flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

MOO !
Like the last guy who asked if he can bring his plane to the field and learn to fly. Me: Sure , what do you have? Him: "A high wing Kadet trainer". Me: Great , what size engine and is everything ready to go? Him: "I think it's a 40 and it's all ready ". Me : OK bring it out. next time and we'll take it up! He shows up next time and he brings out a 120 size Cub with an old small converted weedeater engine and everything needed some work to get it in the air ! So yes I'm always a bit skeptical !

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

OP, one thing you haven't mentioned is budget… and you'll find that all of us on the forums love to spend other peoples money. So, a quick look at what it would cost to get the falcon flying again...

$150 O.S. 35AX engine
$45 3 rolls monokote to recover
$44 4 Futaba s148 servos
$30 new control horns, wheels , pushrods


The below, you don't mention what you have or don't have here
$100 Field gear? Starter, Battery, goo igniter, props, allen wrenches, prop nut tool/glo plug tool, spare glo plugs, glo fuel, etc….
$150 radio/receiver? The sky is the limit here, you can find them for almost any range depending on your needs.


You'll find that glow gas or electric, your prices will be similar,

$70 Power 35 electric motor + $100 for a couple batteries ( approximate… I didn't look these up… my power 15's were 60 so I think this is close... )

The Norvel .40 gas engine I believe is in the $200 range, again, you can look it up for the exact cost.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Common, get a slightly used trainer from your local hobby shop, get an instructor with a buddy box and come back here in a year for suggestion to repair that old beauty

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Ten to one all the motor needs is cleaned up and a maybe set of bearings from boca for 20. Or buy a new magnum 40 from tower for 75 bucks. I have twenty year old servos still flying in thirty year old plus airplanes. So if they still work they are probably ok. Put in a new switch. Spiders will crawl inside and they will fail.... Patch up the plane and give it a shot. People forGet it doesnt need to be pretty to fly. Parch it, hit it with some ca and go fly. Ten to one again you hit the field and you can probably buy all the glow support stuff you want for 10 cents on the dollar it was new... Shoot i gave away most of my extra glow support stuff to newbies. For a while it seems like every time i bought a plane the guy threw in a starter, a ni starter, and a field box to get rid of it. Same thing with the motor- i bet you can find an fp40 used for twenty bucks... And if you do have a penchant for gas. The evolution 10cc would probably bolt on with minor modes and would be tons of power. But that is a lot of money to spend on an old pos airframe. Good luck and have fun.

jester_s1

Something that hasn't been asked yet is what the op is looking to get out of the project. Are you wanting to start flying rc and seeing this plane as a simple way to get going, or did you simply find the plane and think it would be fun to see it fly one time and maybe take it out every once in a while thereafter for a flight or two? If it's the former, get something new. If the latter, you're going to be frustrated long before you make a successful flight. It'll be better to give the plane away to a pilot who will agree to taking you up on a buddy box when he's done restoring it.

tony0707

There is a lot of good used equipment out there
Go to your closest AMA RC field , and join ,learn the equipment you should purchase
They will have sales and swap meets were you can get equipment cheep ,from time to time
Find an expert builder at the club and have him evaluate the plane in the barn for possible restoration once you are flying for a while , and see if it still fits the direction you choose to go in the hobby
I choose to go with 40 and 60 size two cycle glo engines to keep down my cost of flying , and still easy to see and very stable , sound hobby aircraft for the long run
Many of mine are 15-20 years old that I fly , but they have been constantly maintained and will go through my many maintenance procedures I have developed after flying for 23 years
Check out my gallery Of some of the best aircraft I own after 23 years of building and flying ,more than most ,and less than a few

Lnewqban

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q3Xs-IjB7Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXySBp80UiY Here you can watch some videos and read a RCU review done on the last ARF version of the Falcon 56:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=997

Winds and gusts of 20 mph are a breeze for my Falcon 56.

It is a great design:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/arf-...lcon-56-a.html

Here is a recent restoration work:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/spor...storation.html

Here is a conversion to electric:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/glow...-electric.html

..........and a E-video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm1la-ChLF8

52larry52

My Feedback: (1)

Guys, I don't think this guy is going to listen. Every now and then we get a newbee on here that asks for advice, then refuses to take that good advice. Sometimes you began to wonder if he is a "troll" or just stubborn. John Buckner has taken the time to accurately lay out out in detail why trying to resurrect this plane for training service just isn't a good plan. John is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced posters on this site. Perhaps the OP doesn't know that yet and therefore thinks his idea is still a good one. Jester-s1 is another source of good advice who said "dumpster this plane and buy a new one", and I gave that advice a "+1". (although I would not really put the plane in the dumpster, just save it for much later when the OP has been at this long enough to then evaluate rebuilding the falcon with some knowledge under his belt). I sense some frustration in John's last post, and with good reason. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". Several others have also advised against the OP's plan. I will just ask the OP to start a thread on his adventure and keep us posted on how it worked out. Take and post lots of photos too, we "love" seeing wrecked planes (NOT!).

