So my stash is now up to 11 airplanes ranging from three A-ray kits and The Kavalier which I am building right now. I also just got a 60 size ultra sport which I thought was a 40 but then I said well heck lets just get a 61 of some kind to power this bad boy. I also have a Tower Hobbies 40 size Kaos the kit not the ARF here. A new contender that I bought from Eddie a couple of weeks ago and I also have Sig Kadet MK2 and one Great Planes 40 size super decathalon. I bought this kit for a future build. I read some where on how it was a screwy airplane as it tends to tip stall. I talked to Eddie about this and he told me that we could add washout to the wing and also he was under the belief that the tail feathers needed to be enlarged. Hopefully I will get this built in the future. I might power this up with a new 55 AX OS engine.
I got to get sheeting my Kavalier wing C-ya
Michael

Good evening as you can tell i made little progress today as I got both the top and each side of the wing sheet and installed all of the cap strips and I also glued on the leading edge of both sides of the wing! Now I have to go pull all of those T-pins and the midewest push pins out and start shaping the leading edge!
Michael

Looks Good!

Hi Matt, Thank You and I have a lot sanding to do in the next couple of Days. I still think my brand new OS 35 AX will power this airplane very well. I picked up a used 40 sf os engine on ebay for a song and dance and we shall see how it runs on my test stand. i am going to also break in 35 this week and my new 25 ax at the same time.
Thanks
Michael

I can't speak highly enough about the Kavalier...I've had 3 since the mid 80's. Build the airframe stock, especially the wing...make sure the ribs are firmly pinned to the building board and sheet half the wing while pinned. This insures a nice stiff structure that keeps the built in washout intact. To convert it to a taildragger I ran a brass tube from the top of the fuselage to the bottom through a piece of 3/16" (top and bottom) ply for a wire tail guide. Slide piano wire through the tube and make bends that allow for a steerable T/W. The main gear is moved forward so the main wheels split the leading edge in half when looking straight down on the gear. It has 0 bad habits and make flying off of grass a breeze. The airplane really has no bad habits, is fully aerobatic and handles great through all speed ranges. I have an OS 40 on my current Kav and it is plenty of power.

Jim

Where did you get those red push pins? I like those! The wing is coming along very nice. Sanding is one of the necessary drudge jobs I don't enjoy but a must for a good surface.

Hi Mike, I bought package of those pins from Eddie over here at action Hobbies and I liked them so much I ordered another box from Tower Hobbies. They are made by midwest products and they cost about $3.50 for a box of 50. check out this link to Tower Hobbies: https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&P=SM&I=LXRRG8 it seems they are not available yet.
I need to get the engine mounted in the fire wall today so I can construct the fuse this week. hmm
Thanks

Tower has stuff coming in at a trickle I'm sure they will be back soon.

I bought my Midwest pins from Hobby Lobby

are they still in business? I thought some one bought them out like twice and moved them to South Carolina or something like that!

I believe they sold Hobby Express to Carolina Custom Kits. Hobby Lobby is still going strong, they have several around here in northern Cali and they have "some" modeling supplies (paint, glue, balsa, etc.). It's they only reason my wife gets me in that store!

I decided not to use the stock motor mounst for my Kavalier. I went with a Dave Brown AKA Ohio Superstar nylon motor mount for my 35 ax. I will have to make a plywood spacer to go behind the motor motor mount to bring the engine out to clear the backplate on my cowl. I also started laying out the fuse tonight as you can see it took a lot red Midwest push pins to pin down all 1/4 square stringers. In fact I ran out of them and i will have to take some out tomorrow after the glue drys over night. This brings back memories of my youth when i built my Kadet. I went through several bottles of Elmer's yellow glue. I am using Tite bond here. I referred to as the "Ole Lead sled" but that air plane took a real beating and kept flying after several repairs.

I have a fondness from Dave Brown mounts too. I just ordered three more 1519, 2025, and a 404L. I been hooked on them ever since Kraft made the same style mount. I have noticed they fit O.S. engines perfect but on some of my Enya I had to bevel the top inside edge to get the engine to set flush to the rails.

