Pond Skipper

Okay I have the base coat done on the wings the underside has one side of the wing reference completed less my vinyl lettering of the name Skorch in black and perhaps will add a racing number over the checker pattern in neon Yellow. The top wing has the solid blue laid down will work on the next color after I escape the office Weds it will also get the word Skorch II on one of the wing panels and a racing number I imagine. I need to align the wing and put some reference dots with a permanent marker on the under side / the wing is slightly off in the pics.

Pond Skipper

The weight is now 18.37oz with aileron servo, the thicker neon monokote is durable but
has caused the plane to go over my 18oz goal.

Two nylon aileron horns, a bit of piano wire, two ez connectors and some wing dressing
should have finished dry weight around 18.8oz. I am about 5.9oz more weight than the
1/2A Skorch not bad for 36in span plane strong enough to support the power of a TD 15.

combatpigg

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Don't forget the "Louisville Slugger" label for the fuselage..!
This should be a racing class plane that thrill seeker AMA members in your area would get a lot of fun out of as a easy way to get into racing.
Oh I keep forgetting that the guys would have to actually build something..........

Pond Skipper

Actually building a plane what a concept, there wasn't much in the way of ARF's back in the day.

This one would fair well with a TD .09 if still being sold for a race class. The OS .10 perhaps with
a 5.5x5 should move our fast enough to be fun. I think the APC 5x3 will make a good prop for the
maiden flight should thrust out and away with ease. I will vid the first flight then swap props
to the 4.75x4 and vid again to reference the change in speed. Weather / wind permitting this
weekend. "Louisville Slugger" top secret building trick shhh..

aspeed

There you go, sand up some wings, cut some parts and call it an ARF. The people will come. Add a $35 AP .09 or .15 and get some club racing going. I found my AP .09 went slightly better than the TD .09, so with some muffler fiddling, some good speeds would be in order. There is only a small weight penalty with the BB AP. The .15 is the real choice though. The Fora is a similar weight but 10 X the price now. The price just went up $100 from 2 years ago.

Pond Skipper

The .12 should be in the mail today or Thursday I will compare it to the AP .09 and ASP .12 size / weight wise.
Its a shame the AP .09 doesn't have bronze bushings on the con rod!!

aspeed

The AP .15 has a bushing. I would guess that they found it was not needed in the .09. The .15 has quite a large piston compared to the .09, and even a lot of .15's. I had wondered if the .15 piston would fit in the .12. It could make it a bit larger, maybe faster.

combatpigg

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An unbushed rod can survive pretty well in a high revving .36. We would send the stock, un-bushed rods to Richardson Precision Machine to have them redone with bushings and they would last a bit longer before catastrophic failure. Ample "meat" in the base aluminum rod design to carry away heat and absorb impact before weakening is probably more important..
I've never ran a .15 of any sort long enough to fail a rod, but I'm pretty sure they all came with bushings.

Pond Skipper

21" Lil Speedy / 29" Skorch / 35.5" Skorch II
.010 to .020 / .049 to .061 / .07 to ??




Done with the underside. The .09 represents the original max displacement of the TD .09
but with the 1.3hp V12RR in the mail it may end up with that engine if the weight is good.
The 180w Vertigo .07 is no slouch with the lower weight and 170 deg timing may keep it
on the plane for awhile. The low weight Profi pipe is really working well with the engine.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

.15!

F2D .15 [assorted], trimmed 6x5 or so, bladder... perfect Sunday flier.

combatpigg

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Wasn't there one in this series shaped like a HOTS...? [Or am I miss-remembering things again...?]

Pond Skipper

No Chuck that's the gaggle of builds. I had started the TD .010 Lil Speedy in May of last year to this current ply rolled version. Other projects called Lil Miss Butter Knife and another called zZiP

zZiP is a belly lander for the Magnum XLS .15 with a tuned pipe.
The Lil Miss may get the ASP .12 with a tuned pipe as shown

.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Wow...I should have remembered something that recent.!
These designs look like good winter projects, or for days when flying just isn't in the cards.

aspeed

The XLS with a pipe sounds like a good project. I have had one clawing at the ground ready to put in something. Maybe I have to make up a header for it. My rc flying skills are a bit premature for something really fast, but I am getting a bit better every year. I have been thinking of the F2D Fora with a throttle on something RC, but can not bear to take it off my F2D plane for any length of time because it is so much fun. That is another one I can barely keep up with, at least when it is upside down, but have fun trying. If the plane is an oz. or two heavy, it will still fly great, just mush a bit in the corners, and land faster. The extra power that it will hopefully have will easily make up for it.

