russram

Well you now know how great they fly pleasing that you have no wing rock the weight of 6.6 lbs is inclusive of balast i suppose how was your elevator responce. That is the only bone of contenion i have with the N.star don.t every try a low level loop as you will drown the pilot. Someone said on another thread that having flaperons as well as elevator improves the response. Go enjoy flying the Nstar Cheers Russell NZ

knifeedgeyak

My elevator is more then I need. I have to be easy during loops otherwise I end up doing such a tight loop it looks bad. I have yet to have it run out of elevator. Yes the 6.6lbs is with the nose weight. I had to put 15oz of lead and epoxy to get it to balance. What a plane.

knifeedgeyak

Here are some pictures of the plane on its first float fly weekend. Like I said before. I could not have asked for a better flying plane. And thanks to all of you who post on this thread. I got a lot of useful info off of here.

mscic-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

Great looking plane! Good job on keeping the weight down, that is the trick with these. Now just practice the Northstar landing and you will be the star at your next float fly!

Falcon6667

>>>>>>>>>.OUTSTANDING<<<<<<<<<<<<
Thank you for sharing. The trick to a really good landing is pull power then when the plane settles down to a few feet off water come back on the power a bit. Then just hold it off as long as you can. Thats a really great looking plane. Happy landings.
Falcon

Deadeye

Got my wing glued on last night. I fiberglassed the bottom of the hull and the tip floats first. I will be covering with Monokote, except where i glassed. I will overlap the mono with epoxy paint. I will be working on the engine pod and tail group this week, and shaving every ounce off the tail I can safely get away with.

woopie

My Feedback: (6)

MonoKote will stick to coating/laminating epoxy, if that's what you used with the fiberglass. Sure beats painting.

Deadeye

I'm after the durability of epoxy paint for the hull. She's gonna see a lot more snow and ice than water.

Deadeye

Do any of you informed gents think that solid tail surfaces are necessary? I bet I could shave a few ounces by cutting lightening holes in the tail group and ailerons. Every ounce matters, right? 1 oz in the tail removed should be 3 oz less in the nose.

Deadeye

Tonight, all of my planning, all of my wood replacement, all my scooting the ass end up 1 1/8 inch; culminated into the building of the elongated engine pod and firewall. The prop line on the plans is like 1 1/2 from the TE of the wings (not the ailerons). My prop line is about 4 1/2 inches towards CG from the TE of the wing.

I also weighed her. In the following pics, it is at 5 lbs, 10 oz. I have all the radio gear just stuffed in the nose right now. It isn't installed, but the CG shouldn't change drastically. Keep in mind, I'm experimenting, and might even scoot the nacelle another 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch forward. Which would result in another 1/4 shim in the vertical stab to clear the wing. I've got a 1 inch taller stab for the nacelle to sit on already. I'll trade the weight gain for the weight earned if you know what I mean.

I'm installing a TT 61, and plan on an 11X7 Scimatar. I've also made provisions for a micro throttle servo.

Give me some feedback guys! I don't want to glue everything and find out something fatal from moving the engine closer to the CG like I did. I wanted to offset the weight from the beginning.

It's just "rednecked" on right now, so don't comment on that. Look at the rough out and give some opinions. Back end of naccele is obviously going to be chopped to match the rudder, etc.

My hope is to keep it around the 6 1/2 pound range. Tail feathers, covering, might add another pound...fuel tank too.

knifeedgeyak

I would not change much else.

Deadeye

Throttle servo mount is figured out, and I'll be posting some pics later today hopefully. Strakes need a little work yet. I'm still in the realm of keeping this thing around 6 1/2 pounds.

Deadeye

Oops, double post

chris923

My Feedback: (53)

Hi,

I just picked up an older Northstar. 7-8 years old, in good shape. Can anyone tell me what throws you are using on the control surfaces?


Chris923

Deadeye

OK, so here are the pics I promised a few weeks ago. The first one shows my servo mount, and the access hatch I built into the nacelle. The next ones show the NS in it's 'blank canvas' stage. Then the bottom, then the mostly completed trim job. The tail feathers still need some color, and maybe the fuselage will get something, but I don't want it to look too busy. Monokote metallic plum, and platinum are my colors of choice.

This plane looks so sporty, and looks like it's going 100 MPH sitting still. I am 7 pounds without landing gear.

Deadeye

From the manual:

Elev: 5/8 up & down
Rudder: 1 3/4 L & R
Aileron: 3/4 up and down

Strykaas

Very cool

Galloping Ghost

My Feedback: (12)

Guys, I hope you'll accept my post even though it is a foam plane. You see, we have designed and kitted a Depron foam version of Laddie's NorthStar seaplane, and we call it the Polaris. This design was penned by noted designer Steve Shumate, who has published many free plans, including this one, on another popular electric oriented website.

Steve asked for and received permission from Laddie Mikulasko to reproduce his classic NorthStar seaplane, and Model Aero are lucky enough to be offering kits. The plane looks and flies true to the original; in fact Laddie himself has built and flown it!

Steve named it the Polaris because that is the astronomical name for the North Star.

Thanks,

Scott

www.ModelAero.com

johnm15141

I like it! I put in an order for one. I plan to build my Northstar over the winter. The Polaris looks like a fun easy to build project in the mean time!

Galloping Ghost

My Feedback: (12)

That's great John! I think you'll love the Polaris. It is so much fun to fly, and the foam version flies just as well off grass as water. In fact, my first dozen or so flights were off grass. Touch and goes are a blast!

It comes in around 17-21 oz. RTF and will do close to 70 mph depending on motor.

Scott

www.ModelAero.com

Deadeye

Scott,
I too will be ordering one, and read the thread at RC Groups about it. Very cool! Are they in stock now? $108 bucks and just add RX and servos. That's a good deal!

alpinestar

Deadeye-
your color scheme is awesome! Wish I would have seen your ideas before painting mine!
mine is water-only, covered in Nelson fabric & painted with Klass-Kote. Power is a Jett-50 which does a great job of making noise & scaring all the locals out on their float-boats! I added an extended water rudder (just like shown in a previous post) as the rudder alone was useless for taxiing. I used a mini servo in the nacelle, and also added about 5/8" to the elevator. Otherwise, stock.

Galloping Ghost

My Feedback: (12)

Thanks for the comments! Yes they are in stock at this time. I am just keeping my head above water with this kit, literally!

Thanks,

Scott

www.ModelAero.com

idigrc2

Just started building my north star, only mods I'm going to do is the throttle servo behind the engine and mount the fuel tank down in the wing on C.G. Using a Y.S 45 for power. We did a similar setup on a sea wind with a Y.S 110 and had great results. Does anyone have a sugestion on the fuel tank. Thinking about using a tank for a jet to fit in the wing

knifeedgeyak

I just built a Northstar. If I were you I would not mess with moving the tank. The benifits don't out weight the pain in your you know what. My plane weighs in under 7lbs and halls the mail. I did the servo in the tail but other wise built the plane as per the plans. I am running the O.S. 46AX with a Macs muffler.