smcouch77

Thanks Tim. I'm not really worried about the contest. Competition is fun, and if I do well that's fine. If not, that's OK too. The real joy for me is building the plane. And sharing the build here has been a fantastic experience. It's like having a club meeting with show and tell every night. The comments, suggestions, help, and encouragement I've received here has meant more than I can say. I can't imagine building another plane and not posting it here. And I have to say that this is the first plane I've ever built that I'm completely satisfied with. There's nothing about it that I would change. For me that's a new experience in it's self.
Steve

smcouch77

Here's a couple of shots I got at Muncie before we got started this morning.
Steve

pappy 883

My Feedback: (2)

Steve, these pictures with are STUNNING!!!........I put one on my computer desktop. just beautiful.
I hope everything went well at the World C/L Championships.

smcouch77

Thanks Pappy. That means a lot to me.
The smoke has cleared, so here's the rundown. My static score was good, 2853 out of a possible 3000. I had power problems with my first flight and wasn't able to finish it. I scored fine on what I did, though. I found that the problem was the fuel. I was blown out of the second flight. A down draft I guess. Anyway the plane droped about 4 feet and took off the wheels. Landing a SE5a without wheels is not without consequences. Of course it flipped over. I managed to get it repaired (enough to fly) but the wind Saturday morning was just too much. Only 4 out of the 11 planes tried, and they were lucky to have survived. I finished 5th, which isn't too bad for not getting in a full flight.

I just received some great pictures from Mark Lanterman, from Airborne Media, which he took at the contest. He said it's OK to post them so here they are. It's amazing what a good camera and a great photographer can do. Thanks, Mark!
Steve
PS Notice the bee in the second pic between the wings.

R8893

My Feedback: (20)

Those of us who were paying for motel rooms were very happy to get things done a day early. If contest management had not thought it up on their own, I would have suggested it. In my opinion it was a very well run contest and the low R/C turnout had nothing to do with how C/L was run. There were 10 C/L competitors and 9 of them flew (12 entries, 2 no shows). I know that the contest announcement mentioned four rounds, but FAI rules specify three. Nobody complained when it was discussed at the opening pilot's meeting. As far as second guessing the wind conditions, I would count Friday as a nice calm day in Muncie and was glad we were flying. I got my highest flight score on Saturday--it was the fifth highest of the event.

My thanks to the judges (who were probably paying a chunk of their own expenses, too), the sponsors, and the organizers who made this contest possible for the vast majority of us who enjoyed it immensely.

Charles R. Snyder

smcouch77

No Comment

smcouch77

No Comment

smcouch77

I have deleted my comments about NASA and the way they ran the team trials. I don’t want to end an otherwise good thread on a sour note.
Here are a couple of shots taken that weekend by Mark Lanterman. Thanks Mark.
Steve

mratop

My Feedback: (6)

Im new to this post, and have a Duncan Hutson SE5a 1/6 scale kit that I am thinking about selling.Is Duncan Hutson still around and what is the Quality of the kit.

smcouch77

I don't know about the kit. If you post your question as a new thread under R/C Scale you'll probably get a lot more response.
Steve

smcouch77

Here are a couple more shots that Mark took at the team trials. There are a lot more at the NASA website. Mark's a great photographer and there were a lot of beautiful planes to shoot. Thanks again, Mark!
Steve

Rocketman612

My Feedback: (85)

Steve your being modest. Anyone can take good photo's when the subject is flawless.

I have the BUSA SE5a kit and if she turns out half as good as yours I'll be happy.

Pete

do335a

Unfortunately, guys, the photographer makes the shot.

Anybody can take a photo of a great subject, true. That does not make it a great or memorable photograph, contrary to what the masses think.

Anybody could do your job too. But what of the results??

This is a superb palne presented to us through excellent photographs. That's a winning combination.

smcouch77

Thanks guys.
The repairs are almost complete. I still need to redo the cross braces on the LG and replace the bungee cord. I'm going to replace the capstan control system on the elevators with a series of bell cranks and control rods. I'm not sure if the slippage or the wind took her down, but I'm not going to take a chance. The idea was good, but making it work at this small a scale isn't practical.
Steve

timfarrar

I'm glad your getting your plane ready again Steve...

I am starting to get a itch to try my Bristol again too but all I have to do is add a little nose weight and fix a few fly wires and I think I might just add rudder aileron mix too.

I have been practicing the rudder some but I just aint getting anywhere fast enough and I want to see my Bristol flying...lol lol lol ...

SEEYA, TIM

smcouch77

Hi Tim. Long time no see. Thanks for posting the video of your Bristol. That was one scary flight. I would have lost it. Nice save.
Flying season is pretty much over for me. I'm not much for freezing my...knuckles off! Now is the time to build and repair and get everything ready for spring.
Steve

caribefoto

My Feedback: (2)

Just stumbled onto this thread. (I lived in Indy in the 50's, graduated from Broad Ripple H.S.) Maybe the absolute finest C/L model ever, no wonder your scores were so good. I can't imagine what encore you have planned. Happy/Merry Holidays

smcouch77

Hi Caribefoto. Thank you for your kind words. It was a labor of love and I doubt that I can top it. I've certainly set myself a standard that will be hard to live up to.
My daughter went to Brood Ripple. It's a small world.
My next scale project will be a 1/3 scale SE5a for R/C. But this winter I'm in the mood for a new stunter.
Steve

mikenlapaz

Thank you for sharing. I have a fuse from a ModelTech that I plan to put into flying mode. This thread will provide some great references. It you happen to have any closeups of the axle to landing gear struts and the bungee, it would be appreciated.

smcouch77

Here are a couple of close ups. It's a little beat up from landing without wheels on pavement. OUCH![sm=cry_smile.gif] I wrapped the axle to the struts with copper and then soldered them. I didn't want it to slide to the outside of the circle. The bungee is elastic cord I got at a fabric store.
Steve

mikenlapaz

Thanks. I'm toying with sodering a large washer of brass shim stock to the inside of a wheel collar 5/32" to stop the endplay movement of the axle.

Functional bungee should take quite abit of shock load off the struts. Maybe make the lower section from UHMW . thread or press fit the music wire leg and strut at proper angles.

smcouch77

I didn't use music wire in the legs. They are solid wood, wrapped and riveted on the ends. I tried using functional bungee on my test plane. The ground handling was terrible (the outside wing tip would drop and drag), and it bounced on landing. With the axle held solid, it taxis fine and has no bounce on landing.
Steve

vintageflyer

My Feedback: (1)

Come on now Steve, who are you trying to fool? Those pictures Are full scale!
I'm just kidding. I stared at the 1st pic on post #211 and I couldn't tell it was a model. The rigging looks proper as does the entire bussiness end of the plane. Heck, Even the shading around the pilots mouth makes him look like he is on a serious mission!!!
Indeed one of the bests threads I have read yet, if not The best!!!

Thanks so much for sharing
Dave

smcouch77

Thanks Dave. Posting this thread was almost as much fun as building the plane. I've made a lot of new friends here, and I can't imagine building the next one without posting it.
Steve

timfarrar

For sure Steve, I have enjoyed your build very much.


Seeya, Tim