tim5713

Glad to see you getting into the hobby!
If you've found someone willing to help you get started it's best to follow their sugestions whether to rebuild or get new, until you get compitant to do so on your own.
Give yourself time to get around the different types of planes and engines at your local field and then you can decide what direction to go. Good luck and have fun!!

jester_s1

We do have to remember though that this is just a hobby, and the main point is to have a good time. If a guy considers it fun to polish upa rotted old turd of an airplane, that's ok. I have one bird in my hangar that should have been dumpstered given how much trouble it was to restore, but it flies now. I learned some skillls working on it and am proud of what it is now. So all that is to say we've made our point, so lets move on to just helping the op with whatever route he decides to go.

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

Good post jester

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

You can build a nice trainer from dollar tree foam and some gorilla glue if your a little handy . I built this one and its called the Slowly from free plans on RCG . I have under 40 buck in it and it flys nice and slow like its name and was easy to build. joe http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1686460 You can find the blue baby and other foam free trainer plans here .http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1333878

do335a

Aside from all the valid reasons why trying to start off with a plane that's been sitting in the attic for some 20 years in who knows what conditions is not a good or inexpensive way to start off in RC, let me ask something.

It's that gasoline vs. glow debate. Never mind all the baloney arguments about fuel expense in this size range and the needless requirement of extra batteries and complexity for gasoline over glow.

Where exactly do you find a .40 cu. in. displacement gasoline RC enigne these days? They were common just after WWII when they were displaced by glow for all the reasons that gasoline is now that great God at whose feet most people worship.

I am not aware of any other than glow now though. We're not talking 40cc for a Falcon 56. They flew initialy on about a .19 cu.in. (3.5cc) glow engine.

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

You can buy glo motors cheap if you look around ,i sold all mine off for around 30 to 40 bucks a piece and some were new in the box . Rc swapmeets and guys in a club near you can most time point you were you can find a glo motor cheap. A gas motor for this plane is not a good choice and a waste of time. BTW this might come in handy some day. joe

do335a

As I said, current production RC model gasoline engines in the displacement range for a Falcon 56 presently do not exist. So glow vs. gasoline is a debate which does not exist.

I am well aware of sources for both new and used suitable glow engines. No shortage of places or samples, I agree.

However, now we are getting into another territory.

What know nothing newbee is the appropriate judge of whether the model is well constructed or what will be required to make it airworthy or wheteher or not it is suitable as a trainer?

The very qualifiers the OP mentions disqualifies that person from making the choices. This is circular.

If you don't know anything about the subject (by your own admission), you are not in a position to render a knowlegable or useful judgment on the subject.

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

Who me! I have been a flight instructer for over 40 years in two different clubs . As far as builing planes ,this was the last one i threw together ! Now What ?

James English

Hmmm... lots of suggestions; a few helpful and some degrading. I can see now why I was encouraged NOT to post questions here. The lack of actual encouragement I was warned about but amongst the biased thoughts I found some gems. Being new to the hobby and unclear of some of the pitfalls it's nice to know not everyone trying to help are teachers but talkers. I wont state who helped most but for those who actually were the most encouraging THANK YOU.

James

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

Norvel gx40 is available for 150 bucks...And it's a gas .40 size engine. Eva 10gx is a .60 sized gas engine... they are out there... But choices are limited

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

I apologize if you didn't feel encouraged, I think its likely that the majority of people here realize that this endeavor is more likely to end in frustration rather than enjoyment of the hobby as its your first venture into the hobby. It can get expensive easily, and you can end up without a flyable plane after several hundred dollars are spent. We want newcomers to the hobby, we try to steer newcomers away from situations that will have them leaving the hobby in a short amount of time.

I can fully understand if this plane has sentimental value wanting to see it fly again. Many of us that have been in this hobby for a number of years have seen this situation before and are trying to guide you down a path that keeps you in the hobby, rather than one that ends in frustration and a quick craigslist selloff of your hobby gear. I'd view the Falcon as a long term project, and learnt fly on something else in parallel if possible.

Oh yeah… ignore the trolls. They are present on any forum in any hobby. The more you read on the forums the more you'll recognize them and be able to gloss over their posts.

GerKonig

I guess you have to decide a) if you want to learn to fly RC (there are easier and cheaper ways that starting with an old RC model) OR b) if you really want to bring that old model to life even if it costs more:-)

That is your decision to take. This hobby is fun, but like any hobby, not cheap (it's cheaper than my other 2 hobbies). Good luck.

