Handle mod.

I scored a used handle at a contest recently. I make my own handles and today I found a use for this one. I like light handles and mine are close to 15 grams. Made from reinforced laminated plywood. The other handle weighs 3.3 ounces. I chiseled off the hand pieces and cut the cable off the bar and the thong off the handle. A few passes on the belt sander and a slice off the palm of the handle brought the weight down an ounce. I drilled some holes in the bar for 4-40 eye bolts and a coat of Poly Crylic and a new safety thong and it's ready to go.
  My attempt at a bar handle is in the photo and it weighs 3.3 ounces also. I kept one for old times sake and it came in handy donating the eye bolts. The small hole in the center of the handle is for the stake I use to anchor the handle in place while I retrieve the plane back to the stooge. It keeps the lines tight and untwisted.
I got to the field and flew the 665 and P-39. The 665 and ASP .52 didn't go as well as I had hoped. The engine went lean for several laps, I only put 2 ounces in the tank. The P-39 with the relocated Evo .52 flew very well. It has a better corner now and is stable like always. I found some debris in the fuel filter on the ASP and cleaned that out. Will try again later on.

 

Plumbers but.

Here's a few pictures of how I make a plastic tank into a uni-flow tank. Turn the vent tube and the uni- flow tube together to install the plumbing into the tank. It's easier to bend the tubes sticking out of the cap for a profile plane and to custom bend to fit on a full fuselage plane. Either way the tubes inside the tank are bent the same.
  I didn't get to fly the P-39 yesterday as I flew the same two again. At home I looked at the Shark 665 and removed the .46 and installed the ASP .52. Maybe today, after a trip to the bank, I'll test those two.

Moving again.

I had planned on using the Evo .60 on my P-39 but switched to the OS .46 for most of it's life. I installed the Evo .52 when I bought that and it's been working well on the plane. The trouble is The engine is too long for the space available and the prop was 1/2 inch forward of the nose. It worked well but looked a bit out of place. I figured I could move it back by cutting the mounting area longer. It sounded simple at first. The nose gear wire would be in the way of the lower engine mount bar. After some searching and thinking I dug a trench for the wire and got it out of the way. Now the mount covers the top of the wire and a clamp will hold the lower part in the trench. I painted the bare wood with Zinser bulls eye primer and it's drying. A test flight for tomorrow in the works.

A post mortem.

I flew the salvaged profile after making some changes to get more turn. I shortened the elevator horn and eventually got 25 degrees each way. I also removed the 2 degree offset engine shims. This morning I got in a short flight, made a line length change then another short flight and another line length change. By now it was flying pretty good.  One last short flight to check the turn and level flight. After being satisfied with the corners I tried a horizontal eight. Going into the second eight, right as I reached vertical and changed to an outside loop the plane didn't respond at all. It went into a wing over  as I moved the handle trying to get some reaction from the plane but it was not to be. Over the top and straight into the ground at full speed. The foam wing exploded, the fuselage broke in half and the propeller was toast. It was a pretty good wing over though. I picked up the pieces so no one would know and took out the back up plane.
  At home I salvaged the hardware, cleaned up the engine and after a while I found the problem. The elevator to flap push rod was made from an arrow shaft with Dave Brown plug in ends. I forgot to glue the elevator end in place and it vibrated out causing the clevis to fly in close formation with the rest of the plane.
  At least I didn't waste any clear on it.
  Next up, the big Shark, today's backup plane, and the Nomad X with new gap seals. And a hair cut.

Two ready to fly.

Well, 3 actually if you count the gap seals on the Nomad X.
  We breezed in from central Arkansas around noon.
I checked the profile Thunderbird and installed the Evo. .60 and a fuel tank. I put an ounce of weight on the tail and it's ready to go. The Polynesian with the shortened nose had a bit of paint curing over the weekend and it's ready to go also. Probably I'll get to fly them about mid morning tomorrow.  I had an idea for the profile on the way to the camp grounds last Wednesday.  I'm not going to clear coat the plane before flying because if it flys well I'll remove the paint I did put on and turn it into a P-47 for the warbird events.

Flying good.

I flew the newly engined Nomad yesterday and again today. It turns much better and is still stable in level flight. I sealed the hinge gaps this afternoon even though they were real tight.  The other two are in the paint drying stage. It needs several days to cure before the clear coats. Both planes came out below 65 ounces but not by much.

