bassman

Here is a picture of the modification I had to make to the fire wall of my Pup to get the four stroke to fit. I started working on the wings today. Manit seems like they made the wing structure harder to build than it needed to be. Did you solder the nuts to the metal plates for the strut attachment the way the direction say and if so how did it work out? I am thinking about using press in threaded inserts instead.

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fox35

My Feedback: (9)

Your mod. looks good. I'll save these pictures for if and when I put a four stroke in my Pup.

I know I didn't solder those nuts. Can't remember. Might have used 'T' nuts. I seem to remember having to go in and tighten the screws for the cabanes a couple years ago. I think that was after a minor crack up landing in heavy wind.

V2PLUS10

The rigging is just some 256 pull-pull control cables that I cut and adapted. Real simple but adds to the effect. Small brass tabs attach to the struts and cabanes for attach points

Diesels are different enough and a bit of a challenge at first. I still don't quite "get it" but I manage some great flights. Thier ability to swing a large prop and the low fuel consumption is what attracted me to them. The Pup just seemed a natural for a British made diesel!!

Randy

bassman

I went ahead and found some 4-40 press in thread nuts. They worked great with no soldering. I also went to center line hinges instead of making the covering material work as the hinges and put the servos out in the wings. I have some pictures of the build I will be posting soon.

Anyone who is building one of these should be aware that the plans for the wings have the details spread out over the various sheets. Make sure you really look at all the sheets before you start the wing build. All the answers are there but it takes a little looking to find some of them. This is definitely not a kit for the first time builder.

Bassman

jpwilliams.com

Thanks for the pictures - as already said, your mod looks good, I can't decide now between the OF52, RCV58 and Saito 60Twin - I'll see how yours builds, and if you need extra weight, that woud sway me towards the Saito.

John

bassman

Here's a couple of view of the airframe in progress. More detail to follow.

Bassman

bassman

I am not sure why the pictures didn't post the last time. Here's another try.

V2PLUS10

Took a couple of pics of my finished Pup to show the cutouts for engine clearance and cooling. We are at 2800 feet above sea level and on a warm day the original engine, a RCV 58-cd would get a little warm. If you look closely you may see the original firewall to the right of the engine, the left is cutout to allow airflow past the head and the air exits through the enlongated holes in the bottom...

Randy

bassman

Are those the Flair Floats? If so how well do the work? Tell me more about the engine you fly it with. I am a little nervous that the 52 four stroke I have mine set up for might not be enough.

Bassman

V2PLUS10

Yes those are Flair floats. They are foam with a wood veneer, and I glassed them with 3/4oz glass and finishing resin from the local hobby shop. If you search for flair on the internet you will find a couple of US dealers that handle Flair. There is no need to alter the airframe as they attach to the existing landing gear slots.

The engine is a PAW 60 diesel, that I got from Carlson engine imports in AZ. Eric Clutton (DR. Diesel ) sells them also and he is in your end of the country. I was looking for more power and did not want to cut the cowl, and was interested in diesels anyway. It has a different sound and will swing a large 15-8 prop, which I think works well on the Pup. Dr. Diesel says that diesels don't smell bad, they just smell different!!

Randy

V2PLUS10

Forgot to answer your other question. They work really well! I have some Great planes floats, Pilot floats and Proctor old time floats and these work as well or better than some of the others. The model handles really well, and taxiing is no problem as long as there isn't much wind. They come pre-built and all you need to do is put some kind of waterproof finish on them and solder the supports together.

