Model Reviews 2003

December 2003

40" Electric Ultimate

By: Sean Rushing

November 2003

Tiger Moth

This model of the Tiger Moth is an ARF from Pacific Aeromodel. It went together very easily, the actual assemble requires no glue. All the hardware needed was included. I was impressed with the quality of all of the components. The only problem I had was trying to get the muffler for the Saito 1.50 to fit inside the cowl. I ordered a muffler from Performance specialties that can be positioned from to fit inside just about any cowl.

Setting up the model at the field requires some time. Aluminum tubes join the four wings. The rigging is the connected to hold every thing together. I have gotten the whole procedure down to 15 minutes. The model flies very well. The 1.50 is more power than it needs; I usually fly it at half throttle. It loops and rolls well and does a really nice hammerhead. Nothing looks better than the Tiger Moth on a low fly by.

I am very pleased with the Tiger Moth. It went together easily and is fun to fly. That is just what I wanted in a model.

By Dave Redsun

October 2003

1/3 scale Druine ("Dreen") Turbulent

It is a 1/3 scale reproduction of a Druine ("Dreen") Turbulent, which was a French homebuild design from the 50's. It is built from Chuck Cunningham plans and has been flying since '98. Wing span is 86", weight about 16.8#, and motivation is provided by a US41 on CH electronic ignition.

She is a very pleasant flier and has been much kinder to me than I have been to her.

Bedford Pearcy

September 2003

Jason's Cub

This was a great planes kit. I spent about a year and a half on it. The covering is ultra coat opecque green and yellow I didn't want it to look like a cub. I put a tigger shark 52 on it. It has JR servos and a Hi-Tec reciever.

Jason Bullock

August 2003

Astro Hog

This Astro Hog is equipt with a removable dropbox.

Kurt Mathews

July 2003

Yellow Aircraft Starfire 

Tom Cook of Jet Model Products originally designed the starfire. This plane is truly one of the first ducted fan trainers out there with no bad habits. It also has the reputation of being ONE of the fastest ducted fan models. The flight envelope consists of about 25 mph to about 190mph (with some mods). With these type of abilities I am sure this is what convinced Yellow Aircraft to purchase the mold from JMP.
 
I purchased my kit direct from Yellow Aircraft. The fuselage comes PREPRIMED in epoxy fiberglass with carbon fiber matt in all of the high stress areas. The wings and stab come presheeted over foam. Vertical Fin is a part of the fuselage. The kit comes very nicely packaged with all of the hardware in separate labeled bags. All of the formers are CNC cut and sanded for you. There is an option for aluminum wing spars, which will give you the ability to remove your wings for ease of transportation. But wing removal is not so easy once all together. (2 servo wires 2-3 air lines) That are usually nice and tucked away once finished. I decided to use the standard spring air retracts since they were very popular for this model. You could use the wire legs or install struts. I choose to install robart struts for the main and nose gear as later I plan on putting a turbine in it. The engine is an OS .91 vrdf designed to turn about 22,000-24,000 rpm setup on a tuned pipe. The ducted fan is a dynamax. The jet has 12 servos with 7 of them being digitals for the flying surfaces. I went ahead and put brakes on this jet as later I plan on putting a turbine in it.

I will admit that it did take some time in building this jet and the instruction are lacking a little. The pictures are in black and white, which at times makes it hard to see and understand what is going on.

