dufer2

[]I doinked my Midwest Aerobat that I got from Falcon Trading Co. But I can't seem to get a hold of them for a replacement. And the local hobby store can't help. I called their business phone in Hobart, IN. But no answer. What happen to them?

Falcon Trading Co.
P.O. Box 753
Hobart, IN 46342
1-800-591-2896

red head

Midwest sold out all of Falcon to an open market then closed it down. It is NO more !!! Unless you really did a job on the Aerobat you should be able to repair it, they are real simple planes.

As far as I know the Aerobat won't be made again unless someone buys the rights to it and that I doubt. Too bad, it's a great plane and now that it's gone everyone wants one, to bad they didn't want them earlier, they might still be available. ENJOY !!! RED

cub driver

My Feedback: (47)

See my post on the similar thread started by "rewired". You may still be able to get one if you act quickly. Good luck. Have to agree with Red...the Aerobat was a case of "the best kept secret". Also, probably too "trainer-looking" to have much of a market for a second plane. I've always liked the wolf in sheep's clothing approach myself!
Bob

dufer2

cubdriver,

which thread was that?

Thanks
Tim

dufer2

I very happy. I found a local hobby store that has two left. Only a two hour drive for me.

I'm taking both.

Yepee

Tim[sm=bananahead.gif]

cub driver

My Feedback: (47)

Tim,

Here is my post from the other thread:

"If you are still interested in getting an Aerobat , contact AC Supply in St. Charles, MO (1-800-536-0238). I got their number from Midwest end-March when I was trying to buy another Aerobat to have as a backup to the one I've been flying for the past year. AC (also known as MIDCO) apparently bought the remaining stock of Falcon ARFs from Midwest . They had about 30 Aerobat s in stock for $79.99 plus shipping at the end of March. At that price, I bought 2 of them just to have for the future if (when) the one I bought last year bites the dust. Sounds like when they're gone, they're gone. Too bad, as this is a really nice flying airplane. It has been one of my favorite sport planes for the past year...I made a few mods to mine...taildragger with steerable tailwheel and bolt on wing. Powered by an OS 70 Surpass which is plenty of power. I need that engine for another project, so I'm going to replace it in the Aerobat with an OS 46AX. Let me know how you make out. Good luck."

I don't know how to direct you to the other thread. If you type in "Midwest Aerobat" in the search box, you should find it. Originally started by "rewired". Good luck.

Bob ("cub driver")

dufer2

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply. I mounted a steerable tail wheel also. It's looks really cool as a taildragger

I'd like to see your bolt on wing configuration.

Tim

dufer2

As you can see I like the Aerostar & Aerobat.
Can you guess how many I have?
Covered and not covered....



Tim[sm=bananahead.gif]

cub driver

My Feedback: (47)

This is how I converted my Aerobat to a bolt-on wing configuration. There are probably easier ways to do and this approach may be overkill for a 40 size model, but it has worked fine for me on the Aerobat and several other models. I originally got this idea from a web article by Stefan Vorkoetter about converting a Sig LT-25 to a twin electric.
(1) Epoxy a 1/8" AC ply plate to the front side of the LE former, pre-drilled with a 3/8" hole for the wing dowel.
(2) Make up a new center section rib for the wing dowel to attach to by tracing the front section (say back to the main spar) of the wing airfoil onto a piece of 1/8 AC ply. Add a tab to the bottom of the rib before cutting out on a band saw or scroll saw. You could make the entire rib out of the AC ply, but I used 1/8 balsa from the main spar back.
(3) When epoxying the two wing halves together, sandwich the new center rib between them...I think I glued the rib to one half and let it cure before joining the two wing halves. Also, I used slow set epoxy so I had plenty of time to fuss with the alignment.
(4) Cut a 1/8 slot in a piece of 3/8 dowel. I used my bandsaw and cut the slot before cutting the dowel to length to keep my fingers out of harm's way! Cut the dowel to length and chamfer the front end. You want the slot to fit fairly tight on the ply tab to make the next step easier.
(5) Slide the dowel onto the ply tab and mount the wing on the fuse, inserting the dowel through the plate you added to the former. Align the wing and put reference marks on the wing TE and adjoining fuse surface. Carefully remove the wing, trying not to disturb the dowel. Mark the position of the dowel on the ply tab and then glue in place with slow set epoxy. Re-mount the wing, align the reference marks and weight it down so it stays put.
(6)After the dowel has set, remove the wing and epoxy in two hardwood blocks for the wing bolts. Measure for block centers and transfer to upper surface of wing TE. Re-mount and align wing, tape or pin in place so it doesn't move and drill through the TE and blocks with a #7 drill. Remove wing and tap blocks with a 1/4-20 tap. Clearance the wing holes to 1/4" for the bolts. On my Aerobat, the balsa used for the TE was rock hard, so I didn't add a ply bolt plate. Also, I soaked the holes in the wing with thin CA (as well as the threads in the blocks).
Anyway, this has worked out very well and is far easier to deal with than rubber bands!

