Wow! That is a great find, and thank you for following my build. [8D] If you have any idea's feel free to chime in, I'm here to learn and teach. I'm not a expert builder, but I try to improve each time I build a plane.
I'll be using black and white Solartex for mine, I haven't ordered it yet. The O.S. FS-120 was way too big in the weight and size factor. In the pictures you can see that the head of the engine didn't quite fit in the cowl.
Plus the stock landing gear was all busted up. I suspect it was because of the weight factor (and or) bad flying that broke the darn thing in the first place... It's hard to tell.
My O.S. .91 FX Ringed has about the same amount of power as the O.S. FS 120, however it's a little lighter and smaller. It fits very well in the cowl with room to spare.
O.S. FS-120 1983 (Before Surpass) 27.0oz.
O.S. .91FX Ringed 19.42oz.
The reasons why I'm using the .91 is that I've already broken in the motor, plus I can swing a scale prop. If you ever had the chance to hear the O.S. 91 FX Ringed engine run, you might notice that It doesn't quite sound like your typical 2-stroke.
It has a deeper sound to it with the stock muffler on it. I plan on buying a Bisson Pitts Muffler for this bird, I hope this won't change the sound by much. The last reason why I'm using the .91 engine is because- this plane needs a lot of nose weight to balance properly. To me, the .61 engine is too light, and If I were to use this engine, I would need to add lead to the nose.
I have read that the stock landing gear does have problems, so DG keep an eye on it. The original owner broke the bottom wing right where the weak spot has been written about. He fixed it with epoxy actually making the wing stronger. So if I wanted to, I could leave it... and it would be OK. But everyone who knows me- knows I'm going to make it cleaner and beef it up just a little more.
The guy who sold me my DR1 had his expo set at 19% and he said the plane was twitchy on the ailerons. But other than that, he said once the plane is trimmed, it flys like it's on rails. I plan on setting everything on mine at 25% for its flight test.
I ordered these wheels for my plane:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXKLV2&P=7
The wheels are the right scale, the stock foam ones are slightly too big.
Well, I decided to make the tail skid from scratch. I first drew it and cut it out of 1/4 " ply. I went by pictures as a guide.I cut it out by hand because I haven't bought a Scroll Saw yet. Man, it was a B*tch! But it came out just right. I'm planning on adding the brass skid plate and skid support later, just like what it had on the original DR1. I took a few pictures of the skid just after I stained it. Sorry I didn't put it on the fuse so you'ld all know how it looks, the stain as you might guess was still wet.
More to come!
Pete