Sincraft, I don't remember what trainer you have. I assume it has trike gear. If so, have you considered making it into a taildragger? It's not that difficult and makes the trainer a whole lot more fun. We'll see if Don reads this. Try to get him to post the picture of his first one. It had wheel pants. Looked real nice. The main thing is, tho, that you can use it to learn how to taxi and take off a taildragger. It's not hard, but it takes practice. Just something to consider.

Dinner was good. Lots of smoking. Desert three hours later.

cool looking planes. i bet they fly great too.

i was too tired to get on here for a few days. missed it too.

i'll take a look at getting my laptop fixed locally today.

elad

snoop,

thank you for the information about the reason for the eagle company not recommending the 4 stroke engine. i take it that it could be done if extra steps are taken for reinforcement.

if you read through all these posts you know i bought the plane that my instructor is training me on. whenever i get another plane i will take another look at getting a 4 stroke engine. they sound nice to the ears, but it's not as necessary for me to use a 4 stroke as i first thought it was going to be.

good luck with your kit. the eagle flies nicely even without much dihedral. mine has somewhere in the neighborhood of an inch to an inch and a quarter. a pilot in my club built one with what looks to me to be 3 or more inches. it sure looks unnecessary to me to have that much, but different strokes for different folks, and for whatever their reasons for making them that way. planes with zero dihedral look the best to me, but i don't know all the differences that makes in real flight. my instructor commented that planes with less dihedral in the wings fly more realistically when compared to real planes.

thanks again for the post and welcome to the thread. feel free to join in, this is a real nice group of fellows who came to my rescue. and they are the ones with the good answers.

elad

s,

wives believe they are the only reason we need to keep out of trouble.

i haven't been flying since a few weeks ago. my instructor had a higher priority. we'll eventually get back to flying.

i read that you're diong a great job of landing in the wind. heck, i can't even taxi in the wind without doing a nose dive. ha

i am having a hard time catching my local computer guru. i need the lid fixed so it will stay open by itself and i want to upgrade the graphics to 3d for the realflight simulator. if the price of all that reaches the cost of a new desktop i might just get one of those soon.

good luck with the sailplane that sounds like fun. i don't think my terrain would support a sailplane.

elad

s, t, d & snoop,

i guess i must be pretty dull. (well, dull sure, but not pretty at all.) ha

i gave up smokes and coffee and replaced both with a jersey highball (straight milk.)

elad

Elad, If I could quit smoking I would. $35 to$40 a week extra would buy a lot of RC stuff.

Don and I were talking about your computer problem. We thought you should get a 1/4 scale servo and rig it to open and close your computer. How's that ror having the "answers".

ok,

well, i'll need 3 servos. one to hold the lid up and two to open the latch on each side. or should i just remove those mechanisms? ha

it was harder to quit cigaretts than just saying i quit. every waking minute for two weeks all i could think of was lighting up. it was as much (maybe actually more) keeping my hands fiddling with the things as wanting the nicotine hit.

for as long as a year, at times, soon after a meal, i still wanted one. back then (over 30 years ago) they didn't have nicotine patches and such.

my dad was ordered to quit by his heart dr. several years ago. he told me a few times that there were days he had to seriously ask himself who was bigger him or the cigs. ha

my best reason to quit was that i was starting to raise a family and i wanted to be able to buy baby shoes, shirts & pants etc. dad just wanted to live a little longer. i believe living long enough to raise a bigger family of rc planes and buying them more wheel pants is a good enough reason to quit. ha

elad

ps. my computer guru says he'll need to order new friction hinges for the lid, and that the graphics can't be upgraded to 3d. i might just use the servos or duct tape. ha
.

Elad,
Regarding the dihedal thing your instructor told you about. Well, that is true to a point. But there are many trainers out there with high dihedral. I built my trainer with the highest dihedral. 3" prolly. I am not sure why. I can tell you that it seems to be taken by wind ALOT easier than a plane with less dihedral or a flat wing. On the other hand, I believe it is the reason I have more tip stalls and rarely get wing overs when I 'get jiggy' and test the limits of the airplane I am using.

Smoking is messing with more than just my lungs and heart I think. I think it is affecting my brain also. I've been smoking for about 15 years and am noticing strange pains in the heart area, especially after smoking a cig and immediately rushing back to my office while thinking of something stressful. I went as far as to even have an ekg done a couple years back when I started having this probs. Coupled with a raging anxiety from a very stressful job..I was a mess. I'm better now, not the same as before but better...although like I said I think cigs are doing something to me. I will probably turn into a health nut soon. I doubt I will ever completely quit smoking however. Everything in moderation is the key...and more so proven each and every day. I just hope some of you 'older fellas' think about this. Almost 10 minutes after you quit smoking, your heart starts to 'get better'. The longer the better. After 10 years of smoking, it damages your heart slowly everyday. These are things a doc told me, actually several. Ever hear about those people that quit their bad habbits and kill over in a year or two after? Sometimes I wonder if our body isn't capable of such extreme changes. But I think if exercise were mixed in, there has to be postive result both physically and mentally that would assuredly occure. Nuff on that.. Whew.

