WacoNut

Ken I like that scheme,
Do you know where and how I can verify the colors of the original? The key will be being able to document everyting.
Thanks!!
Anthony

skylarkmk1

Anthony,

Contact Andy Heins at the National Waco Club site http://nationalwacoclub.com/index_001.htm . Ken and I met Andy at the 2007 AWC Waco Fly In and in conversation mentioned that he knew where the original NC 14132 is and that the colors were Dark (Insignia?) Blue and White. Andy will be the best place to start. Andy's contact address is [email protected].

SuperCub Man

Well the weekend started out OK so we decided to run up our motors and try different props to see which ones gave us more "poop"! (A technical term!) Turns out that an old Airflow Prop I had 18X6 gave 10lbs of static thrust so I decided to go with that on the maiden flight tomorrow!
Pix #1 & 2 show shots of John's white Waco (Snowball) with mine.
Pix #3 & 4 show some details of John's model
Pix #5 & 6 show my top wing gas tank details and the front cockpit door detail
Pix #7 shows the proud Papas with their kids!!
The maiden flight is in the next posting!!

SuperCub Man

Got to the field on Sunday and it looked to be a good day to do the maiden. So I gassed her up, chit chatted with the boys until there was no more putting it off!! and then flew. Pix as below.
Now the results are not as brilliant as I wanted but you can see a rather blury rendering of the complete flight at http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp8V6BfCpKA - if it has come up yet!

Now in order to eliminate any engine failure problems I removed the dummy engine so my Zenoah would get lots of air and not over heat causing undue maiden flight stress. I weighed the dummy and all the bits that go with it and it came out to 10oz. I made up two lead weights equalling this and screwed them to the firewall. Balance was dead on 5 3/8" aft of the leading edge on the top wing.

As you can see in the video I had trouble getting off the ground and then she wanted to drop the nose quite a bit right after lift off. I held her up and found that I had set the throws too much so decided to bring her right in. The approach was lousy as I was over controling her and came within a whisker of pranging it. (Thus the marked shorts!) But I gunned it and did a go-round and hit low rates on the ailerons which stabilized things alot. I came around again and then found the motor didn't have much play in the low throttle area but it was sufficient to keep her moving at the right speed by pulsing it and I greased her in. Off to the washroom!

I think it was nose heavy and in the next posting I'll explain my corrections in preparation for flight #2

SuperCub Man

After the first flight I checked my controls and adjusted the motor so I had more control in the low end.
I adjusted the ailerons to 3/4" high rate and 1/2" low rate
The elevator to 1" high and 3/4" low rate. Both are set at 75% of throw so I can increase at the field if necessary.
I took out one lump of lead - about 5oz. leaving 5oz. of lead in place and this moved the CG back from 5 3/8" to 5 11/16". Hopefully this will straighten her out. However, it means I won't be able to fly with the dummy engine as it is now too heavy at 10 oz. so I'll only use it for show!!
I will also switch props to a Zinger 18X6-10 to give me more zip after take-off!

The pix show my method of finding and setting the CG. I can position it within 1/16" or as fine as my line level will allow. I also have a digital level but that is too accurate! The bottom of the hatch opening is the crutch on which the fuse was built, so I know it is the true thrust line and the little line level sits neatly in the doorway giving me a good "zero".. The pivots for the 1/8" ply plates that support the wing are Dubro large ball joints. This gives me excellent levelling. The ply plates are large enough that with some foam padding stuck to them, give good non-marring support to the model. Being able to remove and freely space the two supports allows me to check the CG on any size model even ones with floats. (We all have our methods, but I just thought someone might be interested in mine!) The square on the right upper wing is to warn me about that sharp piece of wire (pitot tube) that I have run in to a few times - too close to the eyes!

We'll post info on the next flight when it happens!!

