RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56  
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RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/7/2008 2:14:28 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Last night I had my son in the chest backpack thingy and to my delight, he went to sleep within 5 minutes of me going down to my workroom. I managed to get 1.5 hours of ironing done on my wing without him making a peep.

Following the correct color scheme for visibility, I used dark blue for the underside of the wing, cub yellow on top, blue wing tips, and a couple white pin stripes near the tips. I was overall pleased with my work yet there were a few areas where I didn’t quite get the monocote pulled tight enough.

This morning before leaving for work, I went down to the workroom to look at my results…it immediately hit me…I ironed on the darn blue on the TOP of the wing with the yellow on the bottom!!! I walked away shaking my head and wondering how I didn’t catch that until I was almost finished covering. Go ahead and chuckle because I wasn’t too upset about it.

Like I said, there were spots on the wing that I must have twisted the monocote such that it produced wrinkles that could not be removed. Some other spots had loose material that was sort of an eye sore.

This was my practice run, now I’m going to pre-cut all of the monocote to eliminate some of the seams before starting over.

So, what is the best way to remove the material that is ironed directly to the balsa?

Thanks,
Dave

(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 151

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/7/2008 9:54:08 PM   
Acs_guitars



Posts: 2055
Joined: 2/22/2004
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Status: offline 		Nice to see you're wworking on your plane again. We all have those mistakes at times... Making 2 left wing panels for instance . One step forward, Two steps back.
With monokote you can try using a heat gun to help peel it back, but parts of the color layer will be left behind and you will need to lightly sand those areas smooth. I personally use Ultracote.. It is easier to work with and to remove (it comes of MUCH cleaner). Good luck, you should be much happier with your second try. The firt time I used Monokote, I covered the wing 2 times and the fuse 3 times just trying to get it to look decent. On my second plane I used Ultracote and was amazed at how much easier it was to use.

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(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 152

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/7/2008 10:07:03 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks ACS, I'll get moving on that asap. I found that using blue painter's tape helps keep the position of the monocote.

I believe the blue is monocote and the yellow is econocote. So far I haven't had any issues in mixing the two brands together.

dave

(in reply to Acs_guitars)
       Post #: 153

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/9/2008 7:06:00 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Hi Guys,

I'm making good progress on covering my SIG wing (after ripping all the old covering off). In a way, I'm glad I made the color flop mistake because my second attempt is going much better...no wrinkles and a very tight cover.

Over lunch, I took my Nexstar over to a local sod farm. I was nervous as I only had a couple solos (and that was with the instructor next to me). Anyway, I figured I had to just get out there and fly or else I'll never become a better pilot.

I had two beautiful fligths after tuning the engine to the 12,500-13,000 RPM range.

Either side of the sod farm had a tree row with the sod farm about 150 yards wide. I was afraid that I'd clip the tree line on approach so I had to come in high for each time.

Well, on flight 3, I was getting danger close to the far tree line-went to full throttle to pull out-and the darn engine quit. I destryoyed the horizonal fin and damaged part of the elevator. I'm not too upset because I got over the jitters plus Tower sells the tail set for $26.

A tree branch bit the aileron a bit so I'll probaby replace that as well. This is my trainer which is meant to get beat up a bit! I can't wait to get my parts and head back over to the field.

Have a great weekend guys!

dave

(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 154

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/10/2008 2:28:20 AM   
N1EDM



Posts: 1807
Joined: 7/19/2002
From: Brockton, MA, USA
Status: online 		Sorry about the crash, but you got over the jitters. I still remember how my knees knocked when I made my first solo.

I'll bet that you can fix that stab and build a new fin in less time than it takes to order the new stuff... and you don't have to dig the old stuff out to slide the new pieces in...

Try gluing some of the pieces back together and see what you have...

Bob

_____________________________

An expert is someone who has been doing it for 15 minutes longer than you.

(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 155

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/16/2008 6:42:07 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Good afternoon guys,

Tower Hobbies rushed my Nexstar tail section to my home Wednesday night then yesterday at lunch I got the new pieces installed. A coworker of mine wanted to see me fly so I promised him a flight today at lunch.

I only had one flight today but it was sucessful. We have 14mph winds with gusts up to 21mph. I had to make 3 approaches before final because she was getting tossed all over the place. Final approach was excellent and she touched down with the engine still running.

What a confidence builder! The next time out with 0 wind will be a cake walk now.

No new news on my SIG.

Have a great weekend everyone!
dave

(in reply to N1EDM)
       Post #: 156

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/17/2008 5:14:37 AM   
Acs_guitars



Posts: 2055
Joined: 2/22/2004
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Status: offline 		A successful flight after a crash is always satisfying... I had my GP Yard Stick lawn-dart on me from a loop about 75 feet up. The elevator control horn snapped going into the botom of the loop. It broke one of the CF tubes on the leading edge, knocked the tail off, and bent the prop shaft. I pieced everything back together except for replacing the prop shaft, just a quick run to the hobby shop in the morning and I'll have it up again. We have had some high winds here in OK for weeks now, today was the first calm day in nearly a month.

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       Post #: 157

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/20/2008 9:22:13 AM   
TZflyer


 

Posts: 67
Joined: 10/8/2007
From: ModjadjiskloofLimpopo, SOUTH AFRICA
Status: offline 		Hi everyone,

just started my own 4 star build a few days ago. Nearly got the wing finished. It's my first build but this kit seems to go together easily enough.
I have an OS 52 for it but I am hoping it's close enough to qualify for this thread
I will post pics when I have a bit more done.

