Second engine mod.

I built this plane several years ago. I built it to have an electric motor but after several batteries failed I figured it would be better off as a glow powered plane. I collled in some maple motor mounts using some of the electric mount and battery box. I made it for the EVO .60. The Super Tiger .51 and Evo .52 and the ASP .52 would fit also. I tried all of these engines and they didn't perform well. That was mainly due to the plane being built for an electric motor and it doesn't vibrate so I didn't make the nose strong enough for a glow engine. Last week I hade had enough and ripped the maple motor mounts out and preped the nose for the alunimum rectangel tube mount. It took a lot of cutting and fitting to get the new mount to fit right and the thrust vectors to be right but I got it. I filled in around the new mount and added a half inch thick cheek piece for extra added vibration absorber. Yesterday adb today I got the colors painted and it's curing before spraying on the 2 part urethane clear.I'm going t swap the Fox 35 muffler for a lighter tongue muffler and that will bring the weight gain to a modest 1.7 ounces.It weighed 55 ounces ready to fly before I started this mod. and it should weight 56.7 after it's finished.

I can't believe it's not butter.

The weather lately has been very hot. in the high 90's, very little rain and very light wind in the morning when it's cool enough to fly. I get in two or three flights from 0700 to 0800 and head home. Without a light breeze the plane will run into it's own wake and could crash. I've lost a few that way. It is very good for trim flights so that is what I do. I've been doing a test using two part urethane clear spray paint in a can. There is a button on the bottom of the can that you hit to break a vial of activator in the can. Shake it up and paint. Trouble is most of the time you end up not using the whole can full of paint. I painted the Chief with the two part paint and right after I put the can into the fridge. 37 degrees F. I check it every week and so far it's not curing in the cold. My Yak-9 has been trimmed to fly properly, I sset it up to the way the plans said. By now the nose has been worn and holes poled through from too long bolts. I filled the holes and cleaned the nose area and sprayed two coats of Rustoleum white lacquer. I let that dry a few hours. I took the paint out of the fridge and heated some water and warmed the paint in the can. I sprayed two coats of clear on the new paint and so far it's curing normally. Now what I'm looking at is will the paint cure faster in the fridge once it's been warmed of not? I was going to fly today but I remembered that the lawn needs a bit of mowing and the morning is the time to do it.

Looks like it's a hit.

The Chief is complete and flying. I've been doing short trim flights to get more "up and down" control. I ended up with moving the elevator pushrod just about as close to the elevator as it will go without binding. I also added about 3/4 of an ounce to the tail. Today's outing, in calm air, was successful. It's ready for a contest. I did switch to a handle with more adjustment just for grins. Without the digital angle finder I wouldn't have noticed that the fuselage cutout for the wing was 3 degrees off the stabilizer. I'm glad I cut the wing cutout to equal the stab cutout. Even with the tail weight the plane is stable in level flight. I have found that to be true with all my planes. Convential thinking says that addding tail weight makes the plane wander all over the place. I've found that it makes the plane corner harder.

Hit or miss.

The weather has been poor for flying lately. Rain has soaked the parks I use and they can't be mowed until it dries out a bit but it rains again after mowing. I did buy a kit that was produced by folks in Florida that I've never herd of. All hand cut parts and a warning on the box that "above average modeling skills needed to build this kit". It should have read "exceptional skills". I had to trim over half the parts to fit, the wing ribs are still questional as far as an airfoil goes. I did manage to get it built up to paint but I don't hold much promise on how it will fly. It's a model designed in the 1940's kitted originally by Veco. My son and I welded his trailer hitch back together using my Lincoln wire feed welder. I bought it in the early 2000's at a car show in Burlington, Vt. I didn't get to use it for what it planned and it's barely been used since. It performed quite well and my son laid down some nice beads with it. He has a knack for wire feed welding. I was able to get my helmet set so I could see something during the welding. I forgot about the control that sets the darkness needed and over the years of non use it was turned all the way dark. Oh goodie it's raining again. That does keep the daytime temperature down so it has a good side. I must say that the Twister is flying very well now. Double checking everything with the digital angle meter before gluing things in place really helped. I flew it off a hard dirt surface and it bounced a lot on landing. I soldered a wire across the nanding gear legs about half way up and that stopped the bounce.

Finally got it.

