I have decided to replace my last Shrike. (See Crash Forums and Discussion) [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_2846924/anchors_2846924/mpage_1/key_shrike/anchor/tm.htm#2846924]Bye Bye Shrike

I have started building my new shrike. I intend to reenforce the wings with CF, and have replaced the spar with Spruce. Here are the early build pictures.


Bob

Which size is it?

I also have a Shrike, the .15 size, I intend to put a .25 Magnum engine that I have with a tuned pipe.

Joe[8D]

Hi Bob,

I`m interested in your thread here and checked out your wreckage too.

I have a couple of newbies under my wing and now that they can perform mild solo aerobatics with their ARF trainers I thought I would get them into something a little hotter and at the same time get them involved in a simple build. Accordingly, I got a couple of the 35" Shrike kits in from USA - they arrived about ten days ago. I was a little concerned that they may be a little too hot for openers and so we are building them around OS .15`s for a start.

Such has been the interest, we have four models on the build from those two kits! Attached is a pic taken of the one on my bench. Most of my building these days is O/D stuff; I haven`t built a model from a kit for several years. There are a couple of things about this one that concern me. The wing structure seems to be very flimsy. I reckon that to locate the spars on the neutral axis is about as inefficient as you can get, and then making them from balsa mightn`t help. I`m at the stage where I am about to apply the LE sheeting and am considering adding in a 3/16" sq hardwood (white pine) spar at top and bottom of the wing at the rear of the sheeting, adding in a few 1/16" shear webs and forming an old fashioned 'D' box.

If I was doing this from scratch I would consider making the complete wing in one piece on a two-wire jig and then sliding the fueslage sides onto that from each side. That may add a little to the weight, but should make it considerably stronger maybe?

I have also altered the LE by providing a 3/32" vertical stage 1 LE to glue the sheeting to, and will follow up with a 3/16" secondary LE to the front of that after the sheeting is in place. Also marked out the wing plan on two pieces of MDF board and building on that as a jig each side of the fuselage.

My $0.02 worth.

Alan W

Here are the latest photos. The blocks are in the nose. I have sheeted the top and bottom of the Fuse. I have begun to shape the nose. It appears that the F1 ring for the nose is not going to be used since I will not be able to glue it in place, and then mount the engine. I prefer not to mount the engine and then glue something in and make the engine inaccessible. The engine is filling up the nose to the point that it will probably not be rounded, but more of the oval shape seen in the picture.

Fubar,

This is the .10 size Shrike from Tower Hobbies.

Alpha,

What did shipping cost you to get those to New Zealand? I don't understand what you mean that you have four models on the build from two kits. Taking the new guys from a trainer to a Shrike is going to be a serious step. The build isn't the issue, although good building habits are required. Its getting used to the aircraft.

With a .15 size in my first shrike I was able to handle things fairly well. The biggest problem is prospective. Many times I had to make a move with the sticks to see which way the model was going. Since this little dude goes where it is pointed, and in a big hurry, a person who becomes disoriented might freeze a little to long trying to figure out what is happening. I have seen some people solve this with making the top and bottom very different colors. I find this unattractive. We intend to initially build at least two in the Blue Angles color scheme. Another very nice thing about the smaller engine is weight. This thing will really come in with some beautiful nose high landings with a light wing loading. This aircraft will have an HB .25 crammed into it along with a 6 ounce fuel tank. I anticipate placing the battery in the tail to compensate for the nose weight.

The wing structure is designed to be light but sturdy. That is as long as you aren't over powering it! I am replacing the spars with Spruce reenforced with Carbon Fiber strips. It was a spar failure that took my last Shrike. The spar failed at the wing root.

Keep posting pictures of your build!

I got the engine thing wrong in my previous post, sorry, finger trouble. We are going to use a mix of OS .10 FSR and .10 LA`s in these. I bought these kits from Omnimodels in this instance, better special discount than Tower at this time although I understand the dough is all going in the same pocket? The kits cost $32.99 each ex stock over there and I ordered one or two other items with them - total freight charge - not cost - $63! Is it any wonder we mostly design our own.

Four models from two kits? Easy. I photocopied the laser cut items and two of us are going from scratch. My one photographed here is one of them.

Note I have fitted the additional wing spars here - turned out to be 4mm square. I have since glued the lower LE sheeting in place and will apply 4" wide x 1/16" shear webs tomorrow.

