Posted by Peter B. on 1/17/2026 to
My Projects
Proof of Concept.
I attempted to recreate the parts for the classic CG Li'L Satan I flew as a kid in the 70's just from the best copy of the plans I could find on the net. I believe I have a reasonable facsimile given the plans were very blurry and it was impossible to read any of the build instructions. So, I did the best I could.
First to do was cutting the parts
and see how everything fit.
The Build:
Step one was to take the 1/8" balsa and 1/8" plywood Left and Right sides and laminate them together to make 1/4" thick being sure to keep the plywood on the inside of both parts. I cut these parts out as one-piece, but they are quite fragile and easily broken where they connect at the tab. Guess how I know LOL. Most likely why these came in four 1/4" thick pieces.
For the leading edge, I decided to stack 1/8" balsa strips each progressively shorter in height. The back one was notched for the ribs and spacers between each rib to make 1/2" wide L.E.
After laminating them, I test-fitted them into the firewall/engine mount and set them aside. I think the original kit (I've slept a bit since the 70's) had top and bottom 1/4" pieces that had to be glued on one at a time. Unsing 1/8" balsa on the outside and 1/8" ply on inside made sense for strength while keeping it light. the outside balsa will be easier to shape when appropriate.
Good idea to test fit the ribs into the slots now before gluing especially when using CA glue.
Next step was to glue the Leading-Edge strips together centering them lengthwise
then placing the matching spacers on the notched side. I think this could also be done with standard symmetrical L.E. if you have some lying around. I did not so stacking and shaping progressively narrower strips of 1/8" balsa seemed an easy enough solution.
I used a razer plane to rough shape the L.E. then sanded to conform to the plywood pattern.
Satisfied with the basic shape of the L.E. I began by gluing the most outer ribs to the L.E. and one of the trailing edge 1/16" balsa sheeting.
The positioning tabs on the outer ribs allow for pinning down the T.E. flat which gives us the ability to keep it square and straight.
I began by gluing the bell crank platform between the two 1/8" center ribs then glued that assembly in place in the L.E. and on the trailing edge sheet.
I built this entire model using CA glue. Then it was a matter of gluing the rest of the #2 ribs in no particular order.
Since I am building this on a plastic self-healing cutting mat, I used masking tape to secure the T.E. flat on the building surface. This allowed me to keep it nice and straight, square and flat.
Even though the masking tape was holding quite well on the mat, I decided to check for square, nonetheless.
While everything is square and snug, I installed the front corner gussets to help keep it that way.
I did notice that the gussets I made interfere with the tabs on the wing tips and will make adjustments to those in the future, but for now I simply clipped a bit of the corner that was hitting the gusset.
I also glued the top T. E. 1/16" balsa strip before jumping to the next step.
Once the wingtips were in place and both top and bottom T. E. strips were glued in place, I figured it was time to do the control mechanism before I got too far on the build.
I'm sure any 1/2A bell crank will do, I had this one laying around.
Bending the control wire was daunting indeed. the plans were not really to scale, and I had to guess so I used some 1/32" wire because it was easy to work with knowing that I will replace it with 3/64" wire once the booms and elevator was on, but I had to come up with an accurate length.
I printed out the full-size drawing from the plans to scale, and it turned out to be a bit short.
I installed what I had to move on knowing I will have to come back and make some adjustments.
When I sheet center ribs and there is a seam without any backing, I like to take some scrap and glue to one underside for a good strong seam.
After cutting the notch for the control rod I put some backing on each side. Much easier than having to cut through a strip of cross grain glued balsa.
I tend to jump around when building and realized I could easily glue the wing tip riblets in while thinking about sheeting the center, installing the fuselage and booms
Now back to center section sheeting .... lol
Then onto glueing the fuselage halves to the leading edge. Make sure the Left side is on the left... etc.. I know from experience.
I lined up the RIGHT side perfectly with the rib like it illustrated on the original plans... or so it appeared. It was at this moment after the CA glue set, I realized normally I think we covered the wing before installing the Booms or the Fuselage on the original mode... would have been nice to have been able to read the build instructions if they were not so blurry beyond recognition.
So going forward, one can either cover the wing at this point or make the sheeting a bit wider than the location of the center ribs to give some surface to attach wing covering to. As it is now, I have neither available to me - LOL but this is a "Proof of Concept" build to make sure all the parts are the right size and fit. I will figure out what to do later to cover my wing.
I almost forgot to glue in the plywood bulkhead supports top and bottom... they are angled to match the motor mount/firewall offset.
Before finishing the sheeting on the wing, I glued two scrap 1/16" balsa into the T. E. to give the sheeting some place to be glued for rigidity.
Just before the next step, I cut some scrap 1/8" balsa and blocked the back of the fuselage to support the sheeting.
I glued the fuselage sheeting and prepared to shape it. Notice the direction of the wing sheeting is widthwise whereas the grain for the fuse is longways... much easier to shape this way.
I am satisfied with the shaping of the fuselage as well as how this has gone together so far.
Jumping to the elevator and booms: I glued the 1/8" plywood support on the underside of the elevator. this should give good support for the wooden control horn (similar to the original model from the 70's). If I were do have a do-over, I might use 1/16" plywood support top and bottom and install a nylon control horn as a modern-day upgrade.
Getting down to the nitty-gritty now... control horn glued in place on the elevator as are the 1/16" plywood hinge pin supports on the insides of the booms.
For the hinge pins, I used approximately 5/8" - 3/4" 3/64 wire (same as final control rod) for the pins. I used some hinge fabric to fasten the pins to the elevator after inserting them through the holes once the booms were glued in place. I did test fit everything before gluing the boom in place to make sure everything fit as expected...for the most part it did.
Word for the wise... BE SURE TO connect the control rod to the horn prior to permanently glueing the hinge fabric and hinge pins to the elevator... it's a real pain in the ass to do that later... guess how I know that? LOL
Since I was so unsure of the needed length of the control rod compared to the so-called scale one on the plans, I put a Z bend in so I can make some fine adjustments.
I was a bit worried about it not being long enough. I actually forgot to change out the temporary 1/32" for the heavier gauge 3/64" wire so it was a bit of a mess to go in and do that after the fact... but hey, balsa is easy to patch... right? LOL
Once aligned, I check my motion.. neutral, up and down... all looks good.
Now I am ready to cover.
And coming in at 1.2 ounces prior to covering, if I were to use iron-on covering, this thing should scream for sure with a nice hot Black Widow.
Hope y'all enjoyed the journey.
Feel free to leave comments, suggestions below.
Peter B.
UPDATE: Since diving right in, I was able to get ahold of clean and clear plans which allowed me to read all the text. I missed much relying on 48 years of memory and blurry plans. I have redrawn all the parts and now have 99% accuracy to the original (except where I use a built-up L.E. of course). Amazing what one can achieve if one can read... LOL
