meaden

My grandpa an I started flying together when I was about 13-14. I'm 40 now. He kept going with the hobby and I dropped in and out over the years. So, I feel like I've been back into the hobby long enough now to rebuild and fly one of my grandpa's old gassers but I need some help figuring out what he had going on.

Most of the gear he left me was outdated. Anyone remember Kraft radios? Or how "bullet proof" Ham radio frequencies were?

He was an old school scratch builder that worked through all the old kits and just decided he could draw his own plans and make it fly.

I have 3 of his planes and I've picked the one that seems the easiest to return flyable condition. (Ignoring the other 3 winter building projects I have) It's his own design. A mix of a Stearman and a Waco is what he told me.

As far as I can tell it has a Quadra 40 with a spring starter and magneto ignition. What should I look at on the engine to get it to run right? I think it was last run 3 years ago.

Obviously, the plumbing, and servos need to be replaced and the carb needs to be rebuilt. But the air frame is in great shape. The top wing is about 70" and the fuse is about 60" I haven't weighed it but my guess is around 20lb.

I'd also like recommendations on servos. My gear is all Futaba.

Where should I start?

I think I'll keep Ronnie flying the plane.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Seems like you named most all of it. Clean up the engine and carb, replace the gas tank if accessable, perhaps replace the engine with a 50 to 60cc engine. A 50 will do just fine. Check the visible glue joints to confirm everything is still connected. The wing to fuse attach points for security. Receiver and servos to meet current standards. Control connections.

BTW, Kraft made an excellent radio. Never did understand completely why Phil closed up.

Dr1Driver

Never did understand completely why Phil closed up.

I certainly remember the "Signature" series. They were great radios in their day. I think Phil succumbed to what a lot of American manufacturers have - overseas imports. Kraft could not compete with Futaba in price or features.

Dr.1

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

Replace all the electronics. AM with a ignition engine should be interesting. I would go with HS-645 servos. If you want to stick with Futaba maybe the 3010 or 3152. As far as the engine it should be just fine. Maybe a carb rebuild kit. Replace the fuel tubing and the tank stopper. Make sure there isn't any gunk in the tank. The engine should run fine. Go over the high stress joints, landing gear block, wing hold down points. Clean up Ronnie a bit and enjoy.

meaden

LOL!

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

Love Ronnie!

Nice old school plane. Replace the radio, clean the fuel system,[/color]FLY!

I remeber when Phil Karft got out he ran an ad saying he had to for his sanity! I think the investors wanted him to do the cheap stuff, that wasn't Phil!

skiman762

Leave it alone clean it up and show it off
What a great conversation piece to have in the shop and show at fly-ins

meaden

Nope, it's not gonna be a hanger queen.

meaden

I have a carb rebuild kit and new spark plug on the way as well as various bit's and pieces from Tower.

A few more specific questions.

It looks like there was a 20x10 MAS on it does that sound about right?

Do you think the Futaba 3152's would have enough torque for the plane?

Finally, about the kill switch. Keep in mind I'm not wiring guy...I plug stuff in and it's usually marked on and off

My guess is that when the switch is toward the back of the plane the ignition is off and toward the front it's hot. Here are some pics.

Truckracer

My Feedback: (19)

That is a mag ignition engine. From your drawings, when the switch is forward, the ignition would be off. The switch effectively shorts out the mag to kill the engine. So, switch on = mag off.

meaden

Thanks Truckracer! That makes sense.

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

We are getting away from the engine subject, but the 3152s have 69 oz-in of torque. The plane looks like it was set up with dual elevator servos. If you are going with 2 elevator servos and 2 aileron servos they should be fine. If you want to go with one elevator servo I would use something with more torque and metal gears. Maybe the 9602. The HS645s have worked fine for me and cost $35. Before you start fiddling with the carb I would replace the fuel lines and check the tank and try and run it. If it won't go you can use the carb rebuild kit.

