Color is on.

I bought some Dupli-Color Chevrolet orange engine paint for the Legacy 40 fuselage and wing trim. I sprayed the fuselage yesterday and it came out very nice. The best I've ever done in 70 years of doing this hobby. I ordered some Max 2K clear coat and I have to sand the first color after it cures. I figured out a way to get pictures on the forum that enlarge when you click on it. I use the IPAD instead of the camera, then email the photo's to me and pick the photo from the email and down load it onto the forum and hopefully here. Here goes.

A project.

I flew the plane and it is better. I can stand to fly it now. There has been talk about the Legacy 40 on the forum lately. I had scratch built one several years ago and didn't like the way it flew. I tried several remidies and they didn't help. I looked at the nose and it looked long to me. I asked on the forum and found my planes nose is too long. I have a band saw and I took 3/4 of an inch off and while I was at it sanded the paint off and I'm in the process of refinishing it at the same time. I had lengthened the stab/elev. a while ago so I trimmed some off while it was sitting there. I won't need all the leverage with the shorter nose. I never have enough time to do the job right but I can always find time to do it over.

More successes.

I designed and built a plane using a foam wing and a .60 size engine. It didn't fly as well as I thought it should so it has been a wall hanger for a while. So after attacking the controls to free them up, like I did on all my planes, I installed an engine and test flew it. Much improved. At home I measured the control throws and found the elevators moved more down that up. I drilled another hole in the flap horn and re located the elevator push rod and now the elevators move equally up and down. Hopefully I'll get in a test flight today.

Some findings.

The new Legacy's controls has slight squeek.I looked every where and couldn't pin point the location. It sounded like it was inside the wing. I figured that it was causing the controls to bind a bit which was causing the non stable flight. Finally I went postal on the plane. I hung it by the leadouts and dribbled some oil down the leadout wires oping that would lubricate things inside the wing. Then I cut a hole in the fuselage bottom and put some WD-40 on the bellcrank post. Then I oiled all the hinges. The squeek was still there. The last thing to check was the elevator horn assembly. I use a 4-40 bolt with a Du-Bro aileron connector and a Du-Bro 4-40 steel clevis. I drilled the hole in the connector larger and found the clevis wasn't any freer. I removed it and it struck me that I used a 6-32 bolt and connector this time. The connector is thicker than the 4-40 one and the clevis was closing on it and binding a bit. After some sanding it freed up. The next day The oil had worked it's way into all the parts and the squeek was gone. I flew the plane and now it flys like it should. With that bit of information I lubed all the hinges and bushings on all my planes.I did find a few hinges that were tight.

Old plane is new again and other screw ups.

One of the people I see at the contests I go to bought Tom Morris' stuff. Then he took on the Badass line of electric motors. I saw him at the Zachary contest and bought a motor I figured that I needed. Today I found a use for it. Old Nomad 2 has been sitting idle for several months. No power system in it. I fit the Badass motor in it. Luckily the new motor has the same mounting holes as the smaller motor that was in the plane. I had to trim a bit of wood to get the motor in position and shorten the nose about a quarter inch for prop clearance. With a 4 cell 3300 mAh battery in place the balance is at the same spot as before. I plan to use the weak batteries I ruined in it. I figure 4 minute flights should work and not over extend the batteries. Maybe get first flights tomorrow. Yesterday I made some changes to the Legacy. I added more down thrust in the motor and I wanted to try it out. It was raining lightly and infrequently. I headed for the field and got in two flights in the rain. I made some changes to the line lengths while I was at it. At hoem I wiped the water off and put it up. This morning I noticed that I had flown the Legacy with the wrong lines and handle. I had to fly it to see what the changes had done to the plane. I was able to re set the controls and now I need to fly the other one and re set the controls there.

Tanks and repairs.

