My Uncles Laser Cut Zero Build

[scigs30]

I built the Guillows laser cut Zero a few months back straight out of the box and it flies pretty good on rubber. My uncle who taught me everything I know about building started building one but with many modifications. He is not using the plastic parts as you can tell and he took a lot of wood away to make it lite. It should be interesting to see how well his does next to mine, can't wait to see his finished he is quite a craftsman. For me I have been diving heavy into RC electric, nothing like being able to control my planes. I think my next Guillows build will be a converted electric RC build.

[rayd]

Ok scigs....put 'em up, what's the secret...did you use several strands of quarter inch rubber and a Jetex for an assist? Just kiddin' but amazing you got it to fly right out of the box? Had one many years back.Between CG and extra clay mine needed up front in short nose, I wound up doing a Rube Goldberg by extending its nose (with beefy balsa yet) to where it no longer looked liked a Mitsu Zero. I kinda lost interest in powering it with rubber and didn't plan on a 1/2A plane. Ok, display time. The old cliche... if I knew then what I know now....is most relevant here.

It stayed bare, uncovered on my basement wall, near the land of forgotton broken toys for decades. It just seemed too heavy to fly on rubber, but it was an early one, I think below $10, maybe less in 1965 or so. Amazing Guillows has basically same warbird 45+ yrs later! Maybe balsa now lighter or less longerons, something. I used Ambroid liberally, didn't sand much either or remove pieces, and didn't think a "stick model" would survive an .049 gas motor then, but who knows. Dunno if Cox had .020 yet. but if they did, I'd have to modify for U control...and was getting weary with this thing, and came close to (gasp) stepping on it. But it served quietly as a display model for decades. Maybe later on, we'll see what an updated version is like. Well, glad yours flew, let us know how your uncle plane flies when you can. Ray

[scigs30]

Ray, The new laser cut kits come with much lighter balsa than the old die cut kits so that helps alot. Mine also took a lot of down thrust and weight to balance her out and 2 strands of rubber.

[jpuke]

Thanks for the post scigs.
I'm particularly interested in the non-plastic cowl that he's putting together. I did a similar thing with a 500 series Hellcat that I'll be posting as I get it closer to done but it doesn't look as nice as his. Is he planning on flying it with rubber? I ask because there's a lot of extra wood that he's putting on and I'd be amazed and equally impressed if he can pull it off. He'd definitely be a certified "master of the art".

What's the wicker type structure in the background? Looks like the tail structure of a large build, interesting.

[ADW 123]

You should get that uncle of yours to join the forum.

[Steve Blanchard]

That looks great! The "extra" wood is right where it should be. Although I believe you can definitely make a better cowl from balsa that would even be lighter than the plastic piece. It's all about picking the right wood when you add it. Everybody should really look over the pictures and take note of all the wood he is eliminating. The half ribs in the wing with geodetic structure for added strength at less weight. The trimmed formers in the fuse. It's all good and should be a much better performer than the stock kit. I am VERY glad you are posting this. I have a couple of the laser kits in this series and have been trying to decide what to change so I can actually compete with them. I just got some excellent ideas. Keep posting progress picks please. I think it would be great if as these changes are made and then flight tests prove successful, Guillow's took any notes sent their way (hint, hint) and put them into a little booklet for each kit in the series as a "How to" on making these competitive rubber powered kits.

Steve

[Steve Blanchard]

Oh yeah, let your eye wander to behind the subject and note:
ALL of the kits on the bench
COMET kits on the bench
Do I see old Jetco kits?
Full sized aircraft in production?

I wish he lived next door to me.

Steve

[jpuke]

I failed to look at the wing when I mentioned that I see "extra" wood that he's added. Those are modifications I would never have thought of and look like he'll save a bunch of weight. I imagine that he uses only good quality balsa.