Greg Covey

Thanks. Here is how it looks in the plane. I mounted the red pushbutton where the original builder had the Rx. On/Off switch as I won't need it. I plug my receiver pack directly into the regulator. The red portion of the steering column will disappear when it is fully engaged. The steering wheel "key" presses down and turns to lock in place in the "On" position.

I still need to mount an "oil pressure" gauge and add the pilot seat or bench.

The last picture shows a good size perspective on the 1/3 scale model. Now that the kids are grown, and left the nest, I have the entire backroom as my R/C den.

Greg Covey

I finally installed the second spoked wheel on the Eastbourne so I moved on to balancing the plane. I was able to fit the four 4s 4AH packs just behind the firewall. My feeling was that I needed all the weight up front that I could get. Two packs are connected in series for an 8s LiPo voltage and then each set is connected in parallel for an 8AH capacity. All the connections can be safely made without powering the ESC due to the battery cutoff switch. The packs are simply held in place using a piece of playroom flooring foam.

I created a front hatch from lite ply which is held in place with two 8-32 Nylon thumb screws painted silver.

After installing the wings and adding the prop and receiver battery, I was surprised to find that the Eastbourne was already reasonably balanced at 28% of the 20" chord. Since this is where the designer placed the aluminum wing tube, it is where we will try the maiden flight. Further information from Dick Parshall's son, Rick Parshall, reveals that my Eastbourne was never finished or flown.

We may end up flying it as is for the maiden voyage using the APC 26x15 prop to protect the Xoar props in case something goes wrong. I'll likely use the pilot and bench seat in the cockpit to offset the mock radial engine cylinders when they are available. In this manner, we can gain flight confidence on the Eastbourne before spending time adding more scale details.

Greg Covey

The second hatch was made from 1/4" balsa and covered with silver Oracover. I was surprised with my previous balance of the Eastbourne so I decided to make my final weight measurements.

Fuselage.. = 11.5lbs
Wings...... = 5.5lbs
Batteries.. = 4lbs
RTF Weight: 21lbs

Chord..... = 20"
Wingspan = 100" (less fuselage)
Wingarea = 2000 sq. in.

2000 sq. in. / 144 = 13.9 sq. ft.
21lbs = 336 oz.

I believe that results in a Wing Loading of 24.2 oz/sq ft

Greg Covey

I made a seat for the cockpit out of a foam knee pad. I figured that a knee was about 1/3 the size of a butt.

I don't know if they used seat belts in 1913 but I needed some way to hold the pilot in place when it arrives from Wales.

The Xoar props are drilled so I can try a power test in my backyard when the weather permits. I'll start working on my oil pressure gauge next...

TomCrump

I've been following your progress, but not commenting.

You are doing a great job !

Greg Covey

Thanks, Tom. I'm having fun with this project because there is plenty of time and research involved.

I found this site in Russia called, [link=http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Indexes/Crafts4-6.htm]Their Flying Machines[/link]. It has a wealth of information on designs from the early 1900s. Most of the photos back then were dark and grainy images of the whole plane. Close-ups were mostly sketches made by hand. This one below looks like it has a compass installed in the cockpit. I'll likely go with just an oil pressure gauge in my Eastbourne.

Greg Covey

Since I had lengthened the wires from the ESC to the battery packs, I decided to install one of the new [link=http://www.castlecreations.com/products/cc-cap-pack.html]CapPacks[/link] from Castle Creations. It is easy to install and reduces the ripple voltage seen at the ESC when there is high current running on a lengthened battery wire. On the Eastbourne, I needed to install the LiPo packs up front just behind the firewall so the wires run into the cockpit arming switch disguised as a steering mechanism.

I power tested the Eastbourne in my backyard last Saturday and it works perfectly! The pull at full throttle is impressive with the 26x10 props so I am ready to test fly it and then finish up my dummy cylinders and air pressure gauge. My pilot should arrive sometime in June.

Greg Covey

My friend, Lynn Bowerman, made up a dummy cylinder kit for me by cutting CDs into the fins and curving balsa into a 1.5" diameter cylinder shape. I had not expected the "cylinder build fixture" or the World Models like marked bags to match the drawing so it was a great start to my next scale-up on the Eastbourne.

I went to Lowe's and picked up some PVC caps for mounting the cylinders to the main motor mount. I also picked up some #6-32 threaded rod. Although Lynn expected to use #4-40 threaded rod, I thought it was a bit thin and opted for the next size.

We found several versions of the Anzani Y-radial engine so we opted to mimic the one on the left with fewer fins.

Greg Covey

I decided not to use the wrapped balsa as a cylinder base and bought some Estes BT-60 Body Tubes instead. They were close to the diameter I needed and easier to work with a rigid tube. They cut nicely with a craft hand saw. To increase the diameter so the fins just fit, I needed to layer it several times. Since the tubes comes in an 18" length, I cut one into thirds and started my assembly. The Sig Balsa Block was a backup in case the tubes didn't work out.

I added two outer layers to the main cylinder and closed the gap with a thin piece of cedar from my cigars. I used medium CA for all the gluing. The bottom section of the cylinder fits into the 1-1/2" PVC cap that will get mounted to the main engine body.

I cut the #6-32 threaded rod to length and started adding the fins that were created from CDs. The fins were simply positioned by eye using the photo and secured in place using medium CA and spray kicker. I added some #6-32 nylon insert lock nuts to the top of the threaded rods.

After spraying a coat of flat black Krylon paint, my first dummy cylinder started to materialize!

Greg Covey

So that nothing goes to waste, I used the cut off bottom sections to strengthen the inside of the cylinder bottom that fits into the 1-1/2" PVC cap. In this manner, one BT-60 tube makes a complete cylinder body.