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

To check the swich you can use a continuity checker built in to any volt meter to see when the switch is open and closed then mark the plane as appropirate.

meaden

lrb75,

I've already pulled all the plumbing and the tank. That's part of the stuff i got from Tower. New tank and gas fuel line. Here's a pic of Grandpa's "Mr. Wizard" fuel tank. He was a pack rat that wasted nothing. He took a gasket out of the carb to fix his lawn mower or weed wacker so the carb definately needs the rebuild.

I'll probably keep the dual servo elevator setup. The plane has 4 ailerons run on 2 servos with bell cranks. I was thinking about changing that since there is a bit of slop in the linkages.

I run 6v on my other planes and I saw the 3152's had more like 80 oz at 6v. Some of the guys at the field were telling me I need 100 oz servos that's why I asked.

CrateCruncher

My Feedback: (1)

This airplane is cool and strongly reflects your late grandfather's personality. If it were mine I would change it as little as possible to make it safe and reliable. Everything you upgrade will make it less your Granpa's Plane and more just an obsolete beater. Twenty years from now you might wish you still had it in this condition. In fact, if it were mine I'd probably just hang it up in the garage and not risk flying it. (I might give the Gipper a bath!)

meaden

I agree, I want to change it as little as possible but make it safely flyable.

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

I bet those two Kraft servos together don't put out 50oz of torque to the elevator. This isn't a 3D 50cc gasser the airloads on this are probably very low. A standard 50oz digital servo will put out more than any servo or gang of servos that's ever been in this plane. Change as little as possible, fly as much as possible.

Goldfinger41

I have a Futaba Attack AM radio, it is just as solid as my PCM .

meaden

I have a Futaba Conquest it's FM! Get with the 90's dude.

My TX is a 7CAP and I have a R138DP PCM sitting around that was going to use. I've read PCM is more glitch free with the gassers.

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

I think so, I only fly gassers with PCM.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

I was the Kraft rep for the Seattle area in the early 70's.
I don't see why you would need to change those servos. They were good servos. If they were good enough for the airplane for your grandpa they should be up to the task now provided they don't have any broken teeth in the gears. I don't know where you could get new gear sets. Kraft Midwest maybe. I think Pete is still around. All the stuff I had got dumped when I devorced.

Truckracer

My Feedback: (19)

Those Kraft servos were good in their day but that day has long passed. I too was a Kraft Rep. and also serviced the equipment for several years. I can think of many reasons why those servos should be retired and not used again unless extensive service work is done to them to replace aged components. Even then, they will not perform up to the standards of even today's cheap servos. I would never recommend the use of antique servos unless the point was just to demonstrate their operation.

meaden

Well, like I said I'm not wiring guy. And to make it safely flyable (for the plane and everyone else around) I think the best choice is to replace them. Then I know there aren't any gremlins. I don't think it effects the sprit of keeping it in tact as possible. I'll keep all the linkages the way they are and replace the warn parts and get the slop out.

BTY, I wasn't kidding. I still have my Conquest (Gold Sticker and all.) I put some new batteries in it and have flown my old trainer with it a couple of times.

Moderator: My original question was about the engine but it looks like we're getting onto other points. If there is a more appropriate forum for this thread to be moved to, by all means do.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

What components were in there to age? As I recall there was only one IC chip in there from the look of the servo in the picture. A sealed chip don't age rapidly if it is not used. There was a capacitor on the motor but that was a ceramic and they last a long time.
You aren't in the business of selling new servos are you?
I can't argue about the performance as I have not tested one lately. Have you?

Al Lewis

Regardless of what you do, or don't do, with the plane you should take pictures of everything in place prior to changing anything, probably too late for that, and keep everything you take out. Document everything you know or ever knew about the plane and equipment. Planes like that are a rare find and someday you may want to restore it and stick it in a museum somewhere. That way your grandkids can see what the sport use to be like when Great, Great Grandad flew!