RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY....Sounds like you are ready to put it all together...You can click on to my photogallery and I have some pictures of my stearaman...I used the original kit engine and used the plywood stiffiner...

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

RCPILOT78, Your Stearman is Georgous! You mentioned you handmade your pilot? VERY nice. Hard to find a good looking 1/6 pilot that is not in full military gear. (ie, oxygen mask and life vest...)
Looks like you modified the top wing attach points also. Another good Idea. I might take that into consideration when I build this guy.
How does it look attached?
CC

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY...Thanks for the compliment...plane looks great with wings on...as you can see i used smaller socket head screws and when the wing is attached the screw heads are hardly noticeable..and yes the pilot was an action figure sold at wal-mart for 88 cents...i added the cloth helmet and just died the cloth jacket that came on the figure....also arms and head are moveable....i bought up the whole rack of them for future planes....I will include a photo with wings on later.....RCPILOT78

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks RCPILOT78, I am looking foward to seeing it assembled. I never thought of an action figure for a pilot.... What a great Idea! Let's see, a 12" tall figure would be 1/6 scale.... HMMMMMMMM!

CC

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY... Thats correct the figure was 11-1/2 inches tall...in the stearman there is enough room to put the figure legs and all in the coclpit by...cutting away some of the ply...servo tray...that tray is too heavy and too large...I cut away unused portions of the tray...to lighten it and make room for the pilot...these particular action figures were very light constructed....and came with a uniform...I dyed the uniform to resemble the filght suite...RCPILOT 78

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY...I have posted the picutures you requested in my gallery...stearman with wings on and cockpit and pilot...RCPILOT78

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

RCPILOT78... Very Nice!!! Cockpit details are great!. I really do like your pilot. Do you remember what figure it was originally? I haven't been a seamstress for a while, but I think I can figure it out!!.
By the way, did you ever find out what throws for the ailerons and elevator came out to be?
After looking closely at your dummy engine, I don't think it is the same one as the one supplied in my kit. Mine is of a Continental W670 engine. (pushrods aft of the cyliders) also the nosecase on mine is just basicallly a cone.
Again... a BEAUTIFUL plane. Kudos!
CC

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY... The reason the engine looks different is because I modified it after assemblying it I cut the cylinder heads off and rotated them to the front to resemble a pratt/whitney R/750...the pushrod tubes are in the front and resemble the pushrods on my saito 91...the gear box on the crankcase was fashioned out of 1/8 inch balsa to cover the hole that has to be made to clear the sato....The pilot as I said is an action figure called ( special forces ) price 88 cents each there 11-1/2 inches tall complete with cloth uniform...no sewing required...They are made in china and marketed by Wal-Mart....The whole figure weighs approx. 3oz. complete..still haven't located the proper throws yet..I am going to go with ...7/8"-elevator..5/8"-aileron...1-3/4"-rudder..for the first flight..I will set the dual/rates a little higher just in case..these measurments were taken from several other models in the 1/6 scale class......RCPILOT78

PS .....If you decide to modify the engine like mine when you rotate the cylinders just rotate the very top of the cylinder where the rocker covers are..don't cut the cylinders off at the crankcase as this would weaken the engine....

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY.. I made a mistake on the engine....the radial engine I configured was the ( JACOBS/L4MB/775...nicknamed ( SHAKEY JAKE )This was one of three engines used on the stearman...This engine had the pushrods in the front..RCPILOT78

Kwigen

The guy who taught me to fly 30 some years ago had a small hobby shop in his basement. Hanging on the ceiling was a Sterling Stearman. I ebayed one a few years back and now I'm heading to my attic to grab that box. My flying stock is ready for spring, my shop is way too clean, and I stumbled on this thread this morning. It is fate I tell my wife. RCU made me do it!

RCPILOT78

KEWIGEN...Glad there are still kits out there....builders of these old kits are few and far between...everyone is assembling ARF's...this kit is a builders project....open the box and see the lumber.. ( make sure you reinforce the landing gear struts by doubling the wire and brace it against the f3 former or the gear will wobble all over the place.. the kit landing gear is the weakest part of the plane...Don't get discouraged to find poorly stamped parts.....I had to remake many of the balsa and ply parts....but once the plane is built it is a very scale replica of the stearman...be sure and lighten every chance you get especially in the tail feathers...My first sterling stearman flew very scale like docile as long as you kept the air speed up when landing...GOOD LUCK.. RCPILOT78

Kwigen

Thanks for the heads up RC. I spent the day punching out the parts so there is no turning back. Fortunately I got lucky with an early run kit. The dies were sharp and I had no problem getting most of the parts out cleanly. It still took several hours. Lots of parts, it will be a shame to cover it up.

I plan on trying to lighten where I can and work on this thing as time permits. I may look you up every once and a while to pick your brain. Thanks again.

bassman

I am just about finished with this winters face lift of my Stearman. It was covered with transparent plastic. I think the original builder couldn't bear to hide all the internal work. I have been flying it for three years now and during the winter I refine it a little more. I have added the Robart struts, recovered in Solartex, and replaced the 75 two stroke that was in it with a 91 four stroke. I am looking forward to next winter already when the cowl will be swapped out for an exposed radial, it will get real markings and I will add flying wires. The first picture is what it looked like when I bought it and the second one is how it will look this season. The wing marking are just placed on there for a idea of what the future holds.

Good luck with yours.

