Progress on the Legacy.

I have the flight time just about right. I got in two full flights and the flight time was 5 min and a few seconds. About 30 seconds short of what I need. Next time out should be right, about 5 min. and 30 seconds per flight. I plan on painting the nose over like I did on the Nomad 2 when I converted it to electric.It's raining and is forecast to keep raining all weekend. I emptied the fuel jug into the gallon container which filled it up. I had a gallon of synthetic oil handy so I mixed up 5 more gallons using synthetic oil instead of castor. Depending on how many flights I get with the electric planes I may be done with the castor fuel in a few weeks. The Pathfinder that has the new wing hasn't been flying like it used to. I bored a hole in the nose and glued a mini ball in it. The mini ball weighs 1.1 ounces and is used in civil war rifles. It measures .570 diameter and is soft lead so there is a lot of damage when it hits.

Test flight.

I got to the park a bit late as the temperature didn't get into the 50's until after I got home at 1030. The new motor box worked perfectly. There was no unusual vibration and the plane flew quite well. Now I have to get the total flight time set so I can get the entire pattern in with about 6 laps to spare. I have 3/4 of an ounce on the tail I can play with to get the stability I want. The Nomad 4 sports a modified stock muffler now. It has a one inch extension that makes it quite long. I removed it and bolted it back together so it looks like a normal muffler. I got in 3 short flights just to see how it performs with the nose weight from the muffler. It's usable as it is.

Rainy days are dangerous.

My trip to the park was put off because of the weather. So I got the idea of putting a proper electric motor mount in the Legacy. I had been holding off doing that because of the things that have to be removed first. All those things are expoxied to the fuselage. Namely the maple wood engine mounts. I had glued them in to last forever. I got the idea to split the maple with a chisel. But instead I put the chisel at the glue joint and hit it with a hammer. That popped the glue joint loose for a couple inches so I pried along the joint until the maple broke aft of the fuel tank area, almost to the end. I did the same thing with the other wood mount and then used the die grinder to remove as much maple as I could reach. Then I assembled the electric motor box and got it to fit. After some trimming I got things fitting like I wanted and glued the box in place. A little more trimming to fit the electronics and the battery and the plane is ready to fly again. I put the finished plane on the scale and it's 0.8 ounces lighter than before.

Legacy electric ready to fly.

I managed to finish the power swap on the Legacy today. Things are a bit cramped as the plane was built for an engine. After putting everything in a place and getting the motor to turn in the proper direction i put it on a scale to find out what the new weight is. 69.9 ounces. That's 57 ounces without the battery. But it wont fly without the battery. It didn't disturb the balance too much, just a bit more nose weight which should help the stability some. I removed the green stripes and painted more black. The nose ring had to be sanded a bit to stop the spinner from dragging. The paint is drying and it's ready for a test flight.

I'm doing it again.

I've been looking at the Legacy trying to figure out how to put an electric motor in it. I have to shape the motor mount so the electric motor will fit but I don't have my die grinder handy. I made a slot for the new motor mount to sit and glued some plywood together for the mount itself. I ordered the parts I need from Brodak and they should be here shortly. I installed the Evo.60 in the Mandarin and got some flights with it this morning. The engine starts off all right but speeds up. I'm going to try a smaller propeller next time out. The prop was 12 inches long but my finger took a half inch off each blade two weeks ago. The Nomad 2 I converted to electric is flying well. I was curious as to the weight now. before it's weighed with an empty fuel tank and it was around 52 ounces. Now it's weighed with the flight battery installed. I was surprised to see 60 ounces on the scale.

Test results.

I have flown the Pathfinder/Evo .52 combo several times and the burp is gone. The plug in the bypass port did the trick. I have it's bigger brother the Evo .60 on another profile plane and flew that just to see if it had the burp but it didn't. I really like the way the .52 flys the plane. I even made up a set of lines using stronger .018 dia. cable. Still 62 feet long.

Changes to the changes.

The Pathfinder flys very well. The Evo .52 engine is unreliable. I have tried many things to get it to run steady but to no avail. I installed a metal tank which helped a lot but it still has a hesitation when I give it a hard down control. The Fox .35 is famous for this condition. Someone found a fix for the "Fox burp". He put a piece of popsicle stick in one of the bypass chambers in the engine and it cured the burp. I did the same thing to the Evo engine today. Next time out will tell if it works or not. I flew the Nomad 4 today also. The engine on it seems to run well but it needs a lot more control. I swapped the plastic propeller for a wood one. That should improve the control. That engine may be a replacement for the Evo too. Both are converted r/c engines.

More changes and injuries.

