Hat Trick Enterprises

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Hat Trick Enterprises is proud to announce they are the first official supplier of combat streamer material. Hat Trick is currently providing the excellent Dennecrepe streamers, and will soon add a new moisture resistant streamer to their product line.

Bat Trick Singles!
Individual Bat Trick kits are $20 each plus $5 shipping.

Dennecrepe Streamers
Dennecrepe Streamers have a proven combat track record, and hold up very well under normal conditions. They are not prone to breaking from being towed, but are cut easily by opposing aircraft. The crepe is highly visible, very light, and drag resistant. They are not moisture resistant. Dennecrepe streamers will cost $2.75 per 300' roll plus shipping. Shipping costs for streamers are 6$ for 10 or less rolls, 9$ for 11-21 rolls 12$ 21 to 31 rolls. 15$ for 31 to 41 rolls, over 40 rolls please call or e-mail. Available only in Black.

Bat Trick  - Instructions

     Thank you for purchasing the Bat Trick combat model.  This plane can be built very quickly.  It is tough, durable, and will survive a lot of combat.

      Manufacturer makes no warranty, implied or stated, as to the suitability of the model or materials for any purpose.  The user accepts all responsibility for the safe use and operation of the model.

Items needed:

1.        2 inch wide Strapping tape.     Carbon Fiber TOW is also good. For Carbon Fiber TOW contact:

Albert Perkins, 5680 Winnebago Rd.  Pecatonica, IL   61063, 815-335-2489
e-mail:  Demo555@aol.com

      2.  A little CA or epoxy glue.

      3.  Goop (any kind), Zapadapagoo, Shoo goo, silicone adhesive.

      4.  Radio, 3 servo's (any size)

      5.  3 control horns 

6. Pushrods, miscellaneous connectors  
7. 4 to 6 ounce fuel tank, a Sullivan 6 oz round is a tight fit   The tight fit of the 6 oz tank strengthens the fuselage significantly.

9.  .20 -. 30 motor

       11.  6 or 8 small wood screws and washers

1.      Find the 2 firewall pieces. Test fit the ½ inch thick piece into the bat.  Build it up or sand  it down until it fits snuggly.  Remember you will need to fuel proof this piece and that will add a bit to the tightness of the fit also.   Glue the 2 pieces together so the smaller one is in the center of the larger one.  When dry sand down the 1/8 piece so it is flush with the bat.  Next, drill the firewall for your motor mount.  Use 4-40 screws and blind nuts to attach the motor mount. .  You want the bottom ones so close to the edge that you have to grind off 1 of the ears and part of the blind nut to allow it to fit into the fuselage.  Drill the holes for the fuel lines to pass through   Position the motor mount so it is as low on the mount as possible. This will leave enough room for the fuel lines to come through on top of the motor mount I use a Dave Brown 20-25 mount.  .  You can also bring the fuel lines up through a hole in the bat or cut away part of the motor mount if  you prefer and center the motor mount.  This leaves plenty of room to run the fuel lines through.   Paint the firewall assembly to fuel proof it.

2.          Tail assembly:

   A.   Find the rudder and elevator pieces.  To make the elevator hinge, count 7 of the boxes from one end.    You want to remove one side of the 8th box; the other side serves as the hinge.  Make the initial cut down the center of box 8; being careful to only cut through one side.  You do not want to cut it off completely.  After you have the initial cut down the center of box seven, fold box eight open.  This will expose the areas that need to be trimmed.  Carefully trim off the material that made up one side of box 8.  Do not cut into box 7 or 9!  After you have it trimmed, flex the elevator up and down with maximum deflection.  This will loosen up the hinge a bit.

     B.   Find the center of the elevator and mark a line from front to back.   This line helps you to position the rudder correctly.   Remove the small strip of material between the 2 cuts in the rudder.   Hook the notch in the rudder over the leading edge of the elevator and line it up on top of the line you just applied.  Use the Shoe- Goo, Zapadapagoo,Goop,  or silicone glue to glue triangle stock in all 4 corners of the rudder elevator junction.  I usually put on 2 pieces of the triangle stock and let it dry overnight.  This way you can still see the lines you marked to keep things straight.   When dry trim the rudder flush to the triangle stock on the bottom side.

Fuselage finishing:

  A.   Cut an access hole into the top of the fuselage that will be under the wing.    The center of the opening should be 8 inches from the firewall.  Make the opening just big enough to get your receiver and battery through it.

B.  Look closely at the motor end of the bat and you will see a fine mold line.  I cut off most of the end of the bat but I leave a little beyond that line.  Use a sanding block and sand the end of the bat flush with the line.  This will ensure you have the motor mount on straight.

