rcmiket

I'm starting a new build thought I'd share it with you all. As stated in the title it's a 1/4 N-28 from Balsa USA. I'm very impressed of the wood selection for the kit, plans and manual. My first Balsa USA build over 15 years ago a 1/3 Cub was a different story. The wood was basically " floor sweepings" . They have come a long way and have gone the extra mile to insure the builder will have a successful build. Feel free to chime in with any suggestions or comments.
Mike

summerwind

subscribed of course!

hey Mike,
i just started the BUSA 1/4DR1 and same here on the quality.
some of the wood looks to be hand picked, or at least the wood grade is what i would have picked for each component such as ribs, stringers, spars, sheeting etc....
only thing i corrected with the plans was the center to tip on the lower and middle wings was 1/4" off, being short on the left side.

other than that, i think these kits are a real bargain.

having built the Proctor N28, i didn't have the heart to build another, so the DR1 fits the truck, and the wife loves Red

this'll be fun to watch for sure

rcmiket

I remember your Proctor build. I never finished mine just hung it framed. I'm actually thinking of using the cowl. gear and a few other things on the B.USA kit. The Proctor is 5% larger but I think I can work work around that.
Mike

dreid

My Feedback: (13)

I built one a few years back for a review in R/C Report, maybe Feb of 2007. It is a nice building plane and flies very well. One thing to look out for is wings and stab are not always same dimensions in span from centerline on some of the BUSA kits. Easy fix if you look for it before building. I have at least 50-60 flights on it.

chuck l

My Feedback: (17)

Mike,

Good luck with your build. I'm trying to decide between the Proctor and Balsa USA Nieuport, starting this thread is timely. Can you give me a few words of wisdom on which one to build? Why did you decide to not to finish the Proctor? I like the separate wing panels on the Proctor, easier to fit in the car.

Chuck

rcmiket

The Proctor is a scale kit A to Z. Very time consuming to build but dead on scale and a beautiful kit. The Balsa USA is a " stand off" scale. simple , strong and the build is very straight forward. It's all a matter of what you want. As far as bang for the buck the Balsa USA in my book. Why I didn't finish it, well its just too pretty to cover. IMO it's more a museum piece to be admired not a everyday flyer. I was looking for a plane that I could scale out a bit but would be something I would fly without worrying about "dinging" it. Hope that makes sense.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_85..._1/key_/tm.htm

This is Summerwind's Proctor build, I have a few comment also there. It will give you a bit of incite as to what you can expect with the Proctor.
Mike

foodstick

heres some video of my buddies with a 25cc poulan powering it. Great flying airplane.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0_Byv0wqZo[/youtube]

rcmiket

Looks like a nice flyer, thanks for the video.
Mike

rcmiket

Here's a comparison between the Balsa USA vs the Proctor top wing panel. Figured some might want to see the difference.
Mike

chuck l

My Feedback: (17)

Mike,

Thanks for the comparison pictures. I'm leaning more toward the Balsa USA Nieuport.

Chuck

rcmiket

I think as I progress I'll post more like those just so people can see the difference.
Mike

summerwind

built 3 wings in a weeks time!!.........i can see why these BUSA planes are flown too.........there ain't nothing to em....you gotta change things to taste to make them complicated enough to stay interested

seriously, i had only 2 sticks of wood that i found unuseable, and BUSA promptly shipped them out to me with a week.

Mike,
are you doing any changes to this 28?
the only thing i see from photos of this plane is that the rudder and stab location to each other is not right.

ARUP

Hi rcmiket- I have both the BalsaUsa and Proctor N28. Both are great! The BUSA kit can be enhanced a little with minimal effort. Number one on the list, which is a glaring defect, is the stab-elevator hingeline co-inciding with the fin-rudder hinge line. The fullscale fin-rudder hingeline is behind the stab-elevator hingeline. This is very easy to correct using good 3-views. It pretty much boils down to moving the stab foward ~2 inches. Number two is the landing gear struts and spreader bar. They need a little attention and lastly the axle needs to be 'bungeed' on for landing shock loads. The way it is designed works but eventually an axle will break and a wheel will roll along the ground for a way while the airplane tips its nose into the turf. Ask me how I know! Other than those things the BUSA kit is a great kit and well worth the money and effort!

rcmiket

Thanks for the heads up. I was aware of the hinge line issue but glad you reminded me. That will be taken care of. Right now I'm just doing the basic frame up and noting "problems" that I can easily correct. Having the Proctor plans and a good 3 view has really helped. I toyed with the idea of doing the undercabered wing but blew it off. I'm working on the obivous and then I'll scale it out a bit. Really what I want out of this a a nice WW I subject that I can too the field and fly enjoy and not have to worry about scraping a wing tip or a ding here or there.
Mike

summerwind

i think the idea with the BUSA kits is to keep it simple and fun.

