[quote]ORIGINAL: Zor


Is that not the dumbest thing I have read in a while. Is you a Lawyer?? Ok, you have a point but it is really cutting hairs, very thin hair too.

I would hope they're a little farther along than just "almost" ready to fly.

Gray Beard, I got it. I don't have a belt sander, but I do have two scroll saws. Maybe somebody would trade me a belt sander for a scroll saw. Anyway, I'm gonna give it another try. Yours looks better than just good. I won't be able to do that well, but I should be able to make something that will be close enough for government work. Thanks

That sander was bought at a CHEAP TOOL SALE that was held at our town fair grounds once a year. I think I paid $15.00 for it. I had to make a lot of adjustments to get it to run but it is just fine for sanding balsa and ply. Harbor freight is a great place to find some good deals on tools and any sander you find there would be 100% better then the one I have. I did spend the money on the saw though but it too was on sale at Home Depot for $100.00. I have a lot of different blades for it too, the one in there now is a bit corse for balsa but when I'm cutting a kit I use some very fine tooth blades for smoother cuts. At Harbor Freight I also buy a lot of clamps of different sizes. The trick to getting a good tight fit on the spar notches is to cut under size and use the sanding stick to get the final fit. I had a few sanding sticks made up in different sizes, not sure where they are though?? Maybe I used them for mixing epoxy?? I have been known to do a lot of dumb things like that when I get in a hurry.

Hi everyone,

In post #26, Gray Beard wrote "Is that not the dumbest thing I have read in a while. Is you a Lawyer?? Ok, you have a point but it is really cutting hairs, very thin hair too".

I believe we are all entitled to our outlook on circumstances.
When I was working as a corporate airplane captain I was never ready to fly when arriving at the airport.
Not until I had verified multiple items such as the refuelling, oil levels, tire pressures, all control surfaces, cabin cleanliness, and run the engines before the passenger arrivals.

I was "Almost Ready to Fly" before these procedures were completed.

Arriving at the model airplane flying field, my model(s) is "Almost Ready to Fly".
I still have to verify the radio channel occupancy, an overall inspection, refuelling, check the radio response and range, proper deflection of the control surfaces, engine idling, response to acceleration, full power check,

The abbreviation "ARF and RTF (an others) does not apply only to the manufacturing industry.
They also make sense in our routines associated with our activities in the hobby.

So if you thinkI (Zor) wrote "the dumbest thingyou have read in a while" that is only showing your different outlook and that is fine with me. As long as you enjoy your writings I am glad for you.

Zor

The Felix Unger of the RC world[sm=49_49.gif]

I have this Ryobi sander http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/po...enchtop/BD4600 and it works pretty well for balsa and plywood
It was about $100 at Home Depot

WOW!!!! I like that sander. Are different grit belts and discs available for it?

I wanted a Venus II to start out in pattern flying but it is no longer available. I found this plane - Home Run. Is it any good? I wanted something bigger but this is cheap at $120.
Here is the link: http://www.americanpioneerhobbies.com/homerun.html

Also I found the Show Time, small but cheap as well.

You'll find belts and discs in many grits at a woodworking store like Rocklers or Woodcrafters.

I had a Delta benchtop 4 X 36 with 6" disc sander for a dozen years or so. This is a great size for hobby use.

EJWash

In this area there are no pattern events held, A few IMACs but that's about it so I no longer get to see the new pattern planes and have never read anything about that distributor so??????? It looks like a nice plane but I have never seen one. I have three old school pattern planes at the moment, I killed both my Kaos planes and replaced my 60 size with another Bridi kit by Blue Jay. It still hasn't flown because of a damaged engine but very soon. {I hope} The yellow one is the Bridi Dirty Birdy. The other one is a very old Aerial that was used in the 2 meter pattern events in 99. I just installed an new {to me} YS 1.20 and I'm burning up a gallon of fuel every day I take it out with me. It's ugly but really is smooth, I love flying it. If you look onto the tower site you will find the grand son of the Kaos, the Ultra Sport. I know nothing about the plane you posted but the Ultra Sport is every bit as nice to fly as the Kaos. That was always my favorite 60 size pattern plane. I have high hopes the new Dirty Birdy will be even better?? Check out the US, I find them a bit ugly but they fly great. Just yanking the US lovers chains!! Sorry Mike.

Home Depot sells belts and disks in a few grits. My neighbor works part time at Rockler and they usually have a better selection. I did notice the price of the sander is 120 compared to the 100 I paid a few years ago.

Gray Beard; thanks for the examples of pattern planes. I like the Aerial but was looking for something more modern.

The Aerial appeals more to me than the Dirty Birdy. I really like than loooooong leeeeeeean look. Looks very fast and very graceful at the same time, even sitting still.