C.    Test fit the elevator-rudder assembly in place. You may need to trim the bat and the balsa triangle and the rudder and elevator itself to get a good fit.   When you are satisfied glue it in place with Zapadapagoo, Shoe Goo, Goop, or silicone adhesive.   Make sure the rudder is straight and the elevator is at the proper incidence.  You can eyeball the rudder pretty well.  Trim plastic from the bat if needed to get the rudder  or elevator straight.    To check the elevator use 2 levels.  Use one on the firewall and place one on the elevator. 

 D.   The elevator servo should be positioned about 18 inches from the firewall on the top of the fuselage.   Check to see how long the lead is on your servo wire.  Make sure it will reach from the elevator location to the receiver, or use an extension wire.  An extension wire makes field changes of servos simple.  The throttle servo should be positioned 15.5 inches from the firewall.  It gets mounted on the side of the fuse.  Cut a hole in the bat for both with a sharp hobby knife.  Be careful when cutting the plastic, as it will seem to be very hard to cut and then all of a sudden cut like butter.  Never cut towards yourself as the knife may slip.  If you are not an adult get help with this step!   You can also mount the servo’s on the outside with hot melt glue and just make a small hole for the servo wire to pass to the inside of the bat.  Secure the servos with electrical tape. This eliminates a weak spot around the servo hole. 

E.   Slide the fuselage stiffener (circle with a hole in it) into the fuselage.   You can fix it in positions later after you have determined the best location for it depending on your radio gear and motor weight.  You want it to be under the wing saddle piece near the trailing edge of the wing.

 F.   Wrap the fuel tank with electrical tape until it is a very snug fit into the bat  You don’t want the tank to turn!   Try to get the fuel lines from the tank to curve towards the holes for the fuel lines in the firewall as much as possible.  This will minimize the chance of the brass fuel lines cutting the silicone fuel lines.  To make it easier to get the tank in, heat up the tank in the area of the vent bubble with a heat gun.  When the tank gets a little soft push down the vent bubble a bit with a gloved hand.  Hold it in until it cools and sets.     Use the included ½ circle of foam  to keep the tank from moving forward at all.   Glue it in with Hot melt glue or epoxy.  Goop or any of the other cements listed will dissolve foam so do not use them here!  Remember to leave enough room for the firewall to fit inside the bat!   Put the firewall in place with the fuel lines through it and drill a hole through the bat into the inside piece of the motor mount in 6 – 8 places.  Attach the firewall with 6-8 screws with a washer on them  (Be sure to pre-drill the holes into the plywood motor mount piece or it will split).  Be sure the muffler will clear the wing!

  Put the battery in behind the fuel tank and the receiver behind the battery.  Do not put the receiver in front of the battery, as the battery will crush it in a midair or crash.  You can install a switch if you like but I just use an extension wire in the battery spot on the receiver and leave the other end hanging on the outside along with the battery lead.  Plug in for on.

Wing assembly:

      Lightly sand the wings smooth. 

   Using a sanding block or bar and sand the leading edge until you have a flat spot 3/8 to ½  inch wide.   Do the same on the trailing edge until it is ¼ inch wide.  You can also cut off part of the trailing edge with a hobby knife and straight edge.  Make several shallow cuts rather than one deep one as the foam will tend to chunk up if your knife isn’t really sharp.  Use a new blade for this step.   There is a right and left wing.  They are labeled with an L or an R on the ends.  The wing has washout so be sure to use them on the correct side or you will have washin.  Washin is not good!     Glue the 2 wing halves together using foam safe CA or epoxy.  Use white glue to attach the included carbon fiber TOW strip to the leading edge.   Overlap the carbon fiber a bit at the center. Then use white glue to attach the 1/8 balsa leading edge.  You can attach the trailing edge ¼ inch stock at the same time and use rubber bands to hold everything in place until dry.  When dry shape the leading and trailing edge balsa and sand smooth.  If you end up having to sand the carbon fiber use gloves and long sleeves and a fiber mask.  The sanded fibers are very itchy! 

   To make the wing cradle piece fit a bit better sand the bottom the wing at the center section almost flat.  Keep the wing incidence at zero. 

       Keeping the wing straight, apply a piece of 2 inch wide strapping tape to the top of the wing from end to end, about 1.25 inches behind the leading edge.  Flip the wing over and continue this piece of tape on the other side.  Press it down firmly to get good adhesion.  Do not pull up the tape and reposition it, as it will not stick the second time. (If you remove the tape, start over with a new piece.)    Place a second piece of strapping tape towards the trailing edge.  Overlap the 2 pieces about 1/4 inch.  Place a third piece over the top of the other 2 pieces already in place. .  Overlap the tape a bit on the wingtip  For even better adhesion of the tape spray the wing lightly with 3M-77 and let it dry before putting on the tape.  After you have applied the strapping tape, spray the tape with a light coat of 3m-77 and your paint or fiberglass will adhere much better.  You can also wrap the wing with Carbon fiber TOW or airbag material about 2-3  inches wide (not included).  Glue it on with 3m-77 and then Iron it down in place.  Covers the wings with 1.5 or 2 oz fiberglass cloth or ripstop nylon..  Lay the glass  on the wing and then brush on water based polyurethane varnish. If using ripstop, paint on a coat of WBP and then lay on the ripstop that has been soaked in water.  Smooth out the wrinkles and apply more WPB.   Brush or squeegee out the wrinkles and air bubbles. To fill the weave of the glass cloth mix spackolite filler with water until it is paint like consistency and paint it on.   When dry sand nearly all of it off.  Be careful not to sand holes into the glass!    Then paint with Latex house paint.   Or you can cover with a low temp film covering.  Or glass with finishing resins if you prefer.  Rip stop fabric is a very tight weave and no further filling is required.

