Posts: 542
Joined: 12/2/2002 From: Streetsboro,
OH, USA Status: offline
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 coveringfabric 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!
< Message edited by Cybertom -- 12/2/2003 7:29:30 PM >
Posts: 92
Joined: 5/20/2003 From: Houston,
TX, USA Status: online
Nice job on your Stearman. It is a nice kit ,but a little shy of being quarter scale. The full scale Stearman has a wingspan of 32 feet, 2 inches. Quarter scale span is 96-1/2". I have a quarter scale Stearman, built from J&D plans, in Army Trainer colors. Great flying machine. Just getting construction underway on a Quarter Scale Super Stearman. By the way, the link below will give you a great pic of a Stearman in Navy colors.
Posts: 542
Joined: 12/2/2002 From: Streetsboro,
OH, USA Status: offline
Herb, I went to airliners.net to get my color scheme. There are hundreds of Stearman pictures there. I was looking for more detailed photo's and couldn't find any so I joined a Stearman restorers website.
I asked if anyone had a Stearman in my area that I could take photo's of. A week later I got a response from a great guy. He said he would be honored to have his Stearman serve as an example.
It turned out that his plane was at an airport 15 minutes from my house. His Stearman one best of show this year. He beat out 135 other Stearman. His plane is 2-years old. It's a complete ground up restoration (spare no expense).
I took the Robart engine with me and some photo's of my airplane and next thing you know I'm flying in the real thing. I'm going to be starting lessons in the spring and they have a slot open for a 1/4th owner on a nice ARMY Stearman.
Can you believe that! Talk about getting lucky! I used my quota for this year.
Posts: 1166
Joined: 10/10/2002 From: Wilson,
NC, USA Status: offline
Great job on that Stearman !!! I am building a Flair kit also, a little smaller one. The Bristol F2b, but I'm enjoying the construction process as well. I plan on building there Tiger Moth when finished with this one. I'm wondering if you considered the Technopower series of radial engines? I've heard some good stuff about them. Most of the Flair Stearmans that I've read about have had the Laser V twins powering them. Someone here on the east coast has been flying one with a laser 300v twin. Now they ofer them in an enlarged 360 version. Any way Good job, good luck, and have fun !!!
< Message edited by Doug D. -- 12/6/2003 9:28:12 PM >
Posts: 542
Joined: 12/2/2002 From: Streetsboro,
OH, USA Status: offline
Last year I had a good conversation with Marc Linville, President of TechnoPower Engines (technopower@attglobal.net). At the time they were in the process of changing manufacturing techniques. You might give him a call or send an email to find out where they stand.
PS, Seidel has a 7-Cylinder 70cc engine. That displacement should be around 5-HP in a radial. http://www.seidel-triebwerke.de
< Message edited by Cybertom -- 12/13/2003 7:33:53 AM >
Posts: 401
Joined: 12/4/2003 From: River City, TX, USA Status: offline
Tom...does Flair have a web site???If so can you post the URL for me...damn nice plane...something you can sure be proud of...I love to build big planes also.
Posts: 177
Joined: 7/30/2002 From: Chantilly, VA, USA Status: offline
Hey saw your post weeks ago. Now considering the kit after I get used to the Great Planes ARF. Do you have any idea how long it took you to frame it up? Thanks Mark Franke Fairfax, Va
Printable Version
All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> Giant Scale Aircraft - General >> Flair 1/4 Scale PT-17 Stearman Review 
Flair 1/4 Scale PT-17 Stearman Review - 
RE: Flair 1/4 Scale PT-17 Stearman Review - 