I've been slowly building an electric "Jamison" for old time stunt. I modified an old fuselage from a "Smoothie" kit and built a new wing and tail. My attention got diverted to the Nomad Mule during this time. Why not convert it to electric? I had changed just about everything else. I bit the bullet and figured out how much of the nose to cut off to fit the new motor mount and electric motor. My band saw was too big to do the job properly so I attacked it with a coping saw and a hack saw. It worked pretty good. I had to open the other side of the fuselage where the fuel tank went so I could install a battery On the opposite side the fuel tank was on.. More coping saw work followed by a lot of sanding to smooth that out. The motor mount was drilled for the mount and glued in place plus a lot of balsa for fairing and reinforcement. After the motor was in the right spot I sanded things smooth and installed the electronics and tested it. Some white paint and a change of landing gear to shorter legs and it's ready for a test flight. At the field last week I managed to run a finger through the prop. It was a wood prop and it shattered the tips, not to mention my finger tip, so I couldn't get in any more flights. It's healing pretty good. I hadn't done that in a while. You would think I would learn.

Another first.

I finally got the mule engine running right. It looks like the fuel I've been using isn't the right fuel for this engine. Too much castor oil. I got a gallon of synthetic oil and mixed the right fuel and it I ran several tanks through it to clean the castor out. I flew it this morning and it ran fine. I took the advise of the judges in the Zachary contest and brought one plane to fly at El Dorado, the electric Nomad. On Saturday I placed first in the profile event and got the Pilot's Choice award for profile planes. It really does fly well. Last year I got the profile Pilot's Choice award with the slightly smaller original Nomad. The fifth one in the series, the elctric is number 6. On Sunday I managed my first 600+ point flight score. The winds were down and 4 others got more points than I did. I didn't finish last though. As a club the Bi-Liners got 3 first place wins, two Pilot's Choice awards, Steve got the other one and we got most of the raffle goodies. That's the last contest of the season around here. The next one is in Feb. in Dallas. Then mine here in Denham Springs in early April.

Zachary contest.

I flew the Mule and the engine is using a lot of fuel. More than when it was on the other planes. I have the largest tank that will fit and it should be more than enough. There may be a leak someplace. The contest here was good. The weather was light winds but clear skies and the wind was blowing right at the sun. This is the first contest I have attended that had light winds. I competed in profile and warbird on Saturday. I signed up for Old Time Stunt also but I was judging another event and scratched out of it. I got first place in warbird and second in profile against two of the top fliers in the district. I could have been first but two maneuvers weren't up to snuff. On Sunday I flew the Legacy and it wasn't up to the task. The judges told me I did a lot better with the profile electric Nomad 6 I flew in profile on Saturday and should have used it instead of the Legacy. I built the Nomad using the Legacy wing but the Evo .60 wasn't turned up enough. The big for me is the raffle. I generally clean up but this time I didn't get much of anything. I put what I did get in a box to be put in the raffle at my contest in April. I'm getting ready for the El Dorado contest and probably only bring one plane, the electric Nomad 6. Maybe the Nomad 5 as a backup. That being the best flying plane I have right now. After that I can get back to playing with the other Pathfinder trying to get the engine to last on what fuel I can put in the tank. I have been having some noise from the Nomad 6 and today I found out what it was. The first flight got off the ground and the prop came off. I found the pieces and the adapter had bent and was unusable. I had the electric Pathfinder so I used it's prop adapter. It's a lot quieter with the prop tight. I ordered 3 more from Brodak when I got home and 2 12 x 6 propellers as I only have the one on the plane. I've been having trouble with the pickup shifting. I figured that I wasn't pushing the pedal to the floor causing a bit of drag on the clutch. I added a 1/4 inch spacer on top of the 3/4 inch spacer on the pedal and moved the seat closer. I changed as much of the fluid in the clutch master cylinder as I could.

The Nomad mule.

We went to the park early this morning and I brought the P-40 and the Pathfinder. I made adjustments to both after the flights yesterday. A metal tank for the P-40 that holds over 5 ounces of fuel and larger screws for the engine rails on the Pathfinder. Both worked well and I got in two flights each as it started to rain a bit. At home I wiped the water off the planes and cleaned them up for the next outing. Then I had to mix up another 5 gallons of fuel as I don't have enough to go through the weekend contest. I had to use a gallon of 15% nitro fuel for the mix so I'll have 3% nitro in this batch. My tanks are big enough to handle it. With the engine swaps I ended up with the Stalker .51 sitting on the shelf. Then I got the idea of putting it on the Nomad 2 which I use for testing changes to the design. The bolt holes for the O.S. .46 on the plane didn't come close to matching the holes in the Stalker so I found the engine rails I used to put the Stalker in the Legacy 40. I had to trim a little off the engine cutout on the plane to get the Stalker to fit. Then I had to fill in where the OS sat as the rails would sit on top of the wood on the bearers. The whole swap went smoothly and I found a metal tank that fit in the tank space as the Stalker sits back a bit taking up room for the plastic tanks I like to use. All the while it had been raining and the rain stopped for a short while so I put some fuel in the tank and ran the engine for a few minutes to set the needle for easier starts later on.The OS engine had a plastic prop on it and those are not light. About 2.5 ounces. The Stalker engine is 0.9 ounces heavier than the OS and I'm using a wood prop on it. To get the same balance I used the stock muffler and that brought the balance back where it was. If the rain holds off in the morning I'll bring the Legacy, Legacy 40 and the Nomad test mule to the field. I wane to see which flys better the Legacy or the 40. I want to see which will handle wind better. Then I can test the Nomad.

