Toysareforkids

My Feedback: (4)

Ken,
It looks good!, it looks like a totalydifferent plane. I have built many, many, many planes of all different types, Iuse say I have a favorite type but I forgot what typethat was! I like them all! LOL
I havea 33" wselectric plane (It was a ARF that someons crashed back in '90, and all I had was the plastic fuse and a cowl that was in many parts, and I guessed on the rest)and one called the Wasp 37" ws which I built from plans back in about '91 which both I just finished & covered.I'm using brushless motors in, and I have just bought a Herrs 30" Pittts off ebay which to my surprise is missing the fuse out of the kit, and now I have my Phaeton plans, which is the biggest to fly out back, or in the field across the street.Already ordered the wood for both from my local hobby/pc repairstore (45 miles away, closest to me) I swaped my 30 heli for a laptop for the wife there. LOL She was in the hospital for about 3 months over a 5 month time, and was bored at times.I'm not a heli pilot!!!
The wife asked if I have so many kits to be yet built (about 25) why do I need to buy more? I said that these are to fly in the backyard. The flying field we go to is about 45 miles away

I just need to finish upsome planes, (finish covering my Nieuport 28) then clear offthe bench and start to make parts to build them!

Pat

RDJeff

My Feedback: (11)

Dredging up an old thread here. I have a Goldberg Ultimate 10-300 that is waiting in the build queue, but wanted something easier to build and fly as my first biplane, and spotted a new Phaeton II kit at the LHS, so I bought it.

The first thing I noticed was how heavy most of the wood was! I decided to substitute the easy pieces, and lighten up the rest where possible. I gave the Forstner bits a real workout, putting holes in all the wing ribs and tip plates. The fuselage also got some holes cut out of it. I also changed the tail feathers to a completely different shape, and lightened them up by cutting out the horizontal surfaces, and inserting ribs in them.

I use an electronic scale to weigh everything, and used it to compare weights of accessories. Doing this, I was able to determine that the factory wire gear is much lighter than my preferred Dural gear, and also came up with a pair of rib-tread foam tires that are significantly lighter than any of the rubber tires out there. I also used a Sullivan steerable tail wheel assembly, certainly heavier than a tail skid, but I like the ground handling much better with a steerable unit.

The engine I've chosen for this plane is an NV GX-40 gasoline glow engine, that should turn an 11x6 prop at 11,000-12,000 rpm. Having the plane lightened up should help this engine pull the plane around well. NV claims fuel consumption is 20 ounces/hour, so my 8 ounce tank should give 20 minute flights with some reserve. Due to the muffler configuration, I had to mount the engine inverted, and carve up the ABS cowl to fit. I think it'll look okay when done.

Anyway, after two weeks here's my progress. What you see in the photo weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces. I still need to add the N struts, receiver, battery, muffler, and covering. I'm hoping to finish up at 5 3/4 pounds, but we'll see about that.

rcphotog

Great to see someone building a Phaeton!
I will follow your progress.

Did you add shear webbing? I ask because it's important and I believe that the original plans omitted it.

Anyways,
I'm looking forward to seeing it finished and flying and also hearing how that engine performs on this model.
Any thoughts on a paint scheme?

BTW, FYI; ....these Phaetons had the same week spot as did the Andrews Aeromasters - in the fuse just behind the bottom wing trailing edge. They could not take a hard landing.

-Ken.

RDJeff

My Feedback: (11)

Thanks for the encouragement Photog! the sheer webs are there, making a true D tube wing. Now that you mention it, the fuse does look a bit flimsy there at the wing mount. I'll have to see what I can come up with for a reinforcement.

buzzard bait

I bought a grimy old Phaeton built by a guy's father about 30 years ago. He'd bashed it to resemble a Curtiss SOC, and even though it was in awful shape, I liked it.

After cleaning, patching, and installing an Enya 45SS and a modern radio, I got a few flights out of it before the entire engine mount fell out of the fuselage and the plywood landing gear mount de-laminated from oil-soaking. I slathered all the exposed areas with corn starch mixed with rubbing alcohol and let it sit 24 hours (not sure it did much, but made me feel like I'd tried), then re-glued the firewall with epoxy; also stuffed epoxy into the ply, drilled out the mounting screws for the LG, and the new screws pulled the ply back together with the epoxy inside. Now firewall and landing gear feel rock solid. Should last awhile before something else comes apart.

