Project Airplane?

Well, it is official. I will be keeping up with this rebuild and not be scrapping it now. Thanks to you all here, all the positive comments kept me on it rather than giving up. So with that said, teh wing is almost now done. All it needs is a sheet of 3/32" balsa for teh missing sheeting on the leading edges. Next step will be the fuselage, and depending on whether or not my LHS is open, I will get a start on that hopefully sometime this week, but may also not start till I am on holidays in two weeks, as I will have nothing to do due to many businesses and stores shutting down around here. With that said, I would like to give a big thanks to you all for keeping at me. Pictures to follow below.

And the next thing to do will be looking for an appropriate engine for this plane. It is a 10cc plane, which would equate to .60 ci. The biggest I have now, and also what I wanted to try on it is my OS LA .46, but my friend said it just wouldn't cut it, so will be hunting down a .60 and making it right down the road.




This is a front wing rib I made from scrap 1/8" balsa and glued into place with supports on each side where I could. The factory ribs are a bit thinner and plywood, but felt this would do.



Here, behind the wing rib is the 1/8" plywood brace/support that I had installed in front of the wing spars. I had cut it to fit, and used 5 minute epoxy and clamped tight. I was going to use wood glue, but last minute decided on the epoxy.

A great choice for your Stik is a Thunder Tiger Pro 61 ABC RC. They are essentially a knock off of an OS 61SF and run just as well. Very well mannered, reliable and powerful.  I only recommend it over other very good engines because you can find them new in box for about $100 on the Bay.  They turn up there pretty frequently.  You can also find them on RCG pretty often.

Enjoying your rebuild!  It's getting me in the frame of mind to start digging around the garage rafters to find some long forgotten treasures.

getback wrote:Glad you were able to make a positive decision on what to do with the plane , since U have time in it and would bee a waste not to complete .  What style .60 engine are you thinking

Thanks Eric. I don't really know much about the different types of 60 engines, but for me, I will just grab the first one I see that is reasonable. I am not a brand specific person. Even if it is seized and needs a rebuild or bearings, I would probably just grab it. Of course, I have passed up a couple late last fall cheap, but at that time I had no .60 size airplanes (as I am just starting out again), and I had originally planned on staying to .40 - .45 and smaller. And of course, this just happens to pop up in my lap.... And if nothing comes up, I will still probably try out my LA .46. I am not looking for anything fast or aerobatic, just a fun flier.

And also for the time being, I am on the fence about pinning the flaps at neutral and not using them or not. I don't know anything about using flaps on an RC plane, and nothing else I have has them either. But, that is a decision that can be made later wnyways.

Dave P. wrote:Enjoying your rebuild!  It's getting me in the frame of mind to start digging around the garage rafters to find some long forgotten treasures.

Thanks for the info Dave. Also, thanks for the compliments. I am wishing I was at your place now as I am thinking your forgotten treasures are probably not as bad as this is.

And here is just another reason I should not be allowed to do build threads..... I get started in things before taking pictures, then before I know it I am further than expected. So with that said, I had started piecing the fuselage together the other eveining. It is all coming along ok, then today I had noticed that the landing gear block had slid back from where it was originally located by about 1/16" - 3/32". However, I do not think this will be a huge problem. Only time will tell. And as I said earlier, I glued it up a bit more today before I realized to take a few pictures, so you get to see my clamping yet again..... I will take a couple pictures again after I release the clamps. From here on in, I will have to figure things out as I am now almost all out of the original parts that I got when I picked this up. I will also have to figure out how I will continue with this. Basically, do I want to just add a 3/32" sheelt balsa doubler on the outside of teh fuselage, or cut stuff out and join it properly. I know that it will be quicker and easier to just do the doubler on the outside, and when covered, will not be that noticable. On teh one side, I have only a couple smalll spots, so those will be put in flush. Time will tell. Stay tuned.

My Twist did a cartwheel and the fuselage looked about like yours. I glued it all back, and added a 1/8" ? doubler to the outside. Doesn't look great. I just painted it with some similar colour 2 part car paint. It should really have had a doubler in the first place IMHO. They got a bit too carried away with engineering lightening holes. I left the canopy off too. The pilot likely wouldn't survive anyway. Got a few good flights since, and can not tell any difference.