Changes again.

I built the Pathfinder tail heavy. Using the Stalker .51 I needed a plastic prop, the muffler that came with the engine, a 2 ounce "heavy hub" on the engine and a half ounce of lead stuck to the nose to balance it. The engine had a vibration as it gets up to speed which bothers me. On the P-40Q I have an Evolution .52 r/c engine that I had converted to c/l use. It's a good running engine and weighs more than the Stalker. The bolt holes in the Evo don't match up to the Stalker so to swap them would be a problem. I did it anyway. I found some 3/16 x 1/2 aluminum pads that had 6-32 threaded holes already in it that matched up with the Evo. I marked where the fuselage that needed trimming and opened it up so the engine and pads would fit. After a couple coats of paint on the bare wood I screwed the engine in place. With a wood prop and stock muffler it balanced in the right spot. I had taken the Evo off the P-40Q and now I needed something for that plane as I use it for the warbird event at contests. On the Mandarin I have an Evo .60 engine that is made from the Evo .52 case. That means it is the same size outside as the .52. Just like the small block Chevy engines it can be swapped out without any problems. I removed it from the Mandarin and bolted it onto the P-40. I made a second trip to the park to check on how the swaps worked. The Pathfinder and the P-40 stay out on the lines a lot better now which I could have used at the Tulsa contest. I may use the Pathfinder for the profile event this weekend as it's always windy on contest days. I may have to get a larger fuel tank for the .60 but the 4 ounce tank should be enough for the .52.

Prepping for the next contest.

I have to decide which planes to take to our contest in Zachery, La net weekend. The P-40Q for sure but the electric Nomad and the Pathfinder are both flying very well for the profile event. The Legacy and Legacy 40 are flying well also for Sunday's event. I'll hit it hard this weekend and next week.

On Tulsa time.

We left early on Friday morning to beat the traffic on the bridge. The WAZE got us to The hotel without any detours like the last time. The contest on Saturday was a bit windy but my electric Nomad handled it well and got me a first place trophy. The Jamison flew quite well and would have got me a podium finish except I was doing the horizontal eights wrong. I've been doing them wrong in the last few contests but the judges didn't notice. I practiced them when I got home. On Sunday I flew the new Pathfinder and it and me didn't handle the wind so I only did one flight. I should have used the Nomad. After the contest we had time for a side trip to the Will Rogers museum along old route 66. We left early on Monday morning to beat the traffic as our route South was on the other side of Tulsa. Again the WAZE got us there. We stopped at a McDonalds that wasn't open. The next one wasn't open either even though it was many minutes past opening time. We finally got one around 0900 in Paris, Tx. After getting to US 190 in Oppolusis it was clear sailing until we hit La 415 when I spotted the low tire pressure light on. I kept going and at home I checked the pressure and it was 24 psi so I added air and planned a visit to the tire store. I found a nail head in the tread and the tire store fixed it. All in all it was a good trip. I added nose weight to the Mandarin and it's flying well now. I increased the elevator throw and it makes a competitive turn. I made up some lines a foot longer and will try them tomorrow. It's a bit fast on 61 footers. Most of my other planes are on 62 foot lines anyway.

Legacy 40 again.

I had installed the Stalker .51 in the plane. It replaced the O.S. .46LA. I also lengthened the stabilizer 3 inches before installing the Stalker. It flew very well with that combination. I removed the Stalker and installed it in the new Pathfinder I bought with the gift certificate from the Canton, Ga contest. So I re installed the O.S. .46LA in the Legacy 40. This morning I flew the Jamison and the Legacy 40. I use the Jamison for the Old Time Stunt event. It took 2 short flights to get the engine set right for the Legacy and to get the controls adjusted the way I think they should be. I got in two full tank flights and the Legacy flew very well. I'm not competing with it any time soon so it's a practice plane for now. One of the grounds keepers has been telling me that he will give me some fuel he has. That is going on for close to a year now. Today he came through with a gallon of Traxxas car fuel. I tried to find the nitro percentage but came up empty. I did find that it's made in 10, 20 and 33% nitro. The oil is 11 or 12% which is dangerously low for my use. I can ad more when I use it in my next batch. I got permission from the parks board to hold the contest on April 4 and 5 next year. That is about 3 weeks from the contest in Tucson, Az. I can only hope for the weather. I checked on the weather at Catoosa, Ok and on Friday the winds are forecast to be in the 20 mph range. Hopefully on Sat. and Sun. they will be lower.

Our lucky day.

The other day I noticed the low tire pressure warning light on. We had got the light on other occasions also so I turned around and put air in the tire. As we headed out this morning the light was on again so I headed back to put air in it. I checked the pressure and it was a lot lower than the other day so I figured there was More to it. I took the tire off and found a nail head sticking out. A trip to the tire shop was in order. I looked at the inside tire wall and found two 6 inch cuts with de-lamination's. At first I thought it was cut but who would cut the inside of the tire and not the easier outside. At closer inspection I found dry rot that had separated and de-laminated in two places. So I brought it to the shop and had a new tire put on then I put that tire back on the car and drove it to the shop for three more new tires. We found the slip for the old tires we bought soon after moving here in 2016 and had 100,000 miles on the car. The tires lasted for 53,000 miles and had enough tread to hit 60,000. Too bad the side walls were crap. I didn't check the other tire's sidewalls. If it wasn't for the nail we wouldn't have made it to Tulsa.

