How-To beef up the Slow Stick and a cool camera mount
Slow Stick “Floating Camera Mount”
The GWS Slow Stick has been around for years – almost everyone has owned one. It almost seems ridiculous to do a build article on this, but since the kit has changed – why not? This article will show some strengthening mods and also my design for a “Floating Camera Mount”.
I’ll start with the kit contents:
The fuse is made of fiberglass and comes in two pieces
The wing is different material (I’m told – I never had a SS before
This kit came with a brushed 370 motor, the glider kit is still available
I first noticed that the fiberglass rods supplied with the kit are flimsy and will allow too much flex; instead I will use carbon fiber rods that will eliminate the flexing of the wing. With a camera strapped below the CG, the wings in stock form are vulnerable to folding. The pictures below show the steps I used for the wing brace as well as a comparison of the carbon fiber vs fiberglass rods:
After both wing braces are complete, it’s time to install them on the wing. I used some good fiber reinforced strapping tape. The braces were glued in with 5 minute epoxy and taped as the pictures show. This will add some weight but the advantage of strength is what’s needed.
This is the brand of strapping tape I used
I opted to not use the supplied horizontal and vertical stabs – they seemed too flimsy for me, so I made my own from 6 mm Depron. You can use the supplied stabs and they may work fine – it’s just a personal preference.
I couldn’t find an easy way to use the stock landing gear, so I will use a carbon fiber unit. Some new mounts had to be made so that the installation was user friendly. I also have a picture of the brushed motor next to the brushless motor. The brushless motor has 30 oz of thrust turning an 11 x 5.5 APCe at only 15 amps – should have plenty of power – the way I like it!
I’ll be getting the following items to complete this thing (links showing where to buy):
The fuse is ~31.5 inches long… I think they went to the two piece fuse is so they can save money on smaller boxes.
Slow Stick Camera Mount
I have been designing a special camera mount specific to the SS – I’ll call it a ‘Floating Camera Mount‘ which will aid in eliminating motor vibration.
Here is the camera mount I have been working on. It rides on foam rubber and the only contact with the frame is a 1/8″ width of plywood. My goal was to create a mount that will allow picture taking with the motor on; normally the motor is off, but sometimes the motor needs to be on to hold a certain spot.
I used 1/8″ plywood for all of the construction. During assembly I had to make a few changes, so I have the plans correct although you may notice the pictures differ in shape (trust the plans!) You should be able to print the plans and use the templates for cutouts over the wood (1:1 ratio). Below are some pictures that help define the assembly:
This is pretty easy… Grab some paint stir sticks from Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, etc -
they are free and they don’t care what you want to use them for:
All painted and installed – good for forward or reverse shooting – my favorite!
NOTE: This is a new site so please
consider it a “work in progress”. I would greatly encourage readers to
send in articles for posting on AmpAviators. In contrast to a forum,
finding articles of interest will be TONS easier here.
Slow Stick on Steroids
How-To beef up the Slow Stick and a cool camera mount
Slow Stick “Floating Camera Mount”
The GWS Slow Stick has been around for years – almost everyone has owned one. It almost seems ridiculous to do a build article on this, but since the kit has changed – why not? This article will show some strengthening mods and also my design for a “Floating Camera Mount”.
I’ll start with the kit contents:
I first noticed that the fiberglass rods supplied with the kit are flimsy and will allow too much flex; instead I will use carbon fiber rods that will eliminate the flexing of the wing. With a camera strapped below the CG, the wings in stock form are vulnerable to folding. The pictures below show the steps I used for the wing brace as well as a comparison of the carbon fiber vs fiberglass rods:
After both wing braces are complete, it’s time to install them on the wing. I used some good fiber reinforced strapping tape. The braces were glued in with 5 minute epoxy and taped as the pictures show. This will add some weight but the advantage of strength is what’s needed.
This is the brand of strapping tape I used
I opted to not use the supplied horizontal and vertical stabs – they seemed too flimsy for me, so I made my own from 6 mm Depron. You can use the supplied stabs and they may work fine – it’s just a personal preference.
I couldn’t find an easy way to use the stock landing gear, so I will use a carbon fiber unit. Some new mounts had to be made so that the installation was user friendly. I also have a picture of the brushed motor next to the brushless motor. The brushless motor has 30 oz of thrust turning an 11 x 5.5 APCe at only 15 amps – should have plenty of power – the way I like it!
I’ll be getting the following items to complete this thing (links showing where to buy):
I already have the receiver and ESC.
The fuse is ~31.5 inches long… I think they went to the two piece fuse is so they can save money on smaller boxes.
I have been designing a special camera mount specific to the SS – I’ll call it a ‘Floating Camera Mount‘ which will aid in eliminating motor vibration.
Here is the camera mount I have been working on. It rides on foam rubber and the only contact with the frame is a 1/8″ width of plywood. My goal was to create a mount that will allow picture taking with the motor on; normally the motor is off, but sometimes the motor needs to be on to hold a certain spot.
The plans can be found HERE.
I used 1/8″ plywood for all of the construction. During assembly I had to make a few changes, so I have the plans correct although you may notice the pictures differ in shape (trust the plans!) You should be able to print the plans and use the templates for cutouts over the wood (1:1 ratio). Below are some pictures that help define the assembly:
This is pretty easy… Grab some paint stir sticks from Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, etc -
they are free and they don’t care what you want to use them for:
All painted and installed – good for forward or reverse shooting – my favorite!
NOTE: This is a new site so please
consider it a “work in progress”. I would greatly encourage readers to
send in articles for posting on AmpAviators. In contrast to a forum,
finding articles of interest will be TONS easier here.