Baby Ringmaster 2012-2012 R.I.P

Ron:

I fly the BR on 35 foot lines and it's still pretty quick and agile. I'm using a 1/3 ounce Brodak wedge tank and the run time is about right for me of advancing years. Although I've yet to try inverted flight I'm sure the "hot rod" BR is capable.

BTW, without a Brodak catalog tank selection is pretty much a crap shoot so it's easy to select the wrong one. Having done this and retrned tanks to Brodak, John sent me a catalog gratis.

Problem solved. John Brodak is a good guy IMO.

SuperDave wrote:Ron:

I fly the BR on 35 foot lines and it's still pretty quick and agile. I'm using a 1/3 ounce Brodak wedge tank and the run time is about right for me of advancing years. Although I've yet to try inverted flight I'm sure the "hot rod" BR is capable.

BTW, without a Brodak catalog tank selection is pretty much a crap shoot so it's easy to select the wrong one. Having done this and retrned tanks to Brodak, John sent me a catalog gratis.

Problem solved. John Brodak is a good guy IMO.

Yeah John is a good guy, I spoke with him a few times and he seem to genuinely care. I had a tank issue and I told him what tank was required in the plans and he told me what the current equivalent would be. I wish Brodak would be a little more proactive in stocking the 1/2A kits they have listed. I had been waiting for months for a Jumpin Bean and a Li'l Satan and still nothing. Luckily Joe sold me a Bean and Indra bought me a Baby Clown to keep me occupied for a while.

Currently my BRM is running a Black Widow so an external tank is not required. If I decide to get serious and run a TD I may hit you up for suggestions.

Ron

Ron, I just thought of something. Have you ever noticed in my earlier videos I always had a streamer trailing the plane? I first put it there to help the camera and audience see it, and I thought it looked cool. But I'm pretty sure the drag made it easier for me to control it when I was learning to fly loops and 8s and such. I started out with red Christmas tissue like you stuff in gift bags. About 2" wide and 3 or 4' long. I tied it to a dacron string long enough to clear the airframe. After that I used a crepe paper ribbon, but it deteriorates faster and leaves a trail of bits.
It might be worth a try.

RknRusty wrote:Ron, I just thought of something. Have you ever noticed in my earlier videos I always had a streamer trailing the plane? I first put it there to help the camera and audience see it, and I thought it looked cool. But I'm pretty sure the drag made it easier for me to control it when I was learning to fly loops and 8s and such. I started out with red Christmas tissue like you stuff in gift bags. About 2" wide and 3 or 4' long. I tied it to a dacron string long enough to clear the airframe. After that I used a crepe paper ribbon, but it deteriorates faster and leaves a trail of bits.
It might be worth a try.

I have kinda been doing that already as I have been using a bit of kite string to tether the plane to the stooge pin. I bent the tail drag into a hook shape on the other end. I attached a small peice of flagging tape to the string as it usually falls away from the plane after a few loops and the orange tape allows me to find it in the grass. I could use tissue as you suggested to create a little drag and slow things down for me. Good idea! Thanks

Ron

Ron:

My BR Brodak tank is the one recommended by Brodak, a (Perfect) Wedge #504 which has plenty of "juice" to auger you into the ground. If I get dizzy going "roundy round" I resort to a series of inside and outside loops to keep the twists out of the lines.

As I mentioned some time ago my BR is for a beam rather than radial mount so the tanking issue has more possibilities. I suspect for you a radical "stunt tank" like offered by the vendors might be an option.

Like we say in fly fishing, TIGHT LINES!

lousyflyer wrote:A TeeDee .051 on a Baby Ringmaster? Yikes!

Remember that some of these planes were designed for an old Wasp (not the new one) or OK Cub, either of which had 1/4 to 1/3 the power of a TD. A more modern ship like a 1/2A Flite Streak is better matched to handle the power of a screaming TD.

If you are going to build one of these old planes from plans, and power it with a TD, perhaps enlarging the plan by 10% or 20% would help.

For learning other than round and round, try starting with a horizontal eight. After you learn the eight, stretch it out to make it wider...this is called a lazy eight. Eventually you will get to where you can complete a lap or more before doing the outside part. At this point you have also conquered inverted flight. Good luck.

One additional thought. The TD .051 was designed to have about the same power as the TD .049 so the same FF plane could be flown in both "1/2A" and "A" without trim adjustments.

George

On my BR/TD .051 combo I prop the engine with a wooden 6X4 Tornado rather than a smaller prop. I'm not so sure that an under proped "screamer" generates the trust I need to do aerobatic manuvers.

In this case the prop must generate torque and not just high RPM. I my legthly model aviation experience I've seen stunt ships fail miserably because they were under proped.

Kim wrote:Oh Shoot !!!!!!!!

Does it just not turn a tight-enough loop and hits the ground at the bottom, or does it roll in on you?  Man, hope you can get it going again without too much trouble!

Kim is now laying low for a while !!!!

just use a left hand prop and run the baby bee clockwise, it will help keep the lines tight.
O yea I use a pusher prop when on the front just run it cloclwise.

Eric,

The damage seen is classic Ringmaster damage. The trailing edge likes to split at the seam. This can be cured by wrapping that seam with some epoxy soaked cloth.

That Widow in the picture is still in my posession. I think the spinner and cylinder I gave you is off of that one Eric.

Looking back through this I find it funny to re-read about how much trouble I was having. Those stunts seem so simple now that I don't understand why I was having a hard time. Practice I suppose, and a lot of crashed planes too!

Look at Ron fly now

https://youtu.be/wdpTRjIvApE


Later I found it had a clogged needle valve, rather than sucking air, as I mentioned in the video.


https://youtu.be/EijgP3hqh0s