Better than I expected.

Today was the second outing of the new plane. I changed propellers to a plastic one and added a two ounce weight to the nose. I filled the tank for the second flight of the day and did an exceptable complete pattern. There was some raw fuel on the wing so I put it away for the day until I could explore the tank. At home I pressure tested it and found two cracks in the vent pipe. I soldered them shut and got it ready for tomorrow. The electric version I flew last year handled a lot like this one. Steady in level flight and a real good corner. I may bring it to Tulsa at the end of the month.

First flight report.

We managed to get to the park early Monday morning. There was a bit of a breeze and that is a good thing. I only put one ounce of fuel in the tank in case there was a drastic problem I wouldn't have to fight the plane for a long time. To my surprise the plane flew very well. I missed the engine setting and it was very slow. Over a second per lap slower than it should have been. On the second flight, with one ounce in the tank, the speed was very close to perfect. The wings are level and it flys steady in level flight. I put an ounce and a half in the tank for the third flight and got in some basic maneuvers just to see how the plane reacts. So far so good. I added some nose weight when I got home by swapping the prop for a heavier plastic prop and a plastic spinner which fits over the heavy hub. The c/g moved forward maybe a quarter inch. Tomorrow I'll try the new combination if I can get out early enough and the grass has been mowed.

Something borrowed, whatever.

I finished the new Pathfinder on Wednesday. I put some paint on the wing bottom on Thursday and it's curing. I installed all the needed stuff and it's ready to go. I'm planning on a first flight Monday Sept 3. Before covering the plane I weighted all the parts including the covering with it's protective sheet and the cardboard core. I wanted to get a conservative estimate of the final weight figuring it would be lighter. 52.6 ounces said the scale. After everything was bolted on and ready to fly I put it on the scale again and got 52.0 ounces. Oh well. The paint scheme is a copy of another plane but in different colors that I borrowed from somebody else.

Mystery solved.

Last fall I built a wing to replace one that broke in flight. I bought a wing kit from Brodak, the mfg. and set up the wing jig using plans I had saved. I had two sets of wing plans for this plane and when I measured the distance between the ribs and set the jig to that the wing came out 5 inches longer than it should have been. I have pondered how that could have happened ever since. I ordered a kit of the whole plane and while waiting for it I set up the wing jig again and it came out to the right size. A bit later I measured the plans again and got a different dimension. It was the larger dimension from last year. I finally figured out what was going on. I separated the two wing drawings and compared them. One set was enlarged when I had some copies made at Office Depot without me noticing it. The other set was the right size. Last year I measured from the enlarged set by mistake and built the longer wing from it. I put the enlarged set in the trash. I got another set of plans with the new kit and they are the right size. The new plane is taking shape and I'm assembling the fuselage now. It should be ready to glue together by next week and flying in another month. If I can settle on a paint scheme.

Two for one.

At the Canton, Ga contest I won a $50.00 gift certificate in the raffle to Brodak hobby shop. I won one at the King Orange contest last fall also. The first one I used to get a new wing kit for the plane that folded it's wing at the contest. This one I used to buy a kit of the plane that folded it's wing. I got the new planes wing built and the tail. I'm starting on the fuselage and I'm going to use the Stalker .51 engine that was in the Legacy 40. That should be a good match. I managed to get a third place finish in the Warbird event. I got a call a few days ago and one of the club members wanted to know if I wanted to sell one or two of the planes I got from the estate sale. I agreed to sell both of them. So I'm only down one plane.

Again and again.

A year ago or so I scratch built a Twister model plane. I had had one all the while I was flying r/c. When I left the r/c scene I flew the Twister until I crashed it. It helped me make some progress in learning the secrets to making a control line plane fly properly. I built another at some point and wrecked that one too. Anyway I built another from plans then I won a kit at a raffle a few weeks later. Now I have two flying.I didn't pay too much attention to how they flew and only took one out when I felt like it. One of them was powered by a .40 size engine. I took that one and with the knowledge gained from the Nomads I added a strip of balsa to the elevators increasing the area. At the field this morning I flew it and it flew very well compared to how it flew before. I kept speeding the engine up but the flight speed didn't increase that much and speed keeps the plane out on the lines. At home I remembered that I had extra .46 size engines of the same brand and they are bolt in swaps. I swapped it out and ran the engine to set the needle for flying. Then I figured why not do the same thing to the other one? The engine on that one is the same brand but not a bolt in swap like the first. I got the engine in place and marked the mounting bolt holes and drilled them. I tapped threads into the wood and bolted the engine in place. Then I added strips of wood to the elevators just like the first. I ran that engine and set the needle so it will start easy when at the field. I hope to fly them tomorrow some time.

What the heck, why not??

