- A complete Skyleader Target Drone
- Three fuselages, one unused
I was first aware of them when RCM&E did an article on their use in the September 1975 issue and at the time, I thought it would be fun to have one, not realising that it would take nearly 50 years to get one! Well, three of them.
A few years back, Stuart Mackay put me in touch with Mark Agate who had come by three of them, but it was during covid and travelling to collect them proved impossible and then forgotten. Mark is a really interesting modeller, he designed a PCM control system for his final year University project, the design was offered to Skyleader but they had already done a deal with Microprop (or Multiplex, Mark can't remember which) and the design was eventually sold to Fleet and used as the basis of the Fleet PCM and Omega sets. Mark's original set used a Skyleader Courier Special MK2 case as he lived just up the road from the Skyleader factory and blagged one from Stewart Uwins (the owner of Skyleader). Mark fancied getting another one and somebody suggested I might have one. So Mark contacted me again and we agreed to meet up and swap a Skyleader Courier Special MK2 (I had 4 or 5 of them) for the Skyleader drones. I think we were both pleased with the deal.
- A Merco 61 up front
The drone is similar to many 1970s designs, with a glass fibre fuselage, foam veneered wings and balsa stabiliser and control surfaces. They all used Merco 61 engines with no silencer and Skyleader Clubman Super radio gear with three channels being used, there was no rudder control. They were hand-launched and I've seen reports that they had a servo-operated parachute recovery system, though I see no reason why they couldn't be landed normally, probably on a shooting range there was no suitable landing site? The servos were grey-cased Skyleader SRC1 using the linear output, the grey colour designating military specification (whatever that was). The Merco 61 in the airframe I got has a finless head, our club expert on old engines tells me it looks like a marine head, I don't know if it's original and why you'd use a marine head on an aircraft.
- A type of wadding used as packing
- Normal balsa elevator pushrod
At first, I thought a mouse had made a home in all the fuselages, it looked like grass, but it's actually a type of wadding (I think that is what it's called), around the tank and receiver. There's a 12oz tank (Carl Goldberg I think) in the nose and I found an ancient lump of lead to get the c of g correct. The elevator uses a normal balsa push rod. In fact everything is just like a normal 1970s model.
So another project on the to-do-list, get it flying again. I don't know if the engine is beyond repair, it's seized solid and badly corroded and it will need a new carb as a minimum. My club site wouldn't allow unsilenced engines, so I need to find a Merco or P&R silencer as well. I have hundreds of SCR1 servo's, so will fit some unused SRC1 servo's, probably with a Tobe/Mike servo amplifier as they outperform the original SRC 419P/Ferranti ZN419CE amplifier. And obviously, I'll use my Skyleader Clubman Super conversion to fly it.
