DonStegall

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I am pleased to announce that the Scarlett Screamer EF1 (http://ecsvr.com/abm/shopexd.asp?id=3459) and the Outrageous EF1 (http://ecsvr.com/abm/shopexd.asp?id=3458) are now in the US and in stock at AirBorne Models.

I did a little work with Dan Kane, Jerry Small, and Fai Chan of AirBorne Models to get these planes ready for mass production. Travis Flynn flew a prototype to a 4th place finish in California. Maybe at The Basin I think. Can't remember for sure.

I should have a couple in a week or so and will do full kit component photos for the AirBorne Models Showcase (http://www.abmshowcase.com/)

DonStegall

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I'm really excited that the EF1 kits are now in production. I've cleaned up my shop to get ready for them and I made a video tour of my main work area that is 37' x 20'. I have another room that is 23' x 13' and I use it for storage and for my wing curing table. My office is also upstairs. So I have a lot of space to work and play. http://youtu.be/yexXvwVP85A

I've also got some Club 40 planes to repair and get ready to race again. I have an ARC that is covered in transparent yellow with transparent red sunburst trim. I have to cover the wing for it. I have a LOT to do.

GREG DOE

Don, That's all great, but it would have been even better if we had seen you this past weekend in Julian. Greg

DonStegall

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Greg,

I was on a contract with Bank of America until 11/1. Our project goes into production on 11/8. It was a very intense 4 months with LONG hours and a lot of training. My skill set is much more valuable now. I just didn't have time to do anything. That's why my shop was in such disarray.

Also, I knew that the TWM EF1's would not be ready in time for the race. The container cleared customs a week before the race and the planes were unpacked on Wednesday.

I will be at the 2014 races. I may even try to fly Q-40. I have a composite Swee' Pea that I just need to assemble. I have a Q-40 SS Nelson ready to go it it. I will definitely fly 424 and EF1 next year.

Also, my son was home from college. We had a great weekend. That's him flying the quad copter inside my shop in the video of my shop. The 2008 and 2009 Club 40 seasons were tough on my family and my priority remains what is best for my family. I will see you at more races in the future.

I wrote this to someone yesterday:

I have taken several years to focus on my career and my programming skills. But I need a break from doing that all of the time and I'm going to get back to flying more. I have my laptop hooked up to the 40" HDTV in the master bedroom and I'm flying on the sim much more. I've got my 10 acres field behind my house in much better shape. I had let it get overgrown in 2010 and it's taken a lot to get it back to usable. I will probably have EF1 practice sessions on my field to rebuild the Charlotte area racing interest. Since we are only 2 hours from Old Julian Airport, I'm looking forward to going up to Julian. Sounds like they had a good race on Saturday.

bigblueswope

Don,

If you will be doing any Club 40 I would be interested in coming up for it.

Shorty Gauge

Don,
Good to see you back. Come play with us sometime.
Regards, Jim Katz

DonStegall

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Thanks Jim. You and Mike have done a tremendous job with Old Julian Airport. I hated to miss watching the NMPRA race, but I had to work over that weekend. I've been working most weekends for the past 4 months. It's just hard to get much done when you have intense days at work that continue into the weekend.

My new position is not going to require weekends, at least for a little while, as long as I do training during the week. But the new job gives me even more opportunity to advance my career.

I actually flew RealFlight on the 40" TV before work today. Having it downstairs where I can just change the input on the TV and fly is great. I have a lot of skill rebuilding to do.

I can't wait to get the Scarlet Screamer and the Outrageous and get at least one together. I crashed my Wingman II with the EF1 motor package. I got stung by a hornet just as the plane passed in front of me and the bug was all over me. I lost it in the sky as I was flailing around, but I got it in time to crash land it. Fortunately I have another Wingman II almost ready to fly. I try to fly quiet for the neighbors these days.

I may till and finish smoothing out the tennis court area that I never completed and set up a 100' course for the ParkZone Ultra Micro planes. I had two pylons set up 100' apart and it is a brisk pace. They could easily take off and land from a 120' runway and I think it would be a blast to get people racing those little $100-$150 planes, informally at least.

I'm not sure flying EF1's on my field is feasible. So I will be at some practice sessions at Julian when I get mine together. I'm going to build some Smashers for 424.

I glad to be back. I've been missing the R/C fellowship. I'm cutting Quickie cores, sheeting cores, and will probably even lay up some fuselages.

sahartman21

Don,

Good to see you flying again!

I've seen your field and suspect you will be able to fly the EF1 models from your field.

The actual speed is similar to the 424 class.

Best wishes,

Scott Hartman

DonStegall

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Thanks Scott.

It's good to be back into into flying.

I had switched to contacts around 2006. There is a catch in that I need bifocals. I have mono-vision contacts where my left eye is for reading and my right eye is for distance. This is very hard to get accustomed to. I had distance contacts for both eyes also. But I just couldn't see well. The doctor has tried many things. Early this summer or late sprint I got a pair of Transitions Ultra glasses with no bifocal. It made all of the difference in the world. Finally I could see well enough to keep plane orientation at reasonable distances. And flying was much more fun. But I started a contract on 7/15/13 that took all of my time and I had no time to fly unless it was micro helicopters in the house.