We spent the Thanksgiving week in Ct with our daughter and family and visited relatives and friends. We quaranteened for several hours each night at a hotel in Plainfield. Drove all over the towns we used to frequent and shopped at Wal Mart for some cold weather gear we can't get in south Louisiana. I must say that the new Tundra ran perfectly getting 20 mpg on average and is more comfortable than any of the cars/trucks we have owned. Trip total mileage was 3606. Driving before daybreak on unfamilar roads with construction and heavy traffic at 75 mph was hairy. I flew the Ringmaster and the engine wasn't running right with the metal tank. At home I installed the 6 ounce plastic tank again and opened the metal tank to check it out. I think the uni flow tube was too close to the pick up tube causing air bubbles to enter the fuel flow to the engine. I cut a half inch off the uni flow tube and re soldered things back together. I'm going to fly the plastic tank again before meking any more changes. I could put the metal tank on another plane for a test. I flew the Nomad with the repaired stab several times and it flies better than it did. The stab must have been flexing previously. I had ordered 4 new batteries a few weeks before going on the trip and was concerned about them sitting on the mail box for two weeks. Luckily they arrived the day before we left. I had to change the plugs on all four and got a 4 minute flight on each yesterday. I have enough batteries for a while.

Still trimming and other problems.

I removed the gap seals on the Legacy and made more room for the elevtor pushrod as it exits the fuselage under the stab. A test flight was kinda better but the winds were causing a lot of turbulance. I flew the repainted Nomad and the trim stayed on. On the last flight, of course,as the plane came around the circle into the wind the stab. started to flutter. It happened just after completing the pattern so there wasn't much fuel left. I figured the stab. would rip off and crash the plane. I held it high and the fluttering stopped until it ran out of fuel. At home I removed the covering from the stab. and didn't find any broken parts. I scabbed some thicker balsa over all the ribs on both halves. That stiffened the stab. a lot. I had some covering and ironed that on. It's ready to go again. The Ringmaster Excel has a small area to install a fuel tank. I had a 4 ounce Du-Bro tank but it was barely large enough to get in a complete flight. I installed a 6 ounce tank, again plastic, and that caused a lot of trouble as it gets forced into the tank compartment. I removed that one and decieded to build a metal tank. I had 4.5 inches of room and had to trim the metal down to 3.75 inches so I could put the tubing in. After adding one end cap I checked the capacity and got 5.5 ounces which is more than enough to do the flight. Maybe a test flight today.

Maybe it worked.

I flew the Legacy and the thrust change might have had an effect if so it is too small to be of any help. Next thing to try was removing the control surfaces gap seals. I could feel that the controls were a bit more free. While I was working the controls I could hear a tiny squeek. That means the leadout line is touching a rib someplace. Before doing anything to the ribs I got in a flight and found that the gap seals were causing a bit of binding. The plane flew steadier in l evel flight. At home I loosened the leadout slider and moved it aft about 1/16" and the squeeking stopped. I'll try that next time out.I really want to get this plane flying well as it's the best looking of the bunch and is a full fuselage plane which is what the judges want to see and not a profile. My opinion.

Good intensions anyway.

The contest in El Dorado went well. I got a second in Old Time and a third in Profile. I did poorly in the raffle. I had a chance to fly the Nomad with new trim on the wings. After the first flight the paint was peeling off in large pieces. Once home it was easy to remove the rest. I think I used dope and not Rustoleum on the Monokote. I masked the wing agin and sprayed some Dupli-Color red and Rustoleum yellow. I have others to test before flying the Nomad again. I changed lines on the Cardinal from ones from the Ukraine to .015 7 strand. That needs testing soon and I checked the thrust on the new Legacy and found a bit of up thrust. I shimmed that to a bit of down thrust and that needs testing as well. I would like to use it for P.A. on Sunday at contests as a profile doesn't cut it. My HRB batteries are not giving me good service. About 20% are still flying the full pattern. The others will only do a 4 minute flight before crapping out. So I found some 5 cell Turnigy batteries and ordered 4.

The little red Plane.

