SpeedWing 400 Mk II User manual

SpeedWing 400 Mk II
Assembly Instructions
SPECIFICATIONS
Wingspan: 32 in.
Wing Area: 292 sq. in.
Target Weight: 17 oz.
Wing Loading: 8.4 oz./sq. ft.
Motor Used: Brushed or Brushless SP400 Size
RADIO EQUIPMENT NEEDED
2 Micro Servos (GWS Micro 2BB MG)
Micro Receiver (Corona RS410 or Berg MicroStamp 4L)
Micro Speed Control (20~45 amp)
7 or 8 Cell IB1400 OR 2-4 cell 2100 LiPoly
TYPICAL AIRSPEED
70~150+ MPH (Depending on Setup)
Website: www.speedwing.net
e-mail: [email protected]
©

SpeedWing 400 MKII Instructions
Thank you for choosing the SpeedWing 400 MKII as your next project. This kit is easy to build and
only requires a few hours to complete. Once nished, you will be rewarded with a stable, FAST, fun to
y wing that you can take anywhere. It is the perfect “take to work” plane to y on those lunch breaks
or to stop by the park on the way home. It Flies FAST or slow on a regular Speed 400 motor. Although
this kit isn’t recommended for beginners because of its high speed and agility, once you master the
basics of ying R/C planes you can handle this plane. Well lets get started. Below is a list of supplies
and tools needed to complete the SpeedWing 400 MKII.
Supplies:
- Industrial Strength Velcro Tape (for battery attachment)
- Pen
- 5 minute epoxy
- Thin CA (Superglue)
- Medium CA
- CA Accelerator
- 150 Grit Sand Paper (or equivalent)
- Xacto knife
- Dremel Tool (optional)
- Two sided foam tape (for servo anchor)
- 3M #600 3/4” Scotch Tape, or Clear Packing Tape (for hinges)
- Covering tape or Low Heat iron on covering (I use Solarlm)
- 1” strapping tape (has bers imbedded in it)
- 3M 77 Spray Adhesive
Radio Equipment:
- 4 channel receiver (Berg MicroStamp 4L Recommended)
- Micro Servos - 2 (GWS Micro 2BB MG Recommended)
- Small Speed Control (20 amp capacity)
- 7 or 8 cell 2/3A size batteries (IB1400’s), or 2-cell 2100 LiPolys
- Speed 400 6V motor and prop (APC 4.75 x 4.75 recommended) Or E-ite Six Series
Brushless

1. Find the three parts of the motor mount. You can
smooth the edges of the motor mount doublers if
you’d like.
2. Use 5-minute epoxy to glue the ply doublers to the
motor mount. Make sure that you align the doublers
correctly and hold them in place until the epoxy dries.
3. Now place the mount along one wing core and
mark where the ply doublers come in contact with the
foam. This foam will have to be cut from the cores so
that the motor mount can be glued ush to the cores.
4. Now use a sharp X-acto blade and cut the foam
along the marks you have made.
5. Glue the mount to one wing core with 5-minute
epoxy. Use just enough epoxy to cover the root of the
wing. To help hold the wing in place, use a couple of
strips of masking tape.
6. Glue the remaining wing to the motor mount using
epoxy. Again, use masking tape to help hold the wing
to the motor mount while the glue dries. Make sure
the wing cores are in perfect alignment with the motor
mount.

7. Insert the motor into the motor mount. You will
need to mark where the motor ts into the mount and
cut a small amount of foam out of the wing so that the
motor can slide all the way forward.
Installing the Carbon Fiber Flats
IMPORTANT: Be very careful during the next few
steps when handling the Carbon Fiber Flats. DO NOT
run your ngers or hand along the CF Flats as you will
get carbon splinters. When cutting or sanding any
Carbon Fiber be sure to wear a dust mask or respirator.
BE CAREFUL.
1. Place the wing in the bottom wing beds and place
on a at surface. (Note: you will have to place the
wing beds on top of something (like a couple of short
2x4’s) so that it can sit level on the table).
2. Tape two CF ats to the top of the wing. There is a
slit in the front of the mount and one in the back of the
mount that the CF Flats go through.
3. Use a pen to mark where you will be burying the
CF Flats. Remove the CF Flats.
4. Using a sharp X-acto knife or single edge blade,
make a single cut along the lines that you have
marked. Only cut as deep as the CF Flat is wide. I
nd it helpful to use a little bit of masking tape on the
blade so that I don’t cut too deep.
5. Now place weights on the wing so that the wing
remains at for the next steps.
6. Press the CF Flats into the wing until the CF Flat
is ush with the top surface of the wing. Now, use
Thin CA (superglue) to glue the CF to the foam. You
only need to run the Thin CA directly on top of the CF
Flat as the glue will absorb into the CF Flat and foam.
Leave the wing weighted down in the beds until the
glue dries (you can use a small amount of CA Kicker
to make the glue dry quicker).