RICKSTUBBZ

Jim (Supercub Man),

Congratulations on the maiden flight. It's always nice to have the first one overwith. Also thanks for sharing the pictures with us as well as your "balance device".

mrdhud

My Feedback: (48)

Jim,

Congratulations on your maiden flight.[sm=thumbup.gif] I’ll bet your heart was beating double time isn’t the video camera a great thing I bet you couldn’t wait to get home and watch it.

skeeter_ca

I was planning on going to this fly-in. Looks like a great photo shoot opportunity.



skeeter

Jim Henley

Jim, You did a beautiful job on that bird, your experience on your maiden brought memories of my adventures. Best of luck and keep us posted on your quest for the proper CG.
I have one in the works and will be interested in where you wind up placing the CG.

SuperCub Man

Just got in from my 2nd -3rd-4th-5th-6th flights. I have the CG as noted, at 5 11/16" aft of the top wing leading edge. I took out 5 oz. of lead and re-set my throttle control to give me smoother control of the lower RPM. I changed to an 18 X 6-10 Zinger. The results were terrific. I need a little up elevator yet but with 30% expo added to the stab, I was able to get some very nice and relatively terror free flights. Lots of throttle on landing. She slows down well once on the ground. Plunked her down once fairly hard, but the home made scale-like gear was well up to the task. I don't know whether to take out more nose weight or not. It is a solid hunk of resin with lead pieces so I would have to guess at the off-cuts. I tried to get more video but I wasn't able to find anyone with good eyes (that means Snowball left his glasses at home!) But as I get more flights in, I will get some reasonable footage which I will post. We flew late in the day and the videos got too dark. But Hey!! She flies well, looks great and behaves just as you would expect a short-coupled aircraft to do. You've got to expect to have challenging times with such a high spirited lady!!!

WacoNut

Jim congrats on some great flights,
Maybe you can find a lighter scale engine and remove the rest of your nose weights. If not she still looks great in the air and it has to be very satisfying to get her in the air after all that hard work.
Again Congradulations!!!
Anthony

Jim Henley

Jim, that is great news, glad to hear that your subsequent flights went well. I am interested in what you finally come up with on the balast, I always suspected mine was nose heavy, so that will be of great interest when I start on the next one. Again a beautiful aircraft, and a fine job building and flying.

Stickbuilder

Glad you remembered to keep throttle in on your approach. Too many nice Waco models have been lost due to stalling on final. Great news.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

SuperCub Man

Yes that's a lesson I learned long ago on my other bipes! Particularly on the 1/4 scale Skybolt, which though not as short coupled, was very heavy and would drop like a rock if slowed too much. You had to learn the best landing speed by eyeing the approach rather than listening to the sound of the engine. I've often heard other flyers say "I thought you were coming in way too fast, but she touched down perfectly and slowed very quickly once on the ground!" The grass on our field is a boon in that respect. It's hard to explain, but I keep the throttle up until the plane is just a few inches off the ground and then I chop it and keep slowly feeding in up elevator to try to keep her flying level to the ground as long as possible. But without power she loses speed and slowly sinks those last few inches for a good wheel landing. Too much up could "balloon" the landing, so it is just a feel for the timing of everything that you must learn and practice with each model. With this one - I'm still learning!

The throttle is still a problem. I haven't yet got it set up so I have an even transition across all speeds. On the maiden flight I had bad transition in the low end. The flights yesterday, I had good low end transition but I was at full throttle when my stick was only half way up. Hopefully I can get it smoothed for the next series of flights. Always fun and games!!

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

Hi, Stickbuilder. Thanks so much for having started and continued this great thread. I recently purchased the PICA 1/6 YMF-3/5 with fiberglass cowl and wheelpants (Thanks, kruzin55!) and was elated to find so much useful build information in one location. I agree this aircraft design is one of the best Golden Era planes of its time and deserves to be built accordingly and flown with respect. Will be awhile before I get to it (other projects on the boards) but this helpful information is greatly appreciated!! Beautiful model aircraft presented herein. Soft flandings to all.