The paint had a few days to cure and the hurricane wasn't bothering much here so I took the plane to the field. I used the standard needle valve set up the engine came with and it works but not that well. I used 57 foot lines eye to eye. It's what I had ready to use. A 9 x 4 BY&O prop. I was pleasantly surprised when the plane got off the ground and held steady in level flight. It has a very good turn. I got in two flights and figured that I needed to install a normal needle valve assembly. I had a couple O S valves and put one in the engine. I ran it to get the setting close for the next time out. I also shortened the lines two feet. The graphics are by CFC Graphics and are over 6 years old and still usable. He uses good materials.

Getting ready. And a use for an old wing.

The weather has cooled and I'm flying the planes I plan to use at the Club's contest in Zachary in a few weeks. The Jamison gave me trouble with the engine coming loose and all. I removed the r/c mount and firewall and replaced it with wood bearers. It works a lot better now. I changed to 60 foot lines too. So that's ready for Old Time Stunt. The modified Cardinal is giving me stellar performance and is ready for the Profile event. I flew the P-40Q yesterday and realized that the metal tank just doesn;t have enough fuel capacity to cover all contingencies. I found a plastic tank that is 6 ounces or more and installed it. I need to fly it a few more times to check the tank and adjust if necessary.. I tried the unmodified Legacy, except for conversion to electric, and found four more batteries that were a bit low on capacity. I have 3 more of the same type and flew them with success. This Legacy flys much better as electric than it did with an engine. So I'll bring two planes to the park each day and sharpen my skills for the contest. Several years ago I built an Acromaster. It flew so so but I still brought it to Louisiana in the move. I got tired of looking at it and removed the wing and discarded the rest a few years ago.Last week I figured out a use for the wing and the unused balsa from the cardinal kit. I laminated the wood with the parts for the wheel pants to start the fuselage. I cut new pieces for the stab/elev out of the kits stab/elev. A fin/rudder that looks like the Cardinal and room for an LA .25. I installed the wing and stab. yesterday and started the covering process. I'm using some old Monokote I got in a reffle on the wing and tail and will paint the fuselage with butyrate dope. I'm installing flaps too. I don'think I will be able to get it painted before the latest hurricane hits. I covered the wing and found out why the monokote was in a raffle. It went on normally but didn't want to shrink without a lot of heat. I burned a hole trying to shrink it.. Update; with the hurricane coming in a few days I got the wing and stab covered. After that and before the humidity hit I sprayed on some coats of red dope I had left over. The monokote is red also. After cleaning the gun I sprayed 4 coats of clear. The plane is drying now.

More on the Cardinal.

I have several full flights on the Cardinal and it really flys well. I think it presents better than all my other planes. It handles the wind pretty well also. I attended the clubs 1/2 A day. A lot of planes with .049 power and some actually flew. My Wildcat got into the air and was a real handful. Something isn't aligned right and it was terrible. It sits on the desk now forever. I forgot to bring the scratch built Golden Hawk. We had a real good time even though most of it was spent trying to get engines to run. It looks like my first contest will be the one here in Zachary. The El Dorado contest in early Nov. will be next. I hate missing the raffles.

Another first.

I've been working on how to paint checkerboard for several weeks. After painting the trim colors on the new Cardinal I had a large open space on the wing bottom. What better place to try something new. If things didn't pan out it's not readily visible. It takes a lot of tape to do even the basic checkerboard. In the end the points were touching and very little cleanup of the bleed through. Now I have to wait for a dyr day to get the clear on. My cheap paint stand worked perfectly. It is made for the Brodak electric conversion kits. There is a piece of angle iron a steel rod and a piece of hose. All stuff I had on hand.

Body in white first flight.

As I sat trying to come up with a trim scheme for the Cardinal I figured I could assemble it and get in a test flight to see if what I did deserved the extra effort of trim colors. I had sprayed the white base coat two days ago. I removed the power package from another plane and installed it in the Cardinal. The motor is an Arrowwind 2820/07, a Hubin FM-0c Tmer, a 40 amp E.S.C., an HRB 4s 3300 battery, an APC 11 x 5.5 prop, a 2 inch plastic spinner. The motor speed is 9000 rpm. I didn't get the lap times. The plane weighs 55 ounces with one ounce of tip weight. I set the flight time to the minimum, about 2 minutes. The plane is stable in level flight but needs more elevator or wider spacing at the handle for better corners. The balance came out within the c/g circle without any other weight added. I was concerned about that with what I did to the design. All in all the plane is worth the effort to paint trim colors, if I can think of a design. These assholes changed the format on the blog and there is no icon to ad a picture. After several hours I figured out how to get rid of the new crap and ad a picture. They are still assholes.

