Out in the Shop..."Camera-Packing Poolboy"...well, not so much...

andrew wrote:Looking good.  Lots of planes flew with wrapped balsa pushrods (including mine) -- it really compliments the plane.  I'll confess that I've been using push-pull cable and carbon fiber tubing of late.

If you haven't already, don't forget to replace the servo horn screw.

THANKS on the servo arm screw!!! I still need to do some rummaging around in the fuse, and will lock it down before the first flight!

On the balsa pushrods...AHC used to sell shaped "pushrod ends"---a square plastic cap that tapered to a point, and slid onto the end of the balsa square stock. I think there was a wire protruding from the pointed end that went to the servo and control horn. You glued or pinned them to the square stock, saving the wrapping with thread.

As a kid, these things puzzled the daylights out of me as I carefully perused every single item AHC sold. Finally figured it out, loooong after everyone had gone to Sullivan Golden Rods or Nyrods....

More blabbing from my Facebook Page:
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The prep for the 30th S.M.A.L.L. Fly-In Secret Project #6 continues:

-Engine Testing-

In "Ye Olden Days", we rarely, if ever, test ran our engines on a stand before bolting them to a plane and heading out to fly. At most, a new project MIGHT get run for a short time in the backyard, but fuel seemed incredibly expensive (as are a lot of things when you're 14), and it seemed like a waste of resources to run an engine without also having it drag a plane behind it.

Sometimes, we were blessed with good runs right from the start, but more often, precious good Mojo and beautiful days for flying wasted away as we tried to troubleshoot delicate, persnickety engines while kneeling in the dirt of a ball diamond infield.

Castor Slingers can STILL get hateful for no immediately identifiable reason, but the odds of launching a screaming little beast into the ether are greatly increased with a little prework...not to mention the giant leap in comfort of working out problems on a waist-high test stand.

So, the two Cox .020's were bolted to their stands (after a serious cleaning and new gaskets all around), and fired up before the heat of the day had a chance to set in.

For this project, dependable runs are more important than high RPM's...I need them to start easy and use all their fuel. As noted in the photos, #1 ran good right from the start, while #2 was cranky, refusing to settle into a good run. After noticing bubbles coming from under it's glowhead, I found that I'd crimped the new copper head gasket while installing it the night before. GOT to remember to use my reading glasses when messing with these things!

The uncrimped headgasket gave the little engine a new attitude, and it happily emptied it's fuel tank with a steady run. Now, they're both oiled and stored to wait for their assignment!

There's a theory (or WAG) that, all other things being equal, reeds "check" better on smooth machined aluminum surfaces than on plastic ones. Maybe you could test that with an aluminum tanked Pee Wee vs. the plastic back plate version.

The good old chopper engines ** with little run time on them)) Good to hear they are tuning together now / .

ticomareado wrote:There's a theory (or WAG) that, all other things being equal, reeds "check" better on smooth machined aluminum surfaces than on plastic ones. Maybe you could test that with an aluminum tanked Pee Wee vs. the plastic back plate version.

Well, these are running great right now, so they're definitely going on the Skylark. I've had good and bad experiences with tanked .020's (the one in my Mini Stunt runs great), but want the option of some extended flight time with this project. I've using the clear mylar reeds, so it's plastic-on-plastic with these guys.

getback wrote:The good old chopper engines ** with little run time on them))  Good to hear they are tuning together now / .

Thanks Eric!!

Yeah,
Now, all I need is to get the kit here and build it!

"I've using the clear mylar reeds, so it's plastic-on-plastic with these guys."

10-4 ---Two running a steady 17 to 18K on sport fuel ought to be plenty for the Skylark. Next project ? Three on a semi-scale JU-52 ?

ticomareado wrote:"I've using the clear mylar reeds, so it's plastic-on-plastic with these guys."  

10-4 ---Two running a steady 17 to 18K on sport fuel ought to be plenty for the Skylark.  Next project ?  Three on a semi-scale JU-52 ?

THAT...would be COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!

My Ken Willard "Pool Boy" has been flying a LOOONG time, especially for an airplane sized small enough that it could be lost in a van (yes, it happened).



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF7cU_1HLZ0

It is the second one I built...the first was built during a time when swing-shifts at the Diaper Factory was kicking my butt, and was possibly the most crooked, backwards model I ever built.  It was given a quiet Viking Funeral and forgotten.

I bought a Cannon Micro System specifically for Pool Boy II, and flew it for many years, 'til the radio was moved to another project.

