Triple-A

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I'm going to pick up an old Sterling King-Cobra this weekend and wanted to know how close to scale it looks. I know I'll have to at least lengthen the fuse and it wont win any contests but is it at least passable flying by???
Bob

LDM

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Wow thats rare gem , as i recall its a nice size bird , big for its time , foam core wings???
I remember one from a warbird meet about 15 years ago , I thought it looked very good .

rainedave

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I was just looking at the plans that a friend has. It's a typical Maxey Hester design, though no where near as scale as his Ryan (the SIG kit). It's a real collectors item so definetly pick it up. Hester flew it at pattern contests as well as scale meets.

nmacwarbirds

Dear Triple A
I can remember seeing one of those fly over here about twenty five years ago at least.
What I remember of it is that it flew very well indeed.
What a find you have made.

Regards Phil G.

drone pilot

Bob, The only thing I seem to remember is that the tail moment may be a bit longer than scale, as it was designed for pattern flying( I think). I think it was even entered in "stand off scale" events in the early 80's Had a De Bolt "Cobra" about that time and when in the air looked pretty good, but not near scale.....Cliff

Triple-A

My Feedback: (93)

Well it's a done deal. I picked it up this afternoon. Got the P-63 and a Sterling Waco and a Balsa USA .40 size Eindecker. He kept bringing the kit's out and I kept buying. His smile kept getting bigger and my wallet kept getting lighter. I had to pry myself away, it was like I was in a trance. Airplanes everywhere and my mind was saying you need that, you must have that one and that one. [sm=bananahead.gif]
Their still in the car. If I get them out I'll be up all night. All kidding aside the Cobra is a blast from the past. It has actual chunks of balsa wood in there, what do you think their for??????????????????
Thanks guys for all your input, Bob W.

drone pilot

I hope all that balsa didn't completely dry out in that high desert air.... Someones tag line is....start carving and sanding away everything that doesn't look like an airplane.....That hobby shop still downtown Lancaster that was there50 yrs ago? They used to have hand carved minitures of all the "secret" planes out at Edwards.....funny. Been looking , sort of, for an old DeBolt Cobra kit, might be fun to go back a few years. Watch out for the Waco, that was originaly a control line plane, my friend has one, and it is a real hand full, ('couse it could be his building) but a nice looking plane......Cliff

Triple-A

My Feedback: (93)

Are you talking about Thomas Aviation??
I was looking in the Sterling kit's and I think they forgot to put the plastic part's in um I just can't figure it out. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif] Did you say carve? Isn't that what you do to a turkey? I'll look it up in the dictionary. I just don't see what that has to do with an airplane kit.
Bob

drone pilot

Sounds like you bought a "short" kit......short a lot of parts.........

rogue-RCU

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I had one of those kits back in the 80's. Pretty good kit for it's time. I sold it to a friend of mine . It flew pretty good.

gregandhollie

what engine do you plan to use? i'm thinking of the tower hobbies .75

Triple-A

My Feedback: (93)

I've got a RCV90-SP that I haven't used yet and hopefully I can hide the exhaust exit so I will keep the clean line's ( hopefully being the key word) Might be a bit to big I've not checked yet.
Bob

CoosBayLumber

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Drone......

As a point of interest, to which I assume many did not konw. The originals for the DeBolt Cobra are out back here. The vellums contain quite a few errasures also. The original thought looks to have been for a DMECO P-63, but something must have changed and the model which was boxed came out as a P-39 instead.

Wm.

slkret

Triple-A:
I built that kit in 1967. A couple of comments on it: First it is what I would call semi-scale. Sterling took the Maxie Hester design and modified it to simplify the construction and presumably improve the flight characteristics. When you open the box and look at the plans, you will see that the wing construction for example is very similar to the construction used on patern planes of the day. It has sheeted leading edges and trailing edges with open bays between cap-striped ribs. I fully sheeted my wing to give it a more scale like appearance. The model is by no means true to scale but the deviation from scale does not detract from the P-63 "look".

I powered mine with a ST .56 which was one of the more popular engines of the day. It was the last model I flew with my F&M 10 channel reed type radio. I thought the model flew very well and it was capable of flying the complete AMA patern of the day.