Not your father's Cardinal.

I had the opportunity to buy a Cardinal kit cheap and took it. I had designed a plane around the Cardinal wing several years ago and it flys very well. I figured I could duplicate that success with the Cardinal itself. I turned the wing tips around, added a canopy, sheet aluminum gear, will use electric power and I built a larger and thicker stab/elev. I moved the stab 1 1/2 inches aft. 1/2 vs. 1/4. I figure it's 28% of the wing area now. The fuselage is covered with some kind of tissue and the rest has Poly-Span covering. So far the fuselage is ready for assembly and paint and the rest has two coats of clear.

New paint.

I finally was able to get the clear sprayed when the humidity was low. I ran the dehumidifier for a few days just to be sure. Using dope paint makes a huge difference in how the plane looks and feels to the touch. When I finished this one I brought out another of the same lineage and paint brand and stripped the paint off the fuselage. I sprayed the fuselage with white dope a few hours ago. I'll have to wait a few days for it to cure before adding the trim colors. One of the vendors has a sale on and I bought a kit for half price. Then I got an email ad with 30% off everything so I ordered another 4 station battery charger. $62.00 off can't be overlooked.

A spur of the moment thing.

After flying last Saturday I finally got tired of the paint on the Nomad 4. The paint is sticky and peeling off the wings. It took severl hours to remove all the green, orange and blue paint from the fuselage and wings. Then the filling and sanding started. in between that I did some minor repairs to the frame work. Today I started with some white dope on the canopy and fin/rudder. When that cures I'll give the fuselage some dope paint. I've have several podium finishes and a pilots choice award with the plane. It's a good flyer and worth the effort to re paint it. I made another push rod as the original was too big around and just didn't look right.

First flight day.

I finally figured out what to paint the Jameson and the Flite Streak. I used butyrate dope on both. After painting the base white and red and orange trim colors I had to wait for a dry day to spray the clear. I had my chance and got it done without too many problems. Now they are ready for test flights. I should get a picture or two also. While waiting for a day to paint I took out the Nomad 4. The engine ran well and the takeoff was pretty good. As I pulled into the reverse wingover the outboard stabilizer broke. I didn't see it and when I pulled out inverted the corner radius was way too large and the plane scuffed the ground inverted. The prop and needle valve were broken too. It's fixable. I removed the engine and installed it on the Mo' Best that was to be in the raffle April 4th. I have a few flights on it and it flys better than with the lighter .46 engine. I had to put an ounce of tail weight to get the balance right and the extra weight seems to help. The club has announced a fun day to fly tiny planes. Engine size is to be .049 cubic inches. I built the yellow and red plane for that engine but it's a wall hanger and can't be used, so I'm told. I found another kit at the hobby shop and built that while waiting for a dry day to paint. It went together fast and was ready for paint along with the other two when the dry day came along. The kit said the plane pictured on the box was painted all grey. I didn't have any grey but I did have white and black so I mixed up some grey and painted it. I have to use the engine on the yellow and red plane though.

Usable stuff.

As I was building the Ringmaster I built the small plane in the other post. I've been flying the Ringmaster and it's going well. I've had a fuselage and wing I built and threw the wing away. The fuselage has been around just waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I built a wing for a Jamison and changed the fuselage to resemble the Jamison fuselage. I installed the wing and stabilizer and set it aside. Now that I figured out what to do with the unbuilt plane It's almost ready for paint. While that is sitting waiting for me to figure out what color and trim scheme for it I remembered I had an old Flite Streak ARF doing nothing. It's useless for contests as you have to be the "builder of the model" to get appearance points. Without that you have no chance of a podium finish. In order to make the plane "legal" you have to build at least the wing or fuselage. I saved the wing and am building the fuselage and tail feathers. It's a profile model. The closest contest is in late August so I may have it done by then.

