Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.!!!! Didn't that ARF come with some spare covering..? Maybe you should invest in some flying lessons if you can't land that bird without tearing up the wing....I'm sure big bird would be willing to give you some lessons....

Al
I'm curious did you find out any more about converting to electric. I still don’t think it’s feasible but I haven’t really looked into it much.
I picked up a Pitts Model 12 15e ARF by E-flite but I don’t have it together yet. A club member has one, it looks cool and it flies nice. I’ve flown electric foamies and it’s an odd sensation not hearing the roar of the engine. The only advatage I can see is if you have it set up right all you have to do is pull it out of your truck or car and in a couple of mintues it in to air. Electrics are okay but in my openion there's nothing more thrilling then a gas powered plane.
Well anyway let me know what you find out.
Shubova
[8D]

I have a large engine (50 cc gas)with a 20X10 prop. I think that is why it is pulling hard to the left. If any of you have the same problem? What is the best way to fight that problem? It has cooled down and it looks like I will have some time to go flying again. I was thinking about doing a slower roll out and slowly build up my speed. I fly off a blacktop runway. What do you guys think?

Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete. I almost responded. hehe! But I didn't. hehe!
This is mine after a bad landing and a rebuild. Can someone teach me to land? bird.

Never skinned a wing tip aye? You can land anything aye? You don't need lessons aye? Speaking of lessons, read my last posting and see if there is something you can learn about how we feel about instigators. Want to see a cat fight? Go somewhere else. It's obvious you don't have an ARF Stearman. Otherwise you would know that they don't come with spare covering. Now, is there anything we can help you 'learn' about this ARF Stearman?
Bigbird doesn't have a space either!
Before you write something else offensive, read the 'Please resist the urge to' clause above where you intend to 'flame, degrade, insult or embarrass someone in your post'. Shhhhhh! Their watching!
bird.

Wow!!!!!... I knew you couldn't resist. ..Don't get your panties in a bind ..I was just messing with you.......Like the Drill Sergeant in Stripes said..." Lighten up Francis"...........

Shubova
Everything I learned was on this thread. It just confirmed what I already suspected the GP Stearman isn't a great choice for a first electric conversion. So I'm back to either a Saito 182T or 170R. The twin would be nearly $300 cheaper after the dust settles but ya gotta love that radial sound. I seem to favor the twin on even numbered days and the radial on odd days. I'm still open to suggestions, though. I don't really have to decide until I start assembling the fuse.
Al

Well, I guess you drew me in on that one. That's okay, but as you can see, it can be taken seriously especially when an incident just took place. So, lets get on with this thread. One should be aware when to step in on something like that or just keep quiet and let it settle down.
Now, as I asked before, what is your interest. Do you have this stearman or would you like to get one? Let's talk about planes. Okay? Great!

Here's mine after a rebuild. I smacked the ground on a high speed pass and drove the gear though the wing and knocked the wing tip off of it. So, off with the old cloths and on with the new dress. I really enjoyed being able to do a little scale work on it. Scale is my new challenge now. I have been building and flying so long that neither is much of a challenge. So, I decided to take scale on to keep from burning out as I have so many times in the past.
Do you do scale or are you pretty much a sport flier? Do you have any photo's to share? We, at least I am interested in your views and conversation.
Thanks for coming on this sight and being a part of the group. bird.
DRILL SARGENT!!!! I remember a drill sargent named SGT. Burns, he was mine when I went into the ARMY in 1969 (revealing my age now) and all this guy could say was "drop down and give me ten!!!!" I did so many pushups and KP that I thought they were my middle name! hehe!

Al,
Concerning your comment about the sound of a radial…I can’t argue with that. I met a guy with a 170 in his Stearman; it definitely looks and sounds cool. He said he doesn’t fly it much past mid throttle to offend; it’s a lot of extra power for this bird. I personally think it’s over doing it but on the other hand it’s all about what turn you on…so go for it.
Shubova
[8D]

Al and Shubova, here are some photo's of a 170 in a redone GP Stearman at a warbird event. The finish is actually paint and right out of the gun! He claims that he didn't have to polish or wet sand or even clear coat it. Amazing! I posted these before so just in case you missed them, here they are again.
bird.

bigbird,
That a very nice plane you have there. Just goes to show wrecking doesn’t have to be a bad thing…look what came out of it. I’m not sure if you mentioned it before but can you give some info on how you did the mock engine. That is a mock engine?

Looks like you and I are about the same age. I got out of the Army in '69. My favorite 1st Sargent (most people hated) always use to tell me "You can't bull sh_t a bull sh_ter", although I tried. May be that's why we got along.

