Scratch Build With Guillow's Wood

[kittyfritters]

On Friday morning I covered the Presto much to the amazement of most of the people observing. I covered it with a domestic tissue of a type that would have been available in 1945. Esaki, that I would normally use, definitely would not have been available in 1945. The contest rules did not require that it be that authentic, but I decided to do it anyway. I applied the tissue with glue stick and trimmed it with 220 grit sandpaper.

On Saturday, I used rubbing alcohol to shrink the tissue, then misted it with UV resistant Krylon fixative. I made up a nose block with a 5-1/2 inch North Pacific prop. The wheels are 3/4 inch diameter, Guillow's wheels of the same type used in the 600 series kits. The cabin windows are 0.005 acetate.



This isn't the neatest covering job I've ever done, the leading edge has some obvious wrinkles, but this doesn't seem to effect the flying at all. I trimmed it out at El Cariso on Saturday night and it flies amazingly well. It's a bit heavy for a model with such a small wing, 15 grams including rubber, (no ballast required) so I had to use 3/32 inch rubber, to get it to R.O.G., but it floats around the room in a rather sedate manner that belies it's somewhat clunky looks. All up, including the time spent trimming, I have about seven hours into it.

I'll try to get some "in flights" at the contest on Wednesday morning.

[zoomie]

Nifty little model, Howard...nice work .

Questions:

Is this a kit plan, or is it from an old magazine?

Is wing adjustable fore & aft for C.G. adjustment?

Did you double-cover the nose block and tailfeathers? With most white tissue you would almost have to D-C to make white sheet parts that look as good as yours.

Glad to hear that it is a successful flyer for you, congrats on that .


zoomie

[Mitch]

Great Job Kitty... was a glue stick available in 1945?

Mitch

[kittyfritters]

Great Job Kitty... was a glue stick available in 1945?

Mitch

No, but my wife is allergic to dope, even if I use it out in the garage. Besides, dope would have been in short supply because of the war effort. Banana liquid would have been available. The only banana liquid I had was some banana liquor but my wife made Bananas Foster for dessert, the night before, and used it all, so glue stick it was.

[kittyfritters]

Nifty little model, Howard...nice work .

Questions:

Is this a kit plan, or is it from an old magazine?

Is wing adjustable fore & aft for C.G. adjustment?

Did you double-cover the nose block and tailfeathers? With most white tissue you would almost have to D-C to make white sheet parts that look as good as yours.

Glad to hear that it is a successful flyer for you, congrats on that .


zoomie

zoomie,

Dave Gee found it on the Internet somewhere, downloaded it, and passed out copies at the O.F.F.C. meeting where the contest was announced.

Yes, the wing is adjustable fore and aft. That's why it needs no ballast.

The nose block and tail feathers are not tissue covered. I just have some incredibly white balsa.

The contest is in a couple of hours so we will find out just how successful a flier it is.

Kittyfritters

[kittyfritters]

OK, this was an interesting morning. You have a model all dialed in at a previous session and comes the first flight on the day of the contest you look at the model and ask, "Do I know you?"

Only seven members finished their Presto for the contest, or lets say, were satisfied enough with theirs to want to compete. One member forgot to check his event calendar and showed up with the model for next month's contest...they don't call this group the "Old Farts Flying Club" for nothing.

The contest allowed six official flights. Any flight over ten seconds was counted as official. The score was the total of the best two of the six flights. I was the first to get an official time on the board, but it was only 16 seconds. Of the next two flights one hit the wall and the other hit one of the guy cables for the basket ball backstops. There was no damage resulting from this and I will have to admit that it is a rugged little airplane. After that, the trim went to Hell. It wouldn't R.O.G. and when it did it climbed up beautifully, then stalled and spun in. The only damage from this was one tail fin broken off which was promptly glued back on. After one spin and crash Dave Gee suggested that I needed more left thrust and that he had some in his tool box if I needed more.

I broke two rubber motors during all my frantic trimming and attempting to get official flights. Finally the last rubber motor had the power to match the trim and my last two flights, the second to last and last of the contest were good enough to be official. With all this frantic effort I didn't have time to get any in-flight videos so I will have to wait until the next meeting (next Wednesday) to take some in-flights.

Here is a photo of the seven Prestos entered. Notice the selection of propellers used.



And, here is a photo of the contestants after the final times had been announced.



That's me in the Tommy Bahama shirt on the left side of the photo. The reason for the silly smile is that those last two flight were good enough to win the contest.

[zoomie]

Dave Gee suggested that I needed more left thrust and that he had some in his tool box if I needed more.

No doubt he keeps it stashed right next to his lightening holes.

Congratulations on a hard-won victory.


zoomie

[Mitch]

That looks like a fine bunch of 10 year old's having fun!

Great Job and Well Done, congrats to all!

Mitch

PS: In your photo of 6, I count 7... they all look GREAT!

[kittyfritters]

PS: In your photo of 6, I count 7... they all look GREAT!

You're right! My bad.

[paul]

Howard
Thankyou for your response to my question,
Sorry its taken so long too say thanks. Information was far more than what I had expected. Thankyou
Q2
Since Mr Higginson no longer is the editor of Aeromodeller I feel the magazine is not
an interesting read.
It seems it is more focused on engines and competitions
If it does not improve i fear i may have to cancel my order
Hope I am not the only one who feels this way?

Paul

[davidchoate]

I got a plan out of a old magazine, and really wanted to try one of those type planes,but it involves alot of laminating, and jig building. I dont feel as though it would be good for my first one. So i'lm going to try a little easier one. an Me=109. Its a scale FF 14.5" WS, and has on plan how to make a jig to carv the prop. I think it'll give me the experience I need.

[kittyfritters]

I got a plan out of a old magazine, and really wanted to try one of those type planes,but it involves alot of laminating, and jig building. I dont feel as though it would be good for my first one. So I'm going to try a little easier one. an Me=109. Its a scale FF 14.5" WS, and has on plan how to make a jig to carv the prop. I think it'll give me the experience I need.

Unless you have a lot of kit experience, scratch building a small scale model, especially of a WWII fighter, can be a frustrating endeavor. There are many small, high winged, box fuselage model plans that do not call for jig building or laminations. Try browsing the plan selection at http://www.outerzone.co.uk/. If you want to build something with about a 12 inch wing span try a Comet Zippy for starters. It has a line-up former to make the box fuselage easier.

To start with, put a small, plastic prop on it, a four inch or five inch Peck, North Pacific, EB or "blue prop". While I think that anyone who flies rubber powered models should have the ability to carve their own prop, you might want to get the experience of trimming and flying an indoor model before you move on the carving your own propeller. I've been told that, "the worst balsa prop you carve will be better than the best plastic one you can get." DON'T BELIEVE IT! I've carved some props that looked great and turned out to be complete abominations when put on a model. With a bit of practice, however, you will be satisfyingly successful at it. To master the art takes a great deal of practice. If you Google the subject you will find many helpful, and sometimes confusing, articles on prop carving.


Have fun!

[Bill Gaylord]

I've been told that, "the worst balsa prop you carve will be better than the best plastic one you can get." DON'T BELIEVE IT! I've carved some props that looked great and turned out to be complete abominations when put on a model.

I completely agree. Although electric, I've compared wooden props that I use for scale appearance, with plastic props. With every instance, the plastic props which appear to have a near identical profile, pitch, and diameter far outperform the wooden props. The slight differences in profile that are much easier to achieve with molding are what make the difference.

[davidchoate]

Thanx for the advice guys.

[kittyfritters]

Here is a video of the Presto flying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBFrg3pyUVA

Howard