Elad, regarding your computer issue. Laptops aren't very cheap to fix. The friction pads he is speaking of COULD be several things. Sometimes they are broken hinges on the inside from hyperextension. That could be around 50 bux for the parts alone ...or more. IF you can get them. The video card can not be upgraded BUT the memory may be able to. You can probably get a desktop computer with a cheap graf(x) card in it for under $400 with a monitor. I would however ponder about how well the real flight sims will help you out, or if you just want to do it for kicks and giggles. I have met several people that have practiced on these, show up at the airfield with their resident expert trainer, and immediately crash leaving me wonder...
If I were you, I would see if the sim you are going to purchase has the plane you are currently flying. See if it handles the same. I know one thing, there is NO accounting for weather and actual stick time. Like I said, kicks and giggles...great. For learning, I think the only thing it will really teach you is how to overcome directional dyslexia.
(elad btw if you need help with your computer issues let me know, I was somewhat a big wig computer guy before I switched careers)


Tom, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I have the plans I believe to turn it into a taildrag'r. HMMMM. It's and Eagle II btw.

Current project of the week. Gluing 3 pieces of balsa block together trying to figure out HOW they have me fitting anything but a .30 sized engine in the space given much less a .90. Sigh. New pics a coming... I spent two hours finding my thrust line and centerline. Sanding the nose to an even surface to place the nose circle that will determine the shape of my final huge sanding project. Which may all have to revamped once I get the engine of choice. I am going to have a HUGE time installing the engine on this sucker. It will be inverted. Joy.


In the pics: you can see the progress. The dark brown sheeting is a 1/64" ply that wraps to make the canopy area which will eventually be cut out to seat two pilots. The front is the choas which includes 4 blocks o fun which will eventually be sanded and shaped to create a more fluid look. The problem is following the instructions: glue your sides, bottoms, and tops...should definetely tell you to pay carefull attention to tapering the front to meet the fuse nose circle that will envelope the spinner. Also, wondering what sized engine is going to fit in there really. We shall see! Believe it or not, lotsa work has been done since the last post. Probably a good 8 hours.
S

Elad, Hope the computer thing gets worked out. What a pain!
Any chance you'll get to fly this weekend? Our weather is pretty crummy. The flying season is pretty much over. If we get a nice day, I better grab a plane and fly, 'cause Spring flying season usually doesn't start until mid-April here.

Sincraft. It's an easy mod. I think you'd be happy with the results. If you need any help let me know.

Tom, looking back I am thinking I wish I had the top nose block barely glued on so that I could rip it off after sanding and shaping to install the engine more easily. I think this is going to be a HUGE task without doing so.

Final sanding starts tonight. Prolly post the final fuse tomorrow or the next day. Yay.


S

Sincraft, You'll be alright. Go ahead and finish shaping it. Most of the bottom of the cowl will probably be cut away. You'll know after you get your engine. It'll be easier to shape now. Do you have a Dremel tool? My guess is that you will need it to hog out the inside of the cowl to get the motor in. Is your motor mount installed yet? If not, that could be your major problem. Let me know. Maybe somebody else reading this has some input.

S, & all,

the plane is looking good. sounds like a lot of work left to do so that means a lot of fun left too.

i know you heard about one guy trying to talk his friend into quitting smoking. the friend wasn't ready for it just yet and was telling the guy about his uncle who smoked cigarettes and cigars almost incessantly, who drank a fifth of whiskey before breakfast every day, who chased wild women all the time, and gambled away a fortune and lived to the age of 110 years. the friend said, "yep but it finally got him didn't it?" ha

well, lets see, i quit smoking entirely cold turkey over 35 years ago quit alcohol over 25 yrs back, haven't caught a wild woman in a long time, set a $2.00 loss limit on all my gambling, which eventually caused me to quit gambling because a $2.00 loss limit is not much fun, and it hasn't killed me yet, so i guess it would be ok for you to cut back on the tobacco a little if ya like or even totally quit if ya really wanted to. but be warned,,, do it at your own risk. ha

the computer,,,,, i got a laptop when i took it to my cb radio repair shop when that was still in operation. i don't need it for that anymore, and could just put together a few boards at the correct angle for viewing the screen, and hold the screen up with a rubber band. i know that sounds like a duct tape or servo joke, but i could live with it.