Back to the Steaman what engine are you running in there? Is that new landing gear...mine cracked about the second landing. I was talking with a guy who makes props and masks for movies...I was thinking about taking the landing gear have him make a mold. Stripping off the fiber glass then have him cast them in yellow rubber. Maybe over doing it but its an idea.
Shubova
[8D]

Hey Bernie, thanks for the complements. Yes it is a dummy engine. I have some photo's of the process. I have an original G-23 with a magnito. The only thing I don't like is that it has a B&B box muffler. It keeps the oil in too long and causes it to cook and comes out black! The Pratt 450 manual says that when they are rebuilt it should use about one gallon an hour and when it gets to three gallons an hour it is time to rebuild it. Mine looks like it has a six plus burn! It's worse than wiping glow fuel off! I use the gas mixture to break it down. Does pretty good.
I couldn't install the cowl and engine in one piece so what I did was to drill three holes in the collar that the engine slides into and put back up wood in the engine as a 'nut' and also had to put a tab in the lower left hole in front of the engine and extend a tab down and put a screw thru the left bottom cut up cylinder to steady it. I had to really butcher the bottom two cylinders up to keep them. You can see one of the holes if you look closely. I also filled the two cylinders with micro balloon epoxy for strength. Wasn't much left of them.
Your DI was an exception in those days. They were pretty tough and called you everything but your name! Now they can't be mean to you anymore. As far as I'm concerned it really seperated the boy's form the men. Not as many 'girly boys' got thru back then. Anyway, can't say too much about that cause you don't have 'freedom of speach' in everything, just what they want you to say! Which of those ammendments were we fighting for? I wish they would at least list them. Viet Nam, 1970-1971. No big deal!
bird.
Sorry but I keep editing this thing!
Yes they are new gear. They are cracked already too. Sounds like a neat idea you have. I took my old ones apart and it looks like they cast them and then overlayed them with glass cloth and finished them. There needs to be an AD put out on them! hehe! Perhaps they can relieve the fit area and give them an eigth of an inch or so, so they don't press against the fuselage. As long as this bird has been out surely they have seen the problem. That rubber you are talking about needs to be paintable with fuel proof stuff.
later.

Looks like this might be where Viet Nam vets hang out and why I put up with all the extra chatter (like mine right now). We may not have been welcomed home then, but we made it better for those troops serving now.

I have the Saito 170R and would not trade if for any of the other choices. Many of the people with my local club don’t understand why I don’t use a G-23 or any one of the “Gassers” instead of the castor oil mess maker. I have never flown gas and so guess I look at the oil as a part of the flight. Also I have the Keleo muffler on the engine and just like with my Saito 90R in the Corsair, the exhaust is sent far enough out to not be an issue. Lastly, it is true that most of the flight will be with the power at around half throttle but that is true of the full scale also. The aircraft came out as a trainer with a 220 HP Continental and the Super Stearman was something the civilians made from that with a 450 HP Pratt & Whitney. BTW, don’t forget the upper ailerons. So it would seem to me to be a real SS it should be over powered.

As far as putting an electric on the aircraft, I think (worth every penny you are paying for my opinion) that anyone wanting to go into larger electrics (more than a park flyer) should try the de Havilland Beaver ARF. http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EFL4525 it is a fair size, 68 inch wing, and full control with flaps, etc. It can help you transition to an airplane that does not make noise. For me that was a big change, I did not realize how much I used the sound as I flew. It took one tip stall and another hot landing to get used to it. The aircraft is much lighter than the Stearman and cheaper to repair.

A 170 is not actually a lot of power for this airframe, it flies scale but only puts out the equivalent power of a 120 single.

It is definately the ideal engine for this bird, if only for the sound, oh, and one flick start.

It does however require a keleo exhaust and a decent on board glow system, it's a waste of time without those two items.

Capt Ron, try some right thrust on your engine.

Gary.

Oh, forgot to mention, also a spotlessly clean airframe after flying and no vibration!

I took a look at the Beaver and liked what I read. Have you flown off water with it as well? Our club has regular float flys but I've never even considered it before. I know what you mean about sound, though. I've been using hearing protection while starting (I'm trying to keep my tinnitus from getting worse) and have noticed that flying is more difficult until I take my ear muffs off.

