gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks for the heads up, bbbair, but the plans do in fact call for dual aileron servos, pockets for which are already installed and ready.

Mountaineer:

Thanks for the info on the bolt blocks. What you describe is similar to what I had in mind. I'm basically, unless someone advises me different, mimic the setup my Super Stick uses, which is similar to that.

gboulton

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Hey RCKen,

I mistakenly credited YOUR work to MinnFlyer a while back.

Over in post #405 of Mountaineer's 4* build thread http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_30...17/key_/tm.htm he posted a nice image you'd done for him of a covering scheme.

Would you be willing to do something similar for me? Don't sweat the exact details of the plane's shape/size, just a generic 3-view of a any ole vaguely plane shaped thing will do.

I'd like to make use of the colors found on the Nashville Predators' home jersey (which you can find here: http://shop.nhl.com/product/index.js...y_bestsell_img )

I don't want the preds' logo or anything, just that general Blue/Gold/Silver/White color scheme.

TIA

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

gboulton,
You bet. I'd be more than happy to work something up for you. What is the general shape of you plane? Biplane or single wing? Low wing, mid wing, or high wing. It might be later today or tomorrow before I can get around to starting on this for you.

Let me know

Ken

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks, Ken! No big rush, as it'll be a WHILE before I'm covering this thing.

The Stunt Wagon is, essentially, an early sport flyer. A GIS for Stunt Wagon won't turn up much, but there's 1-2 pics out there.

Essentially, it looks pretty much like a random Stick. Anything vaguely Stick shaped in the drawing will work fine.

gboulton

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*heh*

As much for a bump to the thread (and a subtle reminder to Ken about covering schemes ) just thought I'd pop in here and say both ailerons are FINALLY done.

Ya know...I've realized what the real holdup is in this kit builing stuff...I'd rather fly than build.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

This evening, I completed assembly of the rudder, and one of the elevators...and have bumped into what is probably a silly question...but newbie me wants to be sure before going on

The plans showed the leading edges of the ailerons to be sanded into a point where they meet the TE of the wings...to allow, obviously, the ailerons to travel up and down. In other words, viewed from the side, the TE of the wing was a flat surface like so | and the LE of the ailerons is a point, like so < so the 'joint' looks like this:

|<

Now, I had presumed the LE of the rudder where it meets the vert stab, as well as the LE's of the elevators where they meet the horiz. stab, should be shaped the same, to allow travel. Yet, the plans do not indicate this, nor do the instructions.

Is there some bit of magic of which I'm unaware that means I should leave the LE's flat??

TIA for the help

(Edit : I can provide detailed pics if my description of the question isn't clear)

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

You are absolutely right. You should shape all of the control surfaces the same way. A really good shortcut to sanding is to use balsa tri-stock on the front of the control surface. Glue the tri-stock to the front of the piece and you have an instant 45° bevel. You'll have to remove material at the back of the control surface, but that is easier than doing the bevel on the front.

Hope this helps.

Ken

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Cool, thanks Ken.

MountaineerFan36

gboulton:

I used the tri-stock trick on all my control surfaces. Here is some pics of what my ailerons looked like with the tri-stock glued on, both pre and post sanding.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks for those pics, Mountaineer...

As it is, I probably wouln't go with that method on this one, as all of the control surfaces are framed, rather than solid blocks like yours show. In each case, the TE is 1/2" x 1/4" balsa, so removing even a bit of it to compensate for the extra tri-stock up front would significantly reduce the 'depth' of the TE.

And, to be honest, with all the various sanding blocks and jigs I made/bought over the years in MRR, combined with the fact that I rather enjoy sanding (I know, I know...I have no idea why either), it's not too much hassle.

I DO appreciate the pics, though, since it imprints in my mind what Ken was talking about, so I'll have that as an option should I ever need it.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Rather happy moment for me...all the control surfaces are done. This FEELS like a significant 'milestone' (If it's not, don't anybody tell me...you'll shatter my frgile little kit building ego)

Anyway, just thought I'd toss a few pics up of the completed control surfaces. Here ya go:

electroman7

I couldn't help but reply to this thread. I built a stuntwagon in 1991 for use in our local hobby shops competition fun flys. I flew it with a Webra speed .32. Those days, there were a lot of aircraft being developed for this event. The plane was competitive at the time, though a little heavy for this type of competition. We had an event called the squirrel cage, where you take off and do a loop, roll, split s and land.. twice. Quickest time won the event. We usually did that in about 20 seconds. Most times today would be less than half that. Now days it should be a really good sport flyer and with a good 46 size motor, may be able to 3 D. One thing I did was replace heavy wood with lighter wood and substituted lite ply for ply where I could. I also drilled holes everywhere to remove weight. The airframe was strong enough to handle violent manuevers, but in a crash, it disentegrated. Enjoy your stuntwagon. It is a little piece of RC history and brought back fond memories for me!

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks for the input, noslimers.

