New engine redux.

I'm still waiting for the fiberglass to get here from China so I ordered an ASP .52 engine from the same company. This time the engine is located in the U.S. someplace. Should be here this week. I'm going to see if I can replace one of the O.S. .46's with it. Probably not as it's bigger and longer. I can get good flights with the .46's as long as I tweak the needle for more rpm's or add more nitro to the fuel.
  The rain stopped a few days ago and the Strega is ready for paint so I masked off the wings and tail and sprayed the fuselage with white. I have to wait a few days before I can mask off the trim colors and paint them without messing up the white.
  The power company have been marking things on the lawn with paint and flags. Today there was a new pole on the ground at the neighbors. When I got home from flying the trucks were in the road and a few lawns were messed up where they ran over them with the pole inserter. The pole was already installed holding the neighbors lines up and the worker was installing another street light. We now have four street lights around our house, one in each corner. The back porch will have direct lighting from the new light. We think the neighbor wanted the light to better protect his lawn mowing equipment. Tonight will tell.

New engine.

The new Evolution .52 engine came in on Thursday. I put on the Shark 665 in place of the Evolution .60. It was a direct swap. I wired the r/c carb. open and put a couple 2 ounce runs on it in the yard. I called a machine shop that does work on model engines and he is making me a venturi and adapter for the .52 so I can remove the r/c carb. I took it to the club field this morning and got in a flight with it. So far so good.
  The new batteries came in last week also and I charged them along with the other batteries for the other electric plane and took them to the field too. I've been having trouble with two of the batteries and switched them on the charger and switched them in the flight order. They both gave the same run time for the first time so whatever it was it worked. I got in 5 flights with the electric planes and one with the new engine. 6 other guys came and we got in a lot of flying before I left at 1130.

Getting closer.

I leveled the Strega and then put one flap on and shimmed it until the flap/wing were also level. Then I I adjusted the elevator push rod until the stab/elev were in line. After that I glued all the control surfaces w/hinges on the wing and stabilizer. That should produce neutral control with neither fighting the other in flight. I still need to get some thin glue and white paint. The only parts left to glue on are the dual rudders and the tail cone.
  Some of my parts should be in today. The rest should be here tomorrow.

We are finally getting what was predicted from the storm. It's raining about every 5 minutes and the wind has picked up. I tried to fix the fence during a lull and as I drove the last nail it started raining and I got a bit wet.
  I realized that our trips to contests are costing us very little. I win several hundred dollars in the raffles and I don't have to buy the stuff so that is quite a savings.

Couldn't wait.

It was taking a long time for the fiberglass cloth to arrive so I called Hobby King. I found that the order was in a building helping to fill a container in Hong Kong. With that bit of news I took out the scraps of fiberglass cloth I have on hand and found enough to cover the rebuilt Strega. Today I checked on the order and it's listed as having left the origin country. Too late. I checked on the wheels that I ordered June 2nd and they should be here this Wednesday. The engine and bearings should be here by Friday. Free shipping when they feel like shipping it.
  I mixed some 10% nitro fuel that has 22% oil with the fuel I've been using in the Evo .60 as it only has 16% oil which is quite low. As I suspected the engine ran much better with the increased oil content. I figure by mixing the fuels 50/50 I ended up with 19% oil. I had to increase the fuel load by a half ounce to get all the maneuvers in with a cushion just in case. I'm thinking that the low oil fuel has less than the advertised 10% nitro as I had to open the needle valve with the mix. That accounts for the extra half ounce of fuel to complete the pattern. Anyway it ran well. At home I was cleaning it off and noticed that the epoxy/micro balloons fillets were separating from the wing/fuselage joint. I moved one side fillet away from the joint and found that I could move the nose side to side a little. I had always used the fillets as the final glue joint and they have always held. This time the original wing failed in flight and I built a new wing and installed it in the usual way. I figure I didn't clean the fuselage good enough and the fillet didn't get pushed into the gap which caused the fillet to come loose and the nose to wiggle. I forced some super glue into the joint on both sides and then put the fillet back in place. That should hole it for a while.
  The temperature was low enough for me to get in a flight with the Shark 610 with the .40 size engine. That didn't go well so I removed the .40 and put one of the .46 engines on. I've been swapping back and forth for a while but this time I'll stay with the .46. The .40 just doesn't have the power needed to pull this size plane with authority.