      Apply fiberglass or ripstop to the wing cradle piece on all four sides.   There is a lot of pressure here when you rubber band the wing on.    Use WBP, Epoxy, or foam safe CA.    Glue the wing riser to the wing being sure to get it on straight.  Put the bat in place and hold it up to check for straightness.     The wing riser is a great place to grab the plane for hand launching.

     Bevel and shape the ailerons and attach with CA type hinges.   You can apply ripstop over the ailerons also.  This method is extremely solid!  Be sure to have the aileron in maximum deflection when it is applied or you will not have enough throw.  The small Master airscrew wood plane works great for beveling and shaping.   Use foam safe CA or be very careful not to use too much glue as it may attach the foam.  

    Cut a hole in the top of the wing for the aileron servo.  The hole should go all the way through, so the servo wire can exit the bottom of the wing.  Push the servo into place and secure it with hot melt glue.  You could also put in servo rails and use screws, if you prefer.  

   The wing attachment dowels will run vertically through the wing just behind the leading edge and just in front of the trailing edge.  To help keep these dowels in place cut a slot into the wing riser and glue in the included 1” x 1” piece of plywood.  Now drill a ¼ inch hole through the top of the wing into the wing riser and through the middle of the plywood piece.  Glue the dowel into place.  It should stick up about .5 to .75 inch.  Cut off any excess.  Drill a ¼ inch hole in the remaining plywood pieces and place it over the top of the dowels and glue them to the top surface of the wing.

        Run rubber bands from dowel to dowel crossing them under the fuselage.  The rubber bands will be very tight.  Start with a few old stretched out ones to get the wing in the right position.  Use plenty of rubber bands.  I also run 4 or 5 rubber bands from the front dowel around the fuselage and back to the front dowel to hold the leading edge in place better.  You can also do this on the trailing edge

       Balance point is 2.25 to 2.75 inches from the leading edge.  Move the wing forward or back to get the proper balance.   If the model seems to drop the nose on landing despite using a lot of elevator make it a bit more tail heavy.  A slightly tail heavy plane is more responsive and maneuverable.  You may need to reduce your throws.   An overly tail heavy plane is uncontrollable!  Experiment with CG!

    The wing can rotate on the bat.  To prevent this apply a coating of goop to the bat under the wing saddle.  Put on a piece of wax paper and then rubber band the wing on.  Wipe off the extra goop that oozes out and let it dry overnight.  Remember Goop will dissolve foam!

   Set the control throws at:  ailerons .5 inch up and down and elevator at .5  inch up and down.

Start here and adjust to your liking.   At maximum performance levels the elevator is a bit touchy.  Exponential works well here.   The wing will take a lot of elevator throw without snapping.  It just starts to slow down more.

  Don’t forget to fix the fuselage stiffener into place with 3 or 4 small screws.

     Put in a little up trim, have a friend give it a light toss into the wind, and have some fun!

I can be contacted by email at VVRCCOMB@FDLDOTNET.COM

(The first letters are 2 v's not a w)

Hat Trick Enterprises             920-887-3225   evenings only  Mike Fredricks
W8530 CTH S
Beaver Dam, WI  53916

I also have a great streamer material available.  It is 7/8 inch wide, comes in 300-foot rolls.  This material is low drag, cuts easily, but does not fray off much.  Cost is  $2.75 per roll plus shipping.

I also have Bi-directional strapping tape available.  It has filaments running in both directions.  It comes on a 50 meter roll and costs 12$ plus shipping.

To change the model into The Choker.  Cut off the handle part of the Bat leaving a piece 15 to 16 inches long.  Cut 2 slots into the bat for the elevator to slide into and glue into place.  Attach 2 tip rudders of your own shape to each end of the elevator by glueing on with GOOP.  Cut a hole in the bat on top of the elevator large enough to hold 2 mini-servo’s side by side.  Hold them in by running tie wraps around the bat.  Punch holes in the elevator as needed.  Use one for elevator and one for throttle.  Tilt your engine to about a 45-degree angle so it can clear the wing.   Balance point should be about 2.25 inches from the leading edge at 6 inches from the center of the wing.