The Nomad X.

Not Roman numeral for 10.  When I designed the fuselage I had the ASP .52 in mind as well as the Evo .52. The Evo has found a home in the P-39. As I was fitting the ASP into the engine crutch I also fitted the O.S. .46LA engine. Just in case. Well, just in case happened this morning. I am in the process of watching paint dry again and the wind is blowing so why not.
   The hardest part was making new holes for the needle valve and for getting to the muffler bolts. I lined the holes with brass tube pieces so the wood sides around the holes won't get worn and ragged. I was able to remove an ounce and a half from the tail as the O.S. is 3.5 ounces lighter than the ASP. Final weight is reduced to 54 ounces. Light enough for the O.S.
  By the time the wind dies down I'll have three planes to test fly.

A twofer.

I bought some Poly Crylic and gave the inside of the new cowl a coat of epoxy. Then I applied a layer of light fiberglass to the outside. The epoxy I used takes a day to harden so I put the plane aside and started masking the other one. It took several hours but I finally got the paper taped down and sprayed two coats of orange on it. Now they are both drying. The blue one looks like a B-24 or a diesel locomotive.

When watching paint dry...

It takes a few days for this paint to cure enough to apply more paint over it. I've been trying to get a proper turn from the Polynesian for several years. Today I had enough of that and watching paint dry so I attacked the plane. I had followed the plans but it was designed for a much lighter engine which required a longer nose. I cut one inch out of the nose and started putting it back together. I changed the thrust line which caused me to change the nose altogether. I ended up with something like the T-Rex nose. Another week or so and it will be ready to fly.

As much as I could stand.

The filling and sanding part of building a model plane is the part I like the least. I give it a good try and at some point I get tired of it and move on to putting the plane together. I reached that point today with the salvaged wing and tail. I put the parts on the scale and now it's 57 ounces without paint. I'm hoping for low 60's when it's finished. The wing tip weight is secured in place and I don't know how much it is but it flew well before I tore the fuselage off of good pieces. I did make provisions for a nose wheel just in case. I cut the sides off one of the incidence meters so it will fit between the fuselage and the flaps. There is a gap because that's where the old fuselage was. I checked it today and it does fit so I can align things before final gluing.

Triple play at El Dorado.

The weather for the contest was flyable. A very light mist and breezy on Saturday. I entered three of the four events and got in some good flights. At the end of the flying I ended up third in profile, warbird and classic. So far the Nomad has put me on the podium every time. The P-39 has made the podium about half the time, same with the Gypsy. On Sunday I didn't end up last.
  The profile version of Tom Dixon's Thunderbird is in the almost ready to cover stage. I put a thinned coat of epoxy on the fuselage this morning and it takes a long time for this stuff to cure. The wing and stab. fit the openings. I had to modify the incidence meter so I can use it to align the wing and stab. With the flaps installed I can use the area that was covered by the fuselage to hang the meter. then I can shim the stab. to match the wing. I also changed the name from Thunderbird to hunderbird. A bit of heat the the "T" peeled off. Now it's German. I can hear the German version of Tatoo saying to his wife "Hun, der bird, der bird". I guess you had to be there.

I think I've got the Nomad X figured out. After trying several propellers I put on one that I use exclusively on the .46 size engines. The engine perked up immediately. From a 2 stroke run at 9000 rpm to a 4 stroke run at 10500 rpm. It's just the opposite of what it should be. I cured the sticky lines by adding tail weight which made me move the leadouts back which took them away from the internal wing structure. I ended up adding another ounce yesterday for a total of two ounces of tail weight. I got in a short flight this morning and it flew very well.

The waiting game.

While waiting for the wood to arrive I've been making parts for the plane. i made the engine crutch and got the brass inserts installed and the engine bolted it. I squared the rails and tack glued them so I can use them to mark the wood when it gets here. More accurate that way. I had to make room for the wing flaps to pass through the fuselage as they can't be removed. I got that figured out.
 I've been tuning up the planes for El Dorado at the park. The Hound Dog needed a tank adjustment and that went well. The vent plug fell off in flight again and it ran out of fuel just as it leveled off. I had another plug made from smaller tubing so it fits tighter. Another flight went well. I brought the Legacy 40 but I had removed the muffler for another plane so I didn't fly it. I did install another muffler when I got home. I had to wait for a repairman and by the time he left it was raining so any more flying today is iffy.