Long ago and far far away.

In the early to mid 1950's I had acquired a plastic model airplane one Christmas. It came ready to fly with a small engine. The Fuel destroyed the plastic in a few weeks leaving me with an engine. The next town over had a Western Auto store and they had some model airplane kits. Much like the picture here. I somehow got the $1.50 +.05 tax and bought one. I was able to build it and get it into the air once or twice. A historic accomplishment for the time.A few years later the Cox engine ,like the one on the plane, came along. It had the fuel tank attached to the engine greatly simplifying the building process. Since then the whole hobby has grown and improved. This is the first time I scratch built one of these models. Very basic assembly instructions to go by, no dimensions and a fading memory. I planned on flying it but it's a wall hanger now. The wing span is 18 inches, the engine has .049 cubic inches. The wing span on the planes I build now are close to 60 inches.

Flying well.

I have 9 short trimming flights on the Ringmaster and two full tank flights. 4.5 ounces of fuel gives me 6 min. and 30 seconds of engine run time and that's enough for the pattern. I changed lines to .015 x 62 from .018 x 62 as the plane doesn't pull that much. I had put a small ball of putty on the right wing tip before the first flight just to be safe. During the test flights the plane was a bit light on the lines when maneuvering above 45 degrees. Before the last flight today I put another small ball of putty on the right wing tip and now the line tension is acceptable. The weather has been a bit windy and the air is turbulent making any flying a chore. I do what needs to be done and head for home before anything bad happens.

Almost painted.

I had real good weather for spraying the clear. I'm in the middle of trying to figure out what design to put on the wing bottom.

Batteries and other things.

I've been having problems with my batteries not lasting long enough to complete the pattern. After many attempts at fixing the problem I asked for help on the forum. It seems my way of charging the batteries is causing the problem. i have been charging them right after the days flying session and topping them off before the next session. I found that that's the wrong way to go about it. Only charge them right before the flying session. I also learned that the charger has a lot of other functions. Like charging each cell evenly up to the limit. The directions don't say to do this only how to make the charger do it. I haven't found anything in the directions that say how to charge anything just how the charger works. Anyway learning has taken place. I got the conversion cylinder for the revolver and then couldn't find bullets for it. I ordered a box from the same place I got the cylinder and another shipping charge. The cylinder fit like a charm and the bullets fit also. I did find out that using anti-sieze on things would have prevented the cylinder pin from sticking. I'm finishing up the plane kit I got. I am using an engine at the top of the recommended size chart and not electric so I had to fuel proof the fuselage and use dope paint instead of the Rustoleum I have been using. This engine the Evolution .52 is the same size an the Evolution .60 but the plane won't be heavy so I don't think I will need the bigger engine. I had to order some striping tape that will go around corners for the trim paint. At the auto parts store it's over twenty dollars a roll. I found six rolls on Amazon for less than twenty dollars. They came in yesterday and I masked the plane and sprayed the trim on the fuselage and wing. Probably tomorrow I'll turn on the dehumidifier and try to get the clear coats on the fuselage. It's very important to paint in very low humidity. Yesterday we went to the Birdman Cafe for a snack. Take out only but there are tables on the patio. The river is still over flood stage. We couldn't get within a mile. Today I'm going to bring all the contest stuff, tables, pins, banner and scoreboard back to the Zachary field. I think the ground had dried out enough.

Still flying.

