jmb52760

Hello all,

It's winter building time again! I have on order the Curare short kit from Eureka.

Question: what are the best retracts to use for this aircraft? I'm thinking the Spring Air 305 flat mount (trike gear), but that's based on zero experience with air retracts. I do have a set of mechanical retracts that I was using in a Calypso, but I would have to buy a nose gear unit. Any suggestions?

I'll be trying to get the engine situation figured out next. I have a Rossi side exhaust blackhead that would be perfect but needs work. I really don't want to deal with an unreliable engine so I may have to replace bearings and piston/liner. The OS .61 FX looks off-the-shelf ready for this aircraft, and might be cheaper than buying parts for the Rossi.

My plan is to use 8178's blue angel build as a cookbook for this bird. I only hope I can come close!

Thanks for any suggestions.

Mitch

dhal22

i love spring air's. don't order from lado of course.

jmb52760

I was looking here: http://www.retracts.com/

That's not lado, is it?

dhal22

retracts.com is spring air's site. do you need a fire wall mount nose gear or tank floor?

jmb52760

And just because people love pictures, here's a shot stolen from another RCU thread that shows a fine example. Beyond my meager skills, but something to shoot for.

jmb52760

That's what I'm trying to figure out, the plans seem to show that you could go either way. There is a firewall and a tank floor. Which one works best?

pimmnz

Which ones works best? How long's a piece of string? Best ones are the ones you have the most experience with. I use Hobbico mechanicals on the tank floor in my Curare, because there's enough room in there to maintain and adjust the things, I understand how they work, I can get parts if I need them, and they are in my price range.
Guess that's all you really need.
Evan, WB #12.

dhal22

didn't that curare in the photo expire (or rekit)? the retracts work the same but you may need to layout the various components on the plans in order to decide. do you need to borrow a tank floor mount nose gear to help you decide?

flywilly

My Feedback: (121)

I prefer air for 3-gear and mechanical for 2- gear set-ups. 3 gear mechanical requires either 2 retract servos or complex linkage for 1 servo. As for firewall vs tank floor (belly) mounting: the primary reason for flat mounted nose gears was to make space for inverted mounted engine set-ups (Aurora, Citation, Atlanta, etc.)
You might consider the OS 75AX, too. Plenty of power without a pipe. You can also look into a new Rossi - still a great engine.
-Will

jmb52760

Thanks gents, lots of good information. I'll ponder this for awhile longer.

Thanks very much for the offer dhal, but I'd prefer not to borrow anything. I do want to see how Eureka's plan differs from the one that I have (I ordered their plan with the short kit) before I make up my mind.

What would be great is if I had a scale drawing of the various retracts to overlay on the plan.

jmb52760

And yes, that Curare in the picture did die young. The blame was laid on the carbon pushrod/rod end glue joint. I learned something from reading that post. Maybe he saved my curare from meeting the same fate.

dhal22

i like the scale drawing of the retracts idea. i think my finished King Kobra kit plan has a scale drawing of a spring air retract on it. i need to throw that box away anyway, i'll take a look.

jmb52760

Thanks David, that would be great.

While researching the various engine options I came across the K&B .61 ABC TWISTER W/TUNED MUFFLER at the following site:

https://shop.mecoa.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=22


The price and published performance of this engine is close to the OS .61 FX, but it has a very retro look. I have had a few K&B engines and they have always been reliable, but my impression is that this is not an engine that you would have found on a Curare back in the day. (but neither is the OS)

I do think that buying parts for the Rossi that I have would be much cheaper than a new one, assuming that the parts shown online are actually available. I would need the tuned pipe and bracket in addition to the bearings and piston/liner. The Rossi that I have has an aftermarket muffler. I obtained it in a trade a few years ago.

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Mitch,

I had in my Curare back in 1976-1977 Carl Goldberg mechanical retracts, the nose gear need to be firewall mounted then but it will work fine. I had Goldberg retracts also in a Mach 1 prior to that and it worked great there also. I had not a single failure of the retracts and they where used on hundreds and hundrerds of flights, mostly on grass fields.
I have seen NIB Goldberg retracts on ebay now and then.

