Second Childhood

[lennyz]

I VISITED THE EAA MUSEUM IN OSHKOSH WI. THIS JUNE AND AFTER THE TOUR SAW A GUILLOWS P51D MODEL 402 KIT IN THE GIFT SHOP. ALWAYS HAVING BEEN A WARBIRD NUT & HAVING FLOWN U/C MODELS AS A KID, I HAD TO GET IT. I RECENTLY STARTED BUILDING IT AND HAVE SOME QUESTIONS. I HAVE DECIDED TO GO W/A RUBBER POWERED MODEL AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH AND REALISING I PROBABLY BOTCHED THE FUSELAGE ON MY 1ST ATTEMPT. QUESTION 1--IS THE PLASTIC COWL REALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE 250-350 TURNS??? HAS ANYONE MADE A NOSEPIECE AND BEEFED UP THE NOSE?
QUESTION 2---- SHORT OF STARTING OVER - ANY WAY TO SAVE THE FUSELAGE??????
QUESTION 3 HOW DO THEY FLY WHEN BUILT WELL?

[supercruiser]

HI Lennyz,
I too, am picking up the hobby after a long absence.
The plastic cowling is probably not strong enough too take many winds. YOu should make an internal support. I made one from a small diameter plastic pipe, that fits inside the plastic nose and rests against Former A. and I've made supports from sheet balsa. It's real hard to explain how to fabricate this but, it's simple to build. Maybe I'll post a picture.
If you are really good at carving balsa , you could substitute the plastic with a carved, solid balsa nose. Many builders do that.
Question 2: Tell me more about how you botched the fuselage. IT probably can be fixed.
Question 3: When built properly and lightweight, they fly very nicely.
There are many variables and things to learn about free flight models. That's much of the fun of this hobby.

[lennyz]

THANKS FOR THE IDEA ON THE NOSE PIECE--MAY TRY THE PVC PIPE IDEA--ALSO THINKING ABOUT PUTTING EXTRA STRINGERS IN FROM THE FORMER FORWARD OF THE COCKPIT TO THE NOSE--SAW THIS DONE ON A B29 MODEL AFTER I GOT GOING----AS TO THE FUSELAGE, I BELIEVE IT HAS A BOW IN IT AND MAYBE A SMALL TWIST ON THE LAST TWO FORMERS. I WAS ALMOST DONE WITH IT WHEN I SAW A FIXTURE USED TO PUT TOGETHER A BF109? BELIEVE IT WAS ON THIS WEBSITE.

[supercruiser]

Sounds to me like you can compensate for the fuselage misalignment by adjusting how you position the vertical and horizontal fins. For the bow or curved fuselage, I'd just angle the vertical fin/rudder a little in the opposite direction. (A band-aid solution but, I really wouldn't build a new fuselage). As for the twist, (this has happened to my models) this will cause the horizontal stabilizer to be tilted one way or the other. I sand down the "high side" or shim up the "low side" of the fuselage where the stab. mounts, to get things even.

[lennyz]

THANKS SUPERCRUISER----I GUESS THIS ONE WILL BE A TEST RUN TO FIND AS MANY PITFALLS AS I CAN. SOUNDS LIKE TRIMMING IT OUT FOR FLYING WILL TAKE A LIITLE PATIENCE AND MAYBE SOME CREATIVITY. I'LL HAVE TO REBUILD THIS ONE AT A LATER DATE. HAVE SEEN SOME OTHER MODELS I'D LIKE TO TACKLE ALSO.

[JOhn M Oshust]

I was bitten about 2 months ago with an erge to build a plane. I haven't constructed any models in 48 years. I remember haveing an Albatross and a Spade when I was 10 or 11. Now I am 60 and I am about 100 hours into building a Sopwith Camel. I have never been happier. The time I am spending on this project is wonderful!
John "O"