I've been fighting bad engine runs and turn differences. I removed the spray bar and cleaned it with a shot of brake cleaner. The control problem got solved by setting the push rods in holes that are close to the plans locations. At the park this morning the Twister was greatly improved and the engine was controlable also. I flew the Jamison Special and found that the controls could use a tweaking. I changed handles at home and adjusted the elevator horn so the elevators move more. That should give me what I need.

The newest Twister.

With all the rain we have had this month I've had lots of time to build the Twister. As it sits it weighs 39.4 ounces with a Brodak .40 and APC 10.5 x 4.5 in the nose. I built it with only two changes. I trimmed the top of the fin/rudder off (I don't know why it's on there) and added nose ribs to the wing. The balance is really close to the plans without any nose or tail weight. I did ad 0.4 ounces in the wing tip. I slopped on my usual bad paint job and it's ready for the first flight, probably tomorrow morning at South Park. The Brodak .40 is only a few tenths of an ounce heavier than the Fox .35 shown on the plans and is a lot more powerful.

El Dorado spring contest.

We headed north around 0900 friday morning The morning rush generally clears by then. Home to La 415 to US 190 went smoothly. Up US 71 to Alexandria for lunch. We got to the hotel around 1400 and settled in. Saturday morning the usual croud wasn't at the hotel and was in attendance at the contest either. There was still a pretty good showing of contestants. The winds were causing some problems but not too much. The sun was right in the way and I lost sight of the plane on some maneuvers but must have did them right as my scores were good. One guy had an engine fail when the plane was overhead and it came straight down on the engine. A couple more got damaged in crashes but not like the firt=st one. I flew the Oriental in the Classic plane event, the Oosa plane in Profile and the Navion in Warbird. I was first in Profile and third in Classic and Warbird. I was happy with the Oosa plane. On Sunday I flew the Oosa plane in the Precision Aerobatics or PA event. The winds were much lower but the sun was still very bright. I managed to get Second place in PA. The Oosa plane is flying very well. Then there is the raffle. I got a bunch of small parts on Saturday. I ended up with 4 ounces of glue. On Sunday the big items were up and I got the very first item a kit of the Twister. Naturally I startedd building it when we got home.I've won two other Twister kits at this contest raffle over the years. The contest finished up early and we got home around 1700. The nest week was bedlam as we had a MRI scheduled and the leak damage got repaired taking up the rest of the week. On top of that it rained all week finally stopping late Saturday. The park doesn't drain that well and probably isn't usable today. To top it all off we think the visit to the hospital for the MRI provided us with a cold/flu bug.

Old table saw.

Back around 1980 I bought a Craftsman 10 inch, 3 horsepower, cast iron table saw to help in building my garage. I used it off and on since then. It came with me when we moved to Louisiana in 2015. A few months ago I went to use it and the motor acted real strange. I checked the capacitors and found one of two had popped open. I bought some new ones and got the motor running again after several tries and capacitor changes. I went to use it the other day and the blade got jammed and the motor stopped. Nothing I did would make it run. The circuit breaker wasn't tripped and the switch on the saw wasn't broken. I swapped out one of the capacitors, still nothing. I tried to check the capacitors with a multi meter but my meter doesn't have a "Farad" setting. As I was getting ready to try a different test I noticed a red button on the motor and I remembered from the first go around that the motor had a circuit breaker. I pushed the button and it clicked. A reset. I plugged it in and the moror started again. That saved several hundreds of dollars on a new table saw. And the new saw blade I bought can be used and not thrown away.

Just about ready for El Dorado.

The Oosa plane is flying well as is the Navion and Oriental. This will be the first time in a long time that I'm not using an OS.46LA engine on a contest plane.The Navion has an Evolution .60 and the Oriental has a Brodak .40. This morning I took the Oosa plane to the park to find out how much fuel to use for a pattern flight.l put in 4 .75 ounces and started the maneuvers. I got to the square eights when the air went very turbulent. I had to fly out the tank in level flight. Even then the plane was rocking in the wind. I had started a timer at engine start and it landed at 6 minutes and 45 seconds. I have 8 minutes to get the flight in so that should be enough fuel. The Evo .60 takes the same amount and the Brodak takes 3.5 ounces. I hope I do better in the raffle than I did last November. My plan is to get $10.00 worth of tickets on Saturday and $30.00 worth on Sunday. Saturday's raffle has small tools and stuff so I won't have that much to gain. Sunday has the kits and engines. A lot more valuable and useful.