The cost of getting into jets is not all that desirable I paid right at $1500 to get the entire kit delivered to my house. But that included everything. Motor, retracts, optional plug-in wings, cheesy wheels, starter wand, Ducted fan wrench, conformal fuel tanks, and most of the hardware to complete the kit. Stuff like hinges, linkages, struts and brakes still need to be purchased. After it is all said and done, I probably have right around $3,000 tied up into it. It defiantly could have been done cheaper, but those who know me know I like to start with NEW stuff. I could have bought many ducted fan models in the used range from $600-$1500 ready to go. Just add rx and go. I wanted the knowledge of how it all went together and I paid for it. It has only made 2 flights so far and I was fortunate enough to be the pilot of the second flight. Ducted fans are easy to fly. They just fly faster than most planes. When they slow down is when they start to show you how much the really weight. Basically JETS FLY LIKE ROCKS. When I flew it everything was going real nice…. then it was time to land. Drop the gear and setup for final on runway…I held about ½ to ¾ throttle though the last leg until I got my wings leveled back out. That is when I decided to cut the throttle. WHOA…. this jet started falling fast. I started getting into up elevator and nothing was happening... but just about half travel into up elevator…the nose pitched up and started gliding down the runway... eased off the elevator very slowly and touched down real nice... I have been told you can jam the up elevator for flaring and it won't even think about tip stalling.

Can't wait to try it.

Thanks

Sean Rushing

June 2003

Ultimate
By Martin Stohr

BACK IN 1990 I WAS LIVING IN MEMPHIS TN. ONE DAY A FRIEND LET ME TRY HIS NEW PLANE, IT WAS THE GOLDBERG ULTIMATE BIPE, AT THAT TIME, IT WAS SOMETHING OUT OF THIS WORLD, A SUPER MODEL POWERED BY A YS 120 TURING A 13 -6 PROP. I WAS USED TO SMALLER ENGINES AND MORE CONVENTIONAL AIRPLANES, IT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE SIGHT, I WAS HOOKED, AND I HAD TO GET ME ONE.

I GOT TRANSFERED TO ALABAMA THAT YEAR AND ON A ROAD TRIP WE TOOK TO SAINT. LOUIS FROM MOBILE, WE CONVENIENTLY STOPED TO SAY HI TO MY FRIEND LESTER, WHICH OWNED ACTION HOBBIES IN MEMPHIS. I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT WE WERE ON VACATION AND THAT IT WAS OK TO SPEND SOME MONEY (TAKE NOTE GUYS) SO I GOT ME AN ULTIMATE, THE PLANE ENDED UP AS MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT THAT YEAR, AT THE TIME WE HAD NO KIDS. I NEVER DREAMED THAT ONE DAY MY SON WOULD GET TO FLY IT ALSO.

THE BIG DAY ARRIVED, I TOOK MY NEW PLANE OUT TO THE FIELD TO FLY, IT WAS MY FIRST BIPE; I HAVE HEARD ALL KIND OF STORIES OF HOW HARD IT WOULD BE TO CONTROL THIS SUPER PLANE, THAT ONLY VERY EXPERIENCED PILOTS COULD HANDLE THAT BEAST. I ONLY HELD THE CONTROL OF THE ONE I TRIED IN MEMPHIS FOR A FEW SECONDS NOT ENOUGH TO TELL ANYTHING, PLUS I WAS TO SCARRED ANYWAY'S. I RAN THE ENGINE FOR A FEW TANKS AND MY FRIEND FRITZ JENSEN CONVINCED ME TO GO FOR IT.

I SET MY DUAL RATES FOR A TAKE OFF ON LOW RATES, THE FIRST THING I NOTICED THAT IT TRACKED DOWN THE RUNWAY COMPLETELY STRAIGHT WITH NO RUDDER INPUT, IT LIFTED OFF AND IMMEDIATELY I NOTICED THAT IT TRACKED LIKE NOTHING I HAVE EVER FLOWN, IT WAS A POINT AND GO KIND OF AN AIRPLANE BUT I WAS SURPRISED OF HOW EASY IT WAS TO FLY, I TURNED THE HIGH RATE ON AND " O MY GOD," UNBELIEVABLE CONTROL RESPONSE AND COMBINED WITH THE SPEED AND THE POWER, I CAN SEE THEN, WHY SOME FLYERS GAVE IT THE REPUTATION, BUT ALL THAT IT TOOK WAS TO POWER BACK SOME AND IT WAS BACK TO THE STABLE TRAINER LIKE FLYING. AND I WAS LOOKING GOOD IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS

I ALSO NOTICED THAT IT HAD NO TIP STALL CHARACTERISTICS ON THE MANEUVERS, THEN IT CAME TIME TO LAND, I NOTICED THAT IF I TRIED TO SLOW DOWN IT WILL IMMEDIATELY START TO SINK SO A HAD TO KEEP SOME POWER JUST ABOUT ALL THE WAY DOWN, IT LOOKED LIKE I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO LAND THIS FAST BEAST ON THAT RUNWAY, I NOTICED THAT IT WAS VERY SOLID ON THE APPROACH MAKING IT REAL EASY TO DO, CLOSE TO THE GROUND I CHOPPED THE POWER AND STARTED TO PULL BACK ON THE STICK TO ARREST THE SINK RATE AND IT ROLLED RIGHT ON IN, THE PLANE JUST SETS DOWN WITH NO SPRINGY BOUNCE UNLIKE MOST MODELS ( IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN ) IT ALSO SLOWS DOWN IMMEDIATELY ON LANDING. IT IS THE EASIEST PLANE TO LAND OTHER THAN A TRAINER.

I HAD MY FIRST DEAD STICK EVER! WITH THE BIPE IN OUR FIELD (IT SAYS A LOT FOR THE YS 120 ENGINE OR MY LUCK) I FOUND OUT THAT IT DOESN'T GLIDE AT ALL! IF YOU ARE EVER ON THIS POSITION I RECOMMEND POINTING THE NOSE DOWN AND LANDING THE PLANE STRAIGHT AHEAD IF YOU DON'T HAVE PLENTY OF SKY BETWEEN THE PLANE AND THE GROUND. THANKS TO MY GOOD NEW FRIEND RICH REED I GOT THE PUMP FIXED THAT CAUSED THIS PROBLEM.

I HAVE GONE BACK A COUPLE OF TIMES THROUGH THE YEARS AND TOUCHED UP THE MONO COTE AND PAINTED PARTS AS YOU CAN SEE IN ONE OF THE PICTURES WITH MY SONS CARLOS AND MARTIN HELPING ME. THE COWL AND WHEEL PANTS ARE AFTER MARKET AND MADE OF FIBER GLASS EPOXY.

I HAVE ALSO TOWED GLIDERS WITH IT!! AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE PICTURE THAT WAS TAKEN ON A DEMO WE DID FOR THE EAA UP IN MEMPHIS. BOB SAWDER AND ME IN 1998. IT WAS NICE TO BE PART OF AN AIR SHOW.

THE PICTURE YOU SEE OF ME FLYING BETWEEN THE TREES WAS TAKEN IN MY BACK YARD IN HERNANDO MS. AFTER WE GOT TRANSFERED BACK TO MEMPHIS IN 1998. NORMALLY MY NEIGHBORS WOULD JOIN IN THE FUN.

THE PICTURE YOU SEE WITH ME AND THE ULTIMATE WAS TAKEN IN MOBILE ALABAMA WHEN THE BIPE WAS NEW.

THE PICTURES WITHOUT THE WHEEL PANTS ARE THE MOST RECENT ONES, TAKEN AT OUR FIELD.

I HAVE ENJOYED THE BIPE SO MUCH ALL THIS YEARS. IT MAKES ME LOOK LIKE A PRO IN SPITE OF MY BAD FLYING AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN A WELCOME GUEST AT ANY FIELD I HAVE GONE IN THE PAST.

THE PLANE IS NOT A FUN FLY OR A SPORT PLANE, OR EVEN A PATRON SHIP AND DEFINITELY NOT A GLIDER, BUT IT IS A LITTLE OF ALL, MAKING IT TO MY LIKING ALMOST A PERFECT ALL AROUND PLANE YOU CAN FLY, LOOK GOOD AND HAVE FUN.

THANK YOU FOR THE PLANE OF THE MONTH AWARD AND THE CHANCE TO SHARE THIS STORY WITH YOU.

MARTIN STOHR

May 2003

J3-PIPER CUB in 1/3 SCALE
By Rick Barr

The subject plane is a” close to scale” representation of Piper’s Cub, built originally in LockHaven Pennsylvania in the year 1938….

