siddus74

After finishing my Bud Chappel Catalina I have decided its time to pull out the RT Models Canadair kit that has been under the bench for the last 3 months. On inspecting the contents of the box it was evident that all the laser cut stuff was good but 50 % of the stock was warped and of poor quality. Not to worry plenty of stock in stock anyway (just annoying) The plan shows this model for 2 x .15's but I am suspucious that it may not leave the water, so I have bought 4 engine mounts just incase I need to swap them out for .25's . . .

I would like to hear from any body that has built from this plan and has powered it by 2 x .15's . . . (or any glow)

As with most builders there are parts on the plan you wont agree with and and up changing a bit here and there - I plan to build the wing strong enough for the .25's just incase, so that means a adding a vertical 1/32 ply back bone an inch past the nacels amoungst other things . . .

WALKERS210-RCU

My Feedback: (36)

I have had for some time now drawings in DXF format for the CanAir 215. Every so often I will pull it up and give very serious thought to buidling it. The plans are very very detailed and even have complete specs and drawings for building your own retracts. Only problem is everything is in French. Your plane looks very much like the 215 and I look forward to your progress, it might even give me the insperation to start cutting the wood and build this plane.

g_boxwood

Those are Bernard's plans, the same I've been working on for a while now... my thread is in englisha and it is pretty step-by-step ... no more excuses!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_44.../anchor/tm.htm

Get your inspiration and come join the family of the few building the tanker!

If you do just let me know since the plans were re-drawn.

siddus74

Had another couple of hours at it this evening, the better weather will be here soon and I want another twin to go with my Catalina

As you can see I have done away with the spruce spars and opted for a wider hard balsa equivalent as well as the piece of 1/32 ply on its edge spanning an inch past the nacelles, the sheeting is wider than shown on the plans, but although I don’t want this to end up a heavy model I don’t want another water plane I can only fly in the lightest of winds so I am willing to sacrifice some weight gain for robustness and model durability and flying condition practicality.

I shaved one nacelle top with a scalpel and then gave it a going over with the Permagrit . . . I cant imaging how much work I saved myself since buying these . . .

The sheeting is held on with medium Cyano and Aliphatic wood glue.

I still believe a couple of .25's over 72" is better than a pair of .15's

g_boxwood

It's coming along quick and nice! Very good work!

You're right, Permagrit tools rule! And they last forever...

siddus74

Another couple of hours this evening see's the sheeting done as well as the other hatch carved and sanded . . . still have to do the capping, webbing and the sanding of the LE, but thats for later during the week . . .

siddus74

Together with a friend we managed to put the majority of the fusleage together in an afternoon. Very well thought out system of tabs enure that the fuselage is perfectly square during assembly, although the tabs are prone to breaking off if the fit is to tight and the more dry fitting they tabs endure the more the tendency is to break off. The two box sections that bring the rear part of the fuselage together are fitted to one side of fuselage first and glued then the other side is pulled in and glued, excellent method I think.

I have never had a set of wings fitt so well, the wind saddles and profit for the wings is spot on.

The front section looks like a patch work quilt but after assembly you realise that these sections with the grain running the way they do ensure the strength is in the correct places.

The windows are only dry fitted at this moment.

siddus74

I've been putting off doing anything to the Canadair during the week as I knew that the front infill was the next job :-( and I have been spending a considerable amount of time trying to decide the best way to tackle it.

In the end I thought I would just infill it with some soft 1" x 1/4 and trust my carving and sanding abilites (well the permagrit's anyway) an hour later I am pleased with the result and can now look forward to the more enjoyable parts of the build . . .

siddus74

Managed to squeeze in another hour 2nite - the window frames supplied in the kit were a little small and also I figured trying to put acetate behind the cut outs after the spray job would be a nightmare job plus its another potential way in for water. So based on that I opted for full sheeting with a view to either spraying the windows in or plain old black protrim . . .

siddus74

Another couple of hours see the the top front decking and hatch completed as well as the forward section of the 1/8 sheeting . . . I was concerned that I would have to plank the very front section in 1/2 " by 1/8 as the wood supplied was hard and would not bend to the contours, luckily I had some 1/8 medium that stepped up to the job

siddus74

Nose cone sorted . . .

Falcon6667

Good looking work!
Falcon

siddus74

Been kept away from this one for too long now , had some repairs to make to my Ace Seamaster after putting it through a tree a couple of weeks ago . . .

Managed to get a couple of hours at it this afternoon. I decided after having so much success with defining a definate step with my Catalina that I would do the same to my Canadair just for good measure. Then with the aid of the 'Permagrits' I constructed the tail assy. A dry fit can do wonders for the motivation . . .

The plan calls for either electric or 2 x .15's, I was sceptical about the 2 x .15's getting it off the water and flying it especially over a 72" span, but we do tend to over power and over build our models so I have decided to run with the two .15's trying to keep it as light as possible and see how I get on . . . the Catalina fly's so well on the 2 .10's.

I remember reading in a post 'I build my models to fly not crash' refering to the keeping it light part I think, and all the vintage stuff I build although quite allot more fragile fly so so well, maybe they got it right back in the 1940's . . .

siddus74

Another big push this week sees the airframe almost ready for finishing. All the servos are mounted and tested. I had to do all the capping and webbing, two jobs I really dislike [:'(]

The foam for the tip floats that came with the kit were cut very poorly so I decided to cut my own foam from some reclaimed kithcen packaging and using Copydex finished them with 1/16 balsa as I like to paint them with enamel for that final glossy finish.