That's about all that's going on here for the last month. The second and third contests in this area have been cancelled. The next one is in Georgia in late August. That one has a chance to happen. The big one at Brodak's in Pa. in June is cancelled too. No word yet on the national contest in Muncie, Indiana in July. I have the new Legacy flying pretty well along with the old Legacy. I think I have the battery thing figured out. I got the power down to where I like it and started watching the charging a lot closer. The chargers are not that good. I have to put each battery on more than one station to get the voltage up over 16.92. When I charge to 16.93 or better the thing works like it should. South Park is still operating normally, almost. I bought a kit from one of the cottage kit makers that attends our contests. As usual I'm stalled trying to figure out what colors to paint it. I tried to work the cap and ball revolver and it had stuck again. I broke the cylinder pin and had to take the gun completely apart in order to get it out. After that I ordered a conversion cylinder for it and now it's a .45 center fire cartridge gun not black powder.

Still trimming.

I started full flights after 4 short ones. I noticed that the ESC was quite warm after a flight. I opened the front air intake but it didn't matter so I opened the exhaust hole. Still no change. Then I moved things around so the ESC was close to the air opening but that didn't help either. Yesterday I removed the ESC and attached it to the bottom of the fuselage and rewired it. I got in three flights this morning and there was no problem with the ESC. After a flight or two the power would lower from 5.2 seconds per lap to 5.9 seconds. That battery would not be discharged as much as the others that ran at the proper power level and it happened to different batteries. It seems to be fixed now that the ESC is getting a lot of cooling air. It could be a quirk of the ESC. I have two others of the same brand and size in a full fuselage plane and it gives me no problem being inside the fuselage. And one on a profile and it's out in the breeze. I've been looking at the electric Nomad's paint scheme and I don't like it. It took a lot of hemming and hawing but I finally removed all the paint from the wings and tail. I'm in the process of re painting the trim in a different scheme that won't look so grammar school. Maybe early high school now.

First flight, finally.

The green only nose repair went fairly well and will stay that way. I was ready for the first flight of the new Legacy yesterday, 3,7,20. I packed the plane in the truck and around 3 pm we headed to the park. When we got there a soccer game was going on. Cars and people everywhere. We went home. I waited until afternoon as the winds were forecast to lessen. At home I checked the report for Sunday morning and it was good. With the time change that put things even closer to sun up and guaranteed light winds. After breakfast the wind was very light so I headed for the park again and this time it was deserted. No witnesses if something went wrong. That's important for a first flight. I had set the timer for the minimum flight time, 2 minutes. The first flight went very well. Even with too much handle spread I could hold the plane steady in level flight. On the second flight I reduced the spread 1/4 inch top and bottom. That made it easier to hold steady but still had a good turn. The wings looked level upright and inverted, the line tension was a bit more than the first Legacy but I didn't go above 45 degrees. Lap time on the first flight was 5:35/lap, the second was 5:75/lap. I'll watch that and reset the power if needed to maintain the first flights time. At home I weighed the plane and it's 68.1 ounces. Too much paint. Next time out I'll try a vertical eight if that goes well I'll increase the time for full patterns.

Almost done.

So far I've painted the hatch cover three times and the nose piece just in front of the hatch 4 times. The hatch cover came out all right after the clear coat but the nose didn't change. Something was coming through the color when I applied the clear. Today I hit on a fix for the nose. I sanded it some and then brushed on two coats of color. Now in a few days I will color sand the paint and polish it without putting on any clear. If that don't work it will be that way until it's through it's flying days. I've been experimenting with the first Legacy. I had painted the nose black after putting in the electric system. I sanded the black off and then got some enamel spray paint to go over the original paint. Spraying the same paint over itself causes a lot of problems. So far the enamel hasn't attacked the other paint. It will take a few weeks to harden but should look better than the black. I had to do a lot of filling and sanding to remove the openings for the engine.

That will leave a mark.

Either the new gun was too big or the paint wasn't thinned enough. The mess that followed was painful to look at. I needed to re paint the hatch cover and nose but when I sprayed a clear coat with another gun the green almost faded out. I don't have any more green so that is on the to do list. Several other areas needed shaping up and I just have the nose and hatch to fix.That won't stop me from a test flight when the winds calm down a bit. This time of year, in the deep south, is generally a bit breezy. If I get out before 8 am on Tuesday I should be golden. I just need to turn the flight time down to minimum, 2 minutes. I did cut another vent hole in the bottom sheeting for cooling. I'm working on the first Legacy getting it sanded and primed, mostly for experience in painting. Plus the nose looked real bad. I could use it as a back up for the new one if need be.