This is an ALMOST READY TO FLY model, offered by HOBBY PEOPLE in California and it retails for just under $900…. Having been in touch with the HP salespeople I found out that the remaining stock is rapidly coming to an end and in fact, the only remaining ads for this plane are now to be found only in the long-term catalogues of Hobby People. Originally, years back, this model was marketed by BYRON MODELS, but this fact remains
a bit obscure and I was not able to confirm just how true this may be.

As in every ARF kit, there are good and bad points that need to be considered. Overall, the plane is built quite nicely. I especially like the way in which all the attachment points, particularly those that use a blind nut are solidly installed and reinforced. As is now common knowledge for almost every other ARF, pay particular attention to re-enforcing the first bulkhead or firewall to ensure a solidly mounted engine. For this I would recommend adding triangular stock as well as brushing epoxy well into all the wood areas, if possible even from the inside as much as can be reached. The covering of this plane is well done, using some kind of cloth simulation. None of this covering has shown any tendencies to unpeel, crack or come lose… I notice, however, that there is a tendency for the covering to come up with small wrinkles or bubbles when in storage for a while, as in my garage. This has to do with temperature, and once we’re outside, all these imperfections just disappear.

 I originally intended to use this model for the OS PEGASUS 4 stroke-four-cylinder motor but for reasons of cost at the time, I used instead the ZENOAH 62 which I had already purchased and was destined for the 1/3 Sopwith Pup that was on my workbench at the time…this turned out in time to have been a rather poor idea. Although the G-62 runs well, it overpowers and I can even say overwhelms the model with excessive thrust. I believe firmly that an overpowered CUB is a bad thing, and I smile inwardly each time I hear “you can always lower the throttle”….. overpowering a CUB actually detracts from the intrinsic character of the plane. The original, with a wingspan of 36feet was pulled by a motor of “less” than 85ci if I have that information down right, whatever it was, flying around at less than one third power actually bothers me. The way it is now, at full throttle the plane climbs steady at an angle of 45 or even 50 degrees….those in the club who witnessed the very first flight may well remember that particular moment. It is timely to say right now that the OS PEGASUS has been purchased and is going through the setting up of the ignition system in a proshop up in Connecticut. I think this new power plant will add immensely to the “reality factor of the plane” although I probably have excessive power once again.

If any of my readers ever gets going on this same project I will now advise to get rid of the landing gear that is provided with the kit. You are given a shaped and bent imitation of the Piper gear, stamped of heavy aluminum with a pre-bent wire axle combination. This whole part is about 3(+) Lbs and the wire is thin enough that on the fourth landing made with the Cub the axle broke off at the wheel, sending it up into the wing and causing a nose over which broke an expensive $46dollar Mejzlik propeller. The Robart 1/3CUB scale gear is now installed, and with a bit of extra effort to make all the attachment points jive with those in the Cub, the results are extraordinary. It is really nice to see the “springy” effect come in, at every touchdown. Adapting the Robart Gear to the available connection points was a job that is way out of my league as a builder. I called on Mr. Shiveley whose years of experience and ingenuity solved the problems in less than one hour! Hat's off to Mr. Shiveley!

 The model is guided by the FUTABA 6-XS system. I attempted to experiment with mixing ailerons / rudder and some other things but I found that those things are actually interfering with the correct flight inputs. The next time out, there will be no mixing at all. I have attempted to give more up than down on the ailerons to prevent unwanted yaw motions, but that is all. The Piper needs to be flown as closely to the original as possible, and that means that the RUDDER and the THROTTLE are considered primary inputs. If you want to fly this plane, you had better resuscitate your dead left hand, for sure. Only the servo used for the throttle is a Standard 3003 model. All others, (2 for AIL – 2 for ELEV and 1 for RUD are ¼ SCALE with a torque of around 160 ) no problems so far. The original setup was done! using one standard servo for each elevator half. On the second flight, the right (elevator half) ripped through the gears of that standard servo literally shaving all the teeth off the gear set… the landing was done without a flair, but half an elevator was enough to save the plane albeit “barely”…

I MAKE AN OPEN INVITATION TO ANYBODY WHO IS AT THE FIELD AND WANTS TO FEEL WHAT IT TAKES TO FLY IN 1/3 SCALE …to come up and ask. I always have a FUTABA BUDDY-BOX with me and it gives me great pleasure to share in the experience of Large Plane flying, which is getting quite close to the real thing.