Also pictured is the engine bay. I made up a 1/4" plywood plate for this engine mount. The little OS.10 FSR fits in there quite nicely. I`ll shape all this for a 2" spinner further down the track.

Alan W

Alpha,

An OS .10 FSR? Now that is a nice engine for this little plane. That will be a noticeable contrast to the .10 LA engines. I believe my Kiwi neighbors would say one handles like a porche and the other a Yank Tank. That's a nice shot of your engine compartment. Nice and clean. It should shape up nicely.

What kits can you get reasonably down there? With all the kits coming out of Asia these days, it seems like you would have access to those at a reasonable price. That shipping is a killer. Your prices, are they NZ dollars? $63 seems very high for these little kits. But the $32 price for the kit is right on, and if that is in NZ dollars, then it is a very good price. At least the NZD is doing well against the USD. I recall when my neighbors moved in it was 2 to 1.

I'll try to post some new pictures tonight.

Bob

Hi Bob,

The prices I quoted above are all US dollars. Our Kiwi dollar is currently running at around 71 cents US so it is still mostly uphill out there. As far as kits go, there are very few good overseas ones available here. We are being bombarded with lots of 'cheap' ARF`s from Asia, but they are agin my religion at this time...

I started a thread on kits here in this forum under the heading 'Kit Manufacturers, consider this', back at the end of last month. I`m not through with that subject yet and will get back to it later.

I mention overseas kits above as 'Airsail' here in NZ produce some good 'builders' kits that are probably as good as most from overseas - ref their Piper Tomakawk and DH Chipmunk among others.

Back to the Shrike. Sunday morning right now and I`m off out the door in a few minutes to fly the morning away at our local strip. Also, we`ll be out of town for a few days as of tomorrow so there will be no further progress on my one for a few days.

I`ll get back to all this later.

Alan W

Cool.
I have one of these in the box under the bench. When I get around to it, it will either get an OS .15CVA or an MVVS .15. Either way, its gonna be a screamer.
I watch your build thread with great interest![8D]

You guys are making me think, maybe I should go with a .15 instead of a .25[sm=bananahead.gif]

Joe

Here`s a couple of shots of the shearwebs. They have certainly stiffened the wing, although not probably critical with the planned OS 10 FSR installation. I packed all round the spar in the first bay with 3/32 sheet; the other bays got 1/16" placed vertical.

I am conscious of trying to keep the weight down. As shown here the assembly weighs 7 5/8 ozs

Alan W

Here is the latest. The fuse is covered, the wings are framed up. The spars are re-enforced with CF strips.

Fubar,

Isn't the CVA a Car engine? If so, That should be a very fast engine. Personally I wouldn't put anything smaller than a .15 on mine. When I ran a .15 it seemed very well mannered. But anything smaller other than a high performance engines seem like they would not have the vertical performance I would like to see. I am running a .25 HB on my alienator as well, and they aircraft only needs a light shove to get it in the air. My hand launch guy tells me I should be able to fly it out of his hand because it pulls so hard. The Shrike is lighter. I hope to be able to achieve somewhere in neighborhood of Mach.95 with a .25 on the 10 Shrike. Ok maybe a little less than Mach .95, but we'll see!

Bob

The OS .15CV is, indeed, a car engine. The CVA is the aircraft version of that engine with a standard length shaft for the prop. Supposed to be a screaming engine. They claim 19,000 RPM! I originally was going to put it in a Sig Wonder that I was building but for some reason I lost interest in the Wonder in mid build. Fuse mostly done, wing built. Dont know why, just quit building on it.
I also have a couple MVVS .15 engines handy and might use one of those on the Shrike instead of the .15 CVA. Ran in an MVVS .26 recently for a Penknife I am building and if the .15's run like the .26, WOW!
Got a couple of builds to finish before considering the Shrike so I have time to decide.

Hi guys,

Here`s my one all finished and ready for that first flight. Midwinter down here at this time and has been raining like crazy for the past 2 days - I hope it lets up for the weekend.....

Basic details are:-

OS 10 FSR engine ( I fitted a muffler ex OS 10 FP as the pressure nipple faces the right way)

Futaba R114F Rx and 3 x S3101 servos installed.

