landeck

My Feedback: (1)

It was the first of the Schnurle (sp?) ported series of OS engines. The F stands for front exhaust, I think. It is also labeled as an "ABC" engine but is really a "ABN" engine.

Bruce

buzzard bait

If it has a two-needle carb and ball bearings then it is almost certainly the FSR. I say "almost" because the SF was quite similar.

If it has an air-bleed carb and no ball bearings then it is the FP.

They are both really nice running engines. The FSR is more powerful and a little heavier.

Jim

stevegauth30

well it has the two needle carb and the ball bearings so it is probably the FSR. Thats good to know. Thanks.

buzzard bait

It's a sweet engine and more than enough power for your GL. A 9x5 or 9x6 prop would be scale size and quite good on it, as you probably know. It's not an easy project but you have done a really nice job on it.

Do you know the weight ready to fly? How's the balance with the engine installed?

Have you figured out yet if a universal in-cowl muffler will fit? I imagine you've checked out the options at Mecoa.com, right?

Thanks for the pics and all; I look forward to hearing about the first flights! Might be a little chilly for that for awhile.

Jim

stevegauth30

Thanks for following along buzzard bait, and for the kind words. No, this wasnt one of the easier kits that ive built, but it was probably the most enjoyable one so far. Im actually kind of safd that its almost done. Im real excited to maiden it. I havent got a chance to weigh it yet, I need a new scale. It feels pretty light though so im sure its within the safe range. As farv as the CG goes, Its excactly where the plans say it should be. Surprise surprise. This is the first time i didnt have to add any weight to the nose or tail. So, do you have a GLT? or are you building one?

buzzard bait

No I don't, I just always admired it. I'd like to do one in 1/6th scale. The full size was fairly small, so at 1/6 it would still be easy enough to keep it with the wings attached. I watched one do a really nice aerobatic routine at an airshow. It was Ranger powered, so not a hot performer, just beautiful and graceful to watch.

Jim

stevegauth30

Yeah, I was very happy to find this kit. I Also saw one at an airshow. It was just a static display so I never got to see it fly, but i really liked the size of it and the lines. For some reason it just jumped out at me. Really, im just in to all vintage bipes.But i definatly like the fact that i can throw it in the back of the car without having to dissamble it. Im also thinking about building another one as an electric model. Look at me, im not even done with it and i want to start another. Man, this hobby is addicting.

stevegauth30

hey jim, i really like that petite paraso you have in your gallery. is or was it a good flying plane? who made the kit?

buzzard bait

Thank you Steve! I built that from magazine plans, actually a magazine I had been saving since 1966! It was in MAN 3/66, and MAN still sells the plans. I always loved its looks.

It is a good three channel plane...no ailerons. I kept mine really light, I think it was 30 oz or less. It climbs like crazy on an Enya 09 III...that's the 1960s model. It was a bit of a build compared to say, an Esquire. But not nearly as hard as a Great Lakes! If you want to know more I did a thread on it which you can find with a search.

By the way, there's a guy on RCU who posted really nice pictures of a Great Lakes Trainer in 1/6th scale. He restored an old one built in the 60s from a kit of that time. I think it's only 3 channel too, because few people could afford a radio that gave them "full house" control. It has non-scale dihedral if I remember correctly. Just do an RCU search and I'm sure you'll see it.

Jim

stevegauth30

hey guys. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I ran out of materials to finish the GLT. I ordered what i needed to finish this build. An in cowl muffler, the covering needed, some cockpit coaming, stuff like that. In the mean time, I have been putting some time into another project that i have been working on for a while. It is a Davey Systems Stampe SV-4. I am just as excited to maiden this one as i am the GLT. Anyways, my stuff should be here in a couole of days, so more pics coming soon. The rest is all just scale detail. Louvers, exaust stacks, some fairing and stuff like that. Lets hope that i can do something with the JTEC pitts muffler.

stevegauth30

Ok, so now i am stumped. I just attempted to do some taxi testing around the yard, despite the freezing temps, and to no avail. Well, it taxis just fine, but as for turning, well thats a different story all together. It doesnt even turn a little. Why? I know that a tail skid is a bit different from a tail wheel, but it should turn a little. I have an edge 540T with a tail skid that is so touchy that it ground loops all the time if im not careful. I have to keep it on low rates to taxi it. I have no clue what the manufacturer  recomends for rudder throws, but it just about hits the elevator, so i should have plenty of throw. Im kind of baffled. Any thoughts? Maybe with a bit more speed it will turn, but i was going as fast as my little driveway will let me.

KitBuilder

I had the kit but am only left with the plans now and am wanting to enlarge to a bigger 4 stroke powered size..... maybe 60" span. Will be my first plans build but I have a few builds in front of this one.

I know the WWI types didnt really taxi.. they just lined them up into the wind. However a trick used was to blip the power... with a touch of down elevator that pops the tail up a bit.. with corresponding rudder and that way you can push the tail left or right. Takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it's not to bad. Not sure why it's not turning at all though.

buzzard bait

I think it will be a different story when you get it on to grass with more room. Most of my planes have had steerable skids, but in my limited experience with fixed skids I found that they would turn well enough to work just fine at our club field, as long as you have room to make very wide turns.

