on the provided planThey easily come together. Taper the elevator to make the trailing edge around 1-1.5mm thickCut the film over the control horn slot on the bottom side of the elevatorPosition and glue your control horn in placeUse a plan as a guide for the fin & rudder parts positionCut a 3mm CF tube to the correct length and glue it in place. Make a nice fillet around the M3 nut to secure it in placeSend the dried up parts to the desired shapeTake a rudder control horn and cut the covering film over the slot on the desired sideGlue it in place with CA or EpoxyTake the torsion wireMake a C-bendTwist it and push the sides of the “C” into the fin and the rudderRepeat the same actions for the fin The spling should deflect the elevator upwards
Part 2. Fuselage
Pro Tips:
Use a flat surface to build your fuse.
The bottom and sidewalls of the fuse are designed to be completely flat to make it easier to assemble.
Start with assembling the wing mounting platesThen, follow a similar procedure to the tailplane mountGlue tailplane pylon side panels to the fuselage partsGlue fuse sidewalls togetherSides and a bottom of the fuse are completely flat, so you can build on a flat surfaceMake a fin seddle inside the fuseAdd 6mm balsa fillers on all 4 corners of the noseThe hatch should be removable, don’t gllue it to the fuse 😉Now, glue the bottom pannel togetherFit the bottom in place. You may need to sand the nose fillers prior to thatTemporary mount your motor, and add the nose sandblocks in front.Sand to a desired shaper once dried upGlue a plastic tube guide into the rudder pull cable slotCut it and send it to fitTrim the plywood ring from inside in case you wish to slide your ESC from the frontMount your servo w/o the servo armsMake a loop for the ElevatorAnd a second loop that will form a pigtail that will prevent the cable from falling into the boomCrimp the tube and put a drop of thin CA on both sidesPull the other side of the cable through the boomMake a C-bend on the end of the cable to pull it trough the F2 frameHook a loop you created by the elevator control horn and pull it to make the last touch the boomSet elevator servo arm to the “full down” / “full forward” position pull the cable through the arm and crimp it.Pull the rudder cable throughYou can use short plastic tubes where your cable makes a steap angleYou can also use this plasic tubes to guide the cable around for seamless movememntCenter a rudder servo and crimp the cable from this side firstThen, set the rudder to the central position, measure the length you need and crimp the cable from the tail side as wellThis how the end result should look likeAt last, install the motor, prop, and ESCMake a slide-on O-ring to hold the hatch in place
Part 3. Wings
Assemble your wing on a flat surface and use a printed plan provided with the kit for reference.
Wing ribs have tabs that ease up the build.
Before the wing assembly, take all 1.5mm CF rods and place them on the plan to identify the places where they should go.
Pro Tip:
After assembling the flaps and ailerons, use a drop or two of thin CA glue to «soak» the 3mm balsa ribs from the CF leading edge to approx. half of their length.
This will prevent ribs from cracking under the tension of the covering film and will produce a better covering experience over all.
Keep rib #19 ungluedUse a template to set the right angle for the rib #19Angle stiffeners aren’t pre-cut, so you can make them from the excess materialUse a tape over the ribs while sanding a trainig edge to protect the first from the unnessesary damageKeep a rib #20 ungluedUse template to set the correct angle for the rib #20 while glueingSoak approximately 2/3 of the ribs with thin CA, starting from the trailing edge to add some stiffness to the thin balsa ribs
Part 4. Wing Servo Installation
Pro-Tips:
The «default» servo installation uses small servo arms that hide under the wing covering. Drill the aileron servo arm as close to the horn basement as possible. In most cases, for the flap servo, you can use the first hole, closest to the center.Â
Make sure that the servo horn can move freely under the future covering.
We recommend using Z-bend on the pushrods inside the wing and L-bend on the control horn side.Â
In case you prefer the «open servo horn installation» just cut the openings in the wing servo plates and install the servos sticking the arms through them. Servo clevises might be useful in this case.
Hinge control surfaces with sticky tape or covering film. We also recommend gluing ~5x10mm mylar hinges spread by ~100mm to prevent control surface play and create a sustainable axis along the edges.Â
In case you will notice a slop between the servo arm, pushrod, and control horn, put a drop of CA on the hole while the pushrod is connected. Let the glue cure and move/spin the parts to “break” the glue and make the system move. Now you have a slop-free pushrod connection.
Center the flap servos and install servo arms at 90°Cut the pushrods parts and make a twisted Z-bend on one sidePut the music wire inside the CF tube and fix it in place with a few drops of CA from both sidesImportatn: Note the side where the pushrod is relative to the servo armPull the servo leads through the opening in the central sectionGlue in the connector before the coveringPull the other part of a servo lead through the opening in the ribs and central sectionSet both flap servos tothe “full up” positionFix both flaps in the max up position and dry fit the control hornsMark the place on a pushrod where L-bend will beRemove the horns for nowMake L-bends and trim the excess wireHook up the control horns and glue them in placeNote the servo arm and flap positionsCenter the servos and offset the control arms off the perpendicular line, so it creates perpendicular with the pushrod insteadCut and bend the pushrod parts.Assemble the pushrods and fix the carbon tubes in place with a few drops of CAGlue the servos onto the servo plates(Optional) cut the unneded servo leads(Optional) Crimp on the new connectorsPull the servo connector through the opening in the rib #20Make sure that the signal, pos/neg, wires are in line with the servo lead in the central panel and pull the connector slightly further through the ribPull the wing panels together and lock in the connectors first to ensure a proper contact Now, pull the ribs #19 & #20 tight together, the servo connector will slide back a little. Fix it in rib with a few drops of medium CA. Use CA Kicker to prevent the glueto go too deep and reach the other part of the connector.Once the glue is cured, take the wing panels apart and make a nice fillet around the connectorAs a result the connector should be in line with the wing joinerCover the outboard panels and hinge the ailerons(Optional) Sand down the unneeded part of the aileron hornDry fit the control horn into the aileron, set the servo to the central position and mark where the L-bend will beMake your L-bends and trim the excess wireHook up the control horn to the pushrodFinally, glue in your control horns into the ailerons
Get Ready For Maiden!
Once done, you are ready to install your receiver, program your transmitter, and head to the flying field.
