Yellow Aircraft Stingray turbine jet trainer
Airplane, turbine, and all equipment supplied by Kyle Walker.  I, KC Moore, am
 building the airplane because I enjoy it and this way I don't have to spend 
the money :)  Powered by a Ram500 turbine, JR PCM radio,  Hitec servos,
and Robart struts and wheels.  Kit arrived 1/28/04 and I've been
plugging away ever since!

4/3/2004
Test flight successful!  We had some trouble with the landing gear but
Kyle put her on the deck like a pro.

Smaller, 6 meg version of above, but less video quality.

Stingray SECOND flight video - 30 megs, .wmv format

3/1/2004

 It's finished!  Here's Kyle Walker holding his new pride and joy.

2/17/2004
 stingray26.jpg (59671 bytes)
All assembled, balanced, weighed, and awaiting pick up
to be painted :D

2/16/2004
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Well, after hours of deliberation I decided to move the nose gear steering
servo around to accommodate the fuel tank tubing.  I finished the electronics and
fuel board and got the turbine mounted in place.  

2/15/2004
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FINALLY!  She's completely built and ready for paint!
(Well, there will be a few minor things to finish after paint,
but who's counting?)  We're hoping to paint it just like the 
stock photo above from Yellow Aircraft if they don't mind,
but who knows, maybe our painter will surprise us!

 

2/14/2004
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 It's been a long week and lots of internal work on the fuselage.
Complete retract system is installed, along with the steering servo system,
although I've had to make some modification to the steering setup to make
it work properly and to allow clearance for the fuel tanks.  It's a tight fit to
say the least!

2/13/2004
stingray19.jpg (33963 bytes)
Not much done today except the electronics plate reinforcing rails.
You can never have too many clamps when allowing 30 minute epoxy to cure.

 

2/7/2004
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Rudder servos, speed brake assembly, retracts, and fuel
tanks installed.

 

2/6/2004
 Ram 500 turbine test successful!
Click here for video of Ram startup.

Click here for Ram idle and exhaust flame.

Click here for Ram throttle-up.

Click here for Ram shutdown.


stingray1.jpg (91382 bytes)
2/5/2004
Here I have just assembled the wings and vertical stabs.  Next step is steering system, 
covering the wings and scuff for paint, and internal electronics and fuel tanks.  
We're testing the RAM 500 turbine tomorrow night :D

 

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2/4/2004
I've been kinda busy so not much time to work on it the past few days.
Here I am cutting the wheel collars to fit the Robart gear, and almost done
covering the rudders.  The canopy is mounted and ready, as is the speed brake.
The vertical fins are about to be secured after I mount the servo hardware.

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2/2/2004
1.  Cutting slots for the hinge points.  The black elbow hinges supplied resemble
the Robart hinges in every way.  (I think it's just a painted Robart hinge anyway).
2.  Notice the nice hinge gap covers supplied with the kit.  A lot of shaping is required
here to get a nice tight fit and still have 1" deflection of the elevons. 
3.  Servo bays and elevons completed, about to work on the spar.
4.  Just some of the shavings left over from the almost-finished wing.

 

stingray2.jpg (69258 bytes)  stingray3.jpg (37143 bytes)
2/1/2004
"SOME" sanding and shaping necessary.  This is not an ARF airplane,
but the remaining work is minimal and a joy to complete.  Parts fit is very
nice and the quality of components included is top notch.