soduim

Hey Guys,
Just started putting together my first plane, my uncle gave this one to me, its pretty old, have any of u guys herd of this "Sterling Fledgling" Any advice on how to get the leading edge of the wings nice and rounded? The engine that i have is Fox 36 RC, same age as the plane, do u think it will run good with this plane?

Thanks everyone

ramcharger

I had a Sterling Fledging. I still have the wing hanging in my garage (it needs repair). Not sure I have the plans. It was my 2nd or 3rd trainer. Mine was powered with ST 35 or 40 not sure, but a 36 will do fine. This is an old kit. I built mine more than 25 yrs ago. It very much resembles a Falcon 56 and I had one of those also. Mine was covered with a heat shrinkable covering, it was most likely Monokote or Solar Film.

soduim

wow it seems like this is a rare plane that no one really knows about.................

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Sterling is a really old company that hasn't moved with the times. If you can put that thing together, you will be able to build just about ANY kit on the market today. And if you can't put it together, do let that discourage you. Go out and get one of the "New Fangled" kits that are on the market today. The new kits have incredably good parts and engineering, aas well as step-by-step instructions.

Or as we like to jokingly say...

Shake up the box, add glue, and go flying.

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

Great Planes markets a sanding bar, made from aluminum, that is contoured specifically for leading edges, trailing edges, etc. that makes this chore of rounding edges from square stock pretty much a breeze. I believe it is about 11" long and takes rolled sandpaper with glue already on the back side---just cut to size, stick it on, and shape your edge. Works great.

Max M.

C_Watkins

My Feedback: (10)

The Fledgling is a great little plane. I took mine to the field as my backup plane,
long after I had gotten tired of most high-wingers. It was just a joy to fly.

As for the leading edge, you can do as described above, or merely
purchase some pre-formed leading edge stock from the LHS or mailorder.

Ever since I discovered preformed LE/TE/AIL/ELE stock... I never bothered with
the whole "sand it down, trying to make it perfect, sand it some more" routine again.

soduim

Wow so there are some people who have flown the Fledgling, thats great to hear, as for power, how do u think the Fox 36 RC will do in powering it??

C_Watkins

My Feedback: (10)

I'll be honest... it's been a really long time since I've flown one.

The Fox .36 will certainly "fly" the plane just fine, but it won't be a rocketship.
As long as you don't expect to horse it off the runway in 10', it'll be perfect

It should make for a great trainer, if the engine runs as expected.

You haven't mentioned it... but I do hope you're getting outside help with this.
I'd hate to see the Fledgling meet an untimely end
It'll make just as good a trainer as anything built today, but a competent instructor
can still be the "make it or break it" ingredient.

Good luck!

soduim

thanks for the info, i have a really good instructor who makes and designs his own model aircrafts, he is helping me out a lot. Just wanted to talk and find info about this old aircraft thats all....
Is the motor pretty strong? How does it compare to other 36 motors? It looks kinda of funny cuz it has its glowplug at an angle, why is that?

ramcharger

The Fledging may be more trouble than its worth. I found my prints although they are in very bad shape. The wing is attached with only one nylon bolt plus 2 dowels. I had to solder the steering arm to the nose gear. The wing tips are built up, the fuselage has only 2 formers between the tail and firewall, and the tail surface is built up with stringers between sheets of balsa. And finally, if I recall the plane is extremely ugly. I used a ST 35 with a Blue Max Radio

soduim

Well i am basically ready to cover this plane, so i am going to have fun with it and fly the hell out of it, its my first plane, so whats your point..............

ramcharger

I thought you were just getting started. The point I was making is the construction methods that I recall from looking over my plans are somewhat antiquated and to a novice builder that could spell frustration with a capital F and an immediate migration into the ARF zone. Don't go there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

soduim

well the person who is helping me out designs and builds his own model rc aircrafts, he has been into this for the last 37 years, so with help from him, its not too bad building this thing

Al Stein

Hey Soduim --

Most important (if you still need the info): a great way to do leading edges is to sneak off to the kitchen (er, I mean the store) and get a potato peeler. They have a nice sharp carbon steel (read resharpenable) blade that controls its depth of cut automatically. I use it in long strokes -- the entire length of the wing if I can and just take off the square corners, then take off the ridges that leaves, and gradually work the piece into a close, but a little oversized final shape. From there, sandpaper finishes the job.

