F-106 kit instructions

Radio Controlled Rocket Glider Kits

F-106 Rocket Glider Kit(no longer being made)

Please refer to the notes on items needed for completion and flying, then read the instructions completely before starting assembly. The assembly photos are for general reference but may not include every step in the manual.

CG location for rocket flight 11.25" forward of the TE of the wing

(for electric flight start 1/4" forward of the rocket CG)

Welcome to the world of rocket boosted radio control gliders. This is not a model for a novice RC pilot, but anyone who is comfortable with RC flying of a medium speed model should be fine. This model has a very moderate glide and slow landing speed. Read through the instructions, look at the photos and be sure you understand the step before commiting to cutting or glue.

F-106 Rocket glider instructions

Identify all pieces, the kit should contain:

2 Wing halves (taped together , do not remove tape it is there to align the pieces

2 pushrods

Fuse doubles Left and Right are marked, it makes a difference.

Fuselage halves(taped together, do not remove this tape, it is there to align the pieces when glued)

Motor mount

Velcro(for battery and rx attachment)

2 Rail buttons or 1 Launch lug

Styrene strip for reinforcing the bottom of the model and the rail button/launch lug attachment.

3M blenderm tape

Short and long carbon wing spars.

Lead weight

Spare depron

Optional(if ordered):

Electric motor adapter

Notes before starting:

Reference to CA+ means foam safe CA+, normal CA+ will melt the foam! Normally you need to use accelerator to get the CA to set on the foam since there is nothing for it to soak into and activate.

Epoxy is not needed in this model. Weight is critical and the model is designed for the thrust and flight loads. Weight in the rear end is bad and will require additional weight in the front of the model.

Assembly:

NOTE: You may use 320 grit sandpaper and a sanding block to slightly round the edges of the foam if you prefer that look. It will not markedly impact the flight performance either way. Be very careful and use a light touch, it is very easy to catch the foam on the edge of the paper and tear the foam. If you use 220 grit you need to be very light handed. In areas where you want a large radius, you can cut a 45 degree bevel on the edge first with an exacto knife, then sand that rounded. Make sure you do any sanding to pieces before you assemble the model.

Unfold the wing and forward fuse, lay on a flat surface with spar groves facing up.
Apply a bead of CA+ in the joint between the wings at the taped joint, apply accelerator to set the glue. The tape should prevent gluing your wing to your table but make sure you do not do that.
Test fit the short and long wing spars into the grooves in the wing. Make sure they sit all the way into the groove. Apply a bead of foam safe CA+ into the groove and lay the spars in place. Use accelerator to set the glue. Wipe the accelerator off completely with a paper towel.
Use the blenderm tape to tape completely over the full span of the spars. This helps to reinforce the wing and the spar.
Unfold the fuselage, and glue both pieces together at the tape joint using CA+ and accellerator, make sure to lay it flat so it will cure straight.
Use CA+ to glue the styrene strip on the bottom of the bottom side view fuselage piece, centered between the two black lines. Have the dots facing up. This will reinforce the bottom of the fuse where the rail buttons will mount.
Glue a doubler to each fuselage side using CA+. Make sure the doubler is aligned with the rear of the model and motor mount, and the bottom of the doubler is even with the top of the wing slot. You can use pieces of spare depron in the slot as a guide to make sure it is even with the slot. Note there is a right and left side doubler, the motor cutout is cut at an angle in each piece to help center the motor tube.
Test fit the motor mount into the rear of the model. It is useful if you have a motor casing in the tube to hold it round. Make sure it fits, if too tight, sand or trim with an exacto slightly so that it fits well. Make sure the fuselage pieces are aligned straight and the motor tube is aligned with the centerlines of the model. Make sure the motor hook is not blocked by the foam and can be reached to release the motor. use CA+ and make a bead on each joint and set it with CA. Make sure the motor tube is attached well but don’t overdo it and don’t use epoxy, tail weight is a killer and there isn’t much force on the motor tube during launch. The foam is plenty strong enough to support the forward thrust and no thrust ring is needed. I’ve flown many flights and the forward foam has never melted or failed.
Slide the wing into the fuselage slot. Use the alignment marks on the wing as a guide, make sure the wing is centered and the fuselage is straight from front to back. Use CA+ and accellerator and make sure the glue gets into the slot completely. With the fuselage upright, hold it down and make sure the fuselage makes full contact with the wing while it sets. Add a good fillet to the top of the joint. Make sure the wing is perpendicular to the vertical tail, if not sand or trim the wing slot slightly. A slight cant is is probably ok.
Flip the model over so that the tail overhangs a table edge. Glue the bottom of the fuse to the wing in the same way as the top, keeping it straight and in full contact, add a fillet on both sides.
Install the launch lug or rail buttons:
If you are using rail buttons, drill a small starter hole for each rail button screw in the styrene about an inch from each end(the dots mark approx. location) and screw in your rail button. If you are landing on a hard surface you may use the Wing skids(two pronged triangular looking pieces) as protection. Simply poke the wing skids in the bottom of the fuse and then remove and glue them in place with CA+. Make sure they are centered and they should line up with the rail slot and not interfere with launching but stick down far enough to protect the buttons. You want to put one about 2” behind the rear button and the other one about 6’ back from the end of the nose.
If using a launch lug, glue it to middle of the styrene strip using CA **It’s not recommended to use a launch lug if you are landing on a hard surface.
Put CA+ on one of the control horns. Make sure to get it on the posts. Push it into the two holes in the bottom of a control surface and hit it with accellerator. The flat surface of the control horn with the holes faces forward toward the front of the model. Don’t get glue into the hinge joint. Put a small dot of glue on the top surface where the two posts stick through. Do the same on the other control surface.
The basic construction is now complete.

