west6008

Rats and phooey!
My homemade spinner departed the airplane in flight.

The spinner was a little over an inch across, does anybody have an
idea how I can come up with something that will be
the same shape and STAY ON?

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

Looks kind of like a AT6 spinner try Tru-turn.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

We're all hoping that one of the machinists around here will turn some nice aluminum ones. Then Tim can anodize them to match our covering jobs.

skaliwag

My Feedback: (1)

BigAl made one for his micro .010 Mustang from balsa and showed how to on the forum a couple of years ago.

Dubro has some 1 inch Aluminum "Nuts".

Isn't there an electric one that is adaptable? MPI i think.

I remember seeing your post a-while back... what engine is in there?

Big Al-RCU

skaliwag, you have a good memory! I had to do a search to find that old post.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_87.../tm.htm#872115

BTW, I will admit that I had some concerns with using balsa, (was trying to keep the weight down), but it has held up well even to the rigors of a starter. (The inner core is aluminum. The balsa is just the non-stressed shell.) The down side is that it does require a lathe to fab. On the other hand, since it is custom made, it will be exactly the right size/contour that you want and is very light weight and more durable than it looks.
al lenz

hogflyer

There is a guy in St. Louis, Bob Underwood, who has been competing in FAI scale at the world level for several decades. One of his techniques for making spinners is to make them from balsa, turned on a lathe. He finishes them with a covering of a thin layer of fiberglass. He makes a backplate from either plywood or aluminum depending on the size of the spinner, and hollows out the inside enough for the prop nut shaft.

Hogflyer

Larry Driskill

'Sounds like a good place to try vacuum bagging.

old git

As a youngster I remember seeing "Gadget Review"in Aeromodeller magazine (UK 1950s or maybe earlier) the use of a hand drill mounted in a vice instead of a lathe. A sawn off screw was held in the chuck and the balsa twisted onto the screw. Shaping was done with sandpaper stuck to a piece of wood.

Later, when I graduated to working on car engines, I mounted the poppet valves in a pillar drill to remove carbon, graduating easily to using a file to make "penny on a stick" inlet valves to increase performance.


old git - - - - - aka John L.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

old git;

john L, how about a assist to us here, in the U.S.?

FlairModels has 1.25" plastic spinners, but NOBODY here in the states can get them when needed. We need somebody to get access to them, for purchase here. Can you help? Perhaps you know someone that can offer them for sale here, or at Ebay? Here is a link..

http://www.flairmodels.co.uk/Accesso...raftframes.htm

They make the 1.25" plastic spinners, part #2189. We need somebody to get them, for these are the only ones made that I know of in that size. I was able to get one, and it was a dream, but a tree ended its use.

Somebody could help us here,but it must be somebody that lives in the U.K. to have access to these.

In hope you may be in position to help ,
Thanks !
Remby

old git

Hi Remby

I had a look at their website, they offer a telephone number for enquiries and I believe for export. They do not sell retail. It may make more sense to check with one of your US suppliers to see if they would/could import them into the USA.

I could probably buy half a dozen and mail them to you but I have no wish to become an eBay seller or exporter. I am long retired and the value of eBay to me is that I do not need to leave the house to buy something. So if you wish I will check (on the phone) the cost of the spinners at the local model shop and mail the costs to you.

I have the feeling that Flair is not the firm it once was, didn't they go bust?

I have my son & our 4yr old grandaughter coming to stay for a few days so I will be fully occupied for the next few days, give me a week to get back to you whether they stock the spinners.

A couple of years back I travelled to Greenland and walked on the trees there. Because of the weather they were full size at about 4" tall. I took great pleasure in trampling 30yr old trees underfoot and getting back on their relatives that have caused me so much modelling grief. That was my last holiday that will ever involve walking, 3/400 yds is my limit these days. Arthritis is fine riding the armchair or driving but you can forget free flight models. We have balsa magnetic trees here in UK, maybe you have the same there, over the pond?


old git - - - - - aka John L.

skaliwag

My Feedback: (1)

I will make some enquiries, a small spinner would be nice on my accessories page.... But it won't happen overnight. My take a while to go back and forth and fifth and back again to set some thing up.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

Old Git;
Thanks for your response! The companies here are not very helpful. I was able to get one, and this was time consuming, expensive pain and could not get another. I have wrote emails to both dealers here in the U.S., and neither have responded to my multiple email request for these. I don't mind a effort, but when you are made to beg to give them money I draw the line.

Flair's website is new, they just moved the company to a new location a while back. Not sure about the health of them, as I can't even buy their products here.

Best I could hope for is to get some, say a couple of each color except yellow. That would be great. If you can assist , that would be super. Please, don't put yourself out too far for these, I thought you may be able to find them pretty easy.

I do think if someone offered them here, they would sell good as they work as they should. The one I got was about 1 1/4" long, very light, and was balanced good. The front "cap" snaps lightly on, then two screws secure it to the backplate. Kinda blunt shaped, nice for belly landers.

Anyway, let me know what you can, and I thank you for the effort.


skaliwag;

Thanks for your response! I for one would like to see somebody here setup access to these, how could they not sell? Keep us posted, the market is there, every six months or so this thread gets reborn, so there is people that seek them and these are being made.

