1/8 A ????  
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1/8 A ???? - 5/20/2002 4:58:41 PM   
Mike Wiz


 

Posts: 557
Joined: 1/28/2002
From: Linden, MI, USA
Status: offline 		What in the thunder is 1/8 A? After many (almost 20) years in this hobby I've never heard this term. And what about 1/4 A did someone forget those planes in between?

I like very small planes. I wonder anyone out there building 1/16 A.

Obviously, I'm kidding a bit here, but really......what is 1/8A?

Wiz
       Post #: 1

1/8 A ???? - 5/20/2002 5:14:51 PM   
RCadmin



Posts: 13193
Joined: 11/28/2001
From: Belle Mead, NJ, USA
Status: offline 		It's a new class gaining some ground...along the lines of a Cox .010 powered plane...almost like a small park flyer but with glow power usually...there have been some ads running in a few of the magazines with a small pattern like 1/8th A plane with a throttled .010 for power...cool stuff...maybe this forum will help push that envelope!

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(in reply to Mike Wiz)
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1/8 A ???? - 5/21/2002 1:56:52 AM   
Raymond LeFlyr



Posts: 1830
Joined: 2/10/2002
From: Just a little south of Raleigh, NC, USA
Status: offline 		I think 1/8A R/C has been around for a couple of decades in rudder-only models. I tried an .010 powered Littlest Stik when the RCM article came out. It didn't fly very well with the .010 but did better with an .020 (I don't remember if it was a Pee Wee or TD). I used and Ace pulse radio with the small actuator. Since I was never very good at trimming rudder-only models I'd have to confess that the model never did fly well. I don't remember exactly what happened to it, but I'm sure it didn't die of old age.

I too have a soft spot in my heart for small models and sometime last year I read about people who were resurrecting the old rudder only designs. So I dug through my back issues (it took a looong time) and found the original article that included full sized plans. Last Summer I built LS number two and powered it with a red tank Cox TD .010 running with 25% Nitro and 20% (half castor). I put a Feather receiver, (2) HS-50 servos, and 110 mah NIMH battery in there too.

I covered the wing with library laminating film with floral spray paint colors sprayed lightly on the glue side. I used water-based urethane varnish to fill the fuselage and tail feathers. More floral spray paint over that then a very light dusting of Rustoleum clear coat over that for fuel proofing.

The only change I made was to add an extra "bay" to each side of the wing to improve the glide (as someone suggested on SFRC, Smallnet, or somewhere else on the 'net). I later learned that there is a web sight somewhere that has plans for the LS and other small designs from that era (alas, I cannot find it now but I'll bet that a check of the Smallnet archives would probably turn it up).

The reason I wrote all of this down is because I have been flying this model a LOT - because it is a LOT of fun - and people NEED to be flying more of these models.

I swear it will do things that I never could do with those "full-sized rudder/elevator models I built all those years ago (before I "discovered" ailerons). But the best part is that it will do all those tricks without ever flying outside the boundaries of the runway. Rolls, loops, all over the place of course. But it'll run inverted for a little while when the tank is still full - and will do a kinda stall turn too if you hold your mouth just right.

Land it as close to your feet as you dare, a squirt of the fuel bulb (Sullivan still sells them and you'll run out the batteries before you empty the bulb once), hold the glow driver down over the glow head, and swat the propeller with your finger ( or use the darn spring thingy until it breaks - they all do), and hand launch again for another couple of minutes of low tension fun.

I have resolved to keep building more of these little screamers from the past (Leastie Beastie, Guided Mite, and a few others whose names elude me at the moment). The old rudder-only (with added elevator) designs are fine for scratching the nostalgia itch - but I also have sketched out an aileron/elevator, swept flying wing design and another that looks too much like a shrunken Wonder for a little more performance.

I also cobbled a "starter cone" together with plastic tubing from Home Depot that is fixed to an antique 05 can motor. Iadded a push-on, push-off switch zip-tied to a crapped out seven-cell battery pack to complete a "custom" starter for the little screamer.

The only negative associated with "1/8A" R/C is that you have to be careful that you don't hog the runway and intimidate the people who are flying "real" models. I try to not fly over the runway if anyone else is in the air. In that case I try to stay to one end of the runway.

I hope you find room for one of these little delights in your modelling future.

Enjoy.

_____________________________

"I am NOT an animal!!!"