April 2003

GIANT TSUNAMI - CONSTRUCTION AND 1ST FLIGHT
By Mark Hunt

This is a scratch build project started out of love for a kit that was no longer available, the Direct Connection Tsunami. The 40 size kit flew so well, we had to build another after having destroyed the first in a hard-learned inverted flight lesson. Rather than just scratch another 40 size, we wanted something bigger. I took the Tsunami plans to Kinkos' and blew them up 140%! That gave a wingspan of 81". I knew it would be light if built like the original. The ancestor to the 40 size sport plane was actually an aerobatic, low wing slope soarer. Consequently, the construction methods are very, very light. I also knew however, that many times a plane cannot simply be blown up and expect the same stability or flight characteristics. So, before starting, I lengthened the fuse by 1" and figured we would probably cut the long triangular wing tips off the wings and stab.

The fuse is sheet balsa, with balsa framed formers, except for the firewall and the bottom part of the former at the front of the wing (F2). The original had a fixed, wire gear mounted in the wings, which would be cumbersome on a larger plane. To mount the gear on the fuse, yet close to the CG, I mounted a short piece of aluminum angle to the (F2) former that allowed the free leg of the aluminum to hang under the leading edge of the mounted wing. The gear was then mounted to that part of the aluminum angle (with nylon bolts). I couldn't find an aluminum (bent) landing gear that would fit just right, so I acquired a 1" wide piece of titanium (scrap from a machine shop) and bent it to shape with a butane torch and a vise. The tail section is framed up 3/8" square balsa, then sheeted with 3/32" balsa. For added stiffness, I applied a ¼" wide strip of carbon fiber along the trailing edge of the stab before sheeting. Never having used carbon fiber, I was surprised to find it goes on very easily with CA (just like light fiberglass) and made for an incredibly strong assembly (stab section). The canopy was another hurdle. Due to its size and shape, I could find nothing even close that I could fit and shape the fuse around. I decided to shape one from blue Styrofoam. I turned out O.K., but then I wanted to fill and paint it. No luck. It needed to be glassed then it could be painted. It just so happened that Sean Rushing was working with fiberglass and paint while working on a sport jet called the Starfire. He graciously offered to fiberglass and paint it for me. The result was nothing short of perfect. Thank you Sean.

The wing was built according to the original with lightened ribs (took a while to cut those out) and thin sheeting. Just like the original slope glider, there is no sheet type shear webs glued to the spar. The design uses a stick (3/8x3/8) of balsa glued to the back of the top/bottom spar going from the bottom of the first rib to the top of the next. The result is a simple truss structure that is just as strong as sheet webs, yet much lighter. I also decided to go out on a limb and replace the spruce spars with balsa, laminated with more of that great carbon fiber that I used on the stab. I CA'd a strip on the top of the top spar and the bottom surface of the bottom spar. I sheeted directly over top of that since the carbon fiber is only .006" thick. Again, I was surprised at the resulting strength, and man what a light wing.

It was turning out so nice, I thought it needed some extra special wheels. I discussed the idea of adapting r/c car rims to an airplane axle with Sean (retired r/c car nut) who provided me with a set of rims to play with. I called in a favor from a machinist friend and voila! We had r/c rims mounted on a bearing housing with a ¼-20 threaded stud off the back side. The threaded stud simply goes through the gear leg and gets jam nutted in place. Since the bearing housing and stud were aluminum, it seemed silly to use a heavy steel nut, so I found some aluminum nuts (real cheap through McMaster-Carr catalog). Even the assembled landing gear was turning out light.