That's probably been the most enjoyable part of this process for me so far...not the actual building (I'm a lousy builder, and don't really enjoy it as a result *heh*) but rather learning that this aircraft actually has a bit of 'history' to it, and isn't 'just another kit'.

I mean, ok, it didn't start any RC revolutions or anything, but it stirs up memories for folks such as yourself of some of the early competition fun fly events. To me, that's pretty nifty.

Of course, the downside here is this...every time I read something like this, I'm more and more scared to fly it. Now that I'm starting to get control surfaces done, and starting to see things that look like bits of plane, I'm catching that 'seeing something I built fly' fever...that, combined with the fear that I'll somehow destroy this 'valuable piece of RC history' runs the nerves up a bit. [sm=eek.gif]

Ahh well...I'll just keep telling myself what I always tell my wife..."It's only a plane.."

Spitfire222

Hi,

My first post here... [8D]

I am also building a FF Stunt Wagon. My mentor Bill Autry (EXCAP232 here) dug it out of his basement and gave it to me to work on/improve my kit building skills (as I love building kits ) and to improve my flying skills since right now my main plane is a Piper Cub! . We built the wing at his house, and I learned a lot of new skills/techniques, so heres a shout out to Bill, thanks! I'm working my way up to build and fly the TF Fw-190 I recently purchased. I will post pics of mine also, it about 2/3 finished. Going tot cover it in Monokote: transparent orange, metallic blue, with chrome pinstriping and checkers on the wing, is going to look sweet! [8D]

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Spitfire,

Welcome aboard!

Can't wait to see yours when it's done, and hear flying reports.

Spitfire222

Alright, heres my first attempt at posting pics:

This is the wing, 95% finished at Bill's house...we did this in about 2-3 hours, and I learned so much in that little time!

Note: this was done a few weeks ago, I'll pull out the digi cam and snap some new shots.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Gee, that wing looks awfully familiar.

Looks good, SF!

checkerboardflyer

I have found your discussions of the Stunt Wagon very interesting. Is there a source for the plans? Or would someone be willing to copy their plans and I will pay the cost and postage? Thanks.

Swager

My Feedback: (1)

I dont mean to bring up an old topic, but it finally hit me. I remember hearing about the Florio Flyer last year and seen it fly. Nice little A/C. I was talking to a guy at the field who said the guy who designed the Florio Flyer was from PA. When I was a kid I used to watch RC demostrations and there was this guy named Florio from my home town of St Marys, PA. Him and his son always flew in these RC Demos. They once had these two planes named "Spirit of" and "America" and they used to fly combat.

Later I worked with his son, Jim at a local department store and ended up buying a plane off of him. I wonder if 2 and 2 go together in this case??

Spitfire222

Ok, I dont know what happened to gboulton and his Stunt Wagon, or if anyoe cares about this thread anymore for that matter....but, last week I finally finished mine. [8D]

I started building it at the end of last summer, but never got a chance to consistently work on it due to my being away at college most of the time. It was build in stages that were few and far in between. Now on summer vacation, I finished it in a marathon build. I'm no beginner to building kits or flying, but this thread was in this forum so thats why I'm posting my news here. [sm=thumbup.gif]

Ok, some info about the plane. Bill and I modded the plane a bit throughout the build to simplify and lighten the structure. Some bits and pieces of the wing were subsituted for shear webs, which both strengthened and lightened the wing. The maple engine mounting rails and the associated cramped nose construction were eliminated for a standard firewall with composite mount. That allowed a 6 oz. fuel tank to be crammed in the newly formed tank compartment. As a personal preference, I chose not the install the wing tips, and instead put a cover on the last rib. My reasoning? Easier to cover, and slightly faster roll rate with the smaller span. The radio installation is pretty tight, but I managed to get everything to fit in the end. It sports five Hitec HS-425BB's all around, Supreme 8 channel receiver, 6.0 volt battery, all controlled by a Hitec Eclipse 7.
An OS. 46 AX will pull the plane with a 12.25 x 3.75W prop. (Yet to be mounted, thats an 11 x 6 for break in). All covered in Monokote.

In the end, I think it turned out great, even without the planned checkerboards on the wing. (They can always be added later though ) Maiden will be soon, maybe this weekend.

Enjoy the pics, and I'd like to hear how yours is going gboulton!

hobbyfan2

Some of you were asking about the history of the Florio Flyer. John Florio's son, Jim, recently opened a hobby shop in Falls Creek, PA. Hopefully the phone number is listed so you can give him a call!

JAYKOH

My Feedback: (13)

I built one years ago, still one of my all time favorites. Powered mine with an old OS FP-40 and had a blast with it. Watch out for picking up too much speed in a dive. I got carryied away one flight and pulled up hard with full throttle and the tail exploded, sounded like a cherry bomb going off. I still have the plans and always thought I'd scartch one up some day. If you decide not to build it , maybe we could work out a sale/trade.