Mike and i have both built the Proctor N28, and while it is a fun build, it is tedious.

as i mentioned though, the rudder to stab location is the first giveaway, but not sure how easily it is to correct.

rcmiket

Worked a bit on the tail group this morning. Just falls together. A couple of comparison shots also. The plastic cowl is provided in the kit. While the Proctor is jus a bit larger I think I can get away with it. I'm going to look at the hinge line this afternoon and see just what I can do about it.
Mike

ARUP

So far so good! Like I've said before-The BUSA are great kits!

rcmiket

Just finishing up the elevator now. I compared my 3 view and the Proctor plans as far as the hinge line goes. Looks like moving the elevator assembly forward about a 1 1/2 inches will fix that. I need to look at the fuse and see just what formers need to be adjusted. I don't think it will be that big of a deal to do it but you know how that goes. I think I need their SE 5 now.
Mike

rcmiket

Worked on finishing up the tail group. One thing I noticed was the B USA rudder is smaller than the Proctor not sure if I'll enlarge it or not. I compared 3 views and I need to look at the fuse formers to see if they can be adjusted to pull it off the elevator hinge line. Next the bottom wing or fuse haven't decided yet. Have a busy weekend at the field so I have a few days to figure it out. Another issue is my helicopters are giving me the evil eye think their not happy about all the attention this plank is getting.
Mike

chuck l

My Feedback: (17)

Mike,

Keep the pictures coming, I appreciate them.

Chuck

abufletcher

Very informative seeing the Proctor/BUSA comparisons! Thanks. By the way, WHY do you have both these kits, and apparently in about the same stages of construction? Is one going to be the "practice plane?"

I notice the Proctor has a "notch" in the bottom side of the rudder fin. Is that a scale feature and is it related to the placement of the elevator? And will you also need to add the notch to the BUSA rudder?

rcmiket

I have both. I received the Proctor in a trade about 10 years ago. It sat because I was thought the build was just to involved. Most of my building experience at that point were kits or kits I cut from plans. One day I said screw it I can do this and started the build. It's finished short of covering. The more I looked at it the more I thought it was just too pretty to be covered and need to be hung up somewhere to be admired. About 15 years ago I built a Rich V 1/4 scale SE5 from plans my first attempt at cutting all the wood and so on. Well I flew fantastic and I did very well campaigning it on the local contest circuit. Fast forward. Been flying helicopters acrobatic ARF's and EDf's for the past 6 or 7 years and the WW I started nagging at me again thus the B USA N-28. I forgot just how much fun building was and nothing compares to the satisfaction of seeing something you built fly. As far as the Proctor after the N-28 ( and maybe a SE5 ) I'm going to finish and fly it. I feel that it deserves it. Sorry for rambling on but thought I'd give a bit of my history with this . Oh yea the notch that clears the elevator hinge line.
Mike

rcmiket

Got hung up on 2 "priority" repairs two helicopters that have side tracked my build. I'm back on it as soon as I get these done. Never fails things get slow I start a project then things pick up. I'm not complaining the helicopter repairs and builds are how I support my RC addiction.
Mike

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,

I built the BUSA 1/4 scale version and, recently, the 1/3 scale one. I too noticed the discrepancy of the rudder shape and changed it to the scale outline. On the 1/3 scale one I also moved the stab forward.

On both of them I sanded the tail surfaces to an airfoil shape and sheeted them with 1/16" balsa. It did not affect the balance much at all. The 1/4 scale one did not need any ballast in the nose. They both fly beautifully.

Jim

rcmiket

Back at it today got one of the bottom wing panel framed. Still have a way to go on it. Had to "manufacture" a few tems that were missing in the kit. No big deal.
Mike