Thanks aspeed. I just went to take a peek at it again. I will have to fabricate some sort of plywood doubler for the front of the right side for both support/strength, as well as to take up the space on the formers that 'tab' into the sides. Aside from that, it sounds like I will be good to go after hearing your story.

On a side note, my buddy and I were out a few weekends ago and he had his favorite plane out as well after a rebuild. It was a Twist as well. First flight/maiden after the rebuild was great. Second flight ended up picking it up in pieces again, similar to mine, and sounds like yours as well. I told him, the Twist liked to twist..... However, he said it was done and was going to strip it and buy another the LHS has in stock. But me and my big mouth kept at him telling him it was an easy fix, especially since he had all teh parts. It more-or-less just cracked in a couple places. So due to that is also another reason I am committed, as he keeps on me now.

I think the Twist was designed to break at the weakest point where the wing bolts on. The wing is part of the strength. Sig would never have done that.

Looking good Chancey, and those clamps are a big help.

I remember a fellow at my flying club in Florida flying a very similar plane. I think it was about one third epoxy. He would fly/crash it on the weekend, spend the week putting it back together then fly it again on the following weekend.

All part of the fun.

Bob

Thanks for the link. I will keep watching it, but may have located something local from a friends buddy. But at the same time, he also said that my LA 46 will fly it. And I will take that from him, as he is a very good guy and has flown for a long time. But should know in a couple days. Thanks.

NEW222 wrote:Thanks for the link. I will keep watching it, but may have located something local from a friends buddy. But at the same time, he also said that my LA 46 will fly it. And I will take that from him, as he is a very good guy and has flown for a long time. But should know in a couple days. Thanks.

Chancey, I flew my 56" Sterling Fledgling four channel for years with an Enya .29. I see no reason why your plane would not fly great with the LA .46.

Bob

NEW222 wrote:............But at the same time, he also said that my LA 46 will fly it. And I will take that from him, as he is a very good guy and has flown for a long time...........

I've flown a 60", 660 sq. in. plane on a TT GP42 with good results. It's not going to do any verticals, but it flies just fine. I think you'll be satisfied with your .46 --- if you want more zip, you can always trade up.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your feedback, and confirming my thoughts.

Just a little update today. Not too much done today. Cut out and laminated a firewall, and joined together a couple pieces of wood to make the new front end to replace the one that is missing. To hopefully be continued tomorrow. Now to glue on the plywood doubler that I have left from the original, then make something up for the pieces I do not have.

No work on the plane today, but....... I got a new heart for it though.... Webra .61. Should be a nice fit. All I gotta say is damn is this engine big. Even compared to teh .40 size engines I enjoy playing with.

rsv1cox wrote:

NEW222 wrote:Thanks for the link. I will keep watching it, but may have located something local from a friends buddy. But at the same time, he also said that my LA 46 will fly it. And I will take that from him, as he is a very good guy and has flown for a long time. But should know in a couple days. Thanks.

Chancey, I flew my 56" Sterling Fledgling four channel for years with an Enya .29.  I see no reason why your plane would not fly great with the LA .46.

Bob

I second that Bob , I really like my LA 46 , Actually a LA 40 would probably work

That Webra is an excellent engine. You think it's big now, wait til the first time you crank it up!

Now to figure out what propeller for it. I have been reading these 11 x 6, 11 x 7, and 12 x 6 are good fro it. So I guess I'll have to buy one of each and try them out, unless I could get a definitive answer. I am not looking for any crazy performance from it, but rather as a fun flier. I do not need unlimited vertical for now. Just flying a few circuits, amaybe a roll or loop.

11-7 APC. I'd try the others you listed too, but I'll bet you settle on the 11-7.

Your LA will fly it fine, but it will be very docile and barely aerobatic.  Good if your skills aren't quite up to a hot rod.  The Webra will wake it up and make it a fun airplane. Remember, you can always use the left stick to throttle down.  

Don't give up on the flaps.  If you have a good radio that allows you to do some mixing, you can have a lot of fun messing around with them.

Sorry, but I would just like to confirm on the 11 x 7 with the Webra .61? Sorry I didn't mention that in the post asking. Thank you again.