patternflyer76

I have just converted my Simla to electric. I am going to test it out this weekend. I used a Turnigy 325kv, 80A ESC, and 6S4000Mah 25c system with a 14x14 APC Prop. It is not pulling a lot of amps so I will be no where near its capacity. I believe it will work well for what I need. Here are some pics...

thom25

Hey Richard and Bill,
Did either of you two fly your Simla yet?
Thom

billberry189

My Feedback: (1)

Thom,

My Simla has been finished for about a month now, but I just have not been able to get to the field when the weather was conducive to a maiden flight.I am hoping for next weekend.

Bill

thom25

Bill, can you figure the total weight of the fiberglass and paint finish you used on your Simla to compare with other modes of finish like silk and dope and Monokote.
Thom

billberry189

My Feedback: (1)

Thom

The best I can figure from past posts, is that the weight gain from the glassing and urethane finishing is approximately 2.70 pounds. When you consider the hardware at 4.52 pounds, that brings the bare airframe in at 5.78 pounds.All of which means that in order to achieve a 7.5 to 8 pound Simla I am going to have toreduce the entire process by nearly 40%. Oh boy!!!!

Bill

patternflyer76

Update:

My Simla was a hit converted to electric. My set up is OS 375kv motor, 6s4000mah 25c battery, 80A ESC Plush, and 4 blade APC 15.5x12.... 1550 Watts of power per the watt meter. More power then the old .90 2 stroke I had in it. More vertical and very smooth. Only using about 120mah per flight where the glow was using 320 mah per same flight time. I have uploaded about a 5 second in-flight video over the French Broad River from the Simla....

Kevin Clark
SPA 427
AMA 340037

patternflyer76

Here is the link to the video... Sorry file type not supported here.... Just copy and past in your browser...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjSN...ature=youtu.be

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

For some reason, I'd like everybody to have a "tail number". As each plane is built and completed, we need the builders to claim their number.

I just learned of another completed Simla from Gary Le Platt. What would his "number" be??...I know we have the three prototypes, and Thom, (1,2,3, and 4), but I haven't heard for sure on the others...Bilberry and Richard for example. Can we get updates from you?

How many other Simlas have flown. I would guess #5 belongs to the Simla from Switzerland we saw pictured on the previous page. Anybody else want to claim his number?

I've been asked about control throws. What are you using? On the original, we set it up for what "looked right", then set the low rate to 50-60% of that. I also used Expo to soften the response.

To repeatmake sure the ailerons are sealed...on this plane it makes a world of difference in performance. On the original few flights, the gaps were not sealed, and the plane responded as quickly as an Airbus. Sealing the gaps made it perform much more like a "pattern plane."

Duane

thom25

Hi Duane,
I sealed all hinge gaps with clear Monokote. My Simla flies very nicely with the following control throws:
Aileron up/down 0.375" measured at the wing root
Elevator up/down 0.75" at the root
Rudder L/R 1.375" at rudder bottom
I hope this helps.
Has anyone finished their Simla with silk and dope? If so, I would like to know how much weight that technique adds to the bare air frame.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Thom

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

As I said in the article, I used a product called "Polyspan" light which is kind-of a tissue-like substance that has heat-shrink properties when a heat iron is applied. What you do is to cut it to approximate size, place it on solid areas and moderately mist it with a water spray bottle to hold it in place. You iron over that to remove the wrinkles, then quickly cover with dope to hold it in place. Add another cote or two, use a coat of filler/primer, then final paint.

I used the Radio South polyurethane paints in two parts. All of this added considerable weight. My Simla wing for example was built with contest balsa and was very light. By the time it was painted, it wasn't light any more, (I probably over-applied the paint to make things worse because I had a couple areas where the paint ran some. BTW...the RS paint gave a beautiful finish that looked good in the magazine article.

I believe that just the polyspan and dope wouldn't be that heavy if a light filler and final paint coat is used. The Polyspan tissue/fabric material I used was the easiest material I have ever worked with in terms getting rid of wrinkles...there isn't a wrinkle anywhere...even in compound curve areas around the nose. I recommend it for those who might want to try fabric/dope.

Duane

stefanP

My Feedback: (2)

What color's do you have on the bottom?? Mine will be in the ORIGINAL Color scheme.Thanxs,
stefanP

nilspeder

If you can answer, approximately how many Simla kits were originally produced?