Stuart Chale

I had used Spring airs and they worked pretty well. Less issues than Rhom Air retracts. However once I tried mechanical (not Goldberg) I never went back to air. Even for trigear a single retract servo Futaba 36G or 136G is nore than enough to operate them. The linkage to the nose gear oftne means a pushrod coming off the front of the wing but it can be made removable. As the Dave Brown ad said. If your radio works the retracts work if your radio doesn't, it doesn't matter. I have used Dave Brown, MK, and Supra and they all work well. MK retracts seemed to be the best made.

Stuart C.

BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

JMB, if you are going to get a K&B engine buy it direct from Clarence Lee. He designed the original engine and custom fits and ports the engines to your need, and installs his PDP mod. IIRC the C. F. Lee MFG custom mod engine costs $127 + $7.50, and it runs pretty strong on the smaller 11x7 or 11x8 props. In Mr Lee's opinion, his older-design engine (6550 Ring) is preferable to the Twister and being a ringed engine it will last longer than the ABC Twister (FYI ALL of the Twister engines are old-stock, manufactured from parts left over from before MECOA purchased the K&B line). Mr. Lee will custom fit any engine in the K&B line however.

Obviously the power is not on par with the piped Rossi, but the K&B engine will save you nearly 8-10 oz. if that is a concern.

Please do a build thread! I am very seriously considering building a Curare or Tiporare from Eureka and would love to see some pictures. Of course I plan to commit Classic Pattern Heresy and will install a .91 4-stroke in mine. As much as I love the SCREAM of the old 2-stoke engines, I don't want to risk losing my flying field . I do have a basically brand-new OS .61VF with a pipe, but can't afford the noise footprint at any of the tight fields around here and should probably just try to sell it to somebody for an old-school BPA plane.

mchandrayan

How do you order direct from Mr Lee? Any website or phone numbers?
Thanks

BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

Sorry, I should have included that info.

Lee, Clarence F.
10112 Woodward Ave
Sunland, CA 91040-3342
(818) 352-3766
(818) 353-7356
[email protected]

jmb52760

Thanks guys, I knew you would come through with some valuable information. So far, I'm leaning towards mechanical retracts and parts for the Rossi.

I would like to do a build thread (so I will). It keeps me motivated, and is of course, a source of valuable input to the project.

Like David (dhal), I'm going to learn to paint on this one. I plan to build a paint booth in the unfinished part of the basement with an exhaust out the daylight window. This way the winter weather will be no factor.

I just hope the kit comes soon...

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Mitch,

jmb52760

Bo,

That is fantastic, I hope that I have such good luck. I have not been notified of shipment yet.

I was waiting to see the short kit and plan before ordering the wood kit. What do you think about the quality and price of the wood? Is if worth it versus ordering the wood from one of the wood suppliers?

I will also be looking for a canopy. If I can't find one, then it's easy to just build it solid, like in the picture above. Maybe I'll make a form and mold.

Mitch

bem

My Feedback: (1)

/Bo

pitstop000

My Feedback: (26)

If you’re looking for canopies try this source , Cosmos, Aurora 45, Aurora 60, Banshee, Curare, Taurus, Gator Flea and more.
http://parkflyerplastics.com/cart/in...index&cPath=46

jmb52760

Thanks Paul, that looks like it will do the trick.

Bo, thanks for the recommendation, I think I'll order the wood from Eureka as well.

pitstop000

My Feedback: (26)

Mitch, no problem. Glad I was able to help. That’s what this forum is all about.

I look forward to your new build thread; you won’t be disappointed with the Rossi and retracts.

I personally prefer air for ease of installation in a trike install and use the 300 series by Spring Air due to the lower profile. They are easier to fit in thinner wings, not that it is in issue with the Curare.