tree2tree

Fantastic. And a good story-teller too!

ToolJoint

Hey thanks Tree2, that's nice. I know I kind of go on and on, but the wifey is not really interested, and I'm trying to hone my writing skills, so I do it where my passions lay. After my experiences, I am pretty bummed that Hangar 9 discontinuing this plane. I mean, what's the deal? Flys too well?

tclaridge

My guess is that the WWI planes don't sell as well. For instance, they have no WWI planes in their UM line either.

tree2tree

Well - I tried something with the Camel today . . . sent the GoPro camera for a ride over the club field (RCCD). You can get an idea of the throttle and rudder work on the landings. It was a cloudy day and we were eventually chased home by rain, but I managed a few flights before having to take cover. The wind was about 6 to 8 mph but straight down the runway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oGJWjQm-No
tree2tree

ToolJoint

TREE! Man, that was spectacular. One thing I noticed in particular was the changes in your power settings, especially during the landing. The video served to highlight your exceptionally smooth piloting skills. I was hard pressed to tell the difference when touching down if it weren't for the noise. My kid received a GoPro this Christmas and I showed him this video and asked if maybe we could try something like that. He told me maybe after I get a few more flights in as he doesn't want to lose his camera to a firey crash..ha ha.

tree2tree

Ah! the lack of confidence the youth of today has. (Of course sometimes it is well-founded, but we won't tell them that!!!)

Glacier Girl

My Feedback: (4)

Well mine is still flying today, it's what 7 years old now, actually the oldest bird in the hangar.
And it's sure seen it's life of a fighter plane. And a corn field or two...

Even survived a midair with a Fokker. Snoopy landed with a broken upper wing and minus one aileron, the Fokker did not.

Doesn't matter, beat, patched and it just keeps on flying. I keep patching, using field like repairs, mismatched covering and left the bullet holes.
She shares the hangar with my NitroPlanes DR1. Both of them look like war worn adversaries, faded/chipped paint, patched landing gear struts, mud and oil stains, bullet holes, dings and dents.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Nuthin like veterans. Mine's the second oldest in the squadron- going on 5 years old. Oldest is my 2007 Sig Wonder, of all things.

Azzir325

Oh reminiscing time is it?? LOL! I have the whole fleet: Great Planes DR 1 and both the Camel and the D 7 from H 9. All have been tweaked in one way or another-buy the parts available or fix the ones that aren't, they keep flying! My Camel was in the 33 plane gaggle at Warbirds over Delaware (that one was the record and I believe it still is!) and both of the others have been in other gaggles at WOD. I love it!
Rick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqisC54tQ7E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hchrlSj4M3o

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

Glacier Girl

My Feedback: (4)

Thinking I may gang up on the Camel, found Hobby Lobby is carrying the old Powerline hobbies Albatros.
Saw one fly bout two years ago, nice balsa bird. Close enough in size, and flies on a little 3S pack.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/albatros_...41874_prd1.htm

ToolJoint

Really enjoyed the videos and pictures guys. Really nice to see the "Old Guard" still up and running. That's another thing about these Camels...They can take a licking...I banged mine in hard and going way to fast...hit a rut and then cartwheeled! One wing tip was scuffed, and a flying wire came loose, but other than that...no damage...Also pranged her down so hard the other day that I bent one of the gear legs pretty substantially, and put her face in it HARD (Dumb thumb). Again, the damage was limited to the right rear wire, which I was able to straighten with no ill effects. Here's a shot my son-in-law made for me after an outing last night. Enjoy the weekend...Good flying weather here, except for gusty afternoon winds...maybe that's why I pranged her...

Azzir325

Definitely enjoying the weather here in NY. It was gorgeous today. I had my Camel and Fokker out today and made several good flights with both. 1st time out for the Camel since I pranged her good last season and modded the 16 ounce lead weight to the bottom of the cowl by attaching it to the motor mount in the hope that lowering the weight might help keep the plane on its feet instead of turning turtle every landing.Of three landings, only one went over, and that one was a deadstick, so....

ToolJoint

Well, my kid relented and I took a picture (or video) out of Tree2Tree's playbook and we strapped the GoPro to the front of the camel for a little weekend filming.

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2sYvLnVdi8]Camel Front View[/link]

tree2tree

Fantastic ToolJoint - and he did not loose it in a ball of fire either!!

tree2tree

We had a fantastic Michigan Spring sunset last week and I sent the GoPro for another sortie. Like ToolJoint - this time front facing. Don't you love those near perfect evening outings?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZcIZtnjukI
Go full screen if you computer and connection can support it.

