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Cybertom -> Flair 1/4 Scale PT-17 Stearman Review (12/3/2003 12:23:03 AM)
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There is a lot of hoopla about this kit since it has now received several positive reviews from major publications. I am a rookie at building 1/4th scale aircraft. The biggest airplane I ever assembled before this one was the Great Planes Tiger Moth ARF. Everything before that was Guillows Kits as a teenager.
I'm a computer guy now but I have an engineering background. I hang out with nerds who do stuff like Finite Element Analysis for a living. I wanted to build something spectacular over the winter and gave it my best shot.
I was going to build the Flair Tiger Moth but my wife said that !QUOT!You already have one of those, why don't you build this one!QUOT!. I said OK, and that's how it started.
I started researching this aircraft and purchased !QUOT!The Pictorial History of Stearmans!QUOT!. I decided to build a NAVY Stearman because there are a lot of neat color schemes to choose from.
I bought a Saito 5-Cylinder engine for my Stearman. I broke it in and was trying to figure out how I was going to make an exhaust collector ring when I became disenchanted with it. The more work I put into the model, the more I felt that it deserved better than a very non-scale 5-cylinder engine. I justified buying the Robart on the reputation of the company, and the fact that it is probably the most scale 7-cylinder glow engine made. It's made in the USA and I was willing to put my money where my mouth was and buy American.
I took the Stearman manual to my monthly club meeting along with a main wheel. As everyone flipped through the manual they all were impressed at how well thought out the construction process was and the design and quality of the kit.
There is a lot of work involved in the type of construction Flair uses but it's almost impossible to
come out with warped wings or a twisted fuselage. It's all very light and strong. Some of Flair's customers are coming in at or below 20lbs. on a airplane this big. More typical is 24lbs. That's about 10lbs lighter than the Ziroli Stearman kit which comes in at 32-35lbs. That's even more amazing when you realize that the Flair kit it slightly bigger with it's 89!QUOT! wingspan.
I have had many positive email's with Richard Smart of Flair. I think I freaked him out when I told him what engine I was planing on using. He definitely thought that it was way to powerful for this airframe. My argument was the Nic Ziroli uses the same engine on even a smaller Stearman. His contention was that Nic's construction may be heavier to accommodate the additional power. Looking at the weight differential you could say that may be the case. I did it anyway.
I was able get my friend the Analyst to look at the design and he gave me some great ideas on how to strengthen things up. Flair also has some good recommendations on how to add additional strength if you are planning to use much more power.
I covered my Stearman with Stits Lite because it's the strongest covering fabric out there (I figured that I really needed that) and the lightest painted process. They also have color matched paint and chart for whatever year aircraft you are building. If that's not enough, the same covering process and products are used on full scale aircraft. The full scale fabric is a heavier weave of course.
After 5.5 months or about 300 hours of work I had enough done that I could test fly it to see what I had created. The biggest problem I had was that I didn't have enough down thrust built into my motor mount so she tended to climb on me. A few more test flight's with washers added in the right places and bingo! She flies sweet!
The highest I have ever had the throttle was 60%. I did a seriously big loop and she pulled her way around like a bat out of hell. Most of the time I'm between 1/3-1/2 throttle.
She is very stable, especially on takeoff. I was used to holding the tail down on my Tiger Moth or she would nose over and bury the prop in the ground. The horizontal stabilizer of the Stearman has an airfoil shape that pops the tail up at the right moment and keeps the fuselage level with authority.
All in all I'm very pleased with the way my Stearman turned out. There was a lot of time involved in the construction, but the method of construction almost forces you to turn out a quality product.
I give the Flair Stearman kit a 10 out of 10!
I documented the construction with over 100 digital photo's. I am willing to share anything I have learned through the course of this project with anyone planning to build the Flair kit. You can't go wrong!
PS,
I am attaching 2-photo's. The first is the bare bones, and the second is far enough a long to test fly but not detailed. I'm doing the detailing now.
I thank that God my wife is so supportive of my hobby!
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