I've re-tested and the plane flies very well on the old Enya with a 12x4 prop. I let it drop when I throttle down for landings and bring it in with a little speed and some throttle, then cut the throttle shortly before landing. CG is about 1/4 inch behind what the plans say, and the plane is quite stable in pitch. I'm sure it could go back farther. My experience with BUSA is they call for a very conservative CG, and you've actually got quite a bit of leeway. Ready for flight it weighs 5 lbs even. I really enjoy the plane and would like another if I could get the original.

Jim

RDJeff

My Feedback: (11)

Nice looking plane! A lot of work went into that greenhouse, for sure!

RDJeff

My Feedback: (11)

I finished mine today! I had some remnants of Monokote Neon Blue and Neon Red that I wanted to use up, forgot how tough those neons are to work with, though it did turn out okay. All up weight is 5 pounds 9 ounces, which is under my target weight! Balsa USA says 6 - 6 3/4 pounds. Now I need to do some engine runs to verify it's good. I have a new one of these NV GX 40s, but recently scored a lightly used one, and that is what is mounted up. This engine weighs 13.6 ounces with the muffler on it, and I'm jazzed to see what it can do.

albertomi

Nice work, please give us the report of maiden.

Alberto Silva

Bcool831

Hey guys i am having trouble figuring out the aileron servo placement. I see the two rods used to connect the but I don't get where or how to mount said servo. Anyone shoot me a pic of yours please? Thanks a lot. Barry

i think I get it now. Servo is mounted in wing.

buzzard bait

I know this is an old thread, but just thought I'd give an update on mine (post #30). Note the lack of interplane struts. Seemed to be fine until one day I flew it in very blustery wind. The wings clapped hands a couple of times, and then the wood cabane struts gave out and the plane hit the trees hard. I salvaged the engine, but not much else.

I have another bipe with interplane struts just stuck into slots, top and bottom wings banded on just like the old Phaeton. You might not think it would add strength, but it does, because it keeps the wings in place so there is less stress on the cabanes.

For anyone building this plane, I think interplane struts are worth it, and they don't even have to be screwed on. There is another thread showing an original Phaeton build in which the builder makes struts the same way. Very simple, but very helpful.

Jim

Bcool831

sorry to hear that Jim. I made mine out of thin ply that go into the slots and pull towards the back locking into place with strong earth magnets.
Thats as far as I have gotten. Its been a hangar queen ever since.
Barry

Rodney

Here is one that I built and had a ball with. As you can see, I enlarged the rudder, moved the firewall back a bit to accommodate the bigger engine and beefed up the landing gear. Roll rate was good with only being on the lower wing. Found that the biggest factor in getting it to fly really well was to have the upper wing at about 1.5 degrees less angle of attack than the lower wing. Not sure of the final weight but the engine alone weighs over 5 pounds.

buzzard bait

I remember seeing yours in another post, Rodney. Someone commented that your engine was larger than he had on his first motorcycle!

I've always taken note of your experiment with incidences. It make sense to me that the top wing should have less incidence. The bottom wing is flying in the downwash from the top, which would tend to give the bottom less incidence, effectively. I understand the argument for doing the opposite, so that the top wing stalls while the bottom wing is still flying, but pitch stability is what stabs are for, and I don't like the idea of having a whole bottom wing that just goes along for the ride.

Very interesting that you have enough roll without top ailerons. Do you think it's because of a higher flying speed, with the extra weight and power?

Jim

kevoyhei

buzzard bait

That's great, but beware of stress on the wood cabanes. I put an Enya 45SS on an old one I picked up and flew it for a couple of seasons, but in gusty winds one day the cabanes gave out. I concluded interplane struts would have prevented it. Another thing to consider would be some diagonals on the struts going cross ways to the fuselage. Enjoy your plane!

Jim

motoman326

Hey there,
Just picked up an old Phaeton 90 and it didn't come with the metal wing struts.
I'm having a bit of trouble making the ones I ordered form Balsa USA fit. Did they change the design of these things.
Any close up photos of the mounting areas would be greatly appreciated. A photo of that page in that manual would pork as well.
Thanks
John

rcphotog

hey John,
Are you referring to the wire outer 'N' struts?
If so, then remember that BUSA manufactured them incorrectly compared to "scale" / full size 'N' struts. They were configured so the middle wire attaches going in the wrong direction. To be "scale" like the way a full size plane's struts are, then the middle struts should attach from the leading edge of the bottom wing to the trailing edge of the top wing. But, BALSA USA designed them with the middle strut going from the trailing edge of the bottom wing to the leading edge of the top wing. So, double check the direction of the 'N' because it probably will go on only one way.

motoman326

Thanks,
Thanks good info

John