ToolJoint

Tree! Wow...that video was awesome! I mean, as if the flight wasn't enough, the editing and music made it almost a surreal viewing experience. That is the kind of thing a fellow enthusiast can show the spouse and have her exclaim, "Wow, that is really cool". I know this because that is what happened at our house. Your flying site is quite beautiful as well, and you really caught the moment.

I remain in awe,

Keith

Tooljoint

SJN

In 2006 I bought a hangar 9 sopwith camel, but as the company I worked at went bust and I lost my job, I had to sell it to keep food on the table.
Sold it unflown to a friend, and he sold it to another guy, and he again sold it to one of his friends.
A month ago, I saw a camel for sale from a guy way across the country, and I bougt it.
And what do you know...7 years later, it is my old plane......still unflown
But it had an electric motor installed, and servos installed.
It still had the cutout in the cowl thay I made for the ASP 61FS
I had also installed the outboard cabane struts wrong, so the incidance of the wing is all messed up.....I see now, and is corrected.

Anyway, I removed the servos, and installed new ones.
I moved the elevator and rudder servo up next to the fuel tank, and the used a heavy metal geared servo on the throttle installed in the cowl next to the engine.
Installed a used os 91 4 stroke that I had to overhaul.
200g of lead in the bottom of the cowl, and I think the CG is ok....will see in the test flight.

Had it out in the field today, but the ASP carb on the OS motor does not work properly, so I could not fly it.
Have a new os carb for it, but I just wanted to test the ASP carb......I now know it is useless

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Still looks good after all those years, SJN.

tree2tree

Great homecoming story! Glad you and the Camel are reunited. Looking forward to the first flight report. Good luck.

SJN

Yes, it looks fine still :-)
There is a slight hangar rash here and there, but nothing obvious.
I wink ill mat clear coat it, and detail it a bit if it survives the maiden


My engine is acting up, and I cant seem to get it running properly even with the new OS carb......... [:@]

Azzir325

Dead stick landings with the Camel can be rough, So much drag they slow down fast.

1st thing I would do with the OS if you haven't done it already is tear down the carb and give it a good wash in fresh glow fuel. That has always worked for me with glow motors, both 2 and 4 stroke.

Congrats on getting your plane back and good luck!
Rick

SJN

Thanks Rick.

I made a thread about my engine here:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11521736/tm.htm

Im not sending it up without a reliable engine, thats for sure

ToolJoint

That's a great Story SJN. We've had some pretty good flying days here, and I've had mine back up for a few sorties over the past several days. Last time I was out, I put her face in the dirt two out of three times[&o] due to improper throttle management on landing. The winds were gusty, making things a chore. But, I am happy to report that there was no damage, not even a prop ding. Again, these things are ROBUST.

Happy flying!

Azzir325

Don't be so quick to blame yourself for the rollovers. These Camels are very difficult to keep on their feet. It's a characteristic of the model and the fact that H9 kept the gear scale, that is, narrow.
Rick

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

After several years of experimenting, I think I've eliminated all the bugs from my Camel. It has always had a strong desire to turn left. Until recently, I had to carry about 1/4" right aileron trim to make it fly straight. I think this is due to the anti rotation holes for the bottom wing not being aligned with each other. The right lower wing panel definitely has more incidence than the left. So...........I hogged out the bolt holes in the top of the cabane struts so that I could "crank" the upper wing in relation to the lower. The LE on the left side of the upper wing is now perhaps 1/4" further forward than the right side. This completely cured the left turnishness, and the ailerons are now trimmed neutral. The airplane handles a LOT better, due to eliminating the drag from the ailerons. It turns equally well in either direction.

The desire to nose over on landings is, I think, a matter of CG. I initially balanced mine at about a quarter inch forward of the recommended point, and it was very difficult to keep it from nosing over on landing. After I converted it to electric, I experimented with moving the CG back to the recommended point (suspended from the upper wing). It flies just as well that way, and does not noseover on landings. There is perhaps a little less stability about the roll axis as a result, but that is mostly due to the fact that the bird has a scale tail, which was smaller than ideal on the full size one, and this carried over to the model. To be realistic, tho, this airplane has never had much stability about the roll axis, always requiring constant corrections to make it look pretty in the air.
I know that the recommended point is ok because there is no instability about the pitch axis. The airplane is quite stable in pitch, even at approach speeds.

My 2 cents.