All the rear deck sheeting has also been completed now as well . . .

The Nacels have finally been glued in place and the servo leads routed through to the center of the wing. All in all alot of work with very little viewable result . . .

siddus74

Had my first ever attempt at glassing . . . dont know what a the fuss is about. I read the instructions, assembled the roller, cut the cloth and mixed the epoxy. I used wing skinning finising epoxy and light weight cloth. I am only going to skin the bottom of the hull, the rest will be finished with dope and sanding sealer then sprayed with enamel.

siddus74

Managed to get some paint on it tonight although I am very dissapointed with the result, a number of things went wrong . . .
I didnt really spend enough time on the preparation and I used grey undercoat which has killed the colour of what should be deep yellow - instead I am now left with pale yellow and two rolls of solartex that doesnt match []. How ever the vintage yellow is a very good match and I do like that slightly see through look . . . the pictures look muc better than reality []

I did use the sanding sealer for the first time, excellent stuff. I shall be using that in the future. I will also be staying away from a spray finish and just run with a brush from now on.

Falcon6667

it still looks ok. NEXT TIME grasshopper you must paint white under yellow......must! no way out.
Falcon

siddus74

Guys some advice would be appreciated here, I am considering not putting the winglets on the wing tips and the extra mini rudders on the tail as I expect they will only get broken off when in transit, I have to travel about a hour so often want to take 3 models so room is issue as well, Do you think it will ake a difference in the way it fly's? I appreciate that on a twin the addition tail rudders play a small part when you have an engine out but I have a couple of twins and they dont have them. . . I was going to put 3 degress of out thrust on the engines in any case . . . any advice would be great . . .

siddus74

After a really dissapointing paint job I decided to crack on and try and get it finished and flying . . . I keep reminding myself to just try and enjoy it and have fun - it's so easy to become disheartened after putting so much time in Anyway not a bad days modelling really . . . cant cover the wings @ the moment as I am out of covering . . .

Falcon6667

Really looking good...looking forward to "on the water" pics.
tks. for sharing Falcon

siddus74

I am really undecided what engines to run with, the plan requests 2 x .15's and has an AUW of between 5.5lbs and 7lbs. With all the radio gear and the 2 .15's I can achieve 5.7lbs, and it feels nice and light, but with the .25's it does / will weigh considerably more. Surely 2 x.15's with an AUW of 5.7lbs should be ample? The plan / notes suggest not to use bigger than recommended engines as it could stress the airframe and also suggests that it does fly like a trainer. . . Of course the .25's would supply allot of power turning 9x6 props but surely thats equivalent of a good .50 or a meduim spec .61 - thats to much for 5.7lbs surely?

Is it me or do those 9x6's look to big, and those 8x6's look much more at home?

siddus74

Well, all done and another dream realised . . . you just cant beat that sense of satisfaction that a plan build / kit can give you. I am pleased with the final result and @ 5.7lbs and at a guess of 23 once wing loading I think that the 2 .15's for power should be ok . . . (The plan suggests that the AUW should be between 5.5 and 7.0 lbs / 22 once - 28 once loading) Although it is not finished actually as the plan / instruction say with the omition of the winglets etc make what what I call practical enjoyable sport scale - a model that can be transported with out the fear of to much intransit damage and broken nicites. @ 25 metres who with be able to see those bits and pieces anyway? I dont think orientation will be a problem with that large red hull.

siddus74

Well I am flying my Canadair now, what a beaut It flys very well, even on the 2 x.15's . . . It's not a model that turns well on just the ailerons - with 50% rudder mix you still need to hold some more rudder in . . . Those downwind into wind turns are lovely and with a head wind you can really slow here down to a crawl. Water handling is excellent. I raised the tips floats by 1/4" each side and balanced it laterally and all is good.

having a break from building for a while, but during the winter I am going to build the Tony Nijhuis Sunderland I have the plans, short kit and full wood pack waiting to go, build it with a twin wing first (IC of course) then build a separate wing with 2 x .15's and 2 x.10's if all works out . . .

siddus74

Finally got to fly my Canadair when I had the video camera charged, below is the link to a couple minute long youtube vid. Not a great vid but a couple of nice flybys if you stick with it . . .

It has been on the side of freezing over the last couple of days and having no wind meant that the ice on the lake was up to a 1/4 inch thick in places, the rescue boat broke it up easily but sections of the Canadair hull that were not glassed took a real pounding. I didnt realize until after the flight or three but the ice chunks had puctured the side of the hull in a couple of places and she had been taking on water . . reminded me of that scence in Titanic!

So a sand to just above the water line and a some 25 oz weave is in order, the bottom of the only suffered minor paint chipping due to the glass, I have learned that flying boats need to be glassed.

Just to top it off landing on heavy ice snapped the water rudder off, but the water handling was still almost acceptable with out it and it looked so much nicer in the air.

V I D E O > > > > >

[link=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XN_CkE3Lc7U]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XN_CkE3Lc7U[/link]

siddus74

Felt I should crack on with the repairs from the harsh ice at the weekend, I had learnt a valuable lesson, waterplaneshulls need to glassed for puncture resistance and longivity . . .

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