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I love this kit, but do agree that some mods need doing. The upper wing is to high and the top of the fuslage slopes to much, due I think to errors in drawings published by Model Aircraft News.
Have a look at my Photo Gallery and let me know what you think. I have won first place with this for stand off scale at the 2005 Coffs Harbour Scale Rally. I installed the motor upright and routed the exhaust out the scale pipes. I will post more pictures when I take some.

That looks great, I would love to see more pictures. And lots of details of what you did and how you did them.

Mcubed, The changes you alluded to have been discussed here. You may be the only one whom has actually performed the changes and could comment on what you did and how it affected the airplane. I have this kit and will be starting it soon and am most interested in any comments you could make.

Mark

Here are some more picks. As you can see I did a lot of work around the nose. The next one I build I will modify the whole fuse in line with the correct silhouette IE reduce the hight right through as the hump I now have at the cockpit is to high. I have had no trouble with the tale wheel but did reinforce it during the build. I always fly of a grass field!

Reducing the height of the fuse realy accentuates the fact that the upper wing is to high, I have not changed this on this model as it will require a major refit to fix. The markings on my plane reflect the real SE5A which resides in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra Australia, this is where i also got most of the nose detail.

Happy flying, any landing you dont have to take a bag to is a good landing.

Keep this thread alive. What have you guys covered yours with? Is there an iron on covering that is close to PC 10?

I used BalsaRita and Dress lining material. Poyester clothe from a local fabric store for 1.99 a yard. Worked very well.

Prop nut, How is this material shrunk?

Its the same material as Solartex and coverite. Just different weaves. Heat shrinks it. I have been very happy with it, the only sagging I found was after dunking it in the lake one day [X(]

So, weight wise, it must be comparable to Solartex, also. Good to know! What did you paint it with? Thanks David!!

I really dont know the difference in weight vs solartex or Coverite, but it feels very much the same. You can buy the heavy weight or the light from the fabric stores. You do need to use a bonding agent such as BalsaRite or Sig Stikit though.

I used Krylon (They have all kinds of flat camo colors) in Flat Green. Clear coated it with Polyurethane.

Propnut,

I think I might give this a try. I have been waiting for 6 months for some Koverall. I just ask for Dress lining? I think I will go to JoAnn Fabrics.

Thanks

JEB

I was just working on the SE5 for a flyin tommorow. While looking over the covering I was impressed on how tough it was. There was a couple of sags but I am not sure that is from the fabric or from it sinking in the lake last year[:@] She flies great off floats but you gotta watch it when you flip over onto the top wing...that open cockpit just sucks up water!!! lol

Is Krylon fuel proof, or is that the reason for the polyethylene clear coat?

The Poly was for fuel proofing.

Well, took the SE5 to a winter fun fly today. The ASP .80 flew the plane great, did loops, rolls, wingovers, etc etc. I am using a 14/5 prop @ 9800rpm so I am thinking of bumping it up to a 14/6 or so.



And Craig, if you are reading this. I built most of the Sopwith Pup fuse tonight. Just need to finish the stringers.

OK bubba's...I need a bit of help here. I am 80% complete, but I have a question about the distance of the prop from the firewall. The plan says 1/2 to 3/4 inch from the front fromer, but the right thrust allows 2 different measurements. If you do it from the port side, like the picture in the plans show, it is way too far forward. Now if you do the measurement from the starboard side, it looks like it will work. Any help on engine placement from those who have completed the kit would be of great help.

Thanks brother!!

I set mine upsidedown to do the engine install.........after flying it for a while I realized that I was following the instructions for plane being right side up!!! My thrust was in the wrong direction...ya know what? It didnt matter......them plane had been flying great. I will try to dig out the instructions and plans tommorow to have a look at them again. I bet MCubed would be the best one to answer the question though.

The distance from the firewall is measured at the the centerline of the crank shaft. Normally it is called out as the distance from the firewall, to the front of the thrust washer, not the prop. Left or right thrust does not enter into the equation; but, does make getting the measurement more difficult. The plans show the engine installation from the port-side and from the bottom of the airplane. The plans show you where the engine mount is located on the firewall. Mount it there and it should stick out of the hole in the front former.

Making all this more convenient is the fact that we don't have to worry about the front of the fuselage meeting the back of a spinner! Basically if you have the thrust washer and prop clearing the front of the fuse, you are home free!

If you can grasp all this, then you may be able to help with the airplanes balance, by sliding the engine in or out.

The honest truth is I don't understand what you are asking! I tried to give you enough information on engine installation to help you through the process.

Mcubed, beautiful job. Pilot and plane look great!

I usualy forget about the measurement from the hub etc, etc. What I do is to mount the engine mount with the corect spacing for the engine used then with the cowl fitted slide the engine in and out till it looks right and the prop clears everything. then put just a touch of CA glue on the mounts to hold the engine in the correct position while you drill the mounts for the bolts. This meathod works best even if you change the nose to be more scale like. My motor is mounted upright, with a lot of other mods for cooling.

I am starting work on drawings of all the required mods to correct the fuse profile with measurements taken from the real SE5a in Canberra I will post them here when done but do not hold your breath guys.


Keep on building!

Prop, thank you. There are some variations of the SE5a but these were, for the most part, field modifications and not standard factory produced air craft. When the SE5 was first introduced into combat some pilots, used to flying the Newports, took the dihedral out of the wings. The standard plane has 5 degrees dihedral and they reduced it to 2-3 degrees. This made the plane less stable The down side to that was that the it also made a less stable gun platform. So.. once they got that sorted out they left it alone.

My kit arrived today... Couple of questions if I may...
You said you mounted your engine upright... I am assuming you dropped your thrustline to do that ?... Did you add downthrust or anything to compensate for the change ????.
Did you lower the wings ?... Hard to tell what it will look like tilll I get it together... One picture on the front of the box looks really out of proportion though.. Might just be the angle it was taken at though.. I know the british like a high top wing but that looks really high

Thanks
Roger

Hey IC, what color scheme are you going to go with? The Green or the Green?

Yes I lowered the thrust line! I positioned the engine so the head just cleared the top of the fuselage. no thrust changes were made and the plane flies great. Yes the top wing is to high, the pilot would have dad to be eight foot tall to reach the wing gun for re loading. However I have not yet completed the work on the drawings to work out the structural changes to adjust this. If you are fairly new to buildin I would build the kit prety much as is . Flip the motor over if you want to ,this causes no flight changes. Be aware that you will have to do some mods for cooling.


Have fun or its not woth the effort!