Barry Reade graciously sent Matthew and me a couple of micro helicopters. Matthew was home from college all summer and I got him a Blade mCP II. He did very well with it, even mastering inverted flight to a degree. But he could not easily fly it in the house. The Blade mCX and mSR that Barry sent us were more suited for indoor flying. Matthew got a Blade Nano QX quadcopter. It was really fun to fly in the house, especially if I changed to glasses. When Matthew was heading back to college, I got a Nano QX for myself. I had found that Hobby King had batteries for the micro copters (and the Ultra Micro planes) for about $2 a piece. I got 12 of them and split them with Matthew. So we could fly almost constantly.. We had a blast this summer with R/C. Matthew was flying some of my electric planes too.

Recently we got a 40" HDTV for the master bedroom. Of course I hooked up my Xbox 360 to it and that was fun. It has a VGA input as well. So I hooked up my i3 laptop and made sure I had the video settings correct so that I am getting the full 1920 x 1080 resolution. RealFlight is just so much fun on a big screen. We have a love-seat at the end of the bed and I can relax and just fly..

I didn't have any time in 2010 to mow the field and it got overgrown. Some brush as high as 6 feet. The summer of 2012 I started working on getting it cut. My Dad used his John Deere with a front loader and bush hog. But there were sticks all over the field. My neighbor Cliff built a concrete bridge from his yard to the field. It started as a tiling and rocks and was usable. The rain this spring and summer was so constant that without the bridge, I could not have gotten onto the field. The rain flooded the field a few times and all of the sticks have washed away. I extended the width of the main runway to 100 feet and I mow to 400 feet past #2 and #3 pylon positions. I haven't had the pylons back up, but I will soon.

I will test fly the new EF1 planes at Charlotte Aeromodelers and see if I feel comfortable enough to try them on my field. I could easily fly the Club 40 planes and the Wingman II with the EF1 power package. Quickies are a little tricky to land but I used to do it lot. So I think the EF1 planes may be doable.

Now I need to review your threads and see your techniques. You've done a great job in sharing your building threads.

DonStegall

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There are photos of the Scarlet Screamer on another forum and the final product looks good. I will have mine on Tuesday. Should have pictures and video by Wednesday night.

Since they aren't here yet, I made a video of the 1/4 scale Clipped Wing Cub kit components yesterday morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM_69ealC_Q

DonStegall

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I got my Outrageous and Scarlet Screamer ARF kits today. I've taken the Outrageous out of the box and snapped it together. I forgot to slide the cowl all the way back after walking downstairs with it. The World Models and Fai at AirBorne Models have done a very good job from what I see of the production model.

KEN 31

Here is a couple pictures of my Outrageous that I built from a Dan Kane kit, fly's great. Airborne Models should do well with these two F 1 designs.

DonStegall

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Here are some quick photos of the Scarlet Screamer. See http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...?ProductID=163

KEN 31

Don
How was the kit packing, any dents or marks on the parts?
Thank for posting the pictures and keep us up todate.

Ken

DonStegall

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Sorry for the delay in responding. I just started a new job last Wednesday and I also got a new Mac for iPhone/iPad development yesterday and that got my time.

The packing is good. The kits are in a strong cardboard box. And they are double boxed for shipping. No marks on the parts.

The wing tips have a fiberglass portion and are not perfectly smooth where they join. Not a big deal, but to kit builders it would possibly get on their nerves.

The wheel pants attachments are a little different and I will just have to see how they work out.

Overall I am very pleased.

The solid colors should make customization easy. But use ToughLon, EconoKote, stick on trim, or vinyl stickers for custom color schemes. The absolute maximum temperature for ToughLon is 275 degrees. Any hotter and you will damage the covering.

The control surfaces are pre-slotted for CA hinges that are not pre-glued. No working around attached surfaces. So adding trim on control surfaces is easy.

They are covered in the new ToughLon which does not have the white backing. It is lighter and a little more see-through than the white backed covering. I have not tried stripping the new ToughLon, so I don't know how hard it is to remove.

Jim Katz asked about the weight. The Scarlet Screamer with the landing gear but no other hardware other than the wing and tail bolts weighs 815 grams or 1 lb 12.7 ounces. The Outrageous in the same state weighs 807 grams or 1 lb 12.5 ounces.

The fuselage is set up for mini servos like the Hitec 225 or JR Sport MN48. The wing is set up for 2 screw servos like the Hitec 85.

The motor mount is not included, but the firewall is set up for the E-flite 25 and mounts like the Universal Motor Mount
by Brodak

I would really like to get one in the air, but I need to take pictures for the AirBorne Models Showcase. I know they have to fly well as the prototypes did from all reports. I have more on the way. But I will be taking my time as I'm sure other will have flight reports soon enough.

KEN 31

Keep the build report coming. Its great to here that the kit manufacturer has kept the weight down on these two models. Also nice to have the planes done in a solid colours.

Ken

DonStegall

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I am going to try to get a video made this weekend of the kit components for at least one of the planes and get better photos.