7. Now ip the wing over and lay the wing in the top
beds. Repeat previous steps 2-6. Be sure to weigh
down the wing so that it remains at when gluing in
CF Flats.
8. Cut the excess CF Flats from the wing tip using a
small saw or dremel tool with appropriate attachment.
IMPORTANT! Be sure to wear a dust mask or respi-
rator when cutting CF!
9. Tape the remaining CF Flat to the trailing edge of
the wing. Be sure to position the CF Flat so that it
doesn’t hang above or below the trailing edge.
10. Now put a piece of wax paper on your at work
surface. Place the trailing edge of the wing at against
the work surface and glue the CF Flat to the trailing
edge with Thin CA. You can use a small amount of
CA Accelerator to speed up the drying process.
11. Repeat Steps 9 and 10 for the other trailing edge.
Remember to use a dust mask or respirator when cut-
ting the excess CF Flat from the wing.
Radio Installation:
1. Mix up a small amount of 5-minute epoxy and
paint the bottom of each servo pocket. This is to done
so that the servo tape has something to stick to.
2. Connect all of your radio components and test
your servos for proper movement. Looking from the
back of the wing, when giving up elevator, you will
want the both servo arms to move forward. When
giving down elevator, you will both servo arms to
move backwards. When giving right aileron, the right
servo arm should move forward and the left servo arm
should move backwards. When giving left aileron,
the left servo arm should move forward and the right
servo arm should move backwards.

3. Make a shallow slice in the foam between the radio
bays. You will later bury the servo and speed control
wires in these slices.
4. Place some servo tape on the bottom of the servos
and place the servos in their precut pockets. Also,
make a small hole in the speed control pocket for the
battery connector to t through.
5. Install the rest of your radio gear. Make a shal-
low slit in the wing going the one wing tip and press
the receiver antenna in the slit with your thumb nail.
Leave the excess antenna dangle from the tip at this
point.
6. Find the two radio bay covers and glue them over
the speed control and receiver bays. I use a small
amount of Medium CA and CA Kicker.
7. Now use some masking tape to cover the motor
mount. Spray a light coat of 3M77 spray on the top
and bottom of the wing.
8. Place a strip of strapping tape along the leading
edge of the wing. The strapping tape helps prevent the
leading edge from becoming damaged when hitting
sharp objects.

9. Find the two elevons. Sand a 45 degree angle on
the leading edge of each elevon. Make sure you make
a right and a left elevon. Also, lightly bevel the under-
side of each elevon. This will make the wing faster as
you will need less reex to y (up elevator).
Covering Instructions
You can cover the model either with colored covering
tape or iron on lm. I like to use either Solarlm
or Econokote to cover with. Both are low-temp
coverings and are easy to work with. If you don’t
have experience or the tools to cover with iron on
lms, colored covering tape works well and is easy
to use. I like to use two contrasting colors so that it is
easy to keep orientation while ying.
1. Start by covering one side of the bottom of the
wing. Lay the part of the wing you want to cover over
the covering lm and mark out where to cut the cover-
ing. Leave at least 1.5” excess around the wing.
2. Use low heat settings on your iron and iron the
covering to the center of the wing. Then stretch the
covering and iron it to the tip of the wing. Now,
stretch the covering and iron it to the leading and trail-
ing edges. You will shrink the center of the covering
after you cover the whole wing. Trim excess covering.
3. Now cover the other side of the bottom wing using
the same covering technique. Make sure to overlap
the center of the wing by at least 1/2”. Trim Excess.
4. Now cover one side of the top wing. Using the
same technique as before, iron the edges down, mak-
ing sure to overlap the bottom covering by 1/2”. Trim
excess.