 I mounted all Hitec 605's (77oz-in.), except for throttle. I used one servo on each aileron, one for rudder (pull-pull) and one for elevator. I added a 2000mah hydride battery pack and an MDS 148 for power. The MDS seemed to run well on the ground (horizontal), but being mounted inverted with a pitts muffler just did not work. I then mounted a YS 120 and was able to have the tank placed back on the CG because of the integrated fuel pump. It was finally ready to fly. All up weight was only 9.5 pounds! I decided to go out to the field on a Thursday afternoon so there would be no witnesses or distractions. It was quite windy but when I hit the throttle, it was gone in about 20 feet and climbing at 45° with only about ½ throttle. I was able to some basic aerobatics with ease. The vertical was endless and the downlines are actually nice and slow (light wing loading). It spins quite nicely but wants to roll a lot in knife edge (due to swept rudder). The roll rate turned out to be a little slow, which I expected after cutting out what seemed like small ailerons. With a wing loading of only 22 oz per sq. ft. it landed extremely slowly. Needless to say, I am very happy with the airplane. This was a long process (2 yr.) of on and off scratch building, but definitely worth it.

If anyone is interested, I have the plans (marked up), two sets of ribs, and the ply
firewall, F2 former, and dihedral brace laid out on 7-ply ¼" plywood.

March 2003

Phaeton II

The Phaeton II is already a good flying plane; but I did some things that I really think made it much better. I cut out holes on the side of the fusalage to lighten it up. Then, I made build-up tail feathers instead of the solid balsa ones that came with the kit. I also increased their size; but, had to use flying wire for strength on them, because they had alot of flex. If you notice, there is a trainer cockpit along with rounded wing tips. I hope you might think it looks a little like a PT-17, because that was my intentions (with a little of my own way of finish on the colors). I had to put double landing gear wire, spaced apart, on the fusalage; because, some of my landings aren't much to be desired.

Most of all, I'm proud of my five cylinder engine. I couldn't afford to buy all five at once, so I bought one OS-70 Surpass and then made the other four out of balsa. I wish I could tell you it was totally my idea; but I have to give the credit to Dave Hoffman, a friend from along time ago who use to fly with me off Hardy Road where the Toyata Plant is now. It was really pretty simple. You just make a drum shape by cutting out two round quarter inch pieces of plywood, in whatever diameter you feel would look proportionate to your crank case. Cut pieces of balsa sheeting about two inches long and glue around the two pieces of ply (front and back). Then, cut out the drum so it will sllip over your engine and engine mount (the back side of the drum will be cut nearly away). For the cylinders, cut two stacks of balsa sheeting; one about the size of your cylinder and the other a little smaller, and stack them together (alternating sizes) until you get the heighth you desire. Then, just glue the dummy cylinders around the drum. You can add dowel sticks to simulate push rods and make little valve covers, and so on. With the dummy engine in place on your motor mount, drill pilot holes through drum into tips of motor mount for wood screws.

I really don't know how much or what at all difference I made with this Bipe; but I really love the way it looks flying down the runway and it flies great!!! You can fly fast or just putt along; slow fly-byes are my favorite. The 70 Surpass is really the perfect engine for this plane. You can float down the runway and pull straight up in the sky and hang on the prop.

This is one of my oldest and favorite planes and I'm really excited about this whole thing. It makes me feel like one of the guys and I don't even know most of you yet. I sincerely thank you all.

By: Tim Farrar

February 2003

DHC-2 BEAVER By GWS

The Beaver is so far the best electric flyer I have ever flown. It went together nicely and the extra reinforcement that was recommended for the wing and tail section makes a big difference in stability and maneuverability. I can achieve flight time's of over 18 minutes with a 8.4v 1000mah NIMH pack. Truly amazing! Pull back on the throttle and the beaver will float right along for low fly-by's and touch and goes. At full throttle the beaver will climb powerfully into the sky and loops can be accomplished from level flight. I am very impressed with the performance of the beaver and I believe everyone should add a GWS Beaver to there hanger of park flyers. 

By: Steve Minter