Bassman

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

Robart has a set of struts for the Stearling Stearman (Part # PT17R&S). Sturdy, shock absorbing, and maintains scale outlines. However they are kinda pricey, but hey, this sport is all about passion, not money... (right, honey?) Although, if money were no object, I'd have a Technopower 7B in the nose of my Stearman!....

CC

RCPILOT78

BASSMAN..Looking for all up weight from builders that have been flying their stearman....also did you use the stock struts as i did? I can't remember what my other two sterling stearmans endid up weighing its been 20 years..since I built and flew them....RCPILOT78

bassman

Yes I have the added the Robart struts. They made the differnce between keeping and flying it or selling it off. Landing is great now. The original wires were a pain. I think mine is weighing in at 12.5 pounds now.

Bassman

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

RCPILOT78, Most of these run between 11 and 13.5 pounds. (depending on building habits and powerplant). I have personally seen a 13.5 pounder with a 91 fourstroke fly gracefully and very scalelike. It would do scale aerobatic manuvers, but a barn burner it was not. I do remember him having to throttle up just before touchdown to ease the gear load on landing.
I have noticed that the wood in my kit, (at least the stuff that is still straight) is rather light. I hear these horror stories about heavy wood,and die crunching. The wood seems typical for a kit of that era, and as far as die crunching goes.... I have built many kits that have had much worse die cutting. You just learn to deal with the bad and enjoy the good stuff. (thats what they make #11 blades and sandpaper for!). the good thing about the Stearman is most of the wing ribs are the same. You can stack them up and make lots of replicas. Fuselage parts are a little trickier, but not impossible. Thats why we love these kits. They are BUILDERS kits. We are builders, not arf assemblers. Evey builder makes his different than the next one, making his plane unique. ARF's on the other hand are cookie cutter planes which all look alike, and you are at the mercy of whoever had the hot glue gun that day.
Thank God there are still some of us left who like to work with our hands, and dont mind sneezing with a snoz full of balsa dust, listening to the wife complain about balsa dust all over the house, and the garage smells like model paint.

CC

carlbecker

My Feedback: (3)

I bought one of these from a friend all ready framed up. I finished it a covered it with monokote put a OS 91 fs in it and on the 10 flight had a midair. Totaled. Mine was very over powered but I don't know the weight. Now I have a GP Stearman at 13 pounds with an older Saito 120 and it flys great also. I had a crosswind landing mishap so I decided to recover the whole thing and have struts made and will do a better radial up front with the help of Williams Brothers. Stearmans really need a good looking dummy engine up front.

Carl

RCPILOT78

CORSAIRCRAZY....You are ablolutely 100% correct...there are still some of us who still like to build airplanes..not just assemble...when I commented on the quality of the kits I was merely getting you ready for a building challenge....which is what I relish....The hobby is getting to much into things that are already built...taking away the true values of the hobby and modeling...Don't get me wrong I to have a couple of ARF's...but still love building....In fact if you really want to experience building grab some planes and scratch build...I have done some of that too......When I do put together an ARF.. I usually strip off the covering and put my own finish on them...I like to have something different than what an ARF has to offer....AS far as the qualilty of the wood even my kit was ok .....it was only the die cutting I think mine was the last of the kit run and the dies were very dull...and it damaged the parts.....I did however lighten the tail feathers wherever I could...this did save me from having to add any nose weight.....RCPILOT78

samninedotcom

Well I finally have gotten around to restoring the third Sterling Stearman so far i have managed to remove the ailerons beef up the gear a little and fit the electronics,I cant resist the FA-90T so I picked up one on ebay again for 225.00 (good deal again)I am going with all monokote and have began the big parts of the restoration. It was all silk and dope,paint and giant glue wads..It will come in around 12.5lbs with a full tank of fuel (10 oz tank)I am seriously thinking about robo-struts and two pilot figures.Next on my list is to fabricate some windscreens,trim out the covering and fully mount the engine and tank. Hope you like the pictures next project is to finish the A6M in the background.

RCPILOT78

STEARMANLOVER..... .very clean looking finish..you say third one.....was it flown before the restoration ? I too considered the robart struts..but opted to reinforce the existing struts by doubling the wire, and concieling a wire brace under the rairing back to a block epoxied to former f-3,,,,, That stiffened the gear no more wobble...The robart struts are way overpriced... Great pics...RCPILOT78

samninedotcom

No RC this one had not been flown by me before but had been flown by the previous owner. The wire for the gear is not only epoxied to the main former in that location but has hog rings attaching it throughout not very much flex from what I can see.It was a lot heavier with the painted fabric covering and appeared to have once been a nice show plane,it was baby blue with red starbursts.The covering is not even close to finished I havent really trimmed anything yet. bottoms of the wings are not covered nor half of the rudder and bottom of the horizontal stab.Thanks for the complimentory reply!

RCPILOT78

STEARMANLOVER...As I said I thought about the robart struts....but cost and major surgery at this time Is not what I want...I remember my first Sterling stearman...I also beefed up the gear struts the same way and had no problem with them...My first one flew very stable...however I lost it to a stall on landing....The plane was so stable I got careless with my landing air speed and she tip stalled to the right and .....Oh well the rest is history...Did you click on to my photo gallery I have pictures of my latest version....RCPILOT78

firestar

My Feedback: (88)

I have 2 kits, one has pieces missing and the other is complete. I'm going to start it this fall. If it's anything like the Pica Waco I built a couple of years ago it will take about a year to finish, but it will be worth the effort.

samninedotcom

Anyone ever tried to make wheel pants for the Sterling Stearman ? Does anyone sell them online?.