5. Cover the other side of the top wing.
6. Now begin shrinking the covering over the whole
wing. Shrink one side of the wing at a time (ie. right
side then left). Alternate shrinking between the top
and bottom of the wing so that the covering shrinks
evenly.
7. Cover the elevons starting on the bottom side of
the elevons. I like to use the same colors as the wing
and later add stripes to the whole assembly.
8. Now cover the top of the elevons making sure to
overlap the bottom covering. Check for warps in the
elevons and use your iron to shrink one side of the
covering or other to take the warp out.
9. Now temporarily tape the elevons to the wing using
a couple of strips of masking tape. I do this so that
any stripes/details I put on top of the base covering
can be ironed to the elevons as well.
10. Iron on any design you’d like. I use racing stripes
on most of my wings as they show up very easily
when the wing is at high speeds and at a distance.
Installing the Vinyl Decals
(Continued on next page)

1. There are vinyl graphics included in the kit. To
install them, tape the decal to the wing using a strip of
masking tape about 3 1/8” from the tip of the wing.
2. Peel back the top of the graphic.
3. Cut the transfer backing off.
4. Using a plastic squeegee or a credit card, press the
graphic down working your way from the center of the
graphic out and towards the front.
5. Be sure to press the graphic down along the leading
edge.
6. Peel the masking tape off.

7. Now peel the rest of the transfer backing off of the
graphic.
8. Press the rest of the graphic down working your
way from the center of the graphic towards the back
of the wing. Be sure to hold the elevon straight when
applying the graphic.
9. Bend the elevon up and cut the graphic along the
hinge line using a sharp X-acto or single edge blade.
10. Carefully peel the backing off of the top of the
graphic. Be sure to pull at an angle and horizontal to
the graphic.
11. Carefully go over the top of the graphic again to
make sure all the edges are stuck to the covering.
12. Repeat steps 1 - 11 for the other graphic.
22. Apply any other covering scheme you’d like to
the rest of the wing.
23. Remove the elevons.

Final Assembly
1. Start by installing the elevons on the wing. You
can use clear packing tape or dubro hinge tape. Lay
the tape upside down on the building surface, then lay
an elevon upside down over the tape. Trim the tape to
the ends of the elevon.
2. Tape the elevon to the wing while giving the elevon
full deection.
3. Tape the underside of the elevon to the wing while
the elevon is ipped up.
4. Find the coroplast tiplets. Now make a mark from
the tip of the tiplet to the back. You will glue the tiplet
to the wing with this line on the centerline of the air-
foil. Sand the tiplet where it will be glued to the wing.
5. Glue the Right tiplet to the elevon using medium
CA and CA accelerator. Use the marks on the tiplets
as a guide to align them properly.
6. Make a small hole on the inside of the left tiplet
and pull the antenna through the hole into one of the
corrugated utes. Now glue the left tiplet on with
med. CA. Run the antenna back and forth through the
tiplet utes leaving a few inches hanging out of the
back of the tiplet.

7. Using a straight edge, mark the location of the 1/2A
control horns on the elevons.
8. Mount the control horns making sure that the push-
rod holes are directly above the hinge line. You will
need to use a drill bit to make holes in the elevon for
the control horn screws.
9. Connect a pushrod to the control horn and hold the
elevon level. Mark the pushrod where it goes over the
servo control horn. (Note: I use the second hole from
the top on the elevon control horn and the second hole
from the bottom on the servo horn).
10. Make a Z-Bend in the pushrods where you
marked them using a Z-Bender or a small pair of
pliers. Cut off the excess pushrod and attach to your
servos.
11. Attach the motor using the tie wraps included in
your kit.
12. Cut the covering off of the cooling holes in the
speed control cover. You can cut them off of the re-
ceiver cover as well, but it isn’t necessary.

13. Use industrial strength Velcro to attach the battery.
It is a good idea to cut the covering out from under the
Velcro and attach the Velcro directly to the foam with
some medium CA. Also, glue the 1/32” ply connector
plate to the wing and the battery connector to the con-
nector plate using medium CA.
Center Of Gravity
The center of gravity is located at 7 1/2” from the
nose. Make a mark 7 1/2” from the nose of the wing
and attach the battery so that it balances on this mark.
Control Throws
Measure the control throws at the widest part of the
elevon.
Mild
Aileron: 1/4” Up, 1/4” Down
Elevator: 3/8” Up, 3/8” Down
Wild
Aileron: 5/8” Up, 5/8” Down
Elevator: 5/8” Up, 5/8” Down
Reex
You will need to have a slight amount of UP eleva-
tor dialed in to the elevons. This is called reex. All
wings need a certain amount of reex to y. Start with
about 1/8” up, measuring from the widest part of the
elevon.