eagledancer

well i just had to post some pics of my project. this has been a 7 year build but it has been on and off, with many planes built along with this. i just did the taxi tests yesterday, found it doesnt like cross winds much but then again what ww1 aircraft does? did a few hops about 6-12" off the ground. with a few items i needed to give a bit of attention to before its maiden flight. hopefully this next weekend. all up weight is 22 lbs with a Moki 2.10 swinging a 20x10 prop, seems to be loads of power. guided with a spectrum radio. now its back to my camel!!!

thunder21

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Beautiful! Please post a video of the model in flight if you can!

I have a smaller Albatros DIII (65") and it actually tolerates crosswinds fairly well. The thing mine doesn't like is sudden gusts of wind when landing. I've got to fly it all the way until it stops moving. The stall speed is around 18MPH. I'd imagine yours to be around 20MPH.

It looks like you have a fan at the back of the spinner. Is that for cooling?

eagledancer

yes the fan is for cooling, on the crosswinds, had a 10mph crosswind, on the hops as i set her back down just as the tail was about to come back down she would try to tip up on one wing. guess the ailerons are not real effective at that slow a speed

jjscott

Nice work!

Jim

caribefoto

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I'm just past the "opening the box" ceremony on a Proctor Albatross I plan to finish as a D-V and hope I can approach your standard, very nice bird! I can believe 7 years, it's a long process just locating the correct part number. Not complaing, these kits are a work of art in and of themselves. Good luck on your maiden, keep us posted (video, that is). Congrats.............John

BobH

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Eagle.. beautiful bro. I just love it. No doubt the plane well fly super. I have the Hanson vid of the test flights of the Proto type. The plane has a wide flight envelope. Yes the Camel.. !! Me too by the way LOL.. mines not even half built!

thunder21

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Yeah, the designers of my model sacrificed scale fidelity for performance. The ailerons are about 30% larger than scale. Maybe you can increase the aileron throw and use lots of expo.

eagledancer

thx bob, after seeing your work of arts that really means a lot to me. my camel is all framed up. time to start finding places for radio gear (servos are already in lower wing panels) still have all the sheeted panels to make for the fuse. i am using the 2 tank method for the camel (did this on the albi too) seems to work quite well so far.
so come on bob lets get back to the camels! lol i need to follow your impecable lead!
todd

abufletcher

Hope I'm not too late to join the party by saying your Albi looks spectacular! I'm always stunned at how these Proctor kits come out. They are the real Mercedes of model kits.

BobH

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I'm in the throws of building a Sis-T at the moment LOL. But, I promise, when that's finished I'll get back on the Camel. It's just too neat of a plane to not finish!!

Oh yeah. a video of your flight if you can manage would be great.. I'd just love to see it.

eagledancer

thx alot guys, i will attempt to find someone with a digital video camera. i am watching the weather but lately its been one thunderstorm after another.

ZoomZoom-RCU

Veeeery nice!

ZZ.

John Cole

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Eagle; great job on the D-V scout! I am currently planning my D-V build; will install the same engine as you have chosen, but may attempt upright installation. Your model looks really good.

John

eagledancer

john, if you go upright you will be into the scale dummy engine, that is a huge engine! mine sticks out the bottom about 1/2 inch at the front of the engine and it is flush with the fuse at the rear of the head. i did make my own muffler for it. i beleave this will be much more then enough engine to pull this thing around. was talking with joe the other day and they range in weight from 21 to 28 lbs. mine is at 22. on my test hops i was only at 1/2 throttle. good luck on your build!

John Cole

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Eagle; Yes, I did notice that *little* issue about the engine interference when studying the plans. I was hoping it wouldn't be to horribly obvious. My plan will be to build the fuse and dummy engine, then mess with getting the Moki arranged into the most suitable position. I'm way ok with inverted engines, but could see how it would hang out below as well... Such a balancing act we scale builders must perform. ;^) Good to hear the Moki is plenty of power. 1/2 throttle, wow. I really like those motors, my reasons for using the 2.1 is their great reliability, and turning a big prop.

Here's something I'd like to ask you; If you were to build it again, would you do anything differently? Do you feel that weight can/ should be shaved off somehow? I know you have limited flight time so far, but would like to eventually hear your impressions of that too.
Thanks in advance for your input.

