Stevens AeroModel SOARstik Aerial Photography Plane Review

Part 1

by Patrick Tuxbury

The first part of this review will go through the Stevens AeroModel SOARstik equipment, build, and flight characteristics. The build was done almost a year before this was written, so I won't go into as much detail as if I was building now.

I will use the second part of this review to explain how I became interested in aerial photography (AP), and how my AP plane evolved to where it is now.

I hope you all enjoy.

Stevens AeroModel SOARstik Review:

Introduction:

The Stevens AeroModel SOARstik kit is based largely on the GWS Slowstick. The fuselage (carbon tube), and hardware are used from the GWS Slowstick kit, but the wing, stabilizers, elevator, and rudder are wood and balsa upgrades made by Stevens AeroModel.

Equipment:

Plane:

• Stevens AeroModel SOARstik Kit - http://www.stevensaero.com
• So-Lite Covering - http://solarfilm.co.uk/
• Himax 2812-0850 Brushless Outrunner Motor - http://www.himax.com
• Spektrum AR6100 Park Flyer Receiver - http://www.spektrum.com
• APC 10x4.7 Slow Flyer Propeller - http://www.apcprop.com
• 3-cell 1250 mAh Lithium Polymer Battery

Approximate System Cost w/Receiver (not including camera equipment): $200

Photography Equipment:

• Pentax S5Z Point-and-Shoot Camera - http://www.pentax.com
• Home made infrared remote camera shutter. (Similar products are made by Hexpert System - http://www.hexpersystems.com/prism/index.html)
• Home made carbon fiber camera mount. (Similar products are made by AskmanAP - http://www.askmanap.com/stick.html)
• ZLog Altitude Logger - http://www.hexpertsystems.com/zlog

The Build:

The SOARstik kit came in a plastic bag containing several nicely stacked sheets of high quality balsa. The pieces contained in each sheet were precision cut with a laser and came out quite easily.

After lightly sanding the edges of all of the pieces, I started putting the wing together. All of the pieces fit together nice and tight, and were self-fixturing. There was no need to clamp any part of this kit. I just slid the pieces together on a flat surface, and then wicked thin CA to adhere the parts to each other. The entire wing was built up in 3 or 4 hours.

The stabilizers, elevator, and rudder are made from flat pieces of balsa, which is fine for this kit. The original GWS Slowstick that this kit is based upon uses flat pieces of foam for these control surfaces.

This is the first covering job I've done on a plane, so I was looking forward to the challenge. I took the recommendation in the instructions and used a So-Lite covering (0.6 oz/sq yard) for the wings in order to save weight. In retrospect, I may have traded off the additional 3 or 4 ounces of weight and used a heavier covering such as Monokote, or Ultracote for additional strength. So-Lite covering will stick to itself very easily once the backing is pealed off, so the instructions recommended sprinkling baby powder on the adhesive side of the covering to lessen this effect. I found this worked very well. Considering it was my first covering job, I was very pleased with the results.

All of the control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, rudder) are attached to the wing and stabilizers using clear packing tape. This actually worked very well - a simple attachment method for a simple build.

As with the GWS Slowstick kit, the stabilizers screw to the frame, and the main wing is held on by rubber bands.

The Aerial Photography Equipment:

For my aerial photography equipment, I use a Pentax Optio S5Z point-and-shoot camera. It takes 5 megapixel still images and 640x480 video at 30 frames per second. I purchased it a couple of years ago for about $120.

The camera is mounted to the plane with a home made carbon fiber camera mount. Similar camera mounts can be purchased from askmanap.com.

The shutter of the camera can be activated with an infrared remote control. A friend of mine found some software on the internet for programming a PIC chip that will allow a spare receiver channel to be used to power and trigger the camera shutter. He programmed and built up the PIC chip so that it signals an IR LED to take a picture once per second when the channel is activated. Similar devices can be purchase for a variety of camera types at Hexpert Systems (http://www.hexpertsystems.com/prism).

The last piece of equipment I use on this setup is a logging altimeter. This is called the ZLog, and is also available from Hexpert Systems (http://www.hexpertsystems.com/zlog). It is also powered through a spare receiver channel. It can be configured to take altitude data points at various time intervals. I have mine set to take a data point once per second. It can be configured to mark particular data points when the channel it is plug into is toggled. This is particularly useful when I want to know about a particular altitude I'm taking pictures at. I'll just toggle the channel and view that data point later on. After a flight, the data can be uploaded to a PC for viewing.

The AP Equipment Mounted to the SOARstik.

The Flight:

As one might expect with a plane this size (24 oz. with camera attached) you want to fly when the winds are light. I usually don't bother going out when winds exceed 8 miles per hour. A good time to fly is early morning or later in the afternoon when the winds aren't as strong.

With the power of the brushless motor, this plane lifts off in just a few feet, and can climb fairly quickly. Later in this review I posted a altitude plot, so you'll be able to see some typical climb rates.

I had been flying the GWS Slowstick around prior to this build, so flying this plane was a delight. As you'd expect, it has very gentle flight characteristics, but the plane's shorter chord and longer wingspan allow it to handle the light winds much better than its Slowstick counterpart. Having ailerons made controlling this plane much nicer - a definite plus for aerial photography. My digital camera is on a fixed angle of about 20 degrees down from the horizon, so combining the use of aileron with rudder better enables me to effectively shift this angle up or down as needed.

For my photography, I'll often get the plane up to 500 feet or so, cut the motor, and glide around for a minute or two to take pictures. Then I'll throttle up again, climb back up, and repeat. I have not pushed it yet, but I suspect with proper throttle management, I could get a 20 minute flight out of the battery pack.

This plane glides beautifully, which makes landings very easy and gentle.

Overall, I am very happy with this plane, and rank it among my favorite for an easy fly.

Stevens AeroModel SOARstik Aerial Photography Plane Review - Part II:

Check back next month for the second part of this review. I will have more pictures of the equipment and some of my favorite photos I took with this setup last year, and even some onboard video taken from one of my first flights.