I flew the Nomad 2 with the engine set back and it flies a lot better. More like Nomad 5 now. Not much to do with the temperature in the 90's so I figured Nomad 1 is still in original condition so why not shorten it's nose too. When I built this one it was the first, hence the number 1, and it flew very well as it was. By the time I got to number 5 I had made some changes that worked. Shorter nose and more stab/elev area. I had enlarged the tail on all the others with good results and brought the others noses in line with number 5. Number 1 was the last one to get the nose job. I had located the engine 1/8 inch forward of the fuselage so I could use a recessed spinner, it's all I had at the time. I removed the engine and used the rear engine mounting holes in the fuselage to fit the engines front mounting holes effectively moving the engine back 3/4 inch. I marked the cut and the band saw did it's job nicely. I reinstalled the engine and marked the spinner outline and carved and sanded the nose to blend into the spinner. Some paint and some cutting of the fuel tank recess and it's ready to go again. I had to move the leadouts back a bit just like number 2's. It's raining now and I have a date at the V.A. in the morning so a short test flight may be possible later in the morning or I'll have to wait until Tuesday. The temperature was only in the low 80's when I got home from the V.A. I loaded up the Nomad and headed to the park for a quick flight. The grass is growing fast and the plane barely made it off the ground. It does fly better than it did. It already flew very well but the corners have improved noticeably. It's still steady in level flight. It started to rain as the fuel was running out so I didn't get a chance to test it more. I'm happy with it.

Another plane gets the saw.

I did some measuring on the other Nomads and found the nose to wing measurement to be inconsistent. Good old number 2 has been the test bed for other changes so I figured why not? I planned on using the rear engine mounting bolts only in the front engine holes. That produced a 3/4 inch set back. After a short trip to the band saw and some hole saw and chisel work I got the engine installed. The new rear mounting holes were very close to some holes already in the plane. I plugged those holes and drilled new ones for the screws. I needed 3 degree offset wedges to rid the plane of left engine thrust. I was able to use the same spinner on this one. I sprayed some paint on the newly blended nose and got it all together. I should be able to test fly it in the morning. Two months ago we saw a turtle laying eggs in our lawn at the edge of the street.The ground had hardened quite a bit and I figured I would dig the eggs out and let them hatch in softer ground. I had a lot of trouble digging them out and found that they had already hatched. I rescued 10 newborns and the neighbor released them into the woods behind his house.

Temp. change made permanent.

The engine on Nomad 4 is an ASP .52 r/c engine converted to control line use. At $75.00 new I couldn't turn it down. It's flying a lot better with the engine set back that I took the spacer and engine off and band sawed the nose off. I removed the engine offset wedges and re installed it so I could figure out what spinner would be the best to use. I had the nose blended into a 2 inch diameter spinner but with the changes a 2 and 1/4 inch spinner is the best choice. A little carving with a razor plane and sanding and paint and the plane is ready to fly again. The Georgia contest is a couple weeks away and it's time to fly the planes I plan to compete with so I know they are ready. The grass at the park is growing and the rain isn't helping any. The staff was out mowing this morning but hadn't got to my spot so I got in two flights with Nomad 5 and headed home. Tomorrow the staff should be done with the mowing. After that I need to mow my grass. I was down to using the last gallon of my home brew fuel. That gallon was down to 2 quarts so I mixed another 5 gallons that I will start using tomorrow. The timing is perfect as I need to tune the engines for the new mix as I went from 22% oil to about 20% oil. The same nitro %. I need to know if the engines need more or less fuel for the pattern but less than 8 total minutes for the flight. If I have an over run I loose up to 65 points. That's 40 points for a perfect landing and 25 points for "pattern points". You get pattern points for doing the maneuvers in the right sequence and the right number of repetitions of each maneuver. e.g. 3 loops not 2 or 4. That goes for all the maneuvers.

Another change.

I built Nomad 4 using measurements from another plane. The nose moment was 10 inches from the prop washer to the wing leading edge. My other Nomads are less than that and have a better corner. But what to do about it. I thought about cutting an inch off the nose and relocating the engine but that could be a poor decision. I had two prop shaft extensions 3/4 inch long. I had let one go with the Gypsy as it needed it and I still had one left. I planned on just moving the engine back 3/4 inch and using the extension the prop would be in the same location without cutting anything. I did have to remove a barrier between the engine and fuel tank but that was no problem. I put the engine in place and installed one screw to hole it while I did same measuring to get the thrust vector right. I got the extension and put it on the engine shaft and a propeller but the internal thread of the new elongated nut was too big. I needed a new nut the right size. I called Brodak but they were out of stock. Then I emailed Lee machine shop and he had one that will do the job. I got it 3 days later and it's the right piece. Now I was able to set the thrust line and finish screwing the engine in place. I flew it this morning and it's a lot more stable in level flight and has a better corner. Now I'm fighting with the engine trying to get it to run where I want it. More nitro next time out.

Mods for Nomad 1.

