My New Planes - Got a Skyray kit

....speaking of dumpster diving, years ago (when jr. was a little kid) the family was returning home from a Thanksgiving trip from Nebraska, when i convinced my wife to let me take a little detour off of I-80 to Montazuma, Iowa. It was Sunday and SIG was closed, but we drove around the buildings, when i noticed a really large dumpster outside the wood building.....hmmm, walked over to see if there was any scrap balsa in it and it was packed! Ran back to car grabbed the kid and lowered him into the dumpster to hand it up, we hauled out a couple arm loads of balsa scrap, mostly laser cut parts, still have a bunch of it!

Not many folks can claim they went dumpster diving at SIG. You are a true hobbyist Mark! Greenie for you.

Ron

Mark:

A wonderful anecdotal story!  

"Opportunities are where you find them." - from the collected "Timeless Wisdom's of SuperDave" -  

I should also note, that the dumpster was void of any garbage that may of been harmful and 'little Jr.' has not been scared or emotionally damaged in anyway.

...although to this day, one of his favorite sayings is: "If it's free, it's for me!"

Mark:

Not a good marketing strategy IMO.

"Free" implies worthless or devoid of monetary value.  It's a good way to accumulate a lot of "junque" and fill your storage places with clutter.

I once had a very rusty  bicycle that I offered for "fee".  There were no takers so I priced it at $2o, was offered $15 which I accepted.  The purchaser walked away thinking that he got a "deal" and I got $15 for something that I otherwise would taken to the garbage dump for a fee (of couse).

Clever, no?

SD

I just got home from flying the Skyray again. This is the second outing with it. I lightened the nose a full ounce by putting the small muffler from the Shoestring on it. That made a huge difference in how fast it turns. On Sunday it was so sluggish I had to start pulling out of my wingovers really high. Today it snapped out nicely and still leveled off smoothly. I can fly the whole pattern(beg.) with this plane and never back-step and dance like I used to. It's almost a weird feeling to stand with my feet planted at shoulder width and fly a whole figure 8 and see the intersections in front of my nose. Same with the overheads, no shuffling so I don't get out of shape and I can make the intersections on top too.

I'm using a 10-1/2 x 4 Top Flite Power Point prop. I got my fuel level figured out, 2-1/4 oz gives me 8 laps after the OH8 and it cuts off like a switch. I'm sold on the Dubro clunk tank. I just wish they made a 3 oz version so it didn't have to be crammed in so tight between the engine and wing. This winter if I get time, I'll put one of the fp .35s on the SS with a clunker and I bet it will fly much better too.

I still have the Clownlikething to try out, so next time I fly, probably in a couple of weeks I can report on that.

Rusty

Actually, I took that saying from a guy I used to work with (it was free) it's a old saying, I guess its clever and it rhymes. He used it to describe people who will jump on stuff only because its free.

RknRusty wrote:I just got home from flying the Skyray again. This is the second outing with it. I lightened the nose a full ounce by putting the small muffler from the Shoestring on it. That made a huge difference in how fast it turns. On Sunday it was so sluggish I had to start pulling out of my wingovers really high. Today it snapped out nicely and still leveled off smoothly. I can fly the whole pattern(beg.) with this plane and never back-step and dance like I used to. It's almost a weird feeling to stand with my feet planted at shoulder width and fly a whole figure 8 and see the intersections in front of my nose. Same with the overheads, no shuffling so I don't get out of shape and I can make the intersections on top too.

I'm using a 10-1/2 x 4 Top Flite Power Point prop. I got my fuel level figured out, 2-1/4 oz gives me 8 laps after the OH8 and it cuts off like a switch. I'm sold on the Dubro clunk tank. I just wish they made a 3 oz version so it didn't have to be crammed in so tight between the engine and wing. This winter if I get time, I'll put one of the fp .35s on the SS with a clunker and I bet it will fly much better too.

I still have the Clownlikething to try out, so next time I fly, probably in a couple of weeks I can report on that.

Rusty

I am pretty sure there is a 3oz sullivan available. I'll do some research. Congrats on the good flight.

Ron

I was wrong, no 3oz for sullivan. Hayes makes a 3oz chin tank. You probably need to take some measurements though.

Ron

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXK826&P=8

Cribbs74 wrote:I was wrong, no 3oz for sullivan. Hayes makes a 3oz chin tank. You probably need to take some measurements though.

Ron

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXK826&P=8

Yeah, that's the only 3 ouncer I can find too. Funny little tank. I could go ahead and learn how to make tanks from tin, but I like to be able to see inside of the plastic ones. I'll keep an eye out for wide 2 ounce bottles.

Funny, smoke comes out of my tank when I re-fuel it. That's a new one on me.

I can't find any 3oz tanks either but I quit enjoyed looking

http://www.hobbystores.co.uk/default.asp?WPG=HOB_HomePage1&PageNumber=1&s=c:0,c:080,c:080-100,b:Slec

http://alshobbies.com/shop/cat.php?id=135

I tend to make my own though and make the tank fit the plane.

Funny, smoke comes out of my tank when I re-fuel it. That's a new one on me.


Running muffler pressure? It is full of exhaust!

Phil

pkrankow wrote:
Funny, smoke comes out of my tank when I re-fuel it. That's a new one on me.


Running muffler pressure?  It is full of exhaust!

Phil

Yeah, I actually knew what it was. Just never ran muffler pressure before. Therefore... funny. 

Hey Rusty, the T.T.'s smaller muffler fits the .35 FP without any mods? and... was the "chicken-hopper" tank discussed as an option for the Skyray 35... or am I getting my threads mixed up? (edit) it was the Flight Streak... sorry...  

here's a 3 oz. Hayes tank

http://www.advantagehobby.com/58398/HAY081/?pcat=526

(edit#2...) shoot... sorry missed the post    

those were the best tanks, sturdy and didn't leak!