Gray Beard
Is the Arial still available? I always liked the way it flys too - very smooth... Thanks, NM

Even in it's day there weren't a lot of them campaigned, It's hard to find information on them, I'm not even sure of the correct spelling, I have seen it spelt a couple of different ways. It was flown in the 2meter class and the DB was flown in class-C and was smaller with a engine limit of .61. The DB is a kit and has all built up wings and stab. The Arial has a glass fuse and the wing and stab are foam core. The one I have was found in a local Hobby Shop in the used plane room by a friend and he scooped it up. He gave it to me this year and I installed a OS 1.20 and didn't car a lot for the plane. After I was given a YS 1.20FZ and installed it the plane turned into a favorite.
The new pattern planes have kept the lines but made the fuse taller for better side force plus I have been seeing alot of the side force generators attached to the wing tips.
In the pattern forum you can find a lot more up to date information. Without having any pattern events in my area I'm really out of the loop these days. The sub forum in pattern is the classic pattern forum if you like the older type of planes. For sort pilots or weekend pilots any of the pattern type of planes will make you look a lot better then you really are. One of the reasons I like them so well!! Go look in those forums for a lot more information, you can see what is going on today and not years ago from someone like me.

Ahhh! But Gene, the REAL world experience that you bring to the table is just as valuable and up to date as anything I read in that particular forum.

Humility. I have learned that the ones that feel they have nothing to prove are the true people that we learn the most from, and offer ther most as well.

Brian

I saw this thread by coincidence. The Arial was designed by Dick Hanson's son I believe, and is a wonderful plane to fly. Most of Dick's old designs are still available from Rich Lee. Here is some info I posted a while back:

<
The Hanson kits are made by Rich Lee. His contact is richlee _at_ directinet.com , insert the ampersand. Rich is a nice guy and is a talented glass molder. As I recall he has all the original molds. Here are the prices as of last time I checked:

Runaround : $275.00
Zlin (fiberglass): $285.00
Elite: $325.00
Excess: $375.00
Ariel: $400.00
EMC: $485.00
>

The glass work is great, as old as my plane is the only stress cracks on the fuse are from ham hands squishing the sides to hold it while removing the wings. If the prices are still correct then people are getting a lot of bang for the bucks. Any ideas where the Hansons are from?? Mine also has a pilots AMA number but I couldn'r find a name to go with it.

Dick lives in Murray, Utah. His son Guy is a musician and I think he lives around the SLC area somewhere (last time I saw him).

Rich Lee does fabulous glass work. I have a Runaround in my attic, and my dad still has a 21+ year old Zlin that looks perfect. The Zlin had alll the rivets, panel lines, etc molded in. Beautiful, and LIGHT.

Remember, those "kits" are a glass fuse/belly pan/cowl, foam wing, rudder, and stab cores, a firewall and maybe some fuse formers, etc. Supply your own wing sheeting, hardware, etc. They are a very good deal on a high quality kit.

FYI those prices were from 3 years ago, so they may have gone up in the mean time.

I keep looking at the Zlin and the gears in my head start turning, the price is sure there,I just don't have the cash, even if it has gone up a little it's still a good deal!!

All
I sent Rich an e-mail to inquire about those vintage kits you mentioned. I'll keep you posted on his reply. Regards, NM

A friend purchased the Zlin kit last year and IIRC the price was about the same as what I listed above. I don't know that he has built it yet but the bare fiberglass fuse is a work of art.

All
Here is the reply I got from Rich. Regards, NM

Yes, I do some of the older pattern stuff, namely Dick Hansons pattern kits of yore.
They include:
Ariel
Elite
Elan
Runaround
Zlin
EMC2
Excess
I also have short kits for Dicks Bucker Jungmann from the 1990 Toc that Steve Rojecki flew.

I also cut the cores & have cowls available for the 26% & 30% Dalotels.

You should be able to google anyone of these to find pics of them from others. If any of these interest you, we can talk further.

Thanks, Rich

Just in case anybody wants to know what these planes look like, here is an archived version of Dick's webpage with the pics of the pattern planes: http://web.archive.org/web/200212132...s/pattern.html

The Zlin is here (this one is identical to my Dad's plane, but his has a YS 1.20 - WAY too much power): http://web.archive.org/web/200308250...dels/zlin.html

To my eye, the EMC2 is still one of the best-looking planes ever designed.

As I recall, the Elite and Elan designs were essentially design iterations of the Tiporare design. He basically stretched, squished, and tweaked it a bit.

In the meantime Dick designed a very scale-looking Dalotel Viking, and had good success with it (Chip Hyde flew it in the Nats around '84).

The Runaround was effectively a combination design, blending some of the elements of the Tipo series (fin/rudder, elevator/stab) with the force arrangement, some of the fuse lines (relatively aftward canopy, sloping turtledeck), and taildragger setup from the Dalotel.

Good stuff.

The Zlin used a wing and stab that was extremely similar to the Runaround, but with a beautiful scale fuse. It is an excellent flyer.

The EMC2 was a 2 meter version of the Runaround, with a wider fuse profile. I believe it would be pretty competitive today (at least through Advanced), despite being a 15 year-old design.

I just triped over my blue prints for an 80 inch ZLIN I was going to build. Reason it never got built was if you wanted the canopy or cowl you had to send over seas to buy them from the designer. The plans were also more scale then I wanted to fart with. After looking at the plans I may end up building it?? If I ever do I will build my own cowl and try to locate someone with a canopy that would fit. The plans I bought are from MAN.