A while back I found that a larger stab/elev. gave better performance. I added a half inch strip to the trailing edges of Nomad 1 and 2. It worked but then I built Nomad 5 with a longer span tail and that worked even better. It's my contest profile plane. Then came my electric powered Nomad 6 with squared off wing tips and tail. That got the longer tail and it flys very well. I measured the span of the stabilizer on 5 and made some pieces to stretch the tail to 5's length and to square off the stab to boot. That gives me even more elevator area than the No. 5 design. I trimmed the half inch piece down to 1/8 and glued the extension on. I flew it this morning and it corners better than anything I have. Still stable in level flight. Maybe it will be compete with 5 for the profile spot. I took the engine out of the SV-11 and put it back into the Mandarin. It was giving me problems with running steady. I changed fuel and propellers before the swap but it didn't make a difference. A while ago I put a velocity stack on the venturi to control the raw fuel coming out during the run. The venturi is very short. I flew the Mandarin and the engine did the same thing. I removed the stack and it seems to run like it should again. I have another stack on the Legacy so that will be removed as well.

Back to glow power.

It took longer to change the front hub on the truck than I figured. It was three hours of hammering and chiseling to get the old unit off the truck. I was exhausted to say the least. I put the electric planes aside and got back to glow fuel power. It doesn't take long to get spoiled not having to wipe oil off the planes and then clean them when I get home. I do have the Twisters flying the best ever and I got some mods planned for the Nomad 1 and maybe 2. I found a piece of balsa interfering with the bellcrank on one Twister. The controls on both were not symmetrical either. I mixed up some fuel with more nitro in it as the temperature here is high. I'm planning to bring the glow powered SV-11 and the electric Nomad to the park in the morning. I flew the SV-11 today and it just didn't have enough power in the heat so I upped the nitro content and put the bigger propeller back on.

Electric P-40B ARF update.

I finally got the plane flying better than it has. I had to drill new holes in the flap and elevator horns so that I got a bit more down than up control. I removed 4 ounces of nose weight but kept the one ounce spinner for looks mainly. One the first flight yesterday I had too much down and had to make a handle adjustment for the second flight. There is a marked improvement in the corners. The driving force behind all this trimming is that the plane is very stable in level flight both upright and inverted. No other plane of mine has ever been that stable. The balance point is a bit behind where the plans say so I'll start moving it back a bit more as I go. It's raining today so I'll prep the pickup for the new front hub that's coming today.

Brodak P-40B Electric.

A couple years ago I bought one with the power system. I've flown it a few times with poor results. Now that I have more batteries I've been flying it more and trimming. The thing has a problem in cornering. It likes to stall or mush. I added two ounces of nose weight and there is some improvement but it still mushes in outside corners. Today I made a new control horn for the flaps. The original was plastic and kinda bendy. I made a copy of it out of aluminum angle and made the flap pushrod hole higher than the plastic one. The flaps move too much, I think, so I took some movement off while keeping the elevator movement the same. Tomorrow morning I'll try it. Maybe shorter lines as well. It has occurred to me that in the profile and sometimes the warbird events appearance points are not awarded so you can fly an ARF if you chose with no penalty. I have the big Nomad and Pathfinder electrics and the P-40 ARF for warbird. I may have to use one for two events or all three events as getting two 60 inch wing span planes plus the 54 inch P-40 into the Hyundai back seat is quite a problem.

Another first in my life.

I took the big Nomad to the park this morning. I had moved the leadouts back a bit and upped the power a bit and shortened the lines a foot. I was looking for lower lap times and more line tension. The first flight was another short one and it felt pretty good. Good tension and lap times at 5.12 seconds per lap. I put in a fully charged battery and turned the timer up for a full pattern flight. The plane flew quite well and total flight time was 5.45 minutes. I put in another charged battery and turned the timer down a bit and flew another full pattern. This time it ran 6 laps after the last maneuver or 30 seconds less than the other flight. It's ready for competition. I brought the Pathfinder in case the Nomad needed some adjusting at the shop but it didn't. I have 3 more batteries on order.

Now it's ready to fly.

Every night during the design and building phases I scribble out color schemes. It takes me longer to decide which design I like than to build the plane. I finally settled on this design. I had the electric Pathfinder fuselage done up in a similar scheme until the rebuild after the wing folded. It gained about an ounce of paint and after it is really cured it may lose another tenth or so. It weighs in today at 64.3 ounces. The fuselage is Randolph dope and the colors are Rustoleum 2X. I checked the leadout placement and that hadn't changed but I moved them back a 1/4 inch anyway. From 1/8 inch per foot to 3/16 per foot. It's been raining here for a few days now and is forecast to rain until Monday. I think the camera lens fogged over in the humidity a bit. We got a new computer over the week and what a difference. The colors are a lot better now.

The planets have aligned for another first flight.

The field was mowed last Thursday so the grass was up a bit. I set the plane in position for the first flight after bench trimming as best I could. 63 x .018 lines a 11.5 x 6 APC E prop, the motor set for 9500 rpm and a 3300 mAh 4S battery charged for the minimum time flight. The scary part is when the plane is released will it come in or stay out on the lines. This one stayed out on the lines for the takeoff and througout the short flight. It was nice and stable in level flight with a nice turn in the square loop. I thought the outboard wing was a bit low so I tweaked the wing tab a bit for the second short flight. I am surprised at the light line tension, more like my .46 powered planes. I didn't try anything up high so I may need to do something about the tension. If not I'll switch to .015 lines. I think I have a color scheme figured out for it so that will be next.