In the sunlight.

I re painted the bleed through spots this morning in prep for the clear. I put it on the scale and it's 55.0 ounces without the battery or tip weight. It looks like all the weight I got rid of got put back in paint. Anyway I'm off to Harbor Freight to get a new spray gun for the clear and future projects. I'm retiring my old gun as It's not good enough for the clear coats that really count.

A little short on paint.

The base coat had over 4 days to dry. I started taping off for the first trim color. That took a few hours but went smoothly. I got the spray gun and hooked it up to the compressor. I got the jar of paint and I figured it would be enough. Then I got the opportunity to go to the hobby shop for some thinner. Everything was falling into place. I started to paint and got about 3/4 done with the first coat when I ran out of paint. A panic run back to the hobby shop for another jar of paint. I got back and mixed the paint real good, thinned it and dumped some in the gun. A couple squirts and the paint cup fell off. I hurriedly mixed what was left and finished the job. But the paint had black spots in it. I looked at the container and cup and there was stuff in them. I dumped the paint out and shook it up again and got a piece of fiberglass cloth to strain the paint. Another coat and all was well. Except that the masking tape lifted and I got overspray in a few places that required some cleaning up and tomorrow I have to spray white in a few places. My first dope paint job since the early 1960's. I weighed the plane and came up with an increase of 3 ounces with the paint so far. I figure another 3 ounces of clear which will bring me to the same as the other Legacy built with all kit woods. As far as the other Legacy, I've been stripping the paint off the nose using that as a test for color sanding and polishing.

First coat of paint.

I had severe doubts as to the compatibility of the primer I used on the plane with butyrate dope paint. Anyway the weather was dry enough today and that is rare this time of year in the south. I got the cheap detail spray gun and filled it with white paint. I sprayed a stripe on one wing and nothing happened. I expected the primer to wrinkle but it didn't. I sprayed a coat on the whole plane and mixed up another batch and gave the plane a second coat. Then a third, why not I'm on a roll. Now the paint will sit for a few days while we go to Dallas for a contest. It should be ready for the trim colors next week. The primer I was concerned about is Dupli-Color FP101 Gray Filler Primer. It's just like the stuff I wanted to use but the formula has been changed and it's crap now. The Dupli-Color has a fan spray tip that works very well. I've been sanding the black nose of the first Legacy trying to get the paint off. When Rustoleum finally cures it's tough stuff. I'm going to try color sanding and polishing that plane before trying it on the new one.

More fillets.

It was time to glue the rudder/fin on today. It took a bit of time to get it aligned but I got it. Then it was time for the fillets. I got the micro fil out and on the bottom of the hardener jug was a brownish liquid. I hadn't noticed that before. I put a stick down through the white stuff and into the liquid. It flowed onto the top of the white stuff. I figured it must be part of the hardener and that I should mix it up. It took a few minutes but I got it mixed and now the white stuff is creamy smooth. I mixed up a batch of fillet stuff and made the fillets for the stabilizer. The stuff flowed out real smooth this time not grainy like before. I went right into adding the fillets for the fin before the batch went hard. After that I installed the motor. Hooking up the wires proved to be quite a challenge. While I was at it I installed the landing gear and a battery. I checked the leadout position using the position that is shown on the plans. I didn't change a thing there. It may need changing after paint but it's just right for a test flight before paint. Except the ground is wet and muddy. While I had it with everything installed I weighed it without tip weight. I'll ad an ounce for flying. 63.3 ounces. A full 5 ounces less than the one I built using all the kit parts. I have 2 batteries that are 2 ounces lighter than the one I used so I can change the balance point easily without adding more weight. While using a light to align the motor and mount holes I saw a few defects that needed attention. Then I used the light on the rest of the plane and found more blemishes. I thought I was ready for paint. I have some paint and a pilot bust coming today. I'm still trying to decide on a color scheme.