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 3

1/8 A ???? - 5/21/2002 4:52:56 AM   
EASYTIGER


 

Posts: 7676
Joined: 12/7/2001
From: nyc, NY, USA
Status: offline 		I do beleive the FIRST 1/8a model was the Bill Winter Lightning Bug, kitted by Jetco. I have two of them, it's a sweetheart. I think Ken Williard MIGHT have published something with an 01 a few months before the lightning bug, though...

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 4

1/8 A ???? - 5/21/2002 5:02:30 PM   
Mike Wiz


 

Posts: 557
Joined: 1/28/2002
From: Linden, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Well, I'm certainly aware of these tiny models, I've just never heard the term 1/8 A applied to them.

I too, very much enjoy small models, but I tend to do them as electric powered models. My experience with getting the tiny engines to run properly has been rather frustraiting. Anyway, that's not the point. Small planes, electric or glow are a joy to fly.

I just got a Sp400 Push-E-Cat (rather large by 1/8 A standards) for the kids to learn on......Well that's excuse I use for getting it and I'm not changing my story.

I can hardly wait to give it a toss.

Wiz

< Message edited by Mike Wiz -- May 21 2002 3:17PM >

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 5

1/8 A ???? - 5/21/2002 7:08:16 PM   
Raymond LeFlyr



Posts: 1830
Joined: 2/10/2002
From: Just a little south of Raleigh, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Wiz,

I agree about the cantankerousness (is that a real word?) of the little ox engines. That's why I specified my current fuel blend that's been (knock on wood) working great in this new .010. I think that 25% nitro is probably as low as you can go and the 20% oil with castor is mandatory no matter how high you push the nitro.

We used to run 50 and 60% nitro with all castor when I raced CL mouse. I don't need (or want) that level of performance and maintenance in the Littlest Stik.

Mention of Ken Willard (one of my favorite designers along with Clough, Reese, and Mathews) brings up recollections of his Banana airfoil models that were mostly for .02s and larger - if memory serves. But it might be fun to scale down a Schoolgirl. What size engine did he use in the CannonShot (I think that was the name) that used the tiny Cannon receiver and servos?

Easytiger, Bill Winter was such a gentleman. My favorite modelling literature is the series of editorials he wrote for Model Aviation that captured the real essence of our hobby. I wish the AMA would reprint them for the generation of newer modellers to enjoy - and learn from. I remember his rubber designs and the later designs he did with John Hunton (another fine gentleman). Thanks for reminding me/us about how much he influenced our hobby.

I can't believe how much I am enjoying recalling the good ole, little, days.

_____________________________

"I am NOT an animal!!!"

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 6

1/8 A memory - 5/21/2002 7:37:20 PM   
Randy W.


 

Posts: 72
Joined: 3/8/2002
From: Santa Ana Heights, CA, USA
Status: offline 		I remember watching the late great Walt Mooney of Peanut Scale Model fame showing up at the field one day with the then new TD .010. Walt was a master of the Allyon Bambi an English diesel which displaced .009ci. He could really make them run! He had mounted the TD on a tiny pylon attached to of all things a Jetco Nordic A-2 glider. The six foot wingspan Nordic was not a light weight and after filling the tank and starting the TD, Walt tossed the model into the wind expecting to see a long slow glide to the ground. Instead the model began to climb, slowly at first, then faster. It didn't take long until the model disappeared overhead, with the engine still screaming! Walt managed to get the thing back after a long chase. Seems the TD was about 8 times more powerful then the old Bambi he was used to! I never saw him use it again, I think he made a tie clip out of it!

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 7

1/8 A ???? - 5/25/2002 1:48:02 AM   
dgliderguy



Posts: 333
Joined: 12/13/2001
From: Snohomish, WA, USA
Status: offline 		I fly the Ace Littlest Stik with a black-tank TD010. After a season of R/O I added elevator, and it's even more fun now.

I have an Earl Stahl Taylorcraft 0-57 kit (R/N Models) that it will be going in next. 32" span is just a little too small for my TD020, believe it or not. It's a rubber jobbie, after all. Another one I'm tempted to try is the Hal DeBolt "Big X"-- a Wittman Tailwind lookalike-- at 29" span.

I think TD010 engines would work on just about anything you'd be willing to hang a geared Speed 280 motor on. When you get up to Speed 400 size it's time to jump to the TD020 or Baby Bee 049.

_____________________________

If you don''t care about rising air, you''re square, mon frére.

(in reply to Mike Wiz)
       Post #: 8

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