Alright, now that flying season is apon us, this is the time when people stop hanging out on RCU so much, at least on kit building fourm. So believe it or not, after a day of flying I tend to come home and clean the dirt and oil off the planes and build a kit to keep me occupied when I'm not flying. So with that said, I currently have about 9 kits sitting by my bench to be built,....
Power planes,.......
Hostetler skybolt
Nosen Citabria (105in)
GP Extra 300S (.40)
BUSA Smoothie
HOB Bonanza (1/2A)
Sail planes,........
M.E.N. Gobbler
Goldberg sophicated lady
GP spirit
Dynaflite bird of time.

Build the BUSA Smoothie and post a build thread on it. BUSA has just re-released the kit and I would like to see a build.

Bruce

I re ordered it when they re-released it, I had one back in early 90's

Ijust started the Smoothie - my first plane after 40 years. The balsa quality was good, die cut parts came out of the stock sheets very easily. Instructions areclear andeasy to follow. I'll continue to post pics as the project progresses.

Pics show the wing building, starting with wetting sheeting and using clips and weights to hold it in place. Last pics are of the wing tip install and partial contouring. I'll do the leading edge in a few days, Ifind that it's best to wait a day or two so that I have a fresh eye before doing something that can't be "un-done".

MEN Gobbler?  LOL

Yup that's just the way I remember it building, the smoothie is a really nice plane to build and fly. I see alot of people vote for the smoothie, so it might make it on the table next. I also have another kit to add to the list, an early 90's GP cap 21, 40 size, might find a nice rossi for that one.

Scratchie...

I'm curious as to the construction/design of the fuselage... Hoping to see photos when you get to it..</p>

i voted skybolt, until i went to the balsa usa website.  That smoothie is one slick looking plane!  I really wish they made it in a 120 size for a gasser.  Good luck with your build, it looks like you will do an excellent job.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">I've started the fuselage, no real problems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span>However, the middle former for the turtle deck did not fit well, so rather than trimming it (I didn&rsquo;t want to screw up any angles/alignments) I moved it forward about 3/4 inch where it seemed to fit perfectly &ndash; mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I didn&rsquo;t realize that the angles of each turtle deck former were not the same, so when I put the top block on turtle deck sides I found that the former I moved had caused a slight bowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rather than trying to sand the sides straight, I decided to use scrap and leave the bow as it was believing that this way I&rsquo;d at least keep all the lines flowing and not introduce a worse problem caused by sanding error.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial"><o></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial">Anyway, pic 7 shows a piece of scrap glued in place to the top block, filling in the bowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pic 8 shows the scrap piece and top block sanded to match the turtle deck sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pic 9 shows the turtle deck bowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I&rsquo;ll sand it to it&rsquo;s final shape later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pic 10 is a close up of the scrap piece after sanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Next step is mounting the wing which I&rsquo;ll skip Pics unless some asks for them, and then comes the nose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The nose should be interesting as there is a variety of ways it can be finished as &ndash; the engine will sit upright. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt"><o></o></span></p>

Ivoted for the Extra but just because I like building them, it's a good building plane! For myself Iwould really like to build the Bird of Time and install an electric motor. Ihave always liked the looks of the plane and Ireally want a nice soaring plane for using after I come home from the field. Ilive around a lot of golf courses.

I envy you gray beard, I'd be circling those golfers like buzzards. I think the next plane might be the skybolt, but the BUSA smoothie is pretty popular, I try to be a better narrator each time I build a kit, so taking pictures and editing them and filling out a short explination for each pic. So far the Cap VS extra thread is the extra build, I just wanted to get that in the air, but now I can replace the extra with a cap 21 from GP, about 1990 vintage.

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">Continuing the build with the wing mounting, cockpit and top block. I have limited tools, so I hand-carved the cockpit out of a single block and then used some 1/32 sheeting from a USS Missouri build to finish it. </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">Pic 11 shows the wing mounting/taping screw holes.Pic 12 is the cockpit being shaped using two flat pieces of iron to prevent over-carving and ensure everything is flat.Pic 13 is the cockpit after the 1/32 veneer.Pic 14 is the cockpit glued in place and Pic 15 is the cockpit glued and the top block mounted.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><span style="font-size: 9pt">Next comes the engine install which needs to be done before fuselage shaping. </span>

It's looking good scratchie.

Thanks, it's  the first flying airplane in 40 years, first RC airplane ever.  I'm a little nervous about mounting teh engine, I thought I'd go with 2 degrees right, instructions call for 1-2 degrees.