RTF

I had to make a trip to the hobby shop again to get more hinges. I used more than I usually do on the flaps and elevators. I dipped the knuckles in liquid vaseline and used pliars to insert them into the slots so I wouldn't get slippery stuff all over the hinge with my hands.I used the Quick Grip glue and it proved messy as the tiny tubes were a problem to handle. Epoxy or other glues in a syringe would have been easier. While the glue was curing I installed the motor and ESC and timer. After that I installed a flight battery and checked the balance and leadout position. On the plans for the wing the balance point is 6 3/4 inches up from the trailing edge and, I don't know how it happened but that's where it balanced. The RTF weight is 62.5 ounces. I have the leadouts set at 3/16" to the foot nose down which is where I set all my maiden voyage planes. How far behind the c/g? I don't know and I don't care, this is rocket science compared to trying to set that. I'm going to wait for the first flight until after the El Dorado contest this weekend. That will give the glue plenty of time to cure and give the park crew time to mow the field.

I've heard about the new Monokote.

I bought two rolls at the hobby shop on Saturday and got to use it today Monday. The first thing is the plastic/chemical odor is a lot stronger and not the same as it was. Also the material felt thinner. Using dial calipers I got .002 on the new stuff and .003 on the older Monokote thickness. For what it's worth the new stuff should be lighter. I have figured that covering a wing will ad 2 ounces with the older stuff. As I was sticking the covering down around the edges it didn't stick as well as the older stuff. I raised the heat and then remembered using another brand that needed a longer time for the adhesive to cure so I let it sit a bit before shrinking. It did shrink as well as the old stuff. I used a heat gun on the open bay wing and stab/elev and the iron on the solid flaps. One new thing I tried is to spray some 3M glue on the wing where the landing gear blocks are. It should as a lot of adhesion to the covering there. I'll put a strip of packing tape over the area as well. Compound curves, the wing tips, are a pain in my existence. I put a strip of covering on the tips so I wouldn't have to stretch the covering too much. I picked that trick up from the Fancherized Twister article of long ago. All in all it took 3 1/2 hours to cover the wing, stab, elevators and flaps. Now it's time to glue in the hinges and install the control surfaces. That will take another day then assemble all the flight stuff and bench trim it before the maiden flight. That's looking like next week some time as there is a contest this weekend. Should the plane be deemed worthy I will slop some paint on it.

Fitting the covering.

The directions that come with the Monokote have always said to cover the wing with four pieces of material. That makes an overlap joint at the leading edge which will loosen from repeated wipeings to remove exhaust residue. Being of the lazy but intelligent side of the Rose family I got rid of the leading edge joint. I now cover all my wings and flight control surfaces with one piece of covering that wraps around the leading edges coming together at the trailing edges. It takes a bit of patience and masking tape and a dry erase marker.
  I start by making sure the width of the covering, generally 26 inches, is enough to wrap the wing at the root. On this wing I need 23 inches so I'm good to proceed. Measure the span of one wing panel and  ad a few inches. The sweep of the leading edge will cause the covering at the tip to fold back and if you didn't leave enough you will have a bare spot at the tip. Make it 3 inches extra. Roll off 33 inches from the roll and cut the piece off. This wing is 30 inches per panel so I cut 33 inches on the second panel. The first was very close to not being long enough. Trim off one of the clear selvedge edges. Lay the covering on the wing, align the trimmed selvedge edge with the trailing edge and tape it in place. Turn the plane over and pull the covering snug against the leading edge and lay it against the fuselage. Mark where it needs to be trimmed along the fuselage and the trailing edge. Cut the trailing edge first then the fuselage side as the excess will be used to cover the flaps. Lay the covering over the wing to see if it needs any more trimming before sticking it down. If not you are ready to iron the covering down.

Spice injector for hinges.

At most grocery stores you can find a syringe and needle for inje4cting any meats with spices or whatever. The needle is scary big. I found that with a bit of modification the system can be used to inject your favorite glue into hinge pockets.
   First  cut the point off the needle and using an Exacto No. 11 blade tip flatten the needle around the blade so it leaves a flat point with an even opening. Now that opening will fit into the hinge pocket. I have found that carpenters glue, epoxy and this Quick Grip glue works very well in the syringe and holds the hinges in place.
  I ordered some Quick Grip from Amazon as I couldn't find it in stores anymore in the 2 ounce tube. I got a bunch of tiny tubes and each has the pointy end when cut off fits into the needle so You can inject glue into the hinge pocket with having to clean up the syringe barrel. The needle will fit over the end of an Ambroid tube too.

Fillets and first weigh in.