You're goin' the right way. No, the Fledgeling is not a rare, unheard-of plane: it wasn't as popular in its day as the Falcon partly because the Falcon came along years earlier -- but it's a similar plane, a plane that many many people learned to fly on several years back, and it will do well for you with an instructor.

Your engine will be at least big enough, too. The 56" Falcon was designed for .19 and my recollection is that the Fledgeling is about the same size.

soduim

sounds good to me, thanks a lot for the info, i'm going to go to my kitchen, and start with the pealer, sounds like a good idea, so i guess the fledgling should fly pretty well with the fox 36 rc after all...

NCC-1701

Fox R/C engines can be frustrating to get and keep running reliably. I recommend swapping it out for a Thunder Tiger Pro 36. The TT is powerful, reliable, and user friendly.

NCC-1701

P.S.

All the Fox 36's from the 60's and 70's had their glow plugs at an angle. It's just the way Duke Fox designed it. I used to fly C/L and Fox C/L engines were excellent. The 36 was a strong engine, for that era. It won't be up to current power standards though. I've never run a Fox R/C, but I've heard many complaints about the Fox carbs.

bokuda

My Feedback: (7)

I built one of these longer ago than I care to remember. It was my second trainer. I remember that the hardwood wing hold-down block was some weird wood and the nylon bolt pulled right out of it when I looped the plane. Make sure the block is of good quality wood, tap it, Zap it, and tap it again!

Dave

Al Stein

It's more than just a quirk... the angle was intended to make a little turbulence in the fuel mixture and to keep raw fuel out of the glow element.

All fox engines like lots of castor oil.... both items intensionally stressed: lots of oil and castor oil. And that's also not a quirk -- they were designed that way on purpose to take advantage of the known qualities of castor oil.

An last, the carbureter thing -- I thought it was with the "middle-aged" designs... the ones with schnuerle porting and the flat plate carb mount -- for those, at least, it seems to be an air leakage thing, so adding a gasket or a little sealer goop under the carb mount and at the needle helps. I didn't think that the problem went back as far as the .36.

EDsnead

My Feedback: (10)

Sodium,
I have built at least 3 Fledglings over the years,but about 4 years ago I came across the "Gaziriator" ,a larger version of the Fledgling for a 60 size engine with a 68 inch wingspan. Like the Fledgling it flys smoothly with full span but narrow ailerons so all manuevers are slow and graceful..I have a K&B 61 engine in it and it provides adequate power.
Build it and install a OS40FP or LA engine..
The turtle deck requires a lot of sanding so take your time. If you have any problems don't hesitate to e-mail me
Have fun and welcome to the hobby,

IronCross

Hey, I learned to fly on one of them. Actualy three of them :-[. No buddy boxes in those days. I think Sterling had a big fire and went out of business didn't they. All there plans etc burned up.

Al Stein

I don't inderstand how, but plans do seem to disappear and the Fledgeling was one of them... I checked into that a while back. I'm not 100% sure who owns their stuff now (I'm thinking that it's SIG), bu they didn't have plans when I was looking for them.

On the bright side, I do have them now, so if you need a set, I get a copy made.

Sport_Pilot

Este's of model rocket fame bought what was left of Sterling. They bought out Cox about the same time. I don't know if it was influence from Cox but the only kits they reporduced were the rubber powered kits and the old Ringmaster control line models. A boner of a move because control line just isn't as popular as R/C.

BTW, if that Fox is the .36 Sport with the tapered head, I understand that it is a real shaker, even by lapped iron engine standards. In fact so bad even Fox fans will pass on that one. Be sure to put lots of foam around the tank, triangles at each corner of the front of the fuse. And maybe even some rubber between the engine mount and firewall.

soduim

the engine is a Fox .36 R/C, not a sport, hopefully it will work pretty good!!

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

a two channel mini-fledgling. I forget who said it, but they were right. If you can build that die "crunch" Sterling , you can build anything.

Having said that, they do fly very well. I think you will enjoy it.

Good luck, barn