Randy

fox35

My Feedback: (9)

Bassman,

Thanks for the pictures of the bare bones. Almost motivates me to build somethig again!

bassman

Here are some pictures of the overall build progress. Even though most of the parts are out of the box there is still a long way to go!!

bassman

Here are some detail pictures. The motor as it sits in the fire wall recesses, The Aileron holders in and the aileron hings, and wing dowel block.

fox35

My Feedback: (9)

Bassman,

Looks great. It'll be in the air before you know it!

bassman

The big problem I am having now is find the decal set for it. None of the Flair recommended vendors have anything and the Major British WW1 sets are not the right size. The wing roundels are 10 1/4". I am going with cream and olive drab coverite fabric.

fox35

My Feedback: (9)

I got mine from Hobby Supply South, but I think they are out of business now.

bassman

I test fit the top wing tonight and found the alignment wasn't even close the aluminium struts were not in line with each other in evey direction I cound measure. The bases of them where they atached to the fuselage was as close to perfect as it gets. After about an hour of twisting and bending I got things pretty close but the height between the bottom and top wing tips are different by about 1/2 inch one end to the other. All the other measurmnents are very close (within 1/8 inch) and I know if I screw with the struts anymore I will probably lose what I have. I really don't want to put a lot of force on them because I am afraid I will break the interal mounting.

How close did you get the wing alignments and what incidence did you end up with between the top and bottom wing?


The decals are another story. I checked every vendor that Flair lists that has a web site in english (USA, Canada, Austraila,etc) and no one has them in stock. I guess I am going to paint them on.

Reg Hinnant

My Feedback: (9)

Bassman, your Pup looks great!
Could you tell me the diameter & length of the cowl that came with that kit?
Thanks

V2PLUS10

Remember you are only off by half that measurement. As you bring one tip up the other should go down a bit. Maybe you can adjust the bottom wing and bring things a little closer. you can always use washers between the top of the cabanes and the wings to help align things also. For what it's worth the tips on my Pup are about 10 7/8" apart, both sides, in about the same location as in your pics....Good luck!! Here is another painted roundell.....

Randy

bassman

The painted roundels look great. As for the wings I am finally close on the alignment. I got the side to side within 1/8, the spar alignment within 1/8 and the four pads on the top of the struts to create a flat plane. Now the tip to tip spacing was still off. I had to add 3/16 shims between the strut pads and the wing to bring it in. As you can see in the pictures I used the plumb bob method hanging a string down from the top spar on both wing ends to check the alignments. The struts look straight and true so I am going to add the shims to the wing and call it done. I wish I had spent a little more time with the struts when they were first installed. Oh well. My wing incidence looks pretty good. The stab and lower wing are zero to each other and the top wing is +1°. All my reference material says this should be good.
Bassman

fox35

My Feedback: (9)

I seem to remember that the top wing should be 0 to -1 relative to the bottom wing.

Getting those wings lined up isn't easy. I remember it being at least an all day job on mine. I think it is essential to get 'em right though.

joem423

Bassman,

I building the Pup as well, but I'm stuck on the Airlerons. Can you explain to me what the secret is? The Plan for the lower left wing looks nothing like the plan for the right and I'm trying to figure out how the airleron is made for the left wing. I know you need to cut them from the wing when done, but I don't see how it would line up afterwards. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

bassman

Joe,

The plans are old school as far as aileron construction. The would have you put a angle on the front that butts the top wing and then use the covering material as the hinge.

Build the wings and use a razor saw to cut the aileron shape out of the wing.
Clean up the wing opening between the ribs and up to the rear spars and add the balsa plank to the rear spars as instructed.
I decided to use regular hinges so I first checked the size of the rough cut aileon to the finished wing opening.
I used the scrap ends form some of the ribs you had to cut to finish the aileron ends to about 1/8 inch (leaving 1/16 per end clearance) smaller than the wing opening. Then I put the aileron in place in the wing and determined how much I had to cut off the front of the rib pieces to get the back of the aileron in line with the back of the wing.
I decided to use a 1/4 inch thick hard balsa plank to face the inside of the aileron. So I maeasured back form the front of aileron ribs to allow for this piece.
After that piece is glued on recheck the fit of the aileron in the wing openning and sand to fit.
All thats left is to bevel the front piece for the thow you want and add the hinges on the center line. I used three.
You will need to add the horn blocks to the bottom ones and the connecting rod plates to all four but this is just the way the plans show it.
If you need any more detail I can take some more pictures.

Bassman

Reg Hinnant

My Feedback: (9)

Bassman, your Pup looks great!
Could you tell me the diameter & length of the cowl that came with that kit?
Thanks