Landing gear fix.

The raffle wing I used on the Oosa plane had an unknown landing gear mounting system. I didn't have the gear that was made for this wing so I substituted the gear from the J.D.Falcon. I used another set for that plane. I didn't have much hope for the security of the gear but went with it as I didn't know how it was built. \ At the park this morning I heard a sharp sound as the plane rolled out after landing. The right side gear had broken it's internal mount. At home I removed the gear and came up with a repair plan. I would install a 5/8 dowel for the gear to fit in and glue the dowel to the internal structure. I drilled a 5/8 hold where the dowel would go and drilled an 1/8 inch hole in the dowel for the gear wire to fit into. After drilling the 5/8 hole in the wing block I could see the way it was built. The gear I used was about 1/8 inch too short to work properly in that wing. With the dowel installed the wire fits in full length so it should be plenty strong. Next time out should tell. I was so pleased with the results that I did the same mod. to the left side gear. I also noticed that the flap was hitting the pushrod so I cut a bit off the flap and freed up the flap for more movement.

Third time for this wing and stab.

This plane started out as the second scratch built "Wild Thing". Then the fuselage broke off just behind the engine. The wing and tail servived so I built the "Swizzle Stunt" with the parts. That stick fuselage broke and the wing was chewed up but usable. It sat around for several months waiting for an inspiration to strike. Nothing did so I built another fuselage, repaired the wing and this is the result. I flew it this morning and it flys well with an O.S. Max-S .35 engine on it. I'll probably give it away.

New planes

The trophy McCoy .19 has a home. I put the graphics on right after the orange on the wing tips. I call it "Rat Fink", after the "Big Daddy" Ed Roth cartoon character. No special reason I just like the name. It still needs the clear coats and final assembly. I got a Super Tiger .51 from Ebay for 25 bucks. I kept the innerds from the .51 I sent out for bearings so I installed the ABC piston and liner into the ebay engine and put the engine on the plane I call the "Carpet Bagger". It had a .51 in it originally. The other plane I deceided to name it "Oosa Stunt Man" after the three names given to the three originals. The first plane ws a no name plane except it had very large USA on one wing and AMA on the other. So someone started calling it "Oosa-Amma". the second plane didn't have a name either but to be used in a magazine article it needed a name so the editor called it "Stunt Machine". The third copy the designer did name, he called it "Statesman" I actually thought about calling it Oosa Bin Laden" but didn't.

The trophy .19 has a home

When I got the trophy McCoy .19 running I had to build a plane for it. I made up some ribs and put together a 30 inch wing of 221 square inches of area. The fuselage is totaly designed by the T.L.A.R. method or "That Looks About Right". The tail is from the Vector 40 but cut down. I bent the landing gear wire like the older kits had. One piece that was installed through the wing cut out in the fuselage before the wing was installed. I forgot that part today and had to force the gear into position with the wing glued in first. The gear went in without messing things up. The nose is drilled for the .19 engine and the O.S. LA .25 and FP.20 will fit into the rear bolt holes. The front holes interfeer with the McCoy's front holes so I installed two inserts to be uses with a strap to hold the .20 and .25 engines in place if needed. I plan to fly it off the cul de sac circle next to my house. I have to get some Spider wire fishing line or equivilent rather than use up some valuable .015 cables to make the short lines. The finish will be my usual style using Brodak butyrate dopes and clear and thinner like I did on the "Wild Thing".

Time to go.

I got the chance to spray the clear today. Humidity was down a to reasonable levels and I had the new clear and thinner. I finished the color trims yesterday, the clear today and tomorrow I'll put it back together and get ready for a test flight.

Disaster repair.

I wanted a plane small enough to fly in the circle at my house. (The plane at the top of the top photo is the one being worked on. The bottom photo is that plane with the paint stripped off.) The plane ended up too big but it flew quite well. As I was painting it I used some Rustoleum lacquer and Dupli-Color engine paints tha I have been using for a few years with good results. I found some Rustoleum clear lacquer and used that for the clear coats. It was a lot cheaper than the 2 part urethane I was using. The color coats crazed when I sprayed the clear. Not the normal bubbling or fine cracks but large cracks that went through the color coats down to the covering. Ugly didn't do it justice. I finally got the ambition to strip the paing off the plane and re paint it with dope. I got the base white on today and I have to wait for it to cure before adding the trim colors.I have to get the right thinner and more clear butyrate dope before any more painting. I think the hardware store thinner I'm using is causing the gloss colors to turn into flat colors.