Gerry

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

I think its up to him what he wants to do with his trainer and what he wants to get out of our great hobby . I enjoy building just as much as flying and their are some who would never even build a kit and just fly arfs . OK some of mine cost more than a ARF and i knew that before starting to build it but then again i go to water funflys and there are 10 arf cubs on floats till i pull out something different from my van.I have fixed many twisted up 20 year old planes some were ones i built back when i was young and they fly great . Dont know if he likes tinkering at a work bench like i do weather its building rc or working on my motorcycles but either way i hope he gets to fly . Good luck on eather way you go and if you decide to fix her start a repair thread with pictures to see what shape she is in. joe

jester_s1

James, nobody degraded you. I've seen degrading in this hobby before, mostly by the wealthy guys at the airfield who get snobby in a hurry when I show up with equipment that isn't the top of the line brands that they buy. I don't worry about it, but a sensitive fellow would get upset and go play somewhere else.
What we did do is give you honest feedback and information about what you were/are planning to do. Yes, some of us were negative, because the outcome of the route you are planning to go is going to be tough. If you just wanted yes men, you could have said so in your first post and saved us all some time. The truth is though that we all want to see you do well, and nearly all of us have either done what you are planning to do or have seen someone do what you are planning to do. What we know and what you don't yet know is that what you are taking on is not a newbie task. It can be quite a rewarding task in the end, but as a method to get started in RC you couldn't make things any harder on yourself. We want to see you succeed, so excuse us for telling you how much the odds are against you going this route. That said, if you have your mind set to fix up this old bird and fly it, we will help you as much as we can.
As for us not encouraging you, don't you feel encouraged that you've connected with a group of guys who will tell you the truth? We won't lie to you to spare your feelings. I'd think a new RC hobbyist would appreciate that.

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

Jester is correct. Nobody degraded you. Constructive criticism is different from degrading, and all of these guys have been there and done that and are sincerely trying to head you in the right direction. I agree with the folks who believe that no Falcon 56 that can be saved should be trashed. They are a fine flying airplane and I wish to hell I had mine back. But they do have a fully symmetrical wing and a built up horizontal stabilizer, which may not be the best candidate for a newbie to refurbish. The vertical stabilizer is a solid slab so not difficult to duplicate, but the horizontal stabilizer is a different can of worms. It is fairly complicated as horizontal stabilizers go. Without seeing the airplane, my opinion is to put the airplane up until you have some building and flying experience under your belt. Believe me, it is more difficult to rebuild a damaged plane than it is to build the same plane from new. Buy a cheap trainer, get some experience under your belt which will include some repair time which you will certainly have if you haven't flown before. After you get some flying time, repair time and time talking to fellow fliers, exchanging ideas, under your belt, then take this puppy out and do your thing if you are still inclined to do so at that point.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

James,
Being new can be a bit overwhelming. Hang in there! If you enjoy repairing old planes ( depends on the plane but I do!) then go for it.
It will be a fine learning experience. My suggestion is keep it but strip it down to wood and TOSS all plastic pieces INCLUDING HINGES! Your motor is likely to be a keeper but do new bearings and O rings. Some of those 20+ engines are great...
some "aint".
I ounce built a Goldberg Sr Falcon from a mouse eaten kit. I had to glue in LOTS of balsa patches in MANY peices before I could even start building. On the right kit ( one I really liked) I would do it again.
These guys have been very helpful to me and tons of others. You gotta love 'em....no really they mean well he he.
I Think each of them has there opinions and as on all web sites some "sorting" is always required. In there (my) defense they see a LOT of new guys and many get started in ways that usually end poorly. WE all want U to be a successful RCer!
Sounds like your on the right path at your club. HAVE FUN!

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

I would be interested in seeing some photos of this project and its actual condition before commenting on whether or not its worth the time and effort to resurrect it.

there was a post a ways back stating the Falcon 56 isn't a first plane well it was my first plane and served me well as a trainer, I built it myself when I was 14 powered it with a K&B 35,one thing for sure it was a horrible engine and completely unreliable if you find out that yours is a K&B then just spend a little cash and pick up a OS 35 you will have a nice little reliable engine to use for other projects later,all of my glow engines are OS and I have had zero problems using them.

as for the servos the brand is fairly important and if the connectors are compatible with a modern receiver,I would replace the radio and receiver unit as a precaution unless its been thoroughly tested to be sound and in perfect working order, as any corrosion can cause issues,again a radio can be transferred to another plane, and if it is a multi-model radio is even better.
the quality and range of modern radios are far superior to most of the old units,my first 4 channel radio cost more than my 7 channel radio I use now, of course photos are helpful to show condition.

covering isn't really all that expensive but geting some help with removing it and quality checking the airframe is a good idea, and the recovering process can be tricky with some simple tricks it can be done well and that little plane can still shine.

if your offended by more experienced guys giving there honest opinion your going to find it being lonely in RC, every one has a opinion in this sport/activity some better than others,but your going to be hard pressed to find a more passionate bunch willing to help