subarubrat

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I recently expanded my classic Cox collection with two Cox Cessna Centurions, the predecessor to the 182 that I recently did the full house conversion on. It was great to finally get to fly a classic I wanted since I was a teenager. Of course that made me want to track down a Centurion, the one that appeared in the Sears Wishbook, the one that I asked for every Christmas from Kindergarten all the way through it going out of production. So I finally found two and one is staying NIB in the closet with the other 182 and the other is getting built to fly. But instead of going full house I am going to go the opposite and go all out vintage. I will be using the original 2ch Cox system and QRC engine. The only modifications I plan to do are running a Nimh pack for convenience and to reduce the wing loading a bit. The other mod is to increase the servo response on the Cox radio, that thing is SLOW, I mean you move the stick and the servo eventually gets there. It will be a blast to fly this thing in it's original 2ch reed valve configuration.

ptulmer

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SB, you keep coming up with alot of neat finds! How 'bout some pictures?! I've never seen these airplanes before. (must have been before my time)

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

Heh, heh! I remember the old Sanwa/Cox radio, did an awful lot o' flying on that. Just dug out an old Airtronix/Cox Q-tee, it still had the cox switch harness in it...
Having flown that centurion/qrc combo back in the day, in both gas and electric, it would be fun to try it again. You need a sportavia, too!

I have a Canario I need to fly sometime, just need to get around to it!

You know, of course, that all these planes were really made by Kyosho, not cox?

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

I forget who (smack the back of my hand) but one of the regulars here collects the old cox models,,I have two of the old Fairchild .049...messed up the motor on one ,,no biggie and hadnt flown it ,as it is a hangar queen..well I decided to put norvel in it so I had throttle control,,well that didnt work out too well and I boogered up the front cowling bad..so I go to the one NIB and find out all the wood parts are moldy! its a mostly blow moulded plastic plane so not a real big deal..now I have the two planes that I need to build now,,if you ever saw Deadstick fly this thing you'd never think it was a 2 channel plane.......and if you ever hand launched it ,,you'd never think it would fly...I hand launched his the first time I saw one,,well I thought to myself,,no way this cow is gonna fly its an .049 at 27 oz...its a dragonfly/ranger engine I couldnt believe it...cant wait to try mine out....Rog
they are getting high on theebay$$

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

I have a fairchild with, off all things, the Queen Bee 074 on it. Flies alright. And...it has the Cox three channel system in it! Forgot I had that bird, it's all ready to fly, just hanging from the cieling...

MajorTomski

brat

Watch the firewall! After about 5 flights it no longer stays attached to the foam. You might consider pulling it off and using some epoxy on it before you fly

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

Right on about that, I have done that on all the Cox cessnas I have. I have posted pics of the full house 182 in another thread and pics of the centurion will be up soon.

I am after a Sportavia and a Sky rally, but most of all I am after a Piper Archer, it was another one like that fairchild that you swear would never fly with that tiny 049 in the middle of that big cowl. Yet it does fly well, and very scale like.

PTULMER: Here you go, pics of the 182, converted to full house controls and 5 Oz lighter than stock. Pics of the centurion will be here soon.

This is how the 182 looks stock, the pics just don't do it justice, the control surfaces are textured with the scale ridges, there are many small details that you just don't see on today's ARFs in this size. It also has a hard plastic like shell that is very ding resistant. The airframe is very tough and it is holding up wonderfully with high speed/ high stress handeling far beyond what it was intended for.



Here is it with the Norvell/flaps/brakes/etc.



And this is the box for the Centurion, the plane is very similar, the wing is not as detailed with no flaps/ailerons molded in, no wheel pants or struts and a wire main gear, but other than that they are very similar.

subarubrat

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Oh yeah, and there is a Cessna 182 on Ebay right now: Item 5983075170

subarubrat

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Took it out for the maiden flight today and it was an absolute blast. The QRC runs smoothly but seems like just a few seconds run time compared to the 20 min. minimum from the Norvel in the 182. The radio worked perfectly and control was smooth. The performance is much less than that of the full house 182 but all things considered it works pretty good. Since it lacks the hard shell of the 182 I don't plan on flying it much for fear of random dings. It was great to take such a classic up for a spin and although it can't compare to todays electric trainers in stock form, I think I could have taught myself to fly on it as a kid.

fritzke

My Feedback: (1)

I worked in a hobby shop in 1979/80 and I took quite a few customers out to fly their new Centurions and Sportavias.
I felt I owed it to someone dropping $200 to show them how to at least start the engine, and to show them it could fly before
they went "solo" and bashed it up. The electric Sportavia was a real dog, but give Cox credit for being about the
first to offer an RTF electric R/C plane. (Along with Kraft) The Sportavia had a nasty little tip stall that could bite you on the a**.
The Centurion always flew well. I had a A Piper Archer for a while too, flew better with a TeeDee .09 on it.
Sorry Subaru, it hit the trash many, many years ago...it was "flown out"!
Dave