Radio Installation

Note: Your radio needs to be configured for Delta mixing, this means that the servo arms will move the same direction during elevator stick movement and opposite for aileron stick movement. Connect your servos to the receiver one in the aileron connection and one on the elevator connection and apply power. Center the servo output arm by removing the screw and pulling the output arm off and re-installing it as close to center as possible and re-install the screw. Use a servo arm with approx. 9/16” long and with holes small enough that there won’t be slop with the pushrod wire when installed. I use the hole furthest out on the servo arm, to maximize movement. Zero out any trim settings on the transmitter. With the model upside down and supported, lay a servo on each side near the control surface. You want the servo wire to be pointing toward the front of the model and the servo output shaft to be facing each wing tip and the servo arms pointed up. When you move the elevator stick back(up elevator) both servo arms should move toward the rear of the model(will push the control surface up). When you move the aileron stick to the right, the right servo arm should move toward the rear of the model(up elevon) and the left servo should move away from the rear of the model(down elevon). If you can’t get the servo reversing to give you the right polarity try swapping aileron/elevator inputs to the receiver. (On my model which uses a spektrum 4 or 6 ch receiver and DX7 radio, after centering the servos using sub-trim, the left wing servo goes to aileron channel, and right wing servo to elevator. Aileron and Elevator servo direction is ^ on the radio. I use 100% servo travel, but then set aileron dual rate at 75% and elevator dual rate at 125%. I set the flap/elevator mix to the flap switch at up 75 for glide. And 0 for boost)

Once you have the servos moving the right way, you can proceed

Install a pushrod in the outermost hole of each control surface control horn. The pushrod should toward the fuselage side of the control horn. You may need to twist the wire back and forth to get it to go into the hole, it should be snug and slop free. It may be necessary to rotate the pushrod end to drill the hole large enough to fit, be careful not to puncture your finger. Be careful to support the control horn so that you do not break the glue joint in the control surface. It is snug but it will fit with patience.
Install the other end of the pushrod to the servo output arm, again making sure the servo wire is toward the fuselage side of the model. If the wire is too tight, you can use twist an exacto knife in the servo arm hole to make it larger, but be careful and do not make it too large. Once connected, tape each servo in place so that the control surfaces are centered. Flip the model right side up and look at it from the rear. Moving the transmitter stick back(up elevator) should move both elevens up. Moving the transmitter stick to the right should move the right elevon up and the left elevon down. If that is correct, continue.
Flip the model upside down and supported. The servos may be attached to the model using double back servo mounting tape(not included) or by directly gluing the servo to the wing with CA+ or a small amount of epoxy. Double back servo tape can loosen over time and with exposure to heat, I prefer to glue the servo in place. With the radio still on, put a small amount of glue on the servo, being careful not to get any near the output shaft. And set it in place on the model keeping the control surface centered. Do the same to the other side. Make sure the glue is set before continuing.
Flip the model back right side up. Make sure the control surfaces are centered, use trims if needed. Now measure the control surface movement. Full elevator movement should be in each direction. Aileron movement should be about 70% of the elevator movement. With modern radios you can typically set these movements. The model is very roll sensitive and it can be hard to control with too much aileron movement. Since the model will be nose heavy, extra elevon movement helps to give sufficient authority during glide.
If you have a flap/elevator mix you can program up elevator to a switch setting. The model needs approximately 3/16” of up elevon during glide. Boost will use completely neutral elevon settings. If you can’t set the up elevator to a switch on your radio you’ll have to manually put in glide trim which is hard to do while flying the model.
Once complete you can tape the servo wires to the wing using the blenderm tape. Use the included Velcro to attach the receiver to the model. This allows you to be able to remove and replace the receiver if needed for repairs or for painting.
Use the Velcro to attach the battery.
Insert a loaded rocket motor into the motor mount.
Support the model at the balance point indicated for boost. I use two pencils with the eraser pointed up and held in place with a small hand vice. Place the model upside down on the pencil erasers with the erasers just in front of the point where the inboard ramjet intersects the front of the wing leading edge as indicated in the plans. Locate your battery so that the model balances slightly nose down. If your battery cannot be moved forward far enough or is not heavy enough, you can place stick on lead weights near the nose of the model to balance it.
Do not try to fly the model with it balancing it behind this point. The adage is, a nose heavy model flies poorly, a tail heavy model flies once.
You can use any paint for the rocket motor mount, just be careful not to get it on the foamunless you test it first.
If you are going to paint the model, you can remove the receiver/bec and mask off the servos and Velcro strips on the model. Make sure no paint will get on the servo output arm. Make sure to test the paint on a scrap piece first to ensure it won’t melt the foam. I use Model Master(testors) or testors small rattle cans for painting directly on the foam. Model master flat black is perfect.
Use a silver or black sharpie to add panel lines if desired.
If you are wanting to add any self adhesive vinyl/mylar decals or lettering, I’ve found that they don’t stick that well to the flat paint. I spray the back of the decal with 3m-77 spray, then place it on the model while the spray is still wet and they will hold better.
Re-install the receiver and battery