Twistedteddy

ive thought about that but the closest flying field is slap accros the damn county [:@] my ex uncle (aunts ex husband) is a member but hes a bit.... excentric about things. get to talkin about airplanes and next thing u know hes on obama and other topics. im sure yall understand. and i honestly only know of a few local spots. ones an old housing develpment which has streets so u can take off of a smooth surface... but the street lights can be sketchy at lower altitudes. my dad actualy wasnt payin attention and took the end of a wing off of a goldberg tiger 40 which took nearly 2 days to rebuild! it clipped it then spun in from 6-8 feet at 1/2 speed hitting concrete tearing out the landing gear... but i had her airborn the next day.

SBS_Pilot

You find the drawings for the LST-trainer in the build thread, which is a 'sticky' topic so it will allways stay at the top of the topic list in this sub-forum.

If you don't want to cut the balsa ribs you might want to look at the plans for Grace. She's a high-winged trainer with a Jedelsky type of wing. Basically that means that the wing is build of two sheets of balsa glued together as a (very flat) upside down 'V'. Efter the glue has dried the sharp top of the 'V' is then shaved or sanded down to a proper wing profile. (At least that is how I think it works, but I haven't tried it myself yet, allthough I think that Grace is gonna be my first scratchbuilt balsa plane). Plans and build-thread is here: www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5062550/anchors_5062550/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#5062550. In the build thread is also a description of how to build the wing. The designer (DieFlugeister) has also published two Youtube videos of the plane. The first one is here: www.youtube.com/user/w626552#p/a/u/1/sNhmbTK9fhE and the second one is here: www.youtube.com/user/w626552#p/a/u/0/YaRQUl7xq_w

Good luck in both choosing what to build and the actual building

Edit:typos

Andrew

deleted -

hsukaria

As much as I love engines, and this is a 1/2A forum, I know, when it gets to planes this small, you can get a ton of choices with electrics. The whole industry has gone electric for planes this size. I'm betting that the cheapest way to go is electric for this size.

I say that only because you mentioned that you are on a budget. I personally would still go the engine route since I enjoy engines a lot. But if I am going with an engine, I would go bigger size because you won't really be spending more. A .15 to .25 size would open up a whole lot of extra possibilities for you and make the plane easier to fly as well. I also mention that choice because you mentioned that you don't have the throttled Cox yet. I bet you can get a .15 - .25 cheaper than a throttled Cox 1/2A. Besides, the 1/2A engines require more nitro in the fuel, negating the benefit of reduced fuel consumption.

Just some things to think about. Anyway, enjoy your project.

Twistedteddy

the last engine i bought cost me 80$ on ebay. its on my cub and its an asp 12. with shipping it was right at 100$ and took 2 weeks to ship from japan. i can get a cox throttled for right around 30$ thats why im going this route its cheaper.

Mr Cox

All of the electric ones can easily be turned into glow powered ones. If anything there has never been that many 1/2a ARFs around before....

hsukaria

That is a very nice plane, Mr. Cox. The muffler looks like it is custom made for that application?

hsukaria

Yep!! That is a lot of money for a .12 engine. I wouldn't buy any engines from eBay, bad luck for me. I've seen some engines selling for $20 in the Buy&Sell in RCUniverse many times. I've seen new bigger sizes at $50 new, like a .46 size. So, it depends..

I've used Cox engines a long time ago, liked them a lot. But I never had a throttled one and I don't know how good they throttle compared to a larger one, like the .09 and larger?

BMatthews

If you look up the threads on the Grace design and like the easy buiding provided by the all sheet design I'd suggest you print out the plans and then enlarge them by about 10to 15% using a local photocopy service that has machines with 11x17 paper. As per the original the Grace design is a touch small at 33 inch wingspan. That tends to make the model fly quite fast and be somewhat nervous at the controls for someone looking to ease back into flying with rusty skills that need cleaning and sharpening. A bigger version would fly slower and be more tolerant of mistakes and somewhat more gentle at the control response.

If your local shops no longer carry decent stocks of balsa for an LST or for Grace then I'd suggest one of the mail order balsa suppliers such as Lone Star or Balsa USA. These models don't come with a list of how much to buy but that's OK. Although it may well blow the budget you're still far better off to buy more than you even think you'll need so that you have enough wood to select proper or at least the best weight and grain options for each part. And that means having a few extra sheets of each size on hand. But you can save some money by ONLY buying sheet wood instead of strip stock. Then slice your own strip stock from the sheet wood using a good long aluminium straight edge that you protect well when not in use to ensure it stays straight. It's a LOT less expensive to slice your own strip stock in this way. And if you end up having to mail order the wood then you want to look at how their shipping charges work and try to buy enough that the shipping is spread out between as much wood as possible. If that means finding a local guy that wants to split an order so you don't need to buy as much then do so if you can. Otherwise consider the purchase of the bigger order as an investment towards your next model or two. That'll make it easier to swallow the big price.

Mr Cox

The Cox 05RC (TD with muffler and a proper carb) works well; [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEGKeaqu8Go]Cox 05RC[/link]
Norvel engines throttle better though.

hsukaria

What % nitro do you run your 1/2A's? I know they require more than the bigger engines, typically 30%. I just wonder if you are able to run at lower %'s.