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

I remember these two guys that had a sportavia and they sort of knew how to fly, I recall they had a monarch or piece-o-cake and could get it up and down in one piece. But for some reason the sportavia would always end up in a roll and headed for the ground. It went from pretty to pretty beat up in about a week. As I recall the sportavia was not OHS shelled foam, it was just plain foam right? The non -OHS cox ARFs from the 70's and 80's are starting to have "dry" or brittle problems with the foam. My centurion has the slightest browning and you can tell it is aging. The OHS ones on the other hand, such as the 182, are holding up fine and when you take one out of the box that was made 20 years ago it looks like it was just produced and it very airworthy. Man I wish Cox would re-issue those early ARFs.

I think I am going to pull the Cox cadet gear out of the Centurion and put it in another 182 that I have as a regular flyer, far more fuel proof and durable and it would still fit the retro need. Maybe I will put some UV safe clear coat on this centurion and hang it, right now it is back in the box.

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

SB, those are worthy of all this fuss! Great looking fleet! (the 182 kicks ***)

Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

Could I ask you to elaborate a little on the details as far as making the 182 full house? I have one NIB, and would like to put the Norvel in it, but the firewall makes this an issue, or so it would seem. How did you mount the wing servos, and what all radio gear did you use? Is there a servo on EACH aileron and flap, or linkages?

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

Tommy, we are just home for about an hour and such to check email, feed pets etc. the boy has been in the hospital but should be home tommorow. Give me a day or two, but the short answer to your questions is not to worry, you will see when I post some pics.

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

Ok, back home, what a week. To answer your questions. The plastic "firewall" is glued on over a ply one, just remove the engine and gently pry the plastic firewall off. I would also check this ply firewall carefully and make sure it is bonded to the foam right, some were not. I used a motor mount and drilled a hole through it from the bottom for the top of the LG wire to pass through. If you use a fixed LG wire then just re-use the stock LG and use 3 screws to hold it. You will have to trim the cowl but it will fit. You need to modify the muffler, there is a plug on the back of it where the exhaust exits, I cut the cone portion of the plug off just behind the groove where the retaining wire goes. Then I filled it in with a bit of JB weld to make it a plate and then drilled a hole on the side of the muffler body. This allows the muffler to fit up against the firewall. The ailerons are each driven by a servo in the wing just ahead of the aileron, the GWS one will sink right in with just the top exposed. I used a Hitec HS50 (single) to control the flaps. The flap linkage is done just like a normal aileron linkage but both are tied together on a single pushrod. I tell everyone who asks about this plane how much of a difference the flaps and ailerons make. I never seen a plane respond so well to flaps. I have one stock with a QRC motor and a Cox 2ch system and it is a totally different plane with the throttled engine and the full house controls.

When you cut the flaps and ailerons out you will need to rejoin the trailing edges and I used some balsa to fill in the gap.

Ailerons cut out:


Flaps cut out:


Here you can see the aileron servos:

Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

That's a really nice conversion brat, how well does it fly with a Norvel motor? Does it climb well? Is it quick? I put my AME .049 Norvel in a smaller, lighter plane than the Skylane and it was kind of a dog. Now, I realize this is the wrong forum to ask this question, but since you're familiar with the plane....do you think it would make a good electric conversion? I took all the parts out of the box once, and did a mock up electric configuration by putting hypothetical components in the fuselage, and put everything on a postage scale. It came out to just over a pound.

KA6IPK

I love the old Cox planes and have lots of memories starting and cleaning the Cox .049, but I have the admit the Norvel engines are so much better running and have great power. Here's my Sportavia with a Norvel engine in it, and it's a great performer.



I like the Norvel engine a lot, but have to admit nothing screams like a un-muffled Cox TD!

t57f100

what does the qrc mean in cox engines does anyone know

Mr Cox

That's a rather old thread that you have found...
The QRC i a "quite zone" version of the Babebee. It has a muffler, non-SPI cylinder, and a larger tank.

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

Sure is an old thread, but it pointed out I didn't answer Tommygun's question in 2006......

It is an amazing plane with that engine. It comes off the ground very fast, climbs like a rocket, and flies very fast. But what is even more cool is the way the Norvell can hold a low RPM idle. With the flaps down and the engine idled it flies like an electric slow flier. I have a video that another member asked me for just the other week in fact, let me see if I can find it again.

Found it, I had posted it the other week when Kpriddle asked. Here it is again, these are just the best ARFs ever.

www.subarubrat.com/misc/1824UL.wmv