Now, if you have a very short, stiff skid with almost no flex it will not turn as much. But on a good sized grass field it should still work well enough.

If you fly from a paved strip then forget the skid and mount a tail wheel. That's true for full scale and models.

stevegauth30

I was thinking about scrapping the skid and mounting a tailwheel, but i didnt want to take away from the realism. At this point, Im thinking that it really wont matter much though. First of all, its not a scale competition plane, i dont think that many of the old timers at the club are GLT experts, and even if they are, its not their plane. I think im going to go for functional rather than appearance. I havent had much progress on it lately being that i am finally getting around to finishing an erlier project. But more to come soon as i just recieved the rest of the stuff needed to complete this one. I cant wait till spring, and i doubt if i will. Firdt half way descent day and they will both be airborn. BTW, if anyone knows how to accurately enlarge plans, i would like to do so if you can let me know. I would also like to build one with a 60 or so inch ws. Thanks, Steve

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Steve, I think you are right on the tail wheel. At that time tail wheels were just coming into use so I dought anyone will coment on and it will make taxing/take off more controled. Looking forward to seeing the completed plane and hearing the flight reports.

Bruce

stevegauth30

Well, here is the new progress that i made over the weekend. The GLT is , for the most part done. The onle things left to do are to remove the tail skid and install a tail wheel, and the cockpits. I ordered some fourmost coaming, but it turned out to be too small. I bought the 1/8 inch stuff figuring that it was a pretty small plane, but the 1/4 inch will be alot better. So i ordered that, it should be here in a couple of days. The wind shields were made with roof flashing, what a pain in the butt. They look pretty realistic. The muffler that i went with was a universal type from tower. It really barely fits. When i say that i had to shoe horn it in, i really mean it. I had to gring off the top outer edge of the moffler, as well as take out alot of material from the inside of the cowl. It still doesnt quite fit right, as you can see in the pics, the top front of the cowl is a bit higher than it should be. I may end up rebuilding the cowl around the engine and exaust. Other than that, shes ready to take to the skies. First nice day and you will hopefuly be getting a flight report as well as some video. Thanks for following along. Steve.

pspring

My Feedback: (1)

Looks good Steve! How many rolls of covering did you use? Good luck with first flight!

stevegauth30

BTW, This is the other project that has been taking up so much of my time this winter. Its a Davey Systems Stampe SV4. The kit was purchased from tower hobbies in 1979 and sat in the rafters untill now. I am the proud 3rd owner and the only one to open the box. Im sure glad i did too, because this was such an enjoyable build. Its covered with solar tex and powered by either an OS 70 FL, or an Enya 80. Im still not sure. Right now the OS is on it. This one is close to flying as well.

stevegauth30

If i was maybe a little smarter with the covering i might have been able to do the orange with only one roll, but i needed just enough off of the second roll to cover the cowl. Oh well. I use the orange alot any way. So to answer your question it was two rolls. Thank you.

stevegauth30

well, I have a few bugs to work out. I took it to the field yesterday to attempt the maiden. It failed the taxi test again. First off, I removed the tail skid and put on a tail wheel. It was the only one that i had kicking around the shop. It wasnt connected at all to the rudder, just free wheeling. So needless to say, that doesnt work out all that well and i just need to take a trip to the LHS and get what i need. Secondly, On one of the many ground loops, the struts came apart. The larger dia. outter tubes need to be longer. The bottom inner tubes came completely out. Needless to say, a trip to the hobby shop and a couple more hours and i believe it will fly.

jrpav1

My Feedback: (17)

Did you ever get this plane to fly? I'm working on an electric version built from (Flyline) plans (no kit). The landing gear on a GLT is tricky on a model this size. It helps that it uses big wheels but there's not much give in struts. I fly from grass fields only so this has me a bit concerned. BTW - as I'm sure you've figured out by now, the wheels need to be aligned properly or you'll have nothing but trouble, even with a tail wheel. A slight amount of toe-in is usually necessary to prevent ground loops. Until you can get it to roll perfectly straight on pavement (with NO power) don't even try to taxi under power.

stevegauth30

YS, it did fly. For almost a season. I plan to finally get to the repairs this winter. It never was really a great flying airplane, but probably could be tweaked a bit to make it better. A very enjoyable kit though, if that's the kind of build your in to. Definitely what they call a builders kit. I keep tossing around the idea of blowing up the plans to at least double the size of this one.

flyingagin

Hey a GL. Imagine that.
Think I will hang around and bug you
Ken

Zor

Hi fellows,

I initially thought this thread was about the amphibian aircraft.

I ferried one from Texas to Orangeville airport ( Canada ) a long time ago.

Pictures of that aircraft coming up.

Zor

jeffo

My Feedback: (68)

Zor
I think the plane is called a "lake amphibian".jeffo