I taped off the fillet areas and mixed up a batch of Super-Fil. I had enough to do the wing and stab but the stab wasn't installed so I just did the wing.  After a few hours I set the plane on the glass table and leveled it and installed the stab. By then the wing fillets were firming up so I mixed another batch and slopped it on the stab.
  Out of curiosity more than anything I got out the scale and weighed all the components of the plane plus the motor and battery stuff. 55 ounces without covering and paint. That will probably ad another 4 ounces total.

ARF. (almost ready for fillets)

As ones flying skills improve there is less damage to repair and some planes will last long enough to be in need of a new finish. I have found that when stripping old monokote from a wing it usually is under the fillets. This makes a mess of the fillets and the balsa causing a lot more work than it needs to be. I learned the hard way that using a strip of monokote around the edges and putting the fillets over the edge of the strip it becomes permanent to the plane. Any subsequent covering removal and replacement becomes a lot easier, if the plane lasts that long.
  I need to be careful of the gaps where the flaps meet the inboard and outboard stationary flaps. To get the gaps as tight as possible I can only put one layer of covering in the gap ends on the flaps and stationary flaps. That should produce a nice close fitting gap that doesn't interfere with the movement of the flaps. (In my case it's more like a Henny Youngman joke"Take my gap, please")

 

Startring the assembly process.

I aligned the wing and fuselage and glued them together. I knew that the flaps would need a cut out for the push rod to pass with down control. I angle cut both flap big ends and, with the mark I made on the fuselage sides on the chord line, glued the stationary parts to the fuselage sides. This makes it easier to set the controls.

Fuselage and push rod.

I was out of glues and threaded couplers. I made up the push rod sans the elevator end. A trip to the hobby shop for the parts and it's ready for installation.
  I added some balsa to the nose to fair in the spinner and slopped on a coat of  Poly-Crylic yesterday. I gave up the idea of fiberglass and will just thin some spot putty and paint that on and sand it down. Probably take a few coats to get it somewhat smooth. Monokote on the open bay structures with Rustoleum 2X for trim colors.

Waiting time.

While I was waiting for the glue to dry on the fuselage sides I installed the control horn on the elevators. I drilled a hole with a piece of sharpened brass tube and glued in a piece of hard wood dowel that was drilled to accept the 4-40 bolt. I'll use a lock nut when it's ready for flight. The nylon piece is from Du-Bro and the clevis hooks into it. Adjustability is almost infinite. You can shorten of lengthen the horn .001 increments if you wish. I usually go for a turn which is .025. Most of the time I glue in a square of 1/4 ply instead of the dowel but these elevators are thicker than normal.

More on the fuselage.

I usually sheet the entire fuselage with 1/64 ply for any of my engines. This being electric I only ran the ply 24 inches from the rear. The motor/battery box is 5/16 wider than the fuselage on both sides so filling that with 5/16 laminated balsa sheets back to the ply should do the trick. The second side is drying now and should be ready for more work tomorrow. The ply may be a bit heavier than balsa but it only takes one coat to seal it and then a coat of primer and colors. I believe it is lighter in the long run and a lot less work to get it smooth.

  I checked the wing and stab incidence yesterday and it's all set.

Building the fuselage.

When I started this project I planned on using an engine. So I built a engine crutch first. Then I drew the outline on the balsa I planned to use for the fuselage front end. I had already marked the thrust line and the wing chord line. I used the chord line to lay out the crutch by mistake. I've done this more than once. When I figured that out I drew the crutch on the thrust line where it should be. Then I couldn't find an engine I figured would be powerful enough and cheap enough at the same time. It occurred to me that electric would be the logical choice and after conferring with experts I got what I needed from Brodak. I already had the Conversion Kit "D" for the motor. After building the motor mount I started to use the chord line again to draw the cut lines. After some re measuring I think I finally got it in the right place. That is why there is  lots of lines on the nose and why there are marks denoting the right place to cut and different colors. I'm going to check it again before going to the band saw. The open back half will be sheeted with 1/64 ply and the front will be covered with layers of balsa to blend in the motor box.
  I put the wing and stab in place to check the fits and measure hinge to hinge. I found a mistake there and put in an extra piece to close up the stab opening. I'll check the wing/stab incidence to see if I have enough room to adjust the stab if necessary.

Flap horn installation.

I install the flaps onto the wing with the hinges and then center the horn on the flaps using the wing centerline. I draw a line around the horn wire and cut that part away. Then I take a piece of brass or aluminum tube and cut off two pieces that will go over the wire legs that stick into the flaps. I plug the end with a bit of tape to keep epoxy out. Then I lay a strip of 1/16 balsa into each cutout to help center the horn wire. I lay the horn into the slots and shim the flaps out a bit for horn clearance with the straight edge. Then using 5 min. epoxy I slop some in each cutout covering the tube/horn assembly but not so much as you don't want  the epoxy to contact the horn wires. Then another strip of balsa over the slots. When the epoxy cures sand the balsa down to the flap surface. I used 1/64 ply as reinforcement on top and bottom of the horn wire/tube.
  This makes flap installation so much easier. The flaps can be added any time in the finishing process. And they can be removed if need be. Gluing them up on a very flat surface assures that they are in alignment.
  If you like to taper your flaps sand them down after installing the flap horn in this case.