The 3 oz tank idea is a combination of Flite Streak and Skyray discussion.

And yes, Roddie the small muffler fit the fp perfectly, but I don't know if it was a TT muffler. Mark can tell us the answer to that.

Mark, you sent me two mufflers with the TT. One was big and says "OS" on it. Was the other a TT original? If so, I want to find a couple more of those. It weighs 1-1/2 oz, and the OS weighs 2-1/2 oz. Both either had their innards removed, or they were just hollow cans to begin with. Did you remove some baffles? I'd much rather use that type than a tongue. I like the way it deflects the exhaust.

I wrote down the dimensions for that Hayes tank with the chin. I'll see how much room it needs for mounting. I can live with the 4 oz Dubro on the Ray, but if I build a Streak I might need a smaller footprint. I'll have to find out the size of the tank mount on the Streak.

Only thing is, since I haven't sealed the deal on the Streak kit trade yet... and I've flown the Ray like a friggin' first place lock, maybe I should get a Skyray kit and cut it to resemble a Flite Streak, leaving the Ray's critical geometry alone. It ain't that far from it anyway. And I could still get my Flite Streak rocks off with a Junior kit which would also allow me to use the Tee Dee .09 I've been dying to mount up and fly.

This is all making marvelous sense at 3:30 in the morning. I was even dreaming about it before my achy shoulder kicked me out of bed for a quick stretch. Hopefully when I re-read my thoughts in the light of day, it'll still sound like a good idea.

Crusty Rusty

hey Rusty,

I don't remember, I used to do a lot of swap meets/eBay stuff and i'm not sure. I'd look at the Mac pipe/muffler they're very popular with FP setups, light weight with rpm boost!

I mentioned in another thread that our member 66 Malibu gave me two new kits among other things when he took my old race car parts off my hands. The kits were a Brodak Li'l Satan and a Pica 1/12 scale ME-109 R/C plane. I'm keeping the Li'l Satan, but I traded the ME-109 for a new Sig Skyray kit. That's on the slate for this Winter, hopefully to fly in Huntersville this coming May.

I'm going to copy all of the mods from my current Skyray, since I like the way it flies. That includes tapered fixed flaps, enlarged Stab/elevator and lengthened wingspan with modified wingtips. It has all balsa full ribs with no half ribs. The AUW on this oft-repaired old one is 37.5 ounces. I'm not sure what the new one will weigh, but probably less. I'm not going to any extremes to build light, just a combination of kit wood for the fuse and hobby shop wood for most of the rest. I'll certainly sand it, whereas the old one looks like it didn't get much attention in that department. I'll give it a more Streak-like shape on the tail and wingtips too, hopefully without inadvertently building any problems into it.

I'm hoping my fp 35 will be fine for the new lighter one. I've been studying up on Skyray building, and the most recommended engine is an OS la or fp 25. The Thunder Tiger is available, but I hate to cannibalize the SS.

Just thinking out loud.... or rather, in type.

Rusty

The Fp.35 is a perfect match. It's a tad heavier but a fine match regardles. The Skyray in my opinion has one drawback to me which is the lite-ply ribs.  There's not enough of them and the weight of the ply is not needed nor does it add any structural integrity to the wing itself. Ribs only provide a shape for the covering and don't need to be ply. This does nothing in the event of a crash as the majors still break. A lot of weight can be saved using balsa. The Skyray flies similar to the Flite Streak though. This is good if you get into trouble, but these planes still have a level of twitchiness that make them slightly more difficult to fly in terms of a clean pattern. If you've ever wondered why most stunt pilots fly larger, it's due to the fact they present better and maneuvers look more gracious. Accomplished pilots however can make bricks with propellers fly a 500 point pattern though. I'm not that pilot.

Yes the LA and Fp fly the Skyray just fine but the FP .35 is a terrific engine. I would use the Skyray to learn the AMA pattern and I would certainly build yourself a full bodied plane next around the FP .35 or .40. Full bodied planes just fly better and nine out of ten times they run better due to the solid engine mounting. Building a constant chord wing like the Oriental is also a recommended practice initially as it makes wing building and repairing easier.   I would forego the flaps on the Skyray as it turns fine without them and most planes of this size that I've witnessed stall rapidly when flapped. It also complicates things when trying to make repairs. If your heading into the direction of flying the entire pattern, simplicity is key. Things are going to get dorked which needs to be accepted. I believe you mentioned the Ukey. This is a good plane to learn on as it's built on a simple platform and foam wing. This will take ground rash far superior to built ups.

If your dead set on flying a flapped model, the Cardinal is a good choice. I would built the kit as opposed to the ARF or ARC as you can do a much better job in doing so and your in control of the build. The Twister as mentioned is also a good flyer. I prefer the Cardinal though due to the moments of the plane and I like the beefier front end due to the tripler. It's a much better modern design. Ken

Thanks for the good tips, Ken. I really wish I'd started a folder a long time ago called "What Ken Said," since I'm frequently rooting through old threads trying to find out what your thoughts on whatever my latest obsession is. Kim said he has a folder on my stories, so if we all keep folders on each other we'll have a great "Best of CEF" collection for modeling forum historians. 

Rusty

Please don't take what I said as gospel. I just happened to have experiences with most of the planes you've been flying. I attended the crash and burn school of control line flying. I don't give up easily and many times I've built and owned as many as 3-4 of these models. Many times I blamed engines and planes for poor performance in which I discovered was really tank issues. You have Wayne to assist you which is also most helpful. When you have someone with a lot of experience, it takes out the guess work. SOmetimes the learning curves can chase you away rather than make you try to advance. I truly believe your on a good path. You have good support which is going to make the hobby even more enjoyable. Ken