Covering is 'Easycoat'. Underside is all dark blue to provide a contrast from the topsides. also, I ran out of yellow - it`s all leftovers from previous models.

All up weight ready to go as shown here is 26 1/2 ozs.

I had a problem trying to decide where to fit the switch and eventually settled for on top of the hatch. The hatch is screwed down at the rear otherwise I would have put it inside the fuselage.

I`ll let you know how the first flight went in due course.

Alan W

Sweeeet!

Here is my 40 sized Shrike. Its powered by a Supertigre 40 with a 10 x 6 prop, and covered with Ultracote red, yellow and carbon fiber. While not extreme speed it does go as fast as I want to go. I have a couple of recommendations: drill 1/8 hole on all the ribs and wing tip on side so you can run your antennae through a nyrod in the wing and out your wingtip. Use Spray adhessive to glue some coarse sandpaper to the bottom of the fuselage sides at its CG this will give you something to hold on to when you launch it. Also if I were to build another one I would cover it with coverite because it is so much more durable, the belly landings take a toll on MK/UC in a hurray and mine requires constant patching. Although I have not built the 10 sized Shrike I would recommend it over the 40 the Shrike 40 while not all that big is still 1 piece and will take up quite a bit of space in your vehicle.


***** sorry but RCU appears to be having problems I have tried several times to upload my pics will try again tomorrow*******

Alpha,

How did your flight go? I have had to back burner my shrike for a couple of weeks to prepare an electrifly for a fellow member. He is repairing my car, so I am building his plane. Sounds like a good trade to me! Should b back on the shrike this weekend.

Hi Bob,

First testflight last Wednesday was almost its lkast. Too much aileron, not enough elevator, CG too far forward, and too windy!

Just got back from our regular Sunday morning session less than an hour ago and had four flights this time after making the corrections. Now 1/8" aileron each way - could use a fraction more, and a little over 1/4" elevator each way. I shifted the nicads back to underneath the aileron/elevator servos to get the CG right. It`s a lot better now.

I flew it mostly in tight low circuits, much like we intend to do for some low-key fun pylon type racing. The boys loved those long loooow beat-ups with rolling vertical climb out at the end and can`t wait to get started.

This sure is a fun little machine now. Every hoon should have one!

Alan W

Further to picture above - it`s mid winter here and has been very wet!

Alan W

Well, I got a little more work done tonight. You got me motivated AW! We also flew today, the wind was very agreeable, but after storms yesterday, we had about 60% humidity as the temps got to about 95 degrees F today. Hot and Muggy!

Tonight I got the wings finished. Here are some pics. Someone at Lanier should be shot for this aileron design! Yes, I sanded the the ailerons to shape from the blocks provided.

Here are the pictures with the stab framed up. Also a shot of me fitting in the servos. I am going to have to add weight to get the tail to get this balanced even with the battery as far aft as I can place it.

Hi Bob,

That`s a busy workshop you have there! In my experience, the CG position is most important. I had not flown a delta prior to this and was keen that the CG would not be rearward. As it worked out, too far forward was pretty exciting too. Anything less than about 7/8 full power and it was in a shallow dive, even with up elevator!

For he first landing I did a flatout low approach and just cut the throttle. It must have skidded for about 100yards along the deck but luckily nothing came apart!

With the CG on the spot shown it is quite OK.

On the covering. For anyone out there about to build one of these, note that Bob has the fuselage covered already. This seems to be the better way to go. I did the same and pleased I did - it seems to be the easier sequence than wings first.

Good luck with your project.

Alan W

Alan,

I really like my workshop. I would like it more if I had climate control, but we can't have everything. I have a 9 foot long build table in the middle of the garage, with a 10 foot tool bench and storage area behind it. My motor cycle occupies the other side along with the obligatory storage area for the wife. At the head of both benches is the fuse rack and a wing storage area. Oh, and suspended from the ceiling is a 4 by 8 Nscale train layout. I haven't touched it since I got serious about aircraft about 3 years ago.

Currently, I have 7 aircraft including the sonn to be completed shrike that are flight ready. I have two kits that are still waiting the build. The next is the Ziroli He-162 Folksjager, and a Sterling Spitfire. I really want to build another Corsair. The last was an ARF that had a twisted wing and was simply not safe to fly, nor realistc to repair.