Yep, looks like TnT makes a replacement Stearman gear for $25. My contact was Tom Krogel
<[email protected]>. His price was $20 I think out of aircraft grade aluminum.

I have a MW Stearman and started with an OS .91 FS and had to add a pound of weight in the nose (which just killed me to do). The 91 was not enough for this plane even though the instructions almost begs you not to put something bigger up front. After one summer, I changed it out for an OS 120 Gemini 2 cylinder four stroke with onboard glow (had to lose the dummy radial). The 120 needed to be moved forward about a 1/4" so I built a spacer with a box for the receiver battery and throttle servo trying to move some of the weight forward. The box is just above the motor and just fits inside the cowl. The result was a perfectly balance plane with good power to weight, awesome sound and a nice slow reliable idle.

No landing gear problems but I discover that upon tumbling down the runway the top wing will break before the bottom one and the fuse has a weak spot at the wing saddle (very clean break). I figure I'm about 50 hours away from air worthy but with the foot of snow on the ground and counting ;I figure I've got lots of time.

Cheers,

Jim

I think the stock landing gear is very poorly engineered. It has no way to flex backward without breaking the too thin plywood supports. It might work better if it went all the way across the fuse where it mounts.

I'm tired of fixing the landing gear everytime out, so I'm puting in 3/16" wire with about three inches of torsion into a 3/4" hardwood block spanning the width of the fuse. Maybe this will do it

So, many seem to have a problem with their stock gear which is made from too soft a grade of aluminum and when it doesn't bend from a rough landing, it pulls the plywood blocks out of the fuse, or both!

Maybe the commercial aftermarket gear with proper aircraft grade aluminum plus using nylon bolts to hold it to the ply fuse mounts would solve the problem. The gear would also function better if the da.....n thing wasn't so heavy! I think I will try a bigger engine and fly it like a turbine all the time, 80mph+!

I'm continuing the build on the Super Stearman and found a few other things I should have done differently. The wing cap strips are 3/32 x 3/16, I believe. I would go with 1/8 x 1/4. Easier to prevent damage. I've managed to break a half dozen. The instructions call for building the ailerons as part of the wing by slipping a sheet in a slot in the trailing edge of ribs, covering with cap strips, then cutting through the ribs to separate it from the wing. I would change the design to build ailerons stand alone. I have not weighed anything yet, but did notice a caution in the plans about a concern over painting and the resultant weight increase. It still appears too heavy in some spots and too light in others. this is the only Midwest kit I've built. Are they considered good?

Next item on Super Stearman is the plywood ribs for strut attachment. The prongs on the T Nuts split the plywhood when pressed in. I was left with nothing. I cut the ribs from a sheet of birch ply. Much better than the cheap material supplied. I would be interested in ideas for quick assemblt / disassembly for this and other bipes. Too many screws. Eight for struts. Four for lower wing; four for upper wing. There must be a better way. Any ideas?

I agree, there are way too many screws, but that’s what you get with a bipe. It takes a while at the flying field to get the plane together but it’s not only all the screws. If you’re going for 4 ailerons, the linkages between the lower (master) and upper (slave) ailerons are a real pain. It seems no matter what, they always required adjustments after reassembly of the plane. The real fix for this is a trailer so that I can keep the Stearman in one piece and also bring other planes to the field.

I tore my Stearman up last summer and in the process of rebuilding. Changes that I made that are on topic are adding micro servos in the top wing (I used a charging jack mount in the wing to plug the servo lead into the top wing), using hollow aerodynamic aluminum tubing JB welded together for the struts, and aluminum attachments which slip into the tubing and are bolted to the ply ribs.

Cheers,

Jim

Another solution is buy a power screw driver and keep it charged all the time! That is what I use on mine

Continuing with the Super Stearman, I attached the wingtips. They are plywood extending way inward. They are slotted to accomodate the last rib, which has an upper and lower half fit together thru the slots in tip. It's OK, but the designer decided to stop the main spars one rib short so the tip is very flexible. The more I work on this kit, the more I feel it was designed by someone with good cad experience and not so good design experience. The split landing gear with low grade al is another example. I ordered the heavier legs from a supplier listed above. It's easy to be a critic and a lot harder to come up with something. But for the money charged I expect a good design. Doesn't always happen. The parts do fit together, as expected from a CAD generated plan.

The Super Stearman is just about finished. I have not weighed it yet. With the OS 91 mounted as far forward as possible on a Dubro mount, the plane appears close to being balanced. just eyeballed supported on thumbs. Prop and spinner look a bit strange sticking out of cowel, but I perfer that to added weight.

The Super Stearman is just about finished. I have not weighed it yet. With the OS 91 mounted as far forward as possible on a Dubro mount, the plane appears close to being balanced. just eyeballed supported on thumbs. Prop and spinner look a bit strange sticking out of cowel, but I perfer that to added weight.

Hey, glad to hear this thread is not dead! I ended up buying a YS FZ-91 and using a Dubro Soft mount. I picked up a fiberglass cowl to replace the thin ABS unit. I'm planning on mounting my radio battery in the engine compartment for balance as well. Keep us posted on your progress!

Pilgrim

Like the Flying Pilgrim I went for the fiberglass cowl and also the wheel pants. I just finished up the fuse and almost have the wing covered. This plane will me heavier that most from this kit due to the extra weight of all the reinforcement required during the rebuild...bad crash last summer, but with the OS 120 Gemini twin up front it should still fly OK.

See below a few pics. I made up a battery box/firewall extension to help with bringing the weight as far forward as possible. If anyone whats a pic with the cowl off, let me know and i will post one.



Cheers,



Jim

Jim,
Nice looking plane! I do believe the OS twin 1.20 may be the best engine for this plane. Great choice. I'm going to use a YS .91, plan on mounting my receiver batt in engine compartment for ballast as well. I see you mounted your servo up front too, good work! Hope your rebuild works out well. It looks great! I'm going to use Monokote instead of my original plan of 21st Century fabric for weight savings. I'm thinking about maroon with gold trim. Of all the bipes, this is still the prettiest.

Pilgrim

Super Stearman with OS 91 and Solartex covering weighs just a bit under 13.5 lb. Didn't weigh the lead on the firewall, but it must be 14-16 oz. No paint except cowel and wheel pants. Just saw an ad for a new GP Super Stearman ARF. Believe it's the same size. Ad said 14-15 lb.

No one here has mentioned that Midwest has supplemental Instructions for the Super Stearman.

I have the pdf (file) if anyone needs them. Do not begin building this kit without them.

You can PM me with your email address and I'll be happy to send the file to you.

sent you PM Ron.

Me too Ron...