Mr Cox

Some engines are fine on 0%, like the Webra 1.8cc Speedy, but I'm usually using about 10% Nitro. Partly due to the price and habit I guess, but to me nitro has always been a fuel additive and not the fuel. Most important is to match the compression ratio to the fuel and prop size that is used.

coriolan

Don't want to rub salt in the wound,but:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/72p-12a.html


$35.65

hsukaria

Yabut.... shipping is $65

GerKonig

Free shipping over $25.00. So, the price delivered would have been $ 35.65... Hobbyparttz has good prices on a lot of items...

Gerry

Twistedteddy

i ordered the same engine on ebay 2 years ago. times change. things get cheaper. the dollars value fluctuates.. **** happens. btw thanx for the advice on engines. i had honeslty never even heard of norvel until now and im a little disapointed with those i learned from. how much ive been around it and considering what i here about norvels on this forunm its kinda annoying... but i think ive found the kit im gunna go with. The mini telemaster. re"> ITS RIGHT AT 40$ WITH SHIPPING AND IS A TRIED AND TRUE MODEL?!?!?! HELL YA! http://www.aerocraftrc.com/planepage.php?id=23 however im going to make it tricycle becuz iv always had taildraggers. plus i think they just look cooler. now this has a 47 inch span so now i need suggestions on exactly what engine (with throttle) i should use to make it a dosile trainer that can pull a good loop. also which fuel i should use. i usualy ran coolpowers green bottle (i think 15% but cant remember) but should i use something else? thanx again everyone!

hsukaria

The Telemaster would be a good plane for what you are needing. As for engine, I know Norvel quit making engines and now they are back as NV engines. But I don't know much about who sells them in the US. I know there is another brand (AP?) that is sold for a reasonable price. Hobby People sells the AP .09 engine for $44 + shipping, (http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...ngine-r-c.html). I am not sure how good they are since I have never tried it.

BMatthews

Another vote of confidence for the Mini Telemaster. Never seen anything bad about that design.

Again though, if you're flying from grass fields landing gear on small models is not that great unless the grass is well cut. And trike gear on small models is even more prone to digging in and tripping the model unless you run really big wheels. And since the nose wheel is the first to take the brunt of the shocks and that is connected to the rudder servo and servos on small models aren't that strong you're just asking for stripped servo gears and other troubles unless the field looks like a golf green or at least a nicely manicured golf fairway. I'd suggest that you just stick to conventional gear and use oversize wheels. It'll make taxiing and taking off a lot easier and reduce the flip overs on landings.

hsukaria

Agree with that!! Our field flips .40 size trike gears even when the grass is cut low. I converted my original .40 size trainer to taildragger because the nosegear used to get whacked in the grass, even when short.

Twistedteddy

does the ap .09 come with a carb? its definately important and a must for me. i wont buy anything without one for this project. and im honestly just going to be using fields around where i live. all of them r near a small back country road so the landing is going to be of no issue. i just love the stance of a tri-greard plane. my fav. warbird is the p39 airacobra. my dad had a topflite gold and it was a beaut! still guys. confused on engines. want one for cheap (but not junk) and could use specific details about the engines suggested. links would be great. again everyone thank you for all your help!

Twistedteddy

another thing i could do for the engine. i have a brand spanking new asp .12. its on my cub but it has a 5 foot wingspan while the mini telemaster is going to have a 3' 11" span. could i use this engine if i use a larger prop or is the weight too much?!?

hsukaria

Again, I admit that I don't have experience with the AP .09 engine, but from the looks of it, it has a carb and a cool rear exhaust muffler that can be rotated to suit you plane. I will have to look into the sizing of the engine for the mini-telemaster.

Also, as somebody already mentioned, you will have to use a beefier servo for the rudder/nosewheel to handle shock. Something like a Hitec HS-82MG at least.

Twistedteddy

i have a few fullsize servos so ill prob use one of those. theyre futabas fp-s14b and i figured id order some good micro servos for the elev./throttle. like i said. all i need now is an engine? and i plan on doing a full build thread on this plane. IM SO EXCITED!!!

BMatthews

I don't see why the .12 can't be used on the MT. It'll be a bit on the higher power side but with the engine having a decent throttle and muffler you should be able to control it just fine. I'd suggest that out of the suggested prop options the instructions give that you choose the bigger diameter and lower pitch option. That'll aid in avoiding making the MT into a speed demon.

If your Cub is 5 foot span and you're planning on flying it with the .12 I sure hope its very lightly built. Normally a 5 foot span model would use a .25 size engine even for slow gentle flying. A more sporty 5 foot model with a bit of weight in it would be using a .35 to .40.

Twistedteddy

i honestly dont know how much it weighs. but it was an electric rtf my dad bought in a shop in daytona when i was young. about 15-20 years ago. i converted it to nitro myself with a wore out thundertiger .15 (i think) i do KNOW it was a .15. and with that it flew great! so i figured this brand new engine would pull it just fine. thats good news to know that the engine i have will work. i planned on redoing my cub. and last night i was antsy and took it down and noticed the wing is warped so i gotta strip it and fix it anyways. might aswell begin disassembly..... awesome. so now i jsut gotta order my kit and begin building! yall have been awesome with all ur help. ok there are a few more exacts i need. which prop is best to choke that engine up some for the MT? and does anyone have info. on the reliabilty on a Fly Sky CT6 fm radio? i showed my ex-uncle (closest hobby/realty  shop) and worlds greatest con artist and he said it was prob junk and i shoulda bought an airtronics. so hes got me sketching about my radio.[:@]  he can be an *******... please. put my mind to ease. tell me itl do just fine!?!?!