i've been thinking about getting a desk top computer. my family could use it for their own purposes and i could get it built with all the latest goodies including extreme 3d graphics, or whatever is needed, for the sim. i sort of believe the sim could be some help in learning to fly, and while i realize it's not just like flying a real rc plane i am certain i could crash several simulated planes a lot cheaper than crashing just one real one. after all i do have the real mc coy, the eagle 2 to train on for my days of real live flying. mostly, until i get into plane kit building, the sim would be taking the place of my winter building project.

none of the sim packages i've researched have the eagle 2 included, but each has some sort of high wing trainer, and various other planes with mid or low wings. some have helichoppers too. i won't need that, but it might be fun to try.

tom,

i won't get to fly this weekend. the days are 75 to 80 degrees and the nights are in the mid to high 50s. it will be sunny with winds mostly under 10 mph.

elad

dale sounds like flyin weather to me
of the flight sims the realflight G2 from tower has the best operation I have it myself it is great .I gave tom my old copy of realflight so far the Cessna 182 flys most like a trainer
It has a lot of options to mess with -scenery- weather -if you want to change the planes around you can mess with -motors- weight -etc make them -crash -flight failures more or less realizm FUN STUFF

Warning (beep beep beep) Warning (beep beep beep)...Pull up! (beep beep beep) PULL UP! (beep beep beep)

..."I don't have it, it's..."

CRACK!

The previous is what happened to me today.

Both me and my brother wreck our planes on our second flights. My father warned us that today may not be a good day to fly, not only because of wind..but because we are supposedly experiencing a major amount of solar flares that may cause cell phones, radios etc to malfunction.

-Today on takeoff my brother winged over, flew for awhile on a 90 degree knife edge toward the parking lot...and of course hit the hardest thing within miles...the parking lot. I watched it first hand about 20 feet away. Was actually afraid it was going to hit me. I even had a step forward to run to save it (not that I would at that speed...sigh) But it was heartbreaking to see. He rarely gets to fly and was excited to fly today, both of us were off from work. The wing hit the ground and ground up like it was on a giant belt sander. It was amazing to watch. The sound haunts me to this minute. He completely destroyed the right side of his wing and left a 30+ foot trail of balsa flakes imbedded into the concrete.

He said it was like he couldn't turn left, it just kept flying right. This happened on takeoff and didn't seem to vary from it's heading of destruction.

Then.....
I decide to get mine going and figured I would let him fly mine to 'get back in the saddle' so to speak. HARD to start today in the cold, my engine sucks, but we finally got her going. I handed the stick to him so he immediately starts doing high speed low passes and hammer heads etc etc. I grab it off of him, land and take off a few times. Nice day so far (except for his plane)
Second flight, I am flying along, complaining that my plane always feels SO squirly in the wind..even the slightest wind. Lalalal just flying along, I pull up and do a hammerhead, then turn it toward the trees on my downward leg...suddenly I notice that I am not getting the response I should from my radio > the plane. My bro says WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ...I was speechless at the time and was pulling back with all it could but it just keep heading straight for the tops of the trees and WHAM!!

It probably hit the top of the trees going 35+ mph? Full throttle full dive. I was only able to level it before it hit. I'm thinking downdraft but not ruling out radio interference.
The problem also is, if someone told me I was close to those trees I would have laughed at them. Seems I am more distance blind than I thought I was. Regardless I don't like seeing my plane below the tree lines anyway, just to be sure.

When it hit, I saw flakes of covering flying everywhere. I heard the engine continue on and then another THUD later. We assumed the fuse hit hard in the woods somewhere.

We started our journey to look for the plane. Walked into some dense woods with much covering from dense underbrush and vines. Deeper in still NO signs of my plane or the wreckage. I am starting to look up in the trees at this time. Then I look further off in the distance and notice a reflection, walk up and it is a 1" x 1" piece of my covering. I walk a bit further into a small clearing, notice more pieces about 2 feet apart. I start collecting the ones with small pieces of balsa attached to them. THen I see the pieces getting bigger and in smaller areas and spot the wing laying longways against a tree. I look at it sick to my stomache and didn't want to touch it. I just wanted to find my goods (engine, radio stuff)
We wonder into the woods further, nothing. Then finally I spot my fuse laying at a 45 degree angle in dense brush upside down...engine in mud. We fight our way over through the thickest junk in the woods and notice that possibly that stuff saved my fuse. Sure enough after about 10 minutes of ripping branches apart...IT DID.
I punched a 4 inch hole in the side of the fuse. Fin was pretty bad but the tail and major items were still all in place. The wheels were missing as were the gears. I think teh gears ripping off saved teh plane but also slowed it from lawn darting into the ground. AMAZING. The engine was covered in filth, but it was in plane, along with the radio equip..servos...and the fuse was still in one piece. Even the firewall and plastic clear canopy survived the 100 foot high speed plunge!

