flyingagin

Man am I stuffed. If I had pink ears (uh oh I think I do) and a curly tail (nope ain't got that) I'd be a stuffed pig, and real scared of Tom.

The wife is far more important. And ya just might get some paint on something.

Ken

TomCrump

I plan a putting some pork on the grill around the Holiday. If you catch a whiff of boubon mixed with brown sugar, you better hide. LOL

I'll be doing a pork tenderloin marinated in my "famous" bourbon concoction.

The kids and grand-kids will be visiting for a week. They have placed food requests, among them, my BBQ pork, and their Mother's fried potatoes.

flyingagin

It will be a little past the holiday before I fire up the smoker, as we are going to someone else's the 4rth.
I got a real nice chunk of pig. Got to pick up some wood. Mesquite sounds good to me.

So maybe this weekend.

Ken

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I'm planning ribs for the 4th. Tom, I still think you have room in that trailer for 2 or 3 more airplanes!

TomCrump

I'm thinking baby backs for later in the month. My wife and I are planning to entertain a few club members and their wives.

The Fourth, which just happens to be my daughter's 43rd birthday, may bring beer can chicken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS6R2IzDI10

I started work on the little GL by putting her on a diet. Well, it was more like surgery. I cut away any balsa that I felt unnecessary. The stringers were way oversized. I elimiminated half of their width. Balsa sheet was removed where possible, too.

All balsa removed was in areas behind the wing saddle.

stevegauth30

Mmmmm, beer can chicken! (Drool on keyboard) I'm sure you'll have it flying like a champ tom. I still want to repair mine and fly it again. 'Twas a fun lil flyer.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

My wife and I are planning a chicken on ths spit later on in the week. She likes to but and orange or lemon inside.

TomCrump

Research on the Modeltech GL turned up a flutter issue. It was suggested to mount two servos in the bottom wing and ditch the torque tubes. I'll go that route. I installed the lower wing's trailing edge, sans the tubes. Both wings have their strut mounts installed.

I'll make servo mounts for the wings. I also need to figure out how I should lighten the wings a bit..

stevegauth30

The Flyline Great Lakes used a single servo in the center but it wasn't really enough so I put a servo on each side. I was able to use two small servos instead if one standard size. The roll rate almost doubled.

TomCrump

In Hitec speak, which servo would you use, Steve ? I have a couple left over from my little Rascal. I want to say they are HS 55s, but I'd really have to take a look to find out.

stevegauth30

I'm not sure how big yours is, but mine was quite small. Something around 30 inch wings calling for a 15 to 25 two stroke. Maybe a good way to look at it would be if they call for one servo with say 50 OZ/ inch , you could use two at 25 OZ/inch. I ended up way over killing mine. I think I had Hitec HS 82 MG's in the wing. ( I had just crashed a model with those servos) .

TomCrump

My top wing measures 47". I think the HS 55 will be too small.

Looks like I'll have to buy a few servos.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

How about Hitec HS-81s? They are rated at 36/42 ozs/inches at 4.8/6.0 volts. They are still a micro but not a mini micro like the HS-55.

TomCrump

They just may be the ticket to success. Thanks !

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Great! I was just thinking they were the next size up and the specs look good.

TomCrump

Work on the little GL is slow, but continuing.

She's covered, now,and waiting for roundels from Decal-it. A coat of clear will seal the graphics and Solartex.

I plan to mount the Saito 50 today, and then check the balance. The wing incedence must be set, too.

stevegauth30

Looks sweet tom. Quick question. Is the cowl round like a radial engine? The only Great Lakes I've seen had an oval shaped nose. Did they make more that one style? Looks great anyway. I hope it flies as good as it looks.

flyingagin

Thanks for jumping in and showing your GL Tom. Up to your normal standards I see.
I sure love the rounded fuse and round cowle of your GL.

Hey Steve Dave is the go to guy for info on GL's I owe him many thanks for the info he has provided me. I have seen some early modle GL's moded after they left the factory. I think virtually all surviving GL's got a bigger tail. Bigger engines. Some round were dropped in. At one poinjt the factory built some round engined GL's. I have been so out of the loop and just trying to stay on my feet that I don't trust my memory at this point.

Still trying to get in a position were I can build a little bit. My builds are not dead. Just trying get things so I have a spot to build in. Right now the garage is insane hot to build in even if I had a spot out there.
Things will be much better once I start getting disability. We are thing when finances permit of putting a window into the garage, and then put a window heat pump A/C / heater in the window. I have seen some for $ 600 that have twice the capacity needed. With my military discount of 10% , not bad. I would insulate the garage first.

Ken

skylark-flier

Tom, that plane's looking GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!! Yeah, nice job indeed.

Hey Steve! Tom's GL is the 1939-introduced "C" model - 2T-1C. This mod was originally slated to go into production in 1935, along with an enclosed cockpit, but it never happened because of the lack of engine availability at that time. It finally came into production at the same time they went to the larger than original tail, also retrofitting most of the earlier 2Ts that were flying, with the larger tail.

There are still a very few of the original-tailed planes in the air, but not many.

I love that pic of your 2T-1A - is that a plastic model or flying-type? There were 2 original versions of the 2T, the 1A has the upright engine with the exhaust stacks coming out the top (better to "gas" the poor pilot) and the 1E has an inverted engine with the stacks coming out the bottom (much quieter for the pilot too). The modern 2T-1A-2 (WACO-built) has a flat-top cowl for the modern Lycoming engines.

Got a chart here that was given to me by the Great Lakes historian, Harvey Swack. Shows the original 2T-1A & 2T-1E along with the aborted original-C mod.



When you click on it, click on the pic again to bring it up in its own window. Then click on the pic again to bring it up to full size. Shows a fair amount of detail.

The 2T is still in production today. WACO bought out Great Lakes a couple years ago and builds an average 50 planes each year. They'll also custom-build any variant you wish. I've heard of one guy out West somewhere has 6 turbo-prop powered planes that he uses as a "flying circus". One day I'll find pics of them.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Tom, what will your roundels look like?

stevegauth30

Hey mike, I'll answer for Tom. They'll be round. Lol. Couldn't resist. Dave, thanks for the clarification. I didn't realize there were so many varients. Mine was the flyline kit. It flew with an is .25 FSR. Areal nice flying airplane.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull wasn't it?

skylark-flier

Mike, good quip - couldn't have done it better myself. My congrats!!

I believe he's doing the USArmy trainer version, in which case they'll be the round blue field with the white star in the center.

I may be wrong though.

flyingagin

I got my build desk up on wheels so I can roll it to a clear spot in the garage for build planes on (like there is much any clear spots). I do have one wheel that hits a corner of the desk. I will make a clearance for it. Then I have to see what I have in the way of wood. I can't buy even the slightest thing till next month. But I intend to see what I can do. I will have to brave the heat out there as it is insane hot and humid (southern texas).

I sorta have a work bench out there now. I have one framed from salvage lumber (unfortunately not the straightest wood). With small pieces pieces of left over ply and pine boards to set my power tools on. And my vices are mounted, man am I liking that a lot.

So maybe I can get something done. I can cut out some rib templates for some other birds I have been wanting to build.

Ken

TomCrump

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

I just told Gary that I wanted Roundels with the dot in the middle of the star.

This color scheme is the result of the materials I had on hand. It is not patterned after a specific airframe.

Another Great Lakes was lost, earlier this week. One crashed on landing, not far from here. The story is that a gust of wind flipped it, with no room for recovery. The pic on the evening news showed it standing on it's nose, with extensive damage throughout the airframe.

The pilot and passenger were OK.