I'll likely secure the cylinder to the 1-1/2" PVC cap using #6 screws so I can remove them to keep adding more scale details. (exhaust pipe, spark plug, valve, etc.)

Greg Covey

I made the exhaust pipe from several pieces of 1/2" copper plumbing pipe purchased at Ace Hardware. The 5/8" diameter dowel rod was used to make a mount for the pipe. The two copper pieces were glued together with medium CA and then covered with Krylon Original Chrome spray paint.

I had to flatten the top of the dowel rod inside the cylinder so that my 1-1/2" Test Cap still fit on top. My plan is to use this as a base for the top valve.

The dowel and pipe were glued in stages using 5-minute epoxy. The result was a pretty good look for minimal effort.

Greg Covey

After first sanding and painting the PVC cap, I mounted it to the main engine using PVC glue. To make sure it was positioned properly, I installed the dummy cylinder in the cap. The cylinder is held in place by two #6-32 cap head screws...one in the front and one in the rear. After letting the glue dry for a day, I added the spacers for the threaded rod to sit in. The spacers were glued in place with BVM V-poxy and then painted with Testor's silver enamel paint. The thick V-poxy adds a "welded" effect to the parts.

If you look closely, you can see my tribute to the Italian designer, Alessandro Anzani.

TomCrump

You're doing nice work on the dummy engine !

Greg Covey

Thanks, Tom.

I was having so much fun installing the PVC cap that I forgot to cut it down. So here are some photos with about 1" removed from the PCV cap base along with the lighter Xoar WWI prop. The lower cylinder is closer to scale.

Greg Covey

I managed to squeeze in my last R/C fix before going on vacation to Napa Valley. Since it snowed here in NY today, I am ready to leave.

I found an inexpensive 1/4" Milton air coupler at Ace Hardware that looked similar to the smaller spark plugs...but much less expensive. I'll bet Harbor Freight has them for even less.

After using my Dremel tool to grind away a portion of the CD "fin", I cut a hole just large enough to screw the "plug" in place. I added a piece of white trim tape around one section and cut a brass cylinder piece to solder the wire onto for the top. Although the wire is removable, I don't think they used rubber boots in 1913 so I left the wire exposed.

The white cap on top will be painted black and house the valve. I am looking for help from my friend, Paul Weigand, on this section. Paul just won the Precision Scale Award at this year's Toledo show so he loves a good scale challenge. Whenever my next AMP'D issue is published (I submitted it 3 months ago) it has a full write-up and video on Paul's 1937 Culver Dart electric conversion which he won the award for. It was originally built and flown in the 80s using a gas engine.

Greg Covey

My friend, Paul, stopped over yesterday and gave me some ideas to create my valve for the mock cylinder. He also gave me some vinyl sheets of various thickness, which I used to make the valve lever. I gathered some spare parts like a spring, clevis, and bulkhead coupler and started having some fun!

Within an hour, I created my valve and push rod. The whole assembly was then painted black.

Next weekend, Memorial weekend, it is time to test fly the Eastbourne. I won't have the mock cylinder mounted...just in case...but I'll bring it along to show the guys. If all goes well, I'll be making two more cylinders.

TomCrump

NICE !

R/C Gypsy

Looks great Greg........now you've got ot get the other two done!

There may yet be hope for you as a scale modeler

Paul

Greg Covey

We had an opportunity to test fly the Eastbourne over the Memorial weekend. The weather was sunny and unusually calm. The plane was set up on my table and given a full system check. You can see the oil pressure gauge that Paul made for the cockpit.

Since the Eastbourne has no ground steering until the tail is up, I dragged it out to the starting position on the field. For the first flight, we used the APC prop to keep my Xoar props safe.

I have a flying video and more photos coming soon...

photos by "Papa Jeff" Ring

Greg Covey

The 1913 Eastbourne flew great on its first few flights. Lynn Bowerman took the sticks and made it airborne after a quick taxi test across the field. We did, however, encounter several minor issues like the ESC over heating and a few wires coming loose. After fixing those issues, we took it up again on the same battery packs and had another short flight due to the front cowl breaking loose. These were all easy fixes so it is time to finish up the other two dummy cylinders as the 1/3 scale Eastbourne model proved air worthy.

I received an e-mail today from Sandra Hawes in Wales. She said that she will be working on my pilot this week.

In a few weeks we'll get to fly it again at a local R/C show.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/Reviews/EastbourneFlying1.wmv]Eastbourne Maiden Flight[/link] (23meg)

photos by "Papa Jeff" Ring

ukengineman

Nice job, looks great in the air!

TomCrump

Congrats on your success !!!! The model looks great, both on the ground, and in the air.

A job well done.

parshallboatworks

hi gregg, thanks for flying dads eastbourne at our field and waiting for (barely..lol) me to show up for first flight. you and lynn did a great job,and i am sure dad was smiling down on us that day. the plane was one of dads prized projects and kinda an end of an era in scratch building. wish more people would do some scratch builds!!! thanks again, rick parshall

jlsimon

My Feedback: (164)

Greg, Would you happen to know what size gas engine was in the Eastbourne prior to your conversion? Regards, Jerry

Greg Covey

Hi Rick,

I'm glad you saw the maiden flight as well as yesterday's first flawless flight with one completed cylinder. I'll post a video of it soon. I also got word that my pilot shipped from Wales so everything is on schedule for this year's NEAT Fair in September.

Jerry,

I believe that this Saito [link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/fa-200r3-3-cylinder-radial-glow-engine-ba-SAIE200R3]FA-200R3[/link] 3-Cylinder Radial Glow Engine is close to what was used. Probably an older version though. It didn't need much power but I'll see if I can find out more details.

Regards,