The wing when looking at it, was looking UGLY. It looked like a haunted wing, that pictures just can't depict. But, because I built it strong long ago using thick CA and epoxy, quality wood....where the branches hit the center spars..all they did was dent those areas.
I blew apart the thick wooden down that makes up the leading edge. And the center piece that took a big hit only needs some balsa filler to reshape. It was strengthened with fiberglass

I spent $20 bux for parts, of which I decided I don't even need the covering. So the total bill to fix everything is only going to cost around $5!

Check out the horrible pics from my horrible digital cam. Already working on fixing it..

Sincraft, Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed. Sounds like this was one of them. Sorry about you bad luck. Glad to see you're already on the road to repairing it. Looks like, all in all, you were pretty lucky. Have you checked out your radio equipment yet? See if you can figure out if that was the cause.

If you're gonna make it a tail dragger, looks like this is the time to do it.

Good luck on the repairs.

Elad, As long as you have a computer that works, you're in good shape. If duct tape and rubber bands will work, go for it.

I agree with Don about the Realflight G2. Seems like it's the most realistic. I just can't seem to get into it, though. If I had the money for one, I'd spend it on another kit, or a 4 stroke.

Hope you get to fly soon!

Tom and Elad:

RF G2 has been a good building and design tool for me, as well as offering a way to "Fly" in foul weather and at night.

When I'm dreaming up a design I'll plug the numbers into RF to check how it should fly. It's saved me a couple times.

Bill.

On the road to recovery...

I created a semi template from pieces I had, then tried to get everything about equal. Some are a bit short on the front dowel leading edge so to strengthen I cut little tiny pieces of balsa to support the sides. Also I put 3/16 x 1/4 strips of balsa along sides of the ribs where they join the spars. I should be covering by tonight, and flying tomorrow with some luck.

Radio equip is fine. I learned a hard lesson about downdrafts, flying in wind, and flying near trees. Unless I was 'shot down', regardless I will always keep this in mind.

Engine, we will have to see. I have to rip it apart and clean her out. Got some mud and debre in it. Doh, forgot the fuse needs about an hours worth o repair. I'll be up till 3am as is and prolly won't get to fly tomorrow...but am at least capable to if we by some chance get another nice weekend. We shall see.

S

SinCRASH!, You're getting right with the program! Repairs look like they are coming along nicely. Before you cover it, look everything over and make sure you didn't miss anything. Post some pics when completed. I'll check early (5:00 Am) Sunday morn, to see how you're doing.

I got caught up in something last night on the web, next thing I know its 1 hour later. I of course found more things I want to buy. HA. Regardless, I still finished the construction portion of the rebuild which I knew wasn't going to take long. I did fubar it a bit because my ribs were a bit smaller in length than the first ones. But you cant notice. I also supported everything with balsa chunks throughout. I even dovetailed the dowel rods that fit together instead of gluing two ends together.

I can cover now. I have to think about this though. I purchased two yellow like rolls of this cheap stuff from my local store. IT's all they had two of. Just noticed you can see through it and will see the red marks. So unless I sit for 3 hours picking every last piece of red off of the wings, I need to think. I have MAYBE enough black to cover the wing, thus I could use the red trim creating a contrast effect of design from wing > fuse. I'll post hehe.

S

Woot! Page 10 baby! Oh hey Tom or Don or Bill or Elad or whoever...what is a good 1/5 th scale kit out there (ww2 era)? Kinda like that 109 you have pictured. What does it cost or how much all told can I expect to pay?

Thanks!

S

Sincraft, Meister has the 109 in about an 80" size. Looks just like mine only smaller.
The Focke Wulf I'm buildin is 1/5 scale, but I don't think you want to get into something like this yet.
Top Flite has several. I'd recommend the P47. I hear it flies well. Stay away from anything with totating retracts, as I'm hearing of problems with them.
Price? I'd figure at least $1500, but you can go to the sites and total up the prices. Add on tothat the cost of CA, epoxy, paint, and glass cloth. You can buy a used motor. Check the classifieds here to get an idea of cost.

Glad your Eagle is ready to cover. If it's gonna be close, put the transparent yellow on the bottom.

Lol I forgot to laugh at that Sincrash thingy lol. I was laughing to hard and forgot to mention it. That's good...ha...haha..(cough)...........ha.

Hey, that's a great tip Tom, thanks. Now why didn't I think of that?!?! I guess that's why you make the big money.

S

Sincraft, It's cause I'm cheap!!