Some progress on the Legacy.

I had a bad time trying to get up the courage to use poly span on the wing. I finally did it and it's not bad. I put 4 coats of dope on it and sanded some. Then more dope and sanding. I got sick of that and got some primer and sprayed that on and sanded some more. Then I used some Dupli-Color primer and sanded that. more coats of primer and sanding finally with 1000 grit and the wing is real smooth. I sprayed another coat of primer to cover the bare spots and will sand that with 1000 and then 1500 grit paper. I ordered some colored dope from Brodak and a pilot bust. The canopy is sitting in room temperature black Rit dye. It may not tint it much but to heat the dye will destroy the canopy. I had some original silk span and covered the tail pieces with that. I should have covered the wing with it. It's much easier to work with. I squared the stab and wing on the fuselage and glued that in. Now I have to wait for the fin/rudder as it will cover the slot for the elevators.

Modified Legacy.

I have the new Legacy kit built up to just about ready to assemble. Everything fits where it's supposed to. Everything needed for the final put together is built. I will build a turtle deck instead of carving the big balsa block and use a Gypsy canopy instead of the one provided in the kit. I have a box of unused parts from the kit that I either didn't use or made others from lighter wood. The fin/rudder is 1/8 instead of 1/4 and shaped differently. An electric conversion kit replaced a lot of the plywood parts and 1/64 ply replaced the 1/16 doublers. I had some pre made wing skins so I used them for the wing center section and left over sheets for the leading edges. As it site now the frame weighs 28.5 ounces Ad in the motor and battery and it's up to 50 ounces. I weighed the left over wood pieces and they are 29.0 ounces. I squared off the wing tips and stab tips because of the amount of carving involved and weight. Doing that increases the area of both. I also widened the elevators 1/2 inch. The rear push rod exits the fuselage so I can adjust it easier. I also don't like to cut the fuselage at all to install the wing. With the clevis and 4-40 adapter removed from the wire the wing will slide through the opening nicely. I also made lines on the fuselage on the wing chord line so I can get the flaps set to zero on the bench. The plans call for wing mounted gear so I used aluminum fuselage mounted gear. More weight savings. I didn't use any of the cap strips from the kit. I cut them from the wing rib sheets, after removing the ribs of course. I added the turtle deck this morning. The wing is glued in and the push rods are soldered and ready for action. The bellcrank post is back to the steel rod. I have a Legacy I built for gas power and then converted it to electric. It weighs 56.7 ounces without the battery in flying condition. Ad in 12 ounces for the battery and it's almost 70 ounces. I used everything in the kit for that one. Except the decal. And the wing mounted gear pieces.

Mods for all.

About 18 months ago I was flying my scratch built from plans Pathfinder electric at a contest. On the first maneuver the wing folded. I landed the plane without any more damage. I ordered a new wing kit for it and re built the plane. Since then it just didn't fly like it did before the crash. After making the stab/elev larger on several other planes with great results I began looking at the Pathfinder's tail. I bought and built a second Pathfinder from a kit and made the tail 2 inches longer and it flys very well. With that in mind and after several attempts to make it fly better through trimming and adjustments I started cutting. I had the pieces needed to extend the tail sitting on the bench for a couple weeks now. Yesterday I trimmed the stab and elev. ends, glued the extension pieces on and covered them with Monokote. The weather forecast is not good for several days so I knew I had to get out early to test the changes. Shortly after 0700 I pulled into the park and it started to mist. I got the plane ready and took off as the mist got heavier. The changes worked very well. I put a second battery in for another short flight and the mist turned to light rain but I flew anyway. It still flew very well. I was getting wet and packed up and headed home to dry the plane. I know I made the kit Pathfinder tail 2 inches longer and I ended up making the old one 3 inches longer. The Legacy got it's tail made larger with good results and I ordered another kit to be made electric instead of gas powered. I'll build the tail longer so I don't have to cut it up later on. And building for electric power should make it a bit lighter right off. Now to start on a color scheme.