P.S. You can see in the pix below that the dowel on mine is angled downward. I positioned the hole in the former plate a little lower than I should have...purely cosmetics as it works just fine as is.

I'm sure you could have figured this all out just from the pictures, but I thought the step by step would be helpful. Good luck.

Bob

red head

When converting the AeroStar / Aerobat to a bolt on wing DON'T EVER expect the curved part of the cockpit that goes over the wing to hold the front of the wing on. Even on the original Aero Star it was just 2 pieces of triangle stock glued togeather and on the ARF's it's not even that strong.

Dufer 2 I could see 3 and suspect at least one more. I have 5 counting 2 still to be built ( they are Aero Star KITS, one is an AeroStar 20 ).
ENJOY !!! RED

cub driver

My Feedback: (47)

The one other mod I made that I forgot to mention was to replace the typical ARF (i.e., small) wheels with 3-1/2" Sullivan aluminum hub wheels. A bit of an extravagance, but they sure look good.

red head

If you want to make it look SWEET >> put a pair of wheel pants on it. ENJOY !!! RED

cub driver

My Feedback: (47)

Wheel pants would definitely look good.

To repeat what has already been said many times, it's really too bad this one bit the dust. Too many 3D Edge/Extra/CAP/Yak lookalikes out there competing for publicity and modelers' dollars. I've always liked the "sleeper" concept myself (e.g., the old symmetrical airfoil GP Trainer series, the NE Aerodynamics Train-Airs, etc.) and the Aerobat is definitely that. Unfortunately, it doesn't sell enough models I guess.

Bob

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

hobby people has some planes that look as if they are from the falcon moulds , go to there web to chack them out

Carlos Murphy

My Feedback: (72)

I recently read something in one of the R/C mags about "Global" taking over the line of "plastic" planes from Falcon Trading.

I had the "Ready on Floats" model with a OS 46 and it's a great first float plane.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Carlos that is exactly what I am talking about , the ones with the float options look like Falcon planes

red head

Falcon was just the distributor in the States for the plastic planes, the planes are made in Italy by " ARC Modelfly ". They are to be picked up by Global Hobbies and their planes and parts should be available through the Global system soon. I'm sure glad of that as I Love those planes and as far as I'm concerned they are the best thing going for folks that have " Hanger Rash " problems ie travelers and Snow birds.

That still doesn't take care of the Aerobat problem, that was a Midwest plane and has been dropped. As I said in another post, maybe we will get lucky and someone will buy the rights and start building them again. If someone does > just remember " If you don't buy them they will just go away again just like a lot of things we would like to have".

It's a shame the things we like in life leave us. ENJOY !!! RED

dufer2

I got lucky.
I just found two in a hobby store. I had to drive an hour and a half. But I got a great price.

$158.0 for two.

That should hold me for a while

cheers,

Tim