Pond Skipper

Yea all the influx of car engine conversions and testing had me wanting to do a plane size that could progress through them. The Vertigo .07 eliminated the .05's Fuji, Sportswerks, Picco .052 and the CY.06 all that converting for nada.

Yea Alan the XLS is a good engine for the price I scored mine new in the box off ebay for like 38 plus shipping.
I did do a search to see if anyone has used it with a pipe no luck so far. Some good vids with the stock muffler.
Many folks have stuck them in ARF's.

aspeed

I only tested mine with no muffler, and with the muffler with a bigger hole in the outlet. I might go with a mousse can muffler some day if I make a header, or find one at a swap meet. I thought the Sig Wonder would be a good plane for now, but my little Fox .15 BB is running pretty good on that right now, so there is no rush on that. Texas has pretty good winter weather IIRC. I went to Mercedes Tx for a winter break once, and it was very nice flying weather except a couple hurricane days.

Pond Skipper

I owned a Fox 25 and a RC 45 back in the day even took a road trip with a friend to the manufacturing plant in Arkansas.

At the time I was stationed at BAFB about a 2.3hr road trip. We both bought factory engines a bit cheaper and scavenged some replacement parts in my case I bought a seal, 3 plugs and new needle for the RC 25. Man power was thin in the factory back in 1991 as I recall. You could smell the vintage years, view photos, display cases, older furnishings and furniture all filled the moment that felt like a time warp into the past.

A post / statement Feb. 2014 from FOX manufacturing:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2102637
I

Pond Skipper

The GS Pro V12RR was made in Japan / produced by a Japanese engine manufacturer who is contracted to make engines for HPI & Tamiya.

Huge bored out crank more like a 15 size in diameter 10mm /5mm threaded shaft, bearings are larger than the ASP. Fit and finish is a step up over the ASP size wise the V12RR is about the same there are some area's of the case that is bigger but general dimensions are the same. Non turbo head compression is good / ABC engine is new.
The engine is too big for the Skorch, Stock weight 180g I should drop 25g once the large cooling head is machined down to aircraft friendly.mode. 10mm ID exhaust.

combatpigg

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According to legend, FOX had the same lady building glow plugs for something like 30 years...!

I wonder if she ever used any of them...?

Pond Skipper

Wow bless her heart! I hope it at least paid for her home and a reasonable life style!!!!!!!

OkaY checked the timing 170-175 degrees. Lucky for me I had a narrow knurled thrust plate on stand by
and a 5mm spinner nut. I can set the pipe around 8in for 35k shown with a 6in prop if with a 4 pitch 133 mph.
The grey silicon coupler and fins will need to be cut down of course. Blue anodized elbow nipple added in
place of the needle assembly will do the remote needle valve trick.
Confirmed 3 ports. The top cooling fin is heavy 51.2g with plug cutting it down should reduce 60% of the weight. Engine less head is 149g with prop and spinner. Its a pretty anodized color will be a shame to cut
it up.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

According to legend, FOX had the same lady building glow plugs for something like 30 years...!

I wonder if she ever used any of them...?

Pond Skipper

Cut, grind and polish - Lost almost 30g now at 172g with prop / spinner.
Not sure If I will leave it as is or round it down or square it up to match the lower fins.

aspeed

I would turn the fins down until they almost touch the counterbores for the bolt holes, and then (if I felt industrious) turn the square fins on the cylinder to match. The motor does not need that much cooling in a plane. We would cut the fins right off on the old TDs to get a tighter cowl and it made no difference. We only ran them for about a minute though.

Pond Skipper

Yea could round the front face of the lower fins the back fins would be a PITA with the exhaust in the way.
The do make a Heli head for it sold separate or with engine, could knock the fins down some for a
traditional looking aero engine.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

It would look cool if you just band sawed it to match the case.