That's right where you want it, this is one quick plane, the last thing you want is to have the rudder yawed right and the alerions banked left after trimming it out. So what ya think of the smoothie so far? Pretty nice and easy build I bet, if my memory serves me right it was a few evenings and I had it done, but then again, I was in high school and after school was tons of free time. I'm lucky if I get about 10 hours durring the week to build, the weekends are spent either building or cleaning the place up.

I voted for the Nosen Citabria. I have the 105" kit sitting here as well. Would like to follow along if you are up to a build thread. No pressure though. I know keeping up with a build thread is a lot of work. [8D]

I'm finishing the GP extra this week, it's down to one of the three top ones on the list, everybody want's the smoothie build, but the nosen and skybolt are runner-up's as well. I do have two building boards, so I might just have to do a duo build of the smoothie and the nosen or skybolt. But then again, that get's harry with keeping where you are in each build. I'll have to decide soon, since the extra is almost off the boards and my GP super skybolt is now done as well and been flown a few times. My only obstruction is a temporary water line running next to the bench, landlord needs to come and drop off the supplies and pro-press so I can get rid of it and connect the city water properly and then move my bench down and extend it for the bigger birds. That might happen this weekend if it rains out. I'll have plenty of time to clean the shop and prep for the next build.

Ought to build the hostetler bolt, I've got the one my Grondfather built 28 years ago! . B-E-A-UIFULLANDBIGbipe, but then again I do beleive the skybolt is the sexiest plane ever built So I am kinda Bias! I have a sig bolt I plan on building after my 81" Cap is done then I will build a Hostetller as well!

Yup, I fell in love with the skybolt when I first got into the hobby, I told myself I'd own one someday. Fast forward about 18 years and now I own 2, a GP super skybolt and now the kit hostetler, but years ago I also had a GSP decathalon ARC, really nice plane, but I sold it before ever doing the plane to fund another project, so when I saw the nosen citabria, I snatched it up for the mear 100 bucks. Not the same but about the same size, all the other planes on the list I've owned before and loved them. I either sold them or the expiration date was reached and now I want another. As far as I can tell, the nosen and skybolt are currently trailing by 4 votes against the smoothie.

Come on people VOTESKYBOLT! My dad has a balsaUSASmoothie as well not a real big project but alot of carving! not a bad little bird though!

I find Citabriais just backwards for AIRBATICCUB, lol,I do think they look good but the best thing about them is to go shoot landings with. I find myself it the bottom half of High Prefomance planes meaning more than a sport plane but less than 3-D.

but like I said I'm bias, SKYBOLT!!!!!!!!!!

Continuing the fuseage build, it's about 90% complete, needing only final trimming, filing and sanding. There is a lot of carving/sanding, and the top block nearly gets sanded away at the nose. Idid have one accident, instead of using an OS .40 LA from a trainer, Iaccidentaly bought a new OS.46 AX - whoops!

Not really an accident, it'll fly nice with the AX, I'm still working on the GP extra, work keeps getting in the way. But it's a necessary evil to be able to play. Looks good, I'm doing mine with the engine inverted and a tatone muffler to try to keep it inside, if not, then a mac's header and a tuned pipe, I figure I'll try to keep it nice and clean and if that doesn't fit, then go for all out rpm and speed.

Well, the dead-line is approaching, the gp extra is almost ready for covering, and final assembly, so right now, it's still a 3 way battle. I'll give you a little more info on the top 3 contenders engines and setups being used.

The smoothie, currently #1- Webra .50 with high torque analog servos( I'm cheap on 40 size planes)

The hostetler skybolt #2- OS FF320( Flat 4 Cylinder), 1/4 scale servos, large Lipo with voltage regulator for servos and onboard glow system.

The nosen citabria #3- OS gemini 1.60 twin, 1/4 scale servos, large Lipo with voltage regulator for servos and onboard glow system.

 So vote, I'll be extending the bench this next week so I can build the next bird, this time, I'll try to get more shots and a more comprehensive build thread going. I think the most exspensive is going to be the skybolt due to the engine. But that's for a reason, the main one is the sound and it fit's inside the cowl, but the other reason is one of my favorite fields I fly at has a rule, NO GAS. I love gas but I want a classic that can fly any field anywhere without issues.
 Thanks for voting and it will be not long from now, about 2 weeks before a 1, 2, 3 count will be had.

And the vote is...!   Yea... thanks guys... I think I'm going