Tee Bee

I'm building 2 Pong Twos. The original Pong was designed by L.F. Randolph and featured in May 81 issue of Flying Models Magazine. In 1984, he redesigned it a bit and called the new version Pong Two. It was featured in a 1984 issue of the same mag. A friend of mine built a couple of these years ago and I was inspired to do the same after recentlyseeing some video footage of them flying. The plans are still available thru Flying Models. It's a simple, built-up, low-wing, 2-channel sport plane with lots of dihedral and docile flying characteristics. I plan to power one of these with a Stage 3 Skyline .049 from Tim Wiltse's Hypercolor business and am probably going to bolt up a Cox .09 Tee Dee to the other to overpower it for a bit of excitement. Here's how it looks:

Tee Bee

I started by cutting out the wing ribs, fuse sides, doublers, and dihedral braces. Then I made the formers according to the plans. Simple work so far. Starting to look like I have a kit at this point.

Tee Bee

I've attempted to update this thread several times with more info and pics but my stuff doesn't seem to post after attaching pics even though it says the upload is successful. For now, the thread is on hold.

Tee Bee

Here's a left wing panel under construction. Used a foam board and stick pins to make it faster than nailing it to the table like I would for a larger model. Sorry for the double pic post.

Tee Bee

I substituted 1/8th sq. spruce for the spars instead of balsa because it made me feel all happy and fuzzy at the time. They are a little heavier and more difficult to sand down on the ends after removing them from the table, however. I was worried about snapping a wing under heavy loads with an .09 screaming up front. This thing was originally designed for a Golden Bee or Black Widow style .049. Sometimes it's fun to break the rules a little bit. Here's 3 completed panels with 1 still on the table.

Tee Bee

1/16th sheet for sheer webs in the first 3 rib bays.

Tee Bee

Next, I need to round the leading edges with a sanding block, glue on the 1/16th wingtips, and give them a good sanding. That's all for now. Have a high school football game to attend.

hfenn

Hey TB, I've built two of those over the years. The first one got slap worn out. I left the landing gear off of it because I flew it out of my yard and lots of other grass fields where the grass was too long for anything but a handlaunch. I first flew it with a Black Widow and then a TD .049. I loaned it to a guy that flew it a couple of years and gave it back. The fuselage got so oil soaked I built another fuselage and kept flying it. I finally gave that one away. The second one I build with a PAW .061 diesel with the landing gear. That one was great for T&G's from the paved runway. I sold that one with the engine after the novelty wore off. Good idea on the spars, I did the same thing since they're small (and the spruce at that size won't weigh enough more to affect the performance).You'll like the plane, Randy Randolph really knew his stuff. I had the pleasure of flying with him at many of the Little Rock SMALL fly-ins.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Tee Bee, great choice for a build! Are you sure about that TD .09?![X(] Keep the photos coming.

David

Tee Bee

Stay tuned. Hope to get the wings joined soon. As for the .09, well, I bought one from Skaliwag and needed a platform for it.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

Nice looking build. Thanks for sharing the pics.

I'd like to build a scratch plane some day.

somegeek

Tee Bee

For what it's worth, this is my first plans-built plane. My previous models were built from kits. Don't be intimidated. Once you get the basic parts like ribs, fuse sides, etc. done it's very similar to kit construction. Some of these smaller 1/2A planes are very simple designs which go together quickly without a lot of carving, shaping, etc.

Tee Bee

Here I'm gluing the 1/16th sheet wingtips in place.

Tee Bee

After a bit of sanding, they're looking better.

Tee Bee

Getting things to fit so that I can later join the two wing halves. There are 4 dihedral braces, 2 on the top, 2 on the bottom. One wingtip is lifted 6 inches off the table to give it lots of dihedral.

Tee Bee

This time it's for real. After modifying the dihedral brace notches a bit for a better fit, I applied epoxy to the center ribs and spars where the braces would go. At this point you need about 7 hands to get everything lined up. Lots of small clamps sure help keep things aligned while you're working. And now the two halves are a wing!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Looking good TB! Just think, you are probably one out of maybe 5 guys in all of North America who is scratch building a plane right now. In the years that we've had 1/2A design contests, that number might jump up to ten? Maybe we can petition RCU to oversee a design contest this winter?

Tee Bee

Not 1 plane but 2. I have to do this all over again tomorrow. I've got a LA Stick project as well.

Tee Bee

Today, I got the other set of wings joined together. Then I sheeted the center section of the set I joined yesterday. The plans only call for sheeting between the center ribs and 1st rib but I got a little carried away. I'd like to say that I meant to do it that way based on my vast aviation design experience, but the fact is that I accidently cut the 1st couple of sheets oversized and glued them in before catching the mistake so I just ran with it. The weight penalty will be very small. The bottom is sheeted as per the plans. In the pic, you can see the filler(DAP lightweight spackling) applied along the joints. Should be nice and smooth once final sanded. Spackled it before the pic so you guys wouldn't tease me about the gaps in my joints.

hfenn

Looks good TB. I would use that one one the .09 powered version.

Tee Bee

That's what I was thinkin' too.

Tee Bee

The wings were joined over the weekend and I just finished sheeting the center sections. In this pic you can see the epoxy drying on the 1/16th music wire trailing edge braces. These help support the trailing edge center sections as well as keeping the rubber bands from digging into the balsa when the wings are attached to the fuselage. Now, I have to clean the garage out, sweep, and reorganize my work area to get into covering mode. All the dust from building must go. I'm going to cover the wings B4 building the rest of the airframe because I've got a 4 Star 60 that's ready for covering as well. With my limited space, I have to dismantle my flat, true building surface and set up a table on saw horses for easier access when working with the covering material.

Tee Bee

It's off topic, but here's a pic of my 4*60 that's almost done. Can't wait to fly this thing. Clipped wings and enlarged rudder. Magnum 91 4-stroke engine.

Tee Bee

Back on topic. Here's the fully-built Pong Two wings. They just need to be sanded a little more before applying the Ultracote. Wingspan = 44".

Tee Bee

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. Here's the bright yellow Ultracote going on. You just unwrap it and stand back while it applies itself. Well, maybe not but I did enjoy the covering process today since it was a break from all the cutting and fitting of balsa parts I've done lately.