Good flying,

Ray

(in reply to Acs_guitars)
       Post #: 158

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/20/2008 11:49:06 PM   
N1EDM



Posts: 1807
Joined: 7/19/2002
From: Brockton, MA, USA
Status: online 		I was thinking of starting mine... if it comes out good in the bones, I might cover it in transparent film with some solid film for accents...

But it's still a little bit away from being started...

Bob

_____________________________

An expert is someone who has been doing it for 15 minutes longer than you.

(in reply to TZflyer)
       Post #: 159

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/23/2008 6:56:59 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Hey guys,

I have some SIG photos of the rudder & vertical / horizontal stabs but I can't recall how to post photos. Can I post them with a Fast reply? If not, I'll just wait until more covering is complete then start a new post.

Lunchtime: one flight on the Nexstar due to the 10mph winds with 16mph gusts. I thought I'd leave the field while still ahead.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone.

dave

(in reply to N1EDM)
       Post #: 160

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/24/2008 12:24:15 AM   
N1EDM



Posts: 1807
Joined: 7/19/2002
From: Brockton, MA, USA
Status: online 		One easy way to post photos is to hit Reply to this (or any) message. Then, the box for attaching files will come up automatically. You can type in your response and post photos at the same time.

For some reason, if you post something directly to the Fast Reply box, you'll have to first save it, then go back and edit your answer to make the File Attachment box come up.

Bob

_____________________________

An expert is someone who has been doing it for 15 minutes longer than you.

(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 161

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/25/2008 9:11:47 AM   
Andrewmc


 

Posts: 79
Joined: 7/17/2004
From: Cape Town, , SOUTH AFRICA
Status: offline 		Hi Everyone

Just got back from 3 weeks in Texas. Glad to see that 428CJ is back in building mode. No pictures of the covering yet ACS_Guitars!

Went to one of the hobby shops in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and saw a poster with a picture of a scale bipe entitled "Old Farts Fly In".

I asked how old do you have to be to qualify to be an "old fart". He looked at me and said " If you have a 4 stroke, you'll qualify". At 41 this was quite a blow to my ego. LOL

Hope to get some progress this week - trying to remember where I left off....

Andrew

(in reply to N1EDM)
       Post #: 162

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 5/27/2008 2:24:09 PM   
Acs_guitars



Posts: 2055
Joined: 2/22/2004
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Status: offline 		Now that it is flying season I have been flying and maintaining the already completed planes and have hardly touched any of the 3 waiting to be covered. A bit of life has happened too.... In a month I will be moving to Jacksonville, FL. Nice house with enough space for a hobby room, and a shop in the garage. Once I am in the house I'll be busy doing a little clean-up and remodelling work for a while... Needless to say, it may be a while before the 4 star is back on the priority list. This does give me plenty of time to think about my color schem ideas though

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       Post #: 163

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 6/2/2008 6:35:32 PM   
428CJ


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Mukwonago, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Hi Everyone,

Here's a friendly reminder to always have your toolbox at the field with you. I blew a completely perfect lunch hour for flying. 81 degrees, 2mph breeze. I had my nexstar on the field ready for takeoff. To my dismay, I noticed that at least 3 of the panhead screws holding the engine bracket to the firewall were loose. The entire engine rattled when running.

I thought it was my best interest to abort flight until later this week. Last night I even looked at my toolbox thinking that I should really have it with my flight box.

It looks as though I need to take some engine parts off in order to access the screws. I'll take them out and apply a nice film of loctite.

Meanwhile on my 4 star, Saturday I made it to the hobby store for more Monocote. I have all the control surfaces done and have just a bit more covering to do on the fuselage and wing. I'll post photos this week.

dave

(in reply to Acs_guitars)
       Post #: 164

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 6/4/2008 6:16:17 PM   
TZflyer


 

Posts: 67
Joined: 10/8/2007
From: ModjadjiskloofLimpopo, SOUTH AFRICA
Status: offline 		Hi everyone,

just finished my 4 Star this evening and she looks great. I built her exactly to spec, no mods, maybe will try some with the next one.
I have mounted an OS 52 surpass up front with a 12 X 6 prop.
Going to maiden her tomorrow and I am very nervous, much more so than with the ARFs I have been flying.
This was my first kit but I don't think I will buy an ARF again, its just so satisfying to build your own.
I will post pics soon if she comes back to earth safely tomorrow.

Good flying all,

Ray

(in reply to 428CJ)
       Post #: 165

RE: Four Star 40 with Saito 56 - 6/4/2008 10:17:22 PM   
Acs_guitars



Posts: 2055
Joined: 2/22/2004
From: Tulsa, OK, USA
Status: offline 		Congrats on your first kit.... Sounds like you are hooked. The feeling of not wanting to crash something you put so much work into never goes away, but when you see it fly tou will enjoy it more than any ARF. Take lots of pics BEFORE your maiden, tripple check your throws, control surface directions, and balance and you should do just fine... a good preflight is the key. Let us know how it goes!

_____________________________

Originator of the Web Crawlers Association WCA# 0001
AMA # 880471

(in reply to TZflyer)