madmodelman,
Sorry I mis-spoke. It's been awhile since I did a comparison between those engines. I thought the 170 put out more HP then a 120. I'm sure you right but just out of curiouty I'll have to take another look at that again.
As I said in my past posts I'm using a Saito 180. Although I always try to do a scale take off, if I let it that thing will just jump right of the runway from a standing still position. I've tried it just for fun and was I surprised. [sm=omg_smile.gif]
Thanks,
Shubova
[8D]

n6iap, I recently went to the Warbird Fest in New Hampshire, being called their 'first annual Warbird fest' and they asked all vets to line up and took a picture. They said that it would be in a future AMA magazine artical. Who knows. I had my head down, don't care for the notoriety.
Anyway, true about the super stearman but also the crop dusters had the 450. My friend Hank has an old crop duster converted back to a navy version with metal skins on the whole fuselage. We started about four or five years ago tearing it down and rebuilding it. So far we have done the bottom wings. They are covered, stitched, taped and Poly sealed and ready for paint. We haven't done anything for a couple of years but plan to get back to it when he gets back from his hunting trips in Feb. Hank has enough parts to build four or five of these things! The rotten trailing edge is from rats getting in a urinating and pooping. You could smell the evidence. If you put cented sheets for drying clothes in the wing, it will keep the rodents out. Mud wasps are a real problem too. The were in the leading edge was full of them when we took the metal skin off. bird.

Sorry I have not flown it as a float plane. I did put in the larger motor and the 4 cell battery so I could if I got that adventurous. The Power 32 brushless makes it jump off the grass runway we have. It does not float like the Great Planes Cub but with full flaps on landing it will barely roll on landing. And while talking about it, you do need to mix down elevator into the flaps.

BTW, the SS is my favorite and reason for being on this forum.

I'm so looking forward to the SS. I was out of the hobby for a number of years before returning and am now flying my old four star. I've got a giant chipmunk ready to go and a Lanceair that needs new batteries for both the radio and glow driver but I've always been partial to the Stearman. My only aerobatic ride was in a PT-17 many years ago. I still remember signing up for it and being told by the owner/pilot that he didn't carry insurance because if he crashed we'd both die so no one to sue. The flight was over the Sacramento delta region right after a major flood. He took me on loops and inverted flight over acres of flooded farmland. I'd love to do it again (but hold the flood).

I rode in one once too. Great experience. bird.

Here is a video of my stearman with a roto 35. Second fligth after a complete re-covering job.
Enjoy!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELh83YTZCIc

Very nice job there buddy. I don't think I have seen that particular engine. Do you have a photo of it?
One thing I did notice though, when you land, try to wheel land, it will be very realistic. I have found mine to be more managable that way. They seem to bounce all over the place if you try to three point them especially on pavement. We have a very nice grass strip and it is a nice combination.
The wheel landing is a more scale like landing much like the full size. My friend has a full size here and say's that they are naturally squirrly because of the landing gear configuration. It was a deliberate design to train pilots for larger multi-engine planes that had the same characteristics. My friend, Hank, said that it is best to slow the Stearman down on it's mains and let the tail settle in on it's own. This I have found to be true on the model also.
Here are a few photos of the Stearman wings we have been refurbishing for it. Hank is in the first picture. He has enough parts to build about five planes. His plane is what I did my version of. Nothing more than a BIG model airplane! The rotten trailing edge is a result of rodents, rats and mice, getting in the wing and urinating. Very strong smell! All rebuildable.
Keep up the good work buddy.
Also, I was wondering, why did you not choose another version when you re-covered it? I mean, the original is a nice rendition but you had the chance to put your own touch. Just wondering. What you did is very nice too.
bird.

Hi Bigbird. Thanks for the tip on landing. The plane is nose heavy, and I can´t make it to drop the tail at slow speed, or at least I didn´t want to push it. I have to move thing a little to get a better balance. This will help. Also the wheels are stock, and I think I will replace them.
The roto engines are beautiful, just a little heavy for its size, but they run very smooth. I have to change the prop for a lighter one, to get a little more power and better acceleration. It has a Classic series 20x8.
Here is a link to the engine, mine is the 35vi, red head.
http://www.rotomotor.cz/
I saw the pictures of your stearman, really nice, especially the dummy engine. Congratulations!!!
Talking about hard work, covering that full scale stearman must take some loooong days of work.

Vacman, thanks for your complements. Yes it is taking a long time to do the full size Stearman. We started in 2004 and only have the bottom wings complete and ready for paint. Hank is an avid hunter and he runs a lucrative business. He has grandios ambitions to build the plane but won't let go of hunting. Usually he is gone from September to February hunting, a very good time for building the plane while it is cold and snowing here. But, as he says, 'it's in the blood'! We also went to Kansas City and picked up a Project Stearman someone was building and didn't want to finish and now Hank wants to finish those wings which are new instead of 1941 vintage and put them on the plane.
Anyway, that Roto engine is a neat looking one. It is very scale in appearance. They would look good sticking out of a cowl like a cub engine. What do they cost and can you tell me in U.S. currency?
I see the walbro carb, it is Gas? or glow fuel? Where are they made, I didn't recognize the language.
Keep up the good work.
bird.