Hi again fellows- I just wanted to drop a line, and give u an update. I am almost finished with the stripping of the old Monokote- just all those little, pesky pieces that just won't let go. I have the rudder and stab removed, and have made a drawing and pattern of the new rudder and stab on a manila folder. The wings stripped very cleanly, so that part is pretty much ready for a light sand, and look them over closely for structural integrity. I may cut the nose section of the fuselage completely off at the firewall, since it's just a bunch of balsa blocks. That will allow me to fab up a new motor mount for an inverted motor. I had another idea- I'm going to look at the shapes and nose cowls on some of the pattern plane designs, since a lot of them are shaped for an inverted motor, and see if i can find something close. Even at that, something close could be used as a mold for what I'm looking for.
On a side note, I do have a low wing pattern plane- it was just sitting in my spare room, behind a couple other planes. This one is a scratch designed, and built plane from the guy I was telling u about that did all the jig building. His own design, which he calls a Tavis. Don't know anything about the name, but to me, it just looks like all the rest. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice looking plane, and beautifully built, just looks like any other. I have a Webra Speed 61, and a Pumped w/Perry carb SuperTigre Blue head 60 that will fit in here. I do think I'll at least give it a try- I may even like it.
While I was digging through my boxes of stuff, looking through them for my balsa and lumber box, I ran across another really old plane. Been sitting on a shelf in the basement for 20 yrs or so. It had StarHawk on the outside. I completely forgot about this thing, so I opened it up, and it's an old bipe by a Co. called Thorpe. I brought it up, and laid it out on the kitchen table, and did a quick mock up to see what it actually looked like- kinda weird, but "Neato" in a way. It is completely painted, has sheeted foam core wings, and slab sided built up, and sheeted fuse. I may play with that one in the fall. Do any of you, or have any of u ever seen one of these StarHawks fly ?? I'll get some pics of the "AeroLakes" in a day or so. Dean
