Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

Successful 1st RC flight since Katrina.
84" wingspan PT19, 30cc gasoline rebuilt Homelite engine.

Did not need shovel, no witnesses.

The PT19 was acquired used from another member who did a beautiful job
getting the CG perfect with the 30cc Homelite.

All control throws were set as specified in the Dynaflite manual.
Airplane flew beautifully.

The 30cc Homelite idled nicely and was very strong
with an 18-6 Master Airscrew prop.

Most of the flight was flown at reduced throttle, about 6000 rpm.

Very impressed with the Homelite 30cc.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Very Nice!! Congrats!!

The Homelite is a touch heavy compared to more recent engine offerings, but makes good power and is bulletproof. In most all of the planes I have used the engine in, I would have had to add nose weight with a lighter engine anyway. Treated nicely with proper mixtures, oil, etc.; you would never be able to wear out or break that engine.

Nice plane and nice accomplishment. Glad you didn't need the shovel!

AV8TOR

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Man!! That grass flying area is fantastic and beautiful! Nothing like that around these parts..... :-(

AV8TOR

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

What you ought to do now my friend, with your new found experience, is convert another one. Grab another Homey 30 at that great price, and convert it, but this time go with CDI ignition and get rid of the magneto. You'd like that. If you do so, and are looking for a carb adapter/insulator for it, be advised that they made one that turns the carb 90 degrees and makes the linkage hookup a breeze.

Here's a couple of places to look at for ignitions:

www.rcextremepower.net/rcxpignitions.html

www.ch-ignitions.com

AV8TOR

Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Av8tor.

You're absolutely right. Those new 30cc short blocks are just crying to be converted.

For it to be economical, I'd need to stumble across a worn out parts only 30cc in order to get the needed carb, muffler, prop hub, back plate, mount, etc.

The PT19 now has 4 flights under its belt, and the idle keeps getting better.
I am liking this magneto engine.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

If you like, I'll check when I go back home for Halloween with my daughter. I might have a complete Homey 25cc I could give you for parts. Just pay shipping. (The 25/30cc engines are identical except for the bore.)

AV8TOR

Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

Av8tor, I appreciate the offer.

Let me see what I can scrounge online first. I'd hate to disassemble a perfectly good engine for this project, and I won't have anything to put it in for a while.

But I think I will go ahead and get another short block off ebay.

Steve

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Grab me one too, and I'll trade you parts for it.

Very nice video in your other new thread. It's amazing how well he was able to keep your PT in frame so well. I enjoyed it. Your plane looks very nice and flies smoothly. Glad you got that engine done and the plane in the air and that you enjoy it so much.

Getting into gassers, and getting into converting engines added an entirely new and fun dimension to this hobby for me.

AV8TOR

Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks Av8tor,

I'm with you on the satisfaction from the work required to convert an engine.
The highlights of last week's flight were the positive comments from the peanut gallery about how smoothly the engine was running.
The converted Homelite engine was the only part that had not been purchased ready to go off the shelf.

I imagine that is the sense of accomplishment scratch builders and kit builders feel from creating their aircraft masterpieces.
Buying a pretty ARF (I have several) allows us to say "Look at what I bought."

There is much more pride and satisfaction in being able to say "Look at what I built."

If you like, you can send a PM with your shipping address.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

What you say is quite true, but there is a "dark side" to scratch and kit building too. Sometimes it is difficult for me to fully enjoy flying those planes, because so much of my valuable TIME is invested in them. Many times the only way around it for me is to just hang them up and let them look pretty, and after a while, I tend to forget all the effort that went into them. Then I can fly them with less trepidation.

While I do love building planes, the ARF craze has been really good for me. It allows me to fly beautiful planes that I just never would have time to build, and my creative juices get used on engines. I love engines, and as you've just proved, it is nearly impossible to destroy them completely!

It's a bummer though, how much the ARF prices have gone up. Great Planes for example, just came out with a Giant, Giant Stik. I would love to get one and convert it into a low winger, but at 500 bucks for the plane, that just ain't gonna happen!

I will send you a PM right now.

AV8TOR

Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

I hear ya.

My solution to trepidation came 30 years ago when a friend was going to throw away his crashed airplane.
Instead he gave it to me, and I repaired it into an ugly flyable beast.
Because it had been crashed already and was so ugly,
the trepidation about crashing disappeared and flying became fearless fun.

I think that might be one reason why the Ugly Stik is so popular.
Besides flying great, the trepidation about crashing an ugly airplane is less.

I agree with you about the cost of ARFs.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

I have a regular Giant Big Stik, and I just love that thing. It is powered by a 50cc twin cylinder engine that I made out of two Echo 25cc weedeater engines. I ran it out of gas one day, and hit some high power lines while trying to stretch the glide back to the field. It hung there for a second, then fell straight down on its nose from about 50 feet. Didn't hurt the engine thankfully, but it really trashed the fuselage. I immediately rebuilt it, better than new. Shortened the nose a bit to make up for the weight of that twin. It's got an ugly scar on the landing gear where it hit the power line, but instead of dressing it out and polishing it, I left it there as a well earned "battle scar."

I really appreciate the precision aerobatics of my Extra, Katana, etc., but for some reason I always seem to fly the old Stik more! I really do like that new Giant, Giant Stik. Wish I could afford one!!

AV8TOR

Rooster353

My Feedback: (2)

Finally found the Giant Big Stik XL you were referring too.
Impressive!

Great Planes Giant Big Stik XL 55-61cc Gas/EP ARF

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, it's really cool. I would love to have one, but even if I could afford it I probably wouldn't buy it because it is hard for me to justify paying 500 bucks for something that I could scratch build for probably 100 bucks worth of materials and a few bits out of my scrap box. I might just have to do that when my life gets sorted and I fully get back into the hobby; scratch out a huge Stik. The Giant Stik I do have flies so nicely; I can just imagine how much fun an even bigger one would be....

It is such a bummer that Nitroplanes abandoned their gas airplane line and jumped on this darn electric foamy craze. They had cool gas ARF's at very good prices. I have several in my fleet and some still held back waiting to get built. Glad I bought them before Nitroplanes "bailed" on us gasser guys and sold out to the electric crowd....

AV8TOR