Wing repair.

One find day, or night, the plane slipped off of it's hanger and fell down onto a hand truck handle. That made a big dent in the wing leading edge. I set it aside until I could figure out how to repair it. This is what I came up with. I trimmed the damaged wood away and replaced a 4.5 inch piece of leading edge. Then I glued inside the wing sheeting pieced of balsa to make a bed for the final layer of balsa so that it would be at the same level as the original wood. Some spackle to fill the viods folowed by a layer of silk span doped on. Several more coats of dope then two coats of color and it's done. As far as I'm going to take it anyway. I put the engine back in and got in two flights with it and the repair held up. The plane is a dog because I built it way too heavy. At least 12 ounces over what it should be. Even with a .60 in the nose it's not what it could have been. I took the engine back out and hung the plane up in the garage.

Changes to the changes.

I built the last two planes for the Super Tiger .51 engine. I tried to change the bearings but I couldn't get the crankshaft out. i called and sent it to the person who re worked it in the first place and maybe he can get the crank out and new bearing in. While waiting for the engine to be returned I tried two methods of installing the beloved OS .46LA engine in the planes. The motor mount is wider than the OS engine and had to be shimmed closer for one trial and i used 3/16 pads for the second method. Both required the installation of threaded inserts into the wood mount beams. The smaler engine pulls the plane through the pattern with authority so I'll prpbably keep the .46 in the plane. I may have to as I had to use blue loctite to keep the bolts from vibrating loose and falling out in flight. The newest new plane, a loose copy of the Oosa Amma/Stunt Machine/Statesman in profile. The original designer built three copies and the first didn't have a name, the second was named by a magazine publisher as it didn't have a name either but needed one for the article and the third was called the Statesman. I can't think of an oppropriate name for the profile so it will stay without a name also. I did copy the paint scheme as best as I could from a magazine black and white photo.All i know about the wing is that it will fly. How well and how long remains to be seen. It's was a raffle prize. Today I hope to spray on the clear coat as the humidity is down for a few more days.

USA AMA (almost) profile.

I won a built and sheeted wing at the local contest in October. I had a magazine size plan of a plane called Stunt Machine but bettter known as USA AMA or Oosa Aama. It had the letters on the wings in huge type that just begged for the other name. Which the designer hated. Bob Hunt built a copy in honor of the designer and published the plans in a magazine centerfold with a scale. I used them to come up with a profile fuselage shape and the twin rudders on the stab. ends.The wing shape isn't right but it's what I have. I'm planning on using the Super Tiger .51 engine on it. That engine is on the New Plane now. I'm also figuring on using an O.S. .46LA. It may be light enough when done.

Another new plane.

This is the one I made from the extra set of ribs that came in the J D Falcon kit. The fuselage is a copy of the Mo'Best as the ribs are close to ones from that plane. I got a short window of low humnidity today and the temp was right so I took the oppurnity to spray the urethane clear. I puty all the pieces on the scale and it should end up at 53 ounces. I won a complete wing with flaps in the raffle in the Zacharyt contest last month. I drew up a fuselage for it based loosely on the old Stunt Machine design. I need to get some 1/2 inch and 3/8 balsa to get that one started.

Something bad, something good.

I had installed an OS .46LA into the Dixon Ringmaster Excel last week. It had an Evolution .52 or an Evolution .60 in it and they just didn't work the way I figured they should. At the park I was flying the Ringmaster and something happened to the control system and the plane hit the ground. Not fixable at all. I think the bell crank pulled out but I can't say for sure. The wing broke in half at the glue joint without much damage to the two halfs. They had good balsa sheeting and it is usable if I can get the foam off it. I was planning on harsh chemicles to melt the foam but then I remembered the foam cutting bow I have. I threaded the wire through the wing and turned the heat up and cut the foam from the balsa giving me some nice usable sheet balsa. I painted the new plane with a white base color and it sits waiting for a color scheme to appear in my mind.