Kit #304 PC-6 Porter

[Phugoid]

Dave is the stringer material flimsy but light or just plain flimsy?

The reason I ask is that you can obviously live with the fact it is light if you are going to fly, I use 6lb wood for stringers in some builds, which is pretty flimsy. I suppose the problem is the way Guillows supply the strip, most other kits have it in a bundle of mixed stiffnesses so you can select the strip best suited for a particular position in the frame.

From what i have seen The Guillows strip can be heavy but very hard and stiff but still have a good amount of flex without snapping, I've also had some that has been heavy but brittle, like spaghetti. The former is very valuable and useful in other builds as leading edges, longerons and spars....... the other goes in the trash.

Andrew

[Phugoid]

I can understand the disappointment then.

I forward to seeing your art on this one.....

Andrew

[Bill Gaylord]

I also got the Edge kit and weighing its wood gives these results: A-6 grams, B-4 grams, and C-6 grams. The strip wood is excellent.

The strip wood and heavy B sheet in the Porter kit is enough for me to call for replacements.

I've actually tried to hold the kit boxes, and determine if one feels lighter. If I had a gram scale that could weigh in the range of the packaged kits, I would bring it to the LHS and weigh multiple boxes of the kits, if they had them. I haven't opened my recent Edge kit yet, and I probably should record the weight of the unopened kit. It would be interesting to see the variations between kits. If it happens to have decent wood, then the kit weight could be used as a gauge. When the kits were dime cheap a few years back, the wood weight wasn't such an issue. With the recent price increases, there's no reason we shouldn't expect that ironwood be discarded at the factory, the same way that other kit manufacturers do. 13gms is really heavy for a small part sheet of 1/16" wood in that Porter kit.

[kittyfritters]

I'm really surprised that you found that kind of quality control problem in a new laser cut kit. I've been given to understand that Guillow is milling their own balsa now and the objective with all the new kits is to have 8 to 11 pound balsa in them so that they are strong enough for newbies and the older guys who are loosing the feeling in their finger tips to build and still be light enough to fly well. (Flimsy strip wood sounds like another brand of kits most of us have experienced.)

[ADW 123]

I was curious about that process David... Last time I asked for replacement balsa cust service wanted me to cut out the bar code on the kit and mail it in as proof of purchase to make sure I wasn't scamming them. Yet, scigs and you and some others seem to have no trouble when asking for new wood. Is it just me?

[Steve Blanchard]

David,

I really like that color scheme. Do you have documentation you can post. I might do the same for rubber flight. It looks beautiful!

Thanks,

Steve

[Mitch]

WOW..., another great build Dave.

Mitch

[kittyfritters]

David,

I really like that color scheme. Do you have documentation you can post. I might do the same for rubber flight. It looks beautiful!

Thanks,

Steve

This is a problem with "box art". At the AMA EXPO I was told the sad story of someone who showed up at an F.A.C. competition with an immaculate Guillow's Porter with this "box art" color scheme and full added detail. While it flew competitively, he could find no documentation that this was a representation of an actual aircraft and could not compete. These colors look similar to aircraft SN 685 which was written off in a crash in 1987. The registration letters "PH" are for the Netherlands and for powered aircraft would have three letters, not numbers as the aircraft license. PH-713 would be a glider.

May I suggest the Photo Gallery at Markus Herzig's site http://www.pc-6.com/ as a starting point for inspiration on Porter color schemes and also to search for license numbers that actually exist.

Howard

[Phugoid]

This is an interesting point. We have kit scale competitions in the UK that allow box art schemes......

Andrew

[Bill Gaylord]

This is an interesting point. We have kit scale competitions in the UK that allow box art schemes......

Andrew

That's a good thing. I always thought they should be allowed, as the box art is often what inspires us to buy and build a kit. Good looking box art sells the model, just as it "sells" the model after it has been built.

[paul]

I agree with Mitch....WOW

[granpa]

very, very nice

[Marshdweller]

When I first joined this forum, I think I put my foot in it by suggesting that form was a secondary consideration for balsa modellers. Since then, I have been watching your builds closely and going through your 'back catalogue' on Virtual Aerodrome, and I think your models have a beauty to them which no plastic model could match. I am rapidly being converted from a plastic modeller who dabbles with balsa to someone who will soon reject plastic entirely in favour of balsa.

Sorry if that sounds a little excessive, but I am bowled over by the quality of your work every time I read your threads.

[paul]

Hey Marshdweller, I was once a plastic addict, but it was mainly 1/12 scale motorbikes.
I switched to Balsa for a challenge, and I now have rejected plastic. Having too much fun

Building and restoring a Piper Cherokee and just bought a PC-6 Porter
Happy days

paul

[Bill Gaylord]

The spinner looks good. You get a perfect fit around the prop blades when using the Guillows spinner.
Did you make a balsa backing plate for the spinner also?

I'm still deciding if I want to trim down a chrome 3-blade spinner I bought for the Edge, or used the Guillows spinner. I've just tack glued them on in the past, to avoid a complex removable setup. The only issue I've had is them coming off in flight with electric power, if they're not perfectly balanced and centered.
BTW, if that's the Horizon prop, then it's perfect for the plane. I used one on the 16" FW190 and have one stashed also. I may just have to build one of these planes David, as it would be perfect for an rc conversion.