Pool Boy II was resurrected a few years ago, and flown a couple times at S.M.A.L.L., but the rebuild added weight to the little plane.  Even with the Tee Dee .010 screaming with all it's might, the biplane dragged through the air, just above stalling.

So, with an extra Skycopter engine mount laying around, I decided to give Pool Boy II an upgrade to an .020.  I should have plenty of power now, with enough fuel to do some REAL patrolling...

That looks like fun Kim, hopefully the extra power does what you want it to. Can those things fly off of water?

Cribbs74 wrote:That looks like fun Kim, hopefully the extra power does what you want it to. Can those things fly off of water?

Yeah, the original article (can't find it at the moment) had photos of it flying off a swimming pool. I've threatened to build another, with the intent of flying it off water, but it's down the list a ways...

The original article was in one of your posts seven years ago --- can't believe you didn't have exact date stored away in memory.  

https://www.coxengineforum.com/t2362-ken-willard-s-010-020-pool-boy

[quote="andrew"]The original article was in one of your posts seven years ago --- can't believe you didn't have exact date stored away in memory.  

Shoot---sometimes, I can't remember where I parked the lawn mower...and there's only two places where it can be!

Thanks for retrieving that !!!!

FLY BUOY!!!!!!

Yes it looked like the .010 TD was doing all it could to keep here in the air , the .020 TD should wake it up a bit . There is a lot of designs by Mr Willard at the outerzone https://outerzone.co.uk/search/results.asp?keyword=Willard

And, yet again, more blabbing:
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"Parts is Parts"

The Jr. Skylark kit arrived this afternoon. Lazer cut by Fast Eddie at Lazer Works, the parts literally fall from their balsa stock sheets.

I spent a relaxing evening sanding the edges of the model's ribs and formers, having it a lot easier than my model airplane forebearers who had to deal with parts that were often crushed rather than cut by the model company's dies. Gonna start gluing stuff together tomorrow.

The model is about the same size as "Little Traveler", with a span of 37 inches, and will be twin-engined, flying with the two Cox .020's I was testing last week.

Hope it can handle all that Raw Power!!!

For those too young to know what a Jr. Skylark looks like, here are a couple of pics of the little beauty that Kim has in store for us.  Carl Goldberg was a prolific designer and many of his planes were seen at fields across the country in the 70's, 80's and 90's.  The only thing in some of his designs that I never cared for was the spar placement in the middle of the wing and stabilizer ribs.



This is a file photo and not my model.

Two Tee Dee .020s with modern light radio gear will put a Skylark in border line overpowered territory.

[quote="andrew"]For those too young to know what a Jr. Skylark looks like, here are a couple of pics of the little beauty that Kim has in store for us.  Carl Goldberg was a prolific designer and many of his planes were seen at fields across the country in the 70's, 80's and 90's.  The only thing in some of his designs that I never cared for was the spar placement in the middle of the wing and stabilizer ribs. =quote]
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Thanks Andrew!!!!

Looking through my old magazines from the 1950's on into the 70's, it seemed like Goldberg and others cranked out "a design a minute".  The Skylarks stood out for their twin-engine option, but I always thought the "Falcon" series of models were particularly beautiful.  Watching Tony's Jr. Falcon this past summer, with it's box art color scheme, was a great flash-back treat.  Many, like my Don McGovern "Navigator", seemed (to me) to be incredibly intricate.

Navigator was my first R/C plane with proportional radio gear (an EK Lgitrol "Champion"), and was followed by a Goldberg "Shoestring", which was larger, but simpler to build.  It had solid tailfeathers, but built-up ailerons.

In my world, this was akin to going from a go-kart to a Ferrari, and the plane was often being repaired from my brain-lapses.  It survived to be destroyed by a friend I'd lent it to.









Drawing the fuel out of Shoestring after one of it's cart rolls.  It was this incident that got me to pinning control surface hinges rather than relying on some smeared-on epoxy to hold them in place!

Fascinating CG ad from 1966 model magazine. According to CPI inflation calculator $1.00 in 1966 is $7.91 in 2019. Take all those prices in ad and do the math !!

ticomareado wrote:Two Tee Dee .020s with modern light radio gear will put a Skylark in border line overpowered territory.

This one won't have Tee Dee's on it. It'll get those two Pee Wee types on Skycopter backplates I was running last week.

ticomareado wrote:Fascinating CG ad from 1966 model magazine.  According to CPI inflation calculator $1.00 in 1966 is $7.91 in 2019.  Take all those prices in ad and do the math !!

Yeah, that's an important factor anytime we fondly remember the good ole days. The prices looked impossible, and THEN the radio gear....woof!!!!