Found 'em.

I went to the web site of Horizon Hobbies and looked through their engine parts section for a needle valve assembly and bearings for the engine I put on the 665. While there I noticed that they have an engine in the size and price range I've been looking for. I didn't find the needle valve but I ordered the engine and bearings as the bearings fit the  new engine and the one I have.
  There was only one place to look for the fuel tank I couldn't find. That was inside the Thunderbird that I made flyable after it was crashed by the original owner. I had to cut the bottom open to get it out and remove some balsa that I glued in to hold the tank in place. Once I got it out I replaced one of the brass tubes and managed to crack the tube in the process. After pressure testing it under water  to find the leak I soldered over the crack and sealed it. The tank is mounted on the plane ready for flight. We're going to the movies this morning to see Cars 3 so I may not get to the park today but if the clouds stay I might.

Return to the original engine.

Last year I enlarged some plans looking for a 600 sq. in. wing plane. It ended up being 665 sq. in. So I built it for one of the .60 size engines I have. Try as I may I couldn't get the engine to run right. I ended up installing one of the .46 size engines and it flew the plane quite well. I was told at the Houston contest that my planes needed more power to get them through the maneuvers with authority. I have that covered but the 665 plane is simply too big for the engine I have on it. I have been looking for a larger engine for the 665 but there are none in my price range. Then it hit me. I could put the original engine back on the plane and try it again. Since all the holes are still there I swapped engines in a jiffy. Just for giggles I weighed the removed engine, prop, spinner and muffler and got 17 ounces. With the bigger engine I put a lighter muffler and a wood propeller so the new package is lighter making the plane a bit tail heavy. This morning I took it to the park and fired it up on 10% nitro fuel and made a short flight. The engine ran steady and pulled the plane very well. I got in two more flights just to be sure. At home I put a one ounce weight under the spinner and made up a larger fuel tank for it. I have two 6 ounce plastic tanks but can only account for one. More searching is needed.
   I covered the wing, stab/elev, and flaps on the ARF Strega. The fiberglass cloth hasn't come in yet so that is on hold.

Cheaper by more than a dozen.

A few weeks ago our neighbor finally had someone extend his driveway in width and length so he could park his lawn maintenance equipment with ease. I had two bluebird boxes with nests and eggs with in 20 feet and 3 feet of the digging and other noise. After it was all over I didn't see any activity in one of the boxes but the closest one was still being used. After the used box hatched I peeked into the other and there was 4 eggs and no parents to be found. I figured the noise and activity drove them to abandon the nest. I decided to wait until the used box fledged out and then I would empty both boxes. Today I removed the empty nest and went to the other box and found 4 baby birds. I left them alone. That makes 16 bluebirds from my boxes around the perimeter of the property. And I saw a hummingbird yesterday and put up a feeder and the bird is coming to drink now. The neighbor had 6 hens that were laying eggs and she would give them away. As I was checking all the bird houses I noticed that all the chickens were killed. I don't know if she knows yet.
  I called Horizon Hobbies to see if I had really ordered two rolls of covering because I couldn't find any record of the transaction in the emails. I had ordered them and they did come in in today's mail.
  I've been thinking on how best to set up the flaps as the wing is not quite straight, it's straighter than it was after twisting and wetting though. I didn't want to have to tweak the flap horn because it only connects to the end of the flaps which isn't too strong. Then I figured I would shorten each flap by 6 inches and use the outboard piece as a trim tab. Problem solved. I had to cut two more hinge pockets in one flap and 4 in the movable end. I installed 3 pieces of copper sheet in the flap segment so it can be bent as needed to level the wings.I can start on covering the wing/flaps and stab/elev. As soon as the fiberglass gets here from China I can cover the fuselage and start the finishing process.

Cutting out paper dolls.