The bolt on tail is a very nice feature. Should make shipping of completed airplanes much easier.

The solid colors are very nice. If sales of the planes are good, additional colors like solid white and solid yellow might be possible. Solid red Sky Raider Mach II airframes have been popular in Club 40. The options are so wide open, I'm having a hard time deciding what I want to do. It seems I put checkerboards on everything racing. I'm thinking about putting red and white checkerboard on the silver Outrageous wing and tail. But I have some 1" silver and blue checkerboard and I think it would look good on it. Wish I had 2", but I sent that roll out with a Club 40 plane. I like 2" black and white checkerboard on red and white planes. The black and white looks good on your orange Outrageous.

KEN 31

A video will be great. I have built a number of E F1's, a Nemesis, Toni, Midget Mustang, Denight, Polecat and Outrageous, they all have the checker board design. Looks good in the air!!!
I do it all with Ultra Kote or Monokote trim on white Ultra Kote.
Red and white checkerboard trim would look very good on the Outrageous for visibility, as its done all silver. I was thinking of orange, white and black trim for the Outrageous.

DonStegall

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After dinner, I made a video of the kit components. It is uploading on YouTube and should be live at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRsXwXU7KXo by 11:00 - 11:30 pm EST.

Right now I'm adding trim. I went with blue and white checkerboard in the path of the ailerons and blue tips. I'm going to put blue/white on the stab. I have a Club 40 plane in yellow with that scheme.I should have it done by bedtime and will post a photo or two. I may do my second Outrageous with the red and white checkerboard. I will fly this one before I assemble or trim the second one or the Scarlet Screamers.

AirBorne Models is going to lower the price of the EF1 kits to $159.99 plus shipping. Those who have bought them already will get a rebate.

DonStegall

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This is my Outrageous after adding trim on the wing panels. I am going to strip the top of the horizontal stab and put blue/white on it tomorrow night.

The weight increased by 11 grams from 807 to 818. Since I'm going to take the covering off the top of the stab, the 11 grams (0.38 ounces) should be about the max for the trim additions unless I paint and cover an area on top of the fuselage.

I will probably use the Outrageous decal as it is easy to trim off the red checkerboard flourish.

DonStegall

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You can see all of my videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/DonStegall/videos ... Please Like (or Dislike) them and +1 them. It gives me more feedback so I know what people want to see. I monetize my videos so that I get a little return on the investment for time and materials.

Feel free to comment on the videos. Please ask questions or post constructive comments.

I tried using a script, but I didn't feel it worked. That was before I found teleprompter apps for tablets. I have to give them a try.

I will be doing a lot of videos for the AirBorne Models Showcase with a range of planes from sport electrics to the EF1 planes and Giant Scale planes.

I am also going to do some more video build series like how to build the Smasher bolt on V-tail and how to jig build Quickie fuselages.

I hope to get a GoPro camcorder so I can shoot flying videos by myself. Randy Smith's helmet cam videos are cool.

KEN 31

Very nice!!!

DonStegall

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Thanks Ken. I cheated and used 2" blue and white checkerboard ToughLon. It's not as nice as swoopy checkerboards, but it's time efficient. I use Windex and squeegee out the bubbles. I forgot to pre-shrink the base covering on one panel and that made it tougher to get the bubbles out.

I had to get some Quickie wings out last night and this morning, so I didn't get to do anything last night. But these planes have really grown on me. Especially after adding the trim covering. I wasn't real wild about the silver, but with additional trim, it looks very nice in person. I can't wait to get trim on the Scarlet Screamer. I grew up with the Stegall Minnows and Prather Lil' Toni's and have generally been a low wing fan. These planes have the classic updated Cassutt look and I'm really liking them.

I plan to make a video tonight of the Scarlet Screamer kit components or video of stripping the stab top and covering it.

I had to order components to put the planes together. I got A5040 Mini Digital Aircraft Metal Gear Servo by Spektrum (SPMSA5040) for the fuselage and I'm going to use Hitec HS-85MG Premium Metal Gear Micro Servo UL in the wing.

I ordered a fresh Electric Motor EF-1 Racing by Arrowind and some of the Universal Motor Mount by Brodak Item#BH-1852 as well as the 1.50" Aluminum Bullet Spinner with 4 & 5mm Collet by E-flite (EFLSP150B)

KEN 31

Looking forward for the Scarlett Screamer video. Hows the red, does it cover all the laser brown cuts, some times it looks real nasty.
Thinking of ordering one now that the price has dropped, but the shipping is a killer to Ontario, Canada, around $45.00 bucks.
Was going to order one, when in FL. for the month of Feb. but Airborne might be out of stock by then.

DonStegall

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The red covers the laser cutting well. You can see the lightening holes if you're in good light indoors as this red does not have the white backing on it. But you don't see brown lines on the covering.

The new ToughLon seems much better than the older stuff. I was going to try to strip the stab on my Outrageous and I could not easily get the covering off. I didn't try real hard, but it seems to have much better adhesion.

It'll be a couple of days before I do the Scarlet Screamer video. I have stuff to do tonight (Wednesday).

I have a few extra kits now. So send me your address and I'll see what I can do about shipping.