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

I contacted Jeff to see how he's doing and get an update. Here are the parts of his e-mail that you'd probably be interested in:

Been very busy at the new job – I go in at 7 am and leave between 6-9 pm depending on what is going on (the owner and vp are very demanding...We have a slew of projects and I’ve also been travelling much more in this job than I have at others. I went to Oregon/Idaho a month or two ago, never been there before.

As for the Simla, I believe I produced around 80. Fifty in the first run and 30 in the next. Everything has sold out except for a few Sig and BalsaUSA kits.

The [manufacturing] deal with Sig fell through. Well, I should say, they just stopped responding. I sent drawings, parts I fabricated and a bill of material to the president/owner. Everything was progressing nicely. Then all of a sudden he stopped talking to me. He wouldn’t return my calls or emails. That left me very disappointed with Sig. I had quite a bit of respect for them until that point. Not even a word to say the deal was off.

I was given a name of another shop in Tennessee but lost the contact info. So, nothing is happening on any of my kits since I’m so busy at work. I barely have time to return to the rental, exercise, eat and check email. After that I go straight to bed. No time at all to dig up a contact and follow up; much less building kits. Strangely, a former customer contacted me last night via LinkedIn and is enquiring about the business. I’m going to talk with him and see what come of it.

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

Because of the response above, it's looking as if Jeff's kits will no longer be available unless a kit manufacturer might be interested in taking them over. If the owners of Eureka, Blue Jay or other manufacturers are following this thread, Jeff has a number of quality kits that he no longer has the time to produce. It would be great if another manufacturer could work out a manufacturing deal with Jeff regarding production of his Taurus, King Altair, Kwik-Fly, Orion, and SIMLA kits...all the development work is done, and Jeff's reputation is the best.

I hope it happens. Jeff might still be interested in carving out enough time to do the development work on the Taurus II or other model for potential kitting, but he can no longer produce the kits themselves.

Contact either me or Jeff.

Duane

stefanP

My Feedback: (2)

Well for now it looks as though the classic kits jeff has produced have/will become classic's.!!
stefanP

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

There are some of us out here still working on ours. I just finished all the major "build up" pieces. Man this thing takes up a lot of space in the shop.

Marty

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,

I noticed there is a Simla kit from Classic RC Hobby for sale and I'm sure You will find it if You are interested.
Since the Simla kit is not produced anymore it will probably not be that many for sale in future.
I have the kit myself and it is a very fine kit.

/Bo

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

I am ready to start covering. Making it electric was interesting. I will post some pictures shortly.

Marty

nilspeder

Did the electric conversion balance out OK, did you have to do anything special with the servos?

Patrnflier

My Feedback: (1)

Actually I located dual elevator servos in the stab. You have a lot of leeway with 3.5 lbs of battery. They are located in the area for the tank. I constructed a battery floor with Velcro straps and used magnets on the hatch. The receiver and battery are located just forward of the wing tube with the nose gear servo. The rudder servo is located just forward of F4. I am using a 320 kv 6000 series motor with a castle ice 80 hv controller. I am starting at 7 cell, but can go to 10 cell if necessary. The prop is a conventional 15.5 x13 apc and a tru turn 3" spinner. Cooling is done via gill slots on both sides of the nose and exits through slots in both hatch covers.

marty

thom25

Hey Marty,
How about some pictures? When you have your Simla flying come on over to the Midwest Sundowners field in Wheeler In. and we can fly them together. Elkhart is not that far away.
Thom

Jim Porter

My Feedback: (4)

So, does anyone have a Simla kit they are willing to sell?
Or is Jeff going to manage a run of short kits?
I finally got around to building my Tauros. It looks to be great fun.

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

Jeff is tied up at work to the point he has put his "Classic R/C" kit business on indefinite hold. It will be back, but we don't know when. When something changes, everyone will know. Good luck in finding a kit out there..Jeff says above that he believes about 80 kits were produced.

Duane

kingaltair

My Feedback: (4)

By the way, I have some news. I was contacted by the editor of an Italian modeling magazine who recently read the original Simla article from Model Aviation (March 2011). He would like to re-publish the article over in Italy, (translating it into Italian), perhaps in the spring of next year!! How about that!!

HVACMAN

My Feedback: (127)

Hi Jim, I have a Silma kit. I don't want to sell it but I will trade for one of Jeffs Kwik fli kits. let me know ,Rob