Morse Scout update

Ken Cook Sun Jun 19, 2022 6:52 pm

This has been a troublesome build. My son started it and built most of it and then tired of it. He just said for me to complete it which I shrugged a bit but grew fond of it quickly. Converting rubber to glow is always problematic as many areas not addressed in the initial kit need to be beefed up. In the case of this kit, the entire front from F-1 -F-5 has been sheeted and a new plywood firewall made to accept the engine. Guillows provided some crap vinyl stuff that they said is equal to or as good as plywood. Sheeting this was extremely difficult, many compound curves. This plane has two triangular shaped bulges on the sides which are also radiused. This was real fun. I don't use CA glues so there were times I needed to hold the model for several minutes until the glue tacked up.

Landing gear struts were replaced with 1/8" bass as well as wing struts. Sheeting had to be installed wherever penetrations went through the wings such as struts. I used medium silkspan to cover the model and fuse which also presented challenges as well. The stab in the picture is clear with a dye that I've been using in my clear. This is what offered the amber color which is exactly what I will be doing the entire model in. No paint on this one other than clear due to weight issues.

Power will be a Spitzy .045 on a eyedropper tank. I'm shooting to have this completed by the weekend of July 9. Our club and another club from New Jersey is having a large event which includes a swap meet and clown racing not too mention other fun time flying events. I have a few other free flight planes I recently completed to hopefully and successfully fly on that day.

All sheeting was 1/32" doped and covered with silkspan

706jim Sun Jun 19, 2022 9:25 pm

I built.one of these around 1971. Pretty sure the plans said you could power it with the Pee Wee 0.020.

From my experience it will NOT fly with this engine. Firewall is simply too large to get any meaningful thrust out of this engine with its small diameter propeller.

It did fly ok when powered by a Golden Bee and converted to control line.

rdw777 Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:15 am

Just something about a well built stick and rag model that is pleasing to the eye… Classic Very Happy

…. Love the color on the stab… I’ve used a strong brew of tea to stain balsa to give it a similar color and vintage look…. Mating it up to a Spitzy is nice… 1/2A Old Timer!…. More photos as you are able please…

andrew Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:17 am

Ken --
What dye are you using to color your clear with?

Ken Cook Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:00 pm

The manufacturer of the dye is Castin Craft. It's called transparent resin dye for epoxy and polyester resins. I have 6 colors, this is the first I used. I came across it from some free flight builders. It takes a few coats but I like it.

GallopingGhostler Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:43 pm

Really nice framing and covering work of that classic Guillow's bipe, Ken. With sheeting the nose front reminds me of my Sterling M series F/F style "auto-magic" C/L stick and tissue SE-5 WW2 bipe with Pee Wee, covered in silkspan.

Yes, Cox little 4.5x2 prop would struggle to get the wind past that huge round cowel. I'd think a 6x2 prop would probably be the ticket. The humble Pee Wee is a torquer, with a decently flat torque curve.

Late Joe Wagner on one of his planes, forgot which, used a 7x2 prop on a Pee Wee. I've got some of those rare ancient Plastikote wood props, haven't run a static try on the bench yet to see if holds water.

Amazing, things done back then out-of-box to make things work.

Ancient Little Spitzy .045 and the Scout's decent wing area ought to do it a lot of justice, I'd think it is a good match.

andrew Mon Jun 20, 2022 4:39 pm

Thanks for the resin dye info!

Ken Cook Mon Aug 01, 2022 7:00 pm

I've had a bit of a setback and I'm just getting back to a few things. One thing I've been trying to do is to finish things be it modelling, house painting projects, etc. Had to coat the flat garage roof this past weekend so modelling is only something I've been doing when i get a few minutes. I didn't get to fly the bipe at our July get together. However, we have a event called timed stunt and my son took a first. This was a lot of fun. We also had clown racing and we took a first doing that as well. My opponent however would've probably beat me. He had a crash which took him out of the lead but up until that point I have to say I was working for it.

Trying to get this Morse off of the bench. I really was concerned about weight so nothing fancy here. I also didn't want to invest a lot of time into it and have a pile of sticks so the finish wasn't priority. Here it is almost completed. I used Jap tissue for the stripes and insignias. I did a little black silicon tubing for cockpit . I found a nice little Williams Bros pilot I never used. You tube has a neat video of these converted to electric r/c, WAAAAY cool. They really are neat little planes.

rdw777 Mon Aug 01, 2022 7:22 pm

Very neat work Ken… Love the colors and tissue trim….Hope its trimming goes well… Will look forward to some in the air shots with the tissue lit up ….

getback Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:21 am

Looks Good the pilot and trim came give a nice touch to it also , did you paint the dye on the tissue or soak it ? Its going to look good in the air !

rsv1cox Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:31 am

The Spitzy .045 power (I have a couple) does it for me. What a wonderful engine choice for that model but I'm hoping that it is not a bit too much. Also the Williams pilot, best rendition of a pilot figure that I have seen. Fits perfectly on WW1 era aircraft.

That black silicone tubing split works great for cockpit coaming, I used it on both of my Nieuport 28's along with that Williams pilot.

Good that you strengthened the structure, I think that Spitzy is going to test it. Do you have an all-up weight?

getback Tue Aug 02, 2022 1:31 pm

I hope he gets it started i had a Lot of them at one time , sold most but what i kept i havent got to run .
Very Happy

Kim Tue Aug 02, 2022 3:43 pm

Ditto what the crew said! Beautiful Project! Conjuring Good MoJo for the Scout!!!

Ken Cook Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:57 pm

Kim, as I mentioned above that these seemingly do well as r/c models. I don't fly r/c, never have. I would like to learn. Even test gliding this is risky. We do have tall grass at our field. I just really want to see it heading upwards in a circular pattern. It just looks too cool.

rdw777 Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:35 pm

Ken, I watched those videos you mentioned and yes, Flies beautifully with RC….When I started flying again a few years ago I restored an old favorite I had for a long time…. To refresh and test the equipment I bought kind of a “beater” a small version of a GWS Slow Stick I think for about $15.00…. Disposable in my mind and hard to break….They’re just ugly…. And there are many others similar on the net rtf…. You can try it out without a lot building time investment then make the pretty scale bird go when you are ready….

Ken Cook Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:10 pm

I built a beautiful r/c model. It was offered by Tower Hobbies in the 80's. I believe it's called a Scorpion. I know it was Italian. Even though a high wing, it's geared towards a more experienced pilot. Power is a HB.40 and it's flown one time. My son even flew it. The Futaba radio is new but it's old so I've been told to get a new transmitter and rx pack for it. 27 MHz? Those at the field said there's nothing wrong with that as hardly anyone uses it but it could be prone to interference. I might just be seeing the model flying by the fall. I just have so much going on now it's hard to go back and forth.

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