With the new flaps being an ounce heavier than the originals and the plywood landing gear mount under the fuselage adding weight I started to trim most of the wood out of the wing ribs. After that I cut half of each shear web out. In total I trimmed 2 ounces off the wing. Then I cut into the fuselage and removed the plywood gear mount and replaced it with balsa. The top turtle deck is on and the canopy trimmed for best fit. I think I'll paint the inside of the canopy rather than buy a pilot bust.
  The across street neighbor was having a yard sale so we went over and looked around. There was a glass top table for $15.00 so I bought it for the shop. With all the wood cut out of the wing I could twist it a little. I set it up on the new table and put the incidence meters on and blocked them up so the plane was sitting on the meters. I did this the other day and found the wing has a warp. The meters confirmed it again today. I got some water and a sponge and wet the wood top and bottom then weighted the wing down one degree past level in the opposite direction and let it dry. When I returned and removed the weights the wing sat on all four points like it should. I'll recheck it tomorrow to made sure it stays put. I'm waiting for the covering material to arrive before I can proceed with finishing the plane. The line clips/snaps came in today but that doesn't help with this project.
 

Waiting for stuff.

I ordered wheels, fiberglass cloth, covering, duo-lock snaps, and probably some other things. I have come to realize that I won't see any weight reduction on the Strega. I was barely holding even when I remembered that the fillets were not on the ARF. I also made new flaps using stiffer balsa which is heavier than the originals. I did make them smaller though, that should help. By switching to a wood propeller I can save 2 ounces, that will be the largest weight reduction. I'm on hold waiting for the covering.
  I've been flying the P-39 lately getting it trimmed up for a contest if the need arises. I change props as it didn't seem to have the power I figure it needs. Today I flew it and it went very well. The ground is a bit drier than yesterday as it didn't rain. My shoes still got wet and they are fairly new and should not leak.

Progress photo.

I settled on a design for the tip plates on the stabilizer and made two of them. I put the new turtle deck on and the upper cowl piece

for the photo. Now I have to go to the store and look for a plastic bottle I can use for the canopy. That could take a few trips.

A trip to Wal-Mart and I found a Pepsi bottle that did the trick. I ended up extending the rear turtle deck 2.5 inches forward to get the right look.

Drying out, I think.

So far today it hasn't rained. I still got my feet wet at the park because of the standing water and crossing the ditch.
I bit the bullet and cut the leading edges off the stabilizer and elevators. The hinge pockets were really messed up after being reworked twice. The same goes for the flaps. I'm going to  make new flaps so that won't be a problem but the wing trailing edge could be tricky to repair. I made up new leading edges and sanded the new hinge pockets in and glued them back in place. I used up all my hinges on the last Nomad so I have to get some at the hobby shop. I found pictures of another design that has the fin/rudder on the ends of the stabilizer like the Lockheed Constellation 4 engine passenger plane except only the two tip fins were on the model plane. I'm planning on adding fins to the stab. tips on this rebuild. I added a lot of filler to the divots in the balsa and other defects that will cause problems in the finish if left alone. The elevator push rod has a spherical rod end at the elevator control horn. That takes a 4-40 screw and a large hole in the horn. Not the easiest thing to adjust when the plane is all together. I filled the horn hole with braze and drilled a 1/16 inch hole in the braze for a steel clevis. That will make any needed adjustment a lot easier later on.

Flying between the raindrops.

The rain stops for a while each day, I just have to be ready to take advantage of the respite. After flying with 10% nitro and making the tanks hold enough fuel I figured that I could spin the engines a bit higher using my 2% fuel mix. I've done that for two outings now and it's working. The planes seem to like it.
  I finally got tired of looking at the plane I got in the raffle last November. It's ugly to say the least. I had cut holes in it to get at the controls and some smaller holes didn't get covered. Yesterday I started to remove all the covering and take off as many pieces as I could. If I change enough things I can legally claim to be the builder of the model. That entitles me to get appearance points which are added to the flight score. I cut off both wing tips and hollowed them a lot. That saved about an ounce and a quarter. I knew the tips were full of balsa just waiting to be dug out. I cut off the stabilizer and removed the hinges from the stab and elevator. I removed the flaps and hinges also. I cut off the top turtle deck from the front of the canopy to the tail end. Then I made a turtle deck that is an inch higher out of a block of balsa I had left over from the kit version of the same plane I built a few years ago. I'm planning on installing aluminum landing gear as the original wire gear is quite heavy. The fin and rudder will get re made to change the look a bit. As I've had good luck with lowering stabilizers I've lowered it 3/4 inch.With it out I can put it back together in perfect alignment with the wing which is very important. The plane was built in China and they used tab and slot construction where the kit is not making it a bit harder to assemble properly. That may be the best way to have non modelers do the building. Most of the beginner type kits are tab and slot design.