Stickbuilder

What?????? No mention of joining the Brotherhood??????

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

skylarkmk1

Bill,

Maybe he does not understand the rules of the Brotherhood. There is just one rule, you have to like Wacos. That's it, no dues, and no duties, nothing except liking Wacos. All he has to do is ask to join and he will be added to the roster.

Squeakalong,

If your cowl is fiberglass from a commercial maker, it is most likely a UMF cowl for a Continental engine. Easy to tell, paired bumps equals UMF, evenly spaced bumps equals YMF with the Jacobs engine. Other wise, both the UMF and YMF are the same plane with different motors. The kit manufacturing guys got it wrong way back and it has pretty much stuck calling the UMF a YMF.

Just ask to join and Bill will take care of you. Good luck on your build when you get to it.

Also check out the House of Moy http://www.houseofmoy.com/waco/ for additional info associated with this thread.

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

Bill, I'd sure like to join the WACO Brotherhood and I do indeed love the looks of those gorgeous airplanes.

BTW: Checked out my fiberglass cowl and it does indeed have the 7 double sets of bumps...hadn't known that difference before but it will still look great to me.

Soft landings.

Stickbuilder

NEW BROTHER ALERT !!!

Welcome Brother squeakalong (you didn't give us another name, so until you do.....)

You are Brother #114. Let's all give squeakalong the help and assistance that he asks for when building his new Waco.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

THANK YOU....THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Here's another name: Rudy Bagga


Joe, AMA 57750
WACO Brotherhood #114

RICKSTUBBZ

Joe, Rudy, sqeakalong,


Welcome aboard,

Good luck with your 1/6. I keep trying to get my hands on a 1/6 scale to build before I tackle my 1/5 scale. So far other people are willing to pay a lot more for one than I am.

RCplanman

My Feedback: (16)

Skeeter ca,
I have never heard of a Starduster flyin befor[ just a old country boy] but I've liked the looks for about 15 yrs.
I'm just covering a 1/5? size.
Too bad I live soooo far awayas you said ,should be a great photo shoot.
Hope you have a great time.
billrcboy ama 6416

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks, Rick! I appreciate the welcome. (Just kidding on the Rudy Bagga name ).

Soft landings.

Joe, AMA 57750
WACO Brotherhood #114

SuperCub Man

Hi billrcboy. I have a 1/4 scale set of plans drawn by Dario Brisighella. His design makes the aircraft rather heavy but I did get some good tips from the chap I bought the plans from on ways to lighten it. I also got a mold for the cowl and wheel pants! But with the Waco build I've been too busy to tackle it. I built another of Dario's aircraft - the 1/4 scale Skybolt. Beautiful aircraft but came in at 22+ lbs. Flew well with the Zenoah 62 but boy did it drop fast when the motor quit!! I love the shape of the Starduster wing and may take another look at her in the new year. The choice is whether to re-build the Skybolt or go for the Starduster. I would be very interested in knowing how yours flies when you are done!

RCplanman

My Feedback: (16)

SUPERCUB MAN,
I also have Dario's plans, but the org. size is too large for my volvo wagon.SO I've reduced them 20% to 72" span,withthe fush.at 58"[which was the concern]. I'm hopeing to come in around 13 or 14lbs.
I just finished a Hostetler 1/4 scale Aeronca [at 17lbsw/a G38] with the fush. at 64" an it just fits in the car. I'm getting too old to lug something that heavy around.
I lost a Ziroli STUKA [ 1st flight] this springe going downwind on final ,I'm sure Istalled it.The point being is Ialso reduced that one 20% to fit in the car. The aileronsan flaps ,as the young people say- really look cool-an you don't see tooo many at the fields. They were interisting to build Zirolimust feel if you buy the plans you better know how to built the damm thing. I'm thinking about rebuilting another one.
I'm interisted in the tips your friend passed along on the Starduster Too.
[email protected]