Thanks!!
Remby

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

Old Git;

YES, we have those trees as well! Even some Rocket "Eat-them-up-us" species!!

old git

Hi Remby,
I contacted our nearest model shop, T J D Models in Dartford Kent. They had a look for some old Flair spinners and said they had no more. They went on to say that Flair had gone bust a couple of times and they did not deal with them any more. They went on to say that Flair may have re-opened in a new incarnation but with a different range of stock. The smallest spinners stocked by TJD is 1.5".
Sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings, I am very surprised that they are unavailable in USA. I have the impression that "the Yanks" made anything and everything and probably nearby. Here in UK we have a barrier between the manufacturer and the potential purchaser called the retailer. If the retailer cannot see a market the goods are not stocked. TJD by the way is BIG and pretty good. Enough room to have a number of 1/4 scale jobs parked on the floor.

I have been looking for some 3/8" OD thin wall solid drawn steel tubing. It certainly exists in photograhic tripods bur not as a source of longerons for a 1/4 scale Cub. Steel stockists do not want to talk to small purchasers.

Still, l I am not worried, it would probably have wound up in the pile of dreams, wishful-thinking and unfinished projects.


Best of luck,

old git - - - - - aka John L.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

!/2a in the states is a rare bird now-days, this forum is what is left of most of them. Engines are getting harder to get, about the only things still coming out are the plane kits , and don't know how much longer for that. It's been that way for a while here, and the future looks dimmer for the rookies, but I will always have these, its all I fly.

Thanks for looking into this, If you happen to see any sometime, I hope you remember to get them, I would be happy with that, let me know, and/or you could even use them yourself. Thanks!

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

old git;
That tubing, I can check around here for you. How long do you need, and prices, what are you looking at? You can PM me if you prefer, let me know. The shipping would probably be the worst part, but that bridge has not been built yet. Anyway, let me know.

Also, Flair may still make these, you stated the shop was showing 1/4 scale stuff, they probably would not even consider ordering this 1-1/4" size, if those bigin's is what they focus on. I will check to see if they even still make them. Thanks for your help!!

Remby

buzzard bait

Bruce Tharpe at Radical RC should know. He got some 1 1/4 inch spinners for me from Flair a year or two ago. Took awhile, and not all colors were available, but I got a red one and a blue one.

Here's another idea--buy a 1 1/2 inch spinner from Hobby Lobby. Like the Flair spinners, it goes on the FRONT of the prop, not the back. That means you can cut off the skirt that goes around the prop and then cut new holes in the cone on the front, and then front plate becomes a back plate, and it will be a smaller diameter. A picture would explain it better, but trust me, if you buy a Hobby Lobby plastic spinner you will figure it out right away. I haven't actually tried this method, but I got the idea from a Gordon Whitehead construction article in RCM, who used a cut down spinner on a small DH 60. He wrote a great book on sport scale and I trust his advice.

Also the shape the a cut-down HL spinner would look great on that model--better than the Flair spinner, which is kind of long and modern looking.

VERY cute little bug of a biplane, by the way! Did you design it, or is it from a plan (if so, what's it called and where do you get it)? Can you give us specs, engine, how it flys, etc?

Nice work!
Jim

Wild Foamy

the drill in a vice trick could work, but whats wrong with a little lathe and a sharp cutting tool?

hollerp89

spinners .049 parts from, www. brodak.com
$.4.00 ea. no s/h charge. check it out ?

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

Hollerp89, that's just a replacement for the Cox's. It's about 1/2" diameter at the base. It's been an ongoing search for something bigger for quite a while.

ZoomZoom-RCU

West6008. You can manufacture your own quite easily. They will be durable, yet easy to replace if damaged. Best of all, they are cheap to make too. Cost almost nothing. If your interested let me know. If however your heart is set on plastic or metal, you'd better buy one somewhere. The way I do it is with a simple to make foam plug. You then make a female mold from this.....again...really simple,...from which you can make an infinite number of spinners, all identical.

ZZ.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

buzzard bait;
If he is one of Flair's authorized dealers for the U.S, then I did with little luck. Again,
don't like begging to give them my money.

As far as making a spinner, it can be done if you have the machining stuff. Remember, these engines turn at quite high RPMs, anything a LITTLE out of whack will stress the bearing surface, and the engine will not last as long as it should. That was O.K. , with the newest sure start, or 20 years ago.

The engines you have now may be the last you will get ,I would recommend you treat them as such.

old git

Hi there,

I saw these on eBay, they may be of interest to you. Ask them!

Lot # 7 Twenty Five Misc. Spinners
Item number: 290047425156


Best of luck!



old git - - - - - aka John L.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

Old_Git;
Thanks! Iwill check it out. I have some trouble with Ebay right now, it errors when loading, must be my OS it don't like. But, will give a look with the house PC when I get a chance tonight. Thanks for the heads-up !!

SquirlNutZipper

My Feedback: (9)

I know for sure I have a blue, unused, 1/2a spinner in the "old" box out there in the shop. It was for my HOB mustang. I can't remember though if it was 1" or 1&1/4". . I may have more, need to check.

1/2a (or 1/12 scale) is not dead at all here in the states, just focused more towards the electric powered planes of that size now as we grow more populated and or more comfort seeking. At least in my opinion.

Give me a bit to check on the spinners left in the box.

Alex