I am going to revive this old thread because I just picked up a Kavalier from a couple flying buddies. The plane was found by them in sad unfinished shape, so one repaired the wing and fuse, and built a new stab and fin, and covered it all fresh. As I installed the engine , I did not realize it’s supposed to be mounted at a 45 degree angle. I chose to go ultra simple and just mount it upright. But I notice that the firewall has very little right thrust and little to no downthrust to the naked eye. My question to those who have built and flown the Kav, is did the kit built plane fly well when the firewall was set per the plans (which I assume mine was)? TIA.

From my own experience there are three perks to mounting an engine with it canted over. The first is aesthetic. Sometimes, especially on a scale model you just don't want the cylinder head sticking up above the nose. The second is mechanical convenience. Depending on the design canting the motor over may give better access to the fuel line or the needle valve. I've also done it to put the exhaust outlet where it will get the least amount of oil on the rest of the airplane. The third and likely most important in a sport plane, is bringing the carb closer to the center line of the fuel tank. Lowering the carb by rotating the engine will help with fuel draw, especially in a model where the thrust line is well above the fuel tank. In the case of the Kavalier it probably won't make that much difference. A semi-symmetrical wing such as the Kavalier is not as sensitive to down thrust as a flat bottom wing . The bottom line is that as long as the previous owner hasn't built in any misalignment you will probably be okay. If it turns out that the airplane does pull one direction or another with changes in throttle it isn't too hard to add a degree or two of thrust change by placing a thin shim between the engine mount and the firewall.

As long as your plane was built per the plans, it will fly fine. You can check the downthrust and right thrust with an incidence meter. If it were me, I would be much more concerned with the stab alignment to the wing and fuse.

carl

Hey thanks for the response! All I can do is try it as built by the first owner. My friend has one of those thrust disks for placing between the firewall and engine mount should I find that more down/side thrust is needed. I want to clarify I already had the blind nuts installed for upright engine mounting when my buddy told me it should be tilted 45degrees...too late. Re fuel tank location, I actually installed the fuel tank high up in the fuse right behind the firewall. Couple pics attached.

Just happen to have a build for one of those going on right now.
Back in the very late 70's, it was the first "full house" plane I flew. Still have the prop from my first solo landing. Built a second, after I wore out the first.
Years later, bought another kit. Long before fun fly planes were the rage, I designed up and partially built a wing for it that was to have a drooped leading edge, and massive slotted flaps. Intended to be a "killer" plane for fun fly events.
Roll forward decades later, and I unearthed the partially built kit from storage as I cleaned out my shop. Hmmm, still had all the original parts!
So, time to relive my misspent youth, and build it as designed.
The only burning questions: Drop the dihedral, or leave it as called for?
I have several NIB OS .46FX's that would be perfect......but I keep looking at the old .61 FSR's. Hmm, would they be too much?

It looks like both you and the initial builder did a nice, neat job. The alignment of the airplane will probably be fine. As for right thrust, the clamp style engine mount will allow you to easily tweak in a degree or two of right thrust if needed. It should be a winner.

Good luck with your project!

Tedsander, I always believe in staying light. While the 61 will give you way more power, IMHO the Kav is so light and only a 55” WS, that the 46 is plenty and won’t require tail weight to balance. I fully expect the plane to rock with the 46LA. I don’t have the battery or cowl on, and it balances pretty nice already.

Basically my Kav is finished! I’m waiting on a black spinner in the mail, and I will likely add a few decals of some sort. She weighs 77oz, and CG is at 3 1/4” which is the forward point of recommended range. I will maiden her there and move the CG back later. She’s a cute lil dandy! Im glad I bought the unequipped plane from my buddies for $100!

It looks great! I kinda like the red spinner. It makes a nice contrast.

The new black spinner just arrived , and I couldn’t wait to get it on the Kav. I think she likes the new spinner! Now I just want to run the gum out of the engine and she will be ready to maiden one day soon.🤙🏼

Hey like the schme on you Kavalier I was gong to do the scheme on the box but I am no where near finishing as other things have got in the way!
Thank You
Michael Johnston