VincentJ

Yes of course, what was I thinking! My bad...

Tripower455

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Nice job Fred! Good to see you've still got it! To this day, I still use Enviro-Tex after you taught Jerry C. and I about it, ca. 1990.

Nice Yenko clone too!

Glenn C.

Check6

My Feedback: (427)

Hi Glenn,
Good hearing from you. Do you still have the Tri power? I had picked up a 66 GTO before the Nova. Guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Thanks for the comments.
Fred

Tripower455

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I still have my '66. I don't foresee ever selling it. Too much blood, sweat and beers invested! I'm still flying for the airlines..... 13 years left.....

I found this thread, because I'm gonna join a club that only allows IMAA legal (well, what used to be IMAA legal....... 80"+ wingspan) airplanes, and I've only got 1 flyable right now. I'm looking for a couple of field legal, easy build sport flyers, and the Smoothie XL is on the short list.

I've got a Big Dirty Birdy 2+2 on the shelf that's gonna go first. It almost makes it at 78", so I'm gonna add an inch to each wing to avoid any issues.

Glad to hear all is well.

Check6

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Your 66 is sweeeeet. Tripower convertible, red, white top , 455. doesn't get any better. I'm retired from teaching at Cranston East going on 9 years. I was there 36 years. I'm on baby sitting duty now with my grand kids. Smoothie would be a great sport plane for you. Easy build.
Later,
Fred

Tripower455

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Babysitting grand kids is great work! Have fun Fred!

pappy35

Hi Fred. Have you flown yours yet? I must have gotten helium-infused balsa as my Smoothie's all-up weight is just 12lbs 2ozs. I'm curious to read your flight report.

Check6

My Feedback: (427)

Hi Pappy 35,
Your smoothie looks fantastic!! You are a master of monocote,LOL Mine weighs a little more than yours. Exactly 15 lbs. Mine is nose heavy also. It may need some tail weight but I will fly it like it is for now. Test flight will be this Sunday afternoon after Church. Will let you know how it goes. I will be test flying my TF GS Corsair also.
Thanks,
Fred

swift bill

You will love the way it flys. Mine is solartex painted with epoxy paint, the hatch cover was glassed and painted. Santo 180 gas conversion for power.

karolh

A wonderful build thread and very nice looking models, was pure enjoyment following the start to finish progress of you guys. Hope you all have successful maiden flights and hopefully a video or two to share with us.

Check6

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OK guys. Today was test flight day, not only for the Smoothie but also for my TF GS ARF Corsair. Both were very successful. Smoothie went up first and needed some left trim and down trim, I flew it with an 18x6 prop and it went OK but seemed to be lacking in the power department. I have a Syssa 30CC gas engine in it. Plane floats on landing with flaps, lands very slow. Second flight was with an 18x8 prop and that combination brought it to life. Nice and quick and responsive.. I landed it without flaps and it seems to grove in. I like the landings with out flaps. Takeoffs are very predictable , no bad habits. The long fuse helps the take offs. Roll rate is not very quick but nice. Very relaxing plane to fly. I got two flights on it.
The Corsair is an absolutely beautiful flying Warbird. All maneuvers were quick and crisp. Landings are the best part of flying the fighter. Comes in smooth with no wiggle control decent with power with full flaps. Main wheels kiss the runway and runs out on the mains until speed bleeds off. One of the best flying and landing Warbirds around. That's powered with a G 62 22x10 prop. Weighs 26 lbs, RTF.
Thanks,
Fred

pappy35

That's great to hear. Down and left trim means that my decision to add about a degree and a half of down/right thrust may have been a good idea. I'm getting really close to finishing her up. I fuel-proofed the front end so all that's left in mounting the Rx, switch, fuel tank, and engine.

JPal101

My Feedback: (32)

With the sheets that I have in my kit, I can only create 1 sheet that is 11x36 instead of 2, and one sheet that is 15X30 for the verticle stab. Did they short me the 36" sheets?

pappy35

Perhaps. I'd just go buy a sheet or two from Hobby Lobby or Michael's and don't worry about it. There's a lot of wood in the box and it's possible you either inadvertently used on somewhere else or it was missing. 1/16" balsa sheets are so cheap and readily available it's not worth the aggravation to get them replaced.

PS - BUSA is REALLY good about supplying missing stuff. I'd just rather not have to wait for shipping and in the grand scheme of things a few dollars spent to buy replacement wood isn't something I worry about. I did screw up the landing gear spruce and was having trouble fabricating them so I called any they hooked me up. Great CS.

Crewdog

GREAT Thread. I've read the complete story of your awesome build. A question comes to me as far as the CG. I'm planning this build with a DA-35 up front, with a Pitts style muffler. You mentioned possibly being nose heavy. Do you think it warrants putting two elevator servos in the tail? I prefer this setup in my large planes. That coupled with a pull-pull system for the rudder. Thanks....

Check6

My Feedback: (427)

Thanks for checking in and reading the thread. Mine came out nose heavy. Putting the servos in the rear wouldn't hurt anything. There is still room up front to fine tune the balance with your battery packs. Good luck with the build you will enjoy it. I believe the final weight on mine was 15 lbs. RTF. I did fiberglass all the wood structures and used solartex fabric on the open structures. Plane still floats at that weight.
Thanks for your interest.
Fred Menna Check6

Crewdog

Thanks for your reply Fred. I asked the same question of pappy. With both of your fine ships ending up nose heavy I’m going to look hard at locating elevator servos in the tail. I despise adding weight to a plane for balance reasons. I
can only hope mine will look as good as yours when complete. Doug

Crewdog

In hopes of not having to add weight to the tail, for proper cg. I’ve installed two elevator servos in the tail, below the stabilizer. I plan to install a DA35 up front and pull-pull rudder servo at the rear of the radio compartment.

Crewdog

Maiden flight about a month ago, now. The plane flies GREAT. I have a DA35 up front. Extremely honest flier. I chose to have flaps and mixed about 5/16” down elevator with them being full down - worked out well. I doesn’t balloon when flaps are lowered. Took me about 6-7 months to build, but well worth it!

karolh

I love a happy ending so congrats on a great build and a successful maiden.

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

[QUOTE=Crewdog;12598192]
Maiden flight about a month ago, now. The plane flies GREAT. I have a DA35 up front. Extremely honest flier. I chose to have flaps and mixed about 5/16” down elevator with them being full down - worked out well. I doesn’t balloon when flaps are lowered. Took me about 6-7 months to build, but well worth it![/QUOTE

Crewdog,
I'm at that point setting up throws, and I was wondering how far you set up flap travel.
I normally set up 2 flight modes for flaps,
One at around 20° and full flaps at around 45°.
Curious as to where you set them up at.

Jeremy_n_Germany

I love it! I still have one on the building table.

thefastfred

Love to see some pics of he inside and all the gear. Also what you did about CG. Mine seams nose heavy. Measuring CG from leading edge is aft of spar... that does not feel correct.

Jeremy_n_Germany

Which engine do you have? My buddy put a DLE 35ra in his and it was nose heavy. Had to add tail weight. He had a pull pull setup, but wishes he would have just put the servos in the tail.

thefastfred

.33 evo. Want to post some ice but they say i need moe posts before i can...