John

eagledancer

here is a pic under the chin, as you can see it isnt sticking out much, this much i can live with much more then to take away from that scale dummy there are a couple things i would do different, first i would put some thin servos in the lower wing panels instead of the cable/pulley system that is on the plans. but when i started the project the ones i would have used were not availible and i was too far along in the build to change when they came out. i would also do something a little different with the radiator in the upper wing that assy is HEAVY as designed, maybe use some alum tubes and omit the middle ones (you really cant see that far into the radiator) while we are on the radiator that area on the wing needs support, when i first covered the wing and tighted the covering it pulled the ribs away from the radiator badly! had to strip the covering back off and add support to the ribs what a pain concidering i had already did actual rib stitching! another thing i would do is in the tail. get rid of the reed trailing edges! so hard to keep them straight or where you want them, use music wire instead.
hopefully the weather will cooperate, and maybe i can get a flight or 2 in on monday

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Eag. the engine doesn't look bad sitting like it does. I opted with the Laser 300 that is supposed to fit entirely within the cowl. I like the Moki's too, great engines!!.. hope you can get a vid of the first flights.

John Cole

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Thank you for your thoughts. Good to see the actual engine install, really isn't such a big deal when you see it first-hand. I was having a hard time seeing it in my mind's eye when dealing with the plans alone.

I'm not surprised about the reed issues, I've had similar problems. What a GREAT tip about the radiator and covering issue you came across...I've just marked my plans to avoid this problem later. Thanks again.

John

eagledancer

well SHE FLYS!!!!!!!!! after waiting on the wind to die down and the thunder boomers to get out of the area i finally managed to get a flight in tonight! I could NOT ask for a nicer flying aircraft!!! THANKS PROCTOR ENTERPRISES!!!!! talk about picture perfect take off and landing. couldnt get a video as my friend that has one couldnt make the maiden flight and most of the pics came out small but did get 1 for you guys on a flyby.

abufletcher

It's always great news to hear that a great looking model is also a great flyer!!! Well done! [sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif]

eagledancer

thx abu, btw you should be getting close to this point with your snipe?

CrateCruncher

My Feedback: (1)

Eagle,
I consider the Proctor Albatros one of the most beautiful (and complicated) r/c kits ever produced and you deserve a huge round of applause just for finishing it! I've opened the box several times and followed others projects but thats about it. To actually see pic's of one in flight is a treat. To hear it's a nice flying plane is even better.

You mentioned it took 7 years off and on. I'm curious how many cumulative hours you worked on it? Was the fuselage or leading edge sheeting difficult? How did you set up the wing incidence etc. I need details!

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Eagle congrats bro. She looks lovely in the air. !!

deljon

My Feedback: (4)

eagledancer.....A great big congratulations on a job well done. Great looking plane.
Now, how about loading it up and come on over to the Ohio Dawn Patrol next month and join the fun??

Del

eagledancer

del i would love to but i am already committed to vacation time in aug to go to fla to see if i can find a home to buy (planning on relocating before the first of the year) the dawn patrol is something i have wanted to do since you folks started it as well as rhinebeck.
crate, hard to say exactly what it took time wise had to back up a couple times had to recover the upper wing once to reinforce the ribs around the radiator the covering pulled the ribs away from the radiator (sig koverall and dope) then i decided 3/4 of the way through the build to change to a different engine (supertigre 3000 have one inverted on a fokker tripe that is a bear to keep the plug clear and was worried it wouldnt be enough power like i really needed to worry about not enough power now i am very much overpowered lol )
on the wing incidence is actually real easy to set, the cabanes are adjustable, just screw in or out till your happy with things, and i also used a laser incidence meter.
on the lower wing stub that is covered very well in the instructions just read through before you start glueing!

now on the sheeting... the wing sheeting is really easy so dont worry about that. the fuse back around the tail is the hard part but its really not that bad either
just take your time on it trim and fit trim and fit little at a time then sand the edges a bit before adding the overlapping edge of the next piece sides and front are a piece of cake

now guys its not goin to get built sitting on a shelf because your scared of all those parts. the hunt for the correct part is part of the fun! (everything is bagged with part #s) just take your time and enjoy! yes i know there are alot of parts in that box but its really not bad at all, i really should have spent more time on this build and less on "quicker builds" on the next table. if i knew just how enjoyable this plane is to fly i would have done just that!

todd