I've often looked for one of those kits and have not found one. If I found one I'd build it as an electric to preserve the clean lines of the nose and add a set of retracts to complete the look. I recently completed a TF P-39 that way and posted an article and pictures in this forum.

Steve

gregandhollie

i am still trying to get you those pictures i promised. i am having trouble trying to get them from the camera to the computer. whateverf happened to film and flash cubes?

sledge_78

My Feedback: (24)

TripleA,

Glad to see you bought the Sterling P-63. I too, have one of these kits. I hope you are more fortunate than I was. I bought the kit on EBAY and it came without the plans. I nice fellow here on RCUNIVERSE had a set of plans and sent me a copy. The P-63 is large 70" wingspan and much of the included parts are really old technology. With today's radios & servos the airplane could be built light and fly very well. However, this is a Sterling Kit and will require much sanding and carving those blocks. As far as scale, I think it would look great in the air but on the ground there are some out of scale areas. I am a glutton for punishment though, I also have two of the Debolt cobra kits. My favorite is the Top Flite P-39. It is much closer to scale appearance than any kit I've seen. Good luck with your P-63, let's see some photo's

Sledge_78

drone pilot

Ahhhhh......did you say "I have two of the DeBolt Cobra kits"? Are you saving them for posterity or are you open to offers???? I had a mishap when building mine using Ambroid glue. I had the wing all pinned and glued, blocked up and all, then somehow it slipped. The glue set up and I ended up with a pretzle..... Had a friend that had huge foam blocks, so cut some cores and sheeted with 1/16 th balsa. Plane flew very well dispite my efforts to destroy it. Finally it lost the will to survive and I won out. A;ways thought it would be fun to relive that time in history.....Cliff

drone pilot

CBL, By originals, do you mean plans or full kits? As I remember there was nothing in the plans that showed the individual ribs, so for me extremely difficult to layout double taper wing ribs.. Really like the moments on that plane, it flew really smooth, and landed like a leaf on water......

sledge_78

My Feedback: (24)

drone Pilot,

Yes, I have two of the debolt Cobra kits. Here's an interesting note on these. The kits did not come with a canopy included. They came with a note from Debolt factory that the Canopy was to large to include in the kit, so you would have to order it from debolt through your local hobby shop ( obviously that can't be done now). I happen to be fond of the P-39/p63 design airplane. A bit crazy perhaps but I started to collect different kits of the airplane. The only one I built so far is an ARF by VQ. I do admit the VQ p-39 Arf is very nice. It's really great looking and a head turner. Flying characteristics are really smooth and easy, no surprises. I can tell you that the camoflage finish is very effective, making it hard to see in the air. I hadn't considered selling the debolt Cobra kits, but if your interested drop me a note and make a fair offer, I may consider selling one, but you cannot use Ambroid again. .. Gerry

lanisa

I have one of these Sterling Models. Maxey Hestler's Fabulous P63 King Cobra kits. The box has some stains on it, but it looks complete. Has two sets of plans (Remote Control & Control Line). 70" wingspan & 47" length. The label on the kit recommends .35 to .60 engine. I am thinking of selling it on e-bay. Does anybody have an idea what this kit is worth?
Thank you

lanisa

is anyone interested in this kit?

Triple-A

My Feedback: (93)

You should get around $150.00 for it. I tracked one about a month ago trying to see what it would fetch, But as my memory is as long as my (well you get it)I can't remember. It was close to that amount. My got shuffled to the bottom of the to do list. Good luck if you go the Ebay way. You'll make money on it for sure.
Bob

lanisa

Thank for the help

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

That depends , you can still get the red box (yes smaller in size ) on ebay for 100 , seen the Gold editions for sale and bid as low as $129 and over $200 .
Timeing , there is a gold edition on RCU . I think there asking $249
This is a rare kit (yours ) but competition on warbirds is difficult .

Michaelj2k

Here's one built by Dan Grotzinger seen at the recent VR/CS Selinsgrove Reunion over the Labor Day Weekend. The unpainted portion of the wing is a recent repair from a midair!