Very late update.

I assembled the ARF Primary Force at my sons place in LA without a hitch. I got some fuel at the only hobby shop in the area and got in a couple flights with it. I went to a local park to fly a few days later and saw the results of a botched double murder. Not the plane crashing but dead people and injured kids. When I got home I went back to building planes and restoring the El Camino. I scratch built another profile stunter I call Snow Fox. I flew it the other day and it flys great. The El Camino is coming slowly because of parts on back order. If I procede it will be a problem to install it later on so I'm waiting on them. I got most if not all the lights working and the oil and gen. lights on the dash board. I went through 3 carbs. before getting one that works to my liking. I have ordered just about all the parts I will need to complete the car. The exhaust system, pinion seal, windshield, radiator and front end alignment will be taken care of by Richards service center(Richard the rubber king). I bought four tires from him too and he will mount them on the solid aluminum 15 x 7 wheels. He has to get new wheels from someplace before he takes the tires off his trans am and puts them on my rims. Could be a month from now.

A few problems solved.

After crashing the foam ringmaster i built an old Sterling Ringmaster S-1A. this is important as the original Ringmaster kit, designed by Matt Kania, was changed slightly for ease of production hense the "A" designation.The new kit is frowned upon by purists and isn't legal for old time stunt events. As I flew the new plane it exibited similiar traits as the foamy. I got help and advice from the Ringmaster forum and made some progress. Then I remembered that a thin airfoil like the ringmaster needs speed. I turned the engine at 10200 rpm and flew it again. The lap times fell from 5.0 to 4.5 sec. and it flew very well. No loose lines inverted now. Speed equals centrifugal force and that's what was missing. The El Camino has been acting funny too. The carb. seems to be lean and putting the trans. in gear stalls the engine. I took the holley 750 off the hot rod and put it on the El Camino. Instant success. I had made a carb. spacer from a piece of luan plywood and didn't have it on with the other carb. I reinstalled the El Camino carb. without the spacer and it didn't stall either. The spacer is quite porus which suprises me. Anyway I have to get a phenolic or metal spacer to raise the carb. as the throttle arms hit the EGR blocking plate. I cut a set of ribs for a model called the Artic Fox last night. I have to get some 1/4" balsa for the spars and flaps and tail pieces. I hope Lonestar gets going soon. Hobby shop balsa prices are as bad as gasoline prices.

Slack line crash.

I've been having trouble with my foam wing ringmaster, it's scratch built from old plans. It flew great as long as the plane was upright. Inverted loops gave me trouble. I hit the ground several times at the bottom of the loop. Three times in one session. Today I came real close to doing it again but missed somehow. I went higher and tried again but the lines went slack and it lawn darted into the ground. The wing didn't have a scratch though. I cleaned the engine off when I got home and ran it. The ground is soft now. I did a first flight on a new design called the Ringmaster 307. It's a .15 size plane with 307 square inches in the wing. It flew real nice. This was before crashing the other plane. My Twister gave me fits the other day. I forgot to add the spinner and muffler so the c/g was way aft. It jumped all over the place and almost crashed but I saved it. I had it in the car today but didn't want to push my luck. I added all the heavy things and added heavier landing gear to boot. It should fly good like before.Now I have a wing with out a fuselage. But I think the wing was the cause of my problems so I'll let it sit for a while. Maybe make a trainer out of it. I'm planning on visiting the contest at Brodaks in June. It's a big one, 6 days. It's in southwestern PA. and you can't get there from here.

Test flight and power failure

Screw up

I made a mess of the pictures so here is one that is bigger.

Things to do while waiting.

I am waiting for a laser cut kit of a large Ringmaster designed for competition. It uses a molded leading edge and a built up trailing edge. I haven't used either technique in any of my planes and figured I should get some experiance doing it. I made a mold form using the airfoil from the Primary Force model. I soaked some balsa and wrapped it around the form. Success. I made up a trailing edge and it came out well. Then I figured that the acid test would be to make a wing using these parts. The wing came out straight and quite stiff. Now I have a good wing and no plane. I whipped up a fuselage using the Primary Force numbers and in line arrangement. Slightly different shape and the tail is bigger. All up weight is 38 ounces, the lightest plane of that size so far. 586 square inch wing, Fox .40 engine. Balance came out within 3/8" of plan so it should fly as is. If the weather ever warms up. A snow storm ruined plans to get and engine for the El Camino last weekend. I'll try again next weekend. I have to borrow a pickup to get the engine. I got a new 3 ton chainfall to lift the engine when I get it home. I've needed one for a long time and finally got one.

Some good weather

I got to fly the Primary Force and it flies well. There was a few trimming areas to be attended to but the wing is straight that is the most important thing at the present. I flew the foam wing Ringmaster and I am very happy with the way it flies. I was doing some loops and went inverted when the engine stopped. I thought it was high enough to tuck it under but it wasn't It's repaired now ans waiting for another test flight. The wing held up to the one point landing, which is good. I reworked the two Fox .35's I have and the first runs smoother. I machined the block so that the back plate fits closer in like a "stuffer back plate" without the stuffer. I also smoothed out the ledge that leads into the bypass port. I did the same to the other engine plus putting a radius on the crank intake cutout and the hole at the back end of the crank. I added a piece of aluminum to the back plate in addition to filing the block to fill the case more. I haven't run this one yet, maybe today. I'm still waiting for the long kit of the Primary Force but I'm about to give up hope. I ordered a short kit of the Ringmaster 576 and it should be in very soon. The designers, Pat Johnston and Dee Rice, have made a sport version of the same plane by eliminating the flaps. It should fly a lot better than my 125% of the S-1 Ringmaster pictured in an earlier post. The El-Camino is coming along well. I got some books that show how all the parts fit together. The underside is cleaned and rebuilt. I saw how the body bushings assemble in the books and realised that the broken bolt on one of the bushing mounts was broken at the head and not rusted off at the threads. I loosened the other bolts and raised the body enough to get at the bolt and ended up welding a nut to the bolt and put the impact wrench to work on it. If you have a rusted in bolt use the impact wrench first, don't use a wrench as you will break the bolt. The impact wrench shocks the bolt and takes it out. It's scarry to watch it slowly turning but out it comes. I put some lube on the new bolt and tightened it down. I stuck my finger in the hole in the opposite corner and felt the nut so I put a bolt in that one too. The books paid for themselves already. My nephew has a new Nissan Titan pickup and has offered it to m e to get the engine for the car. Nice kid, he blows things up for a living. I hope to get the engine next saturday. Year One has wiring harnesses for HEI ignitions and one wire, internally regulated, alternators. Seeing that the original harnesses are a mess and I want to change the alternator I think that is the way to go. I a line on a pair of bucket seats and I'm looking for a bench seat. Ebay has a bunch but they are pick up only and far away. I sent the ARF Primary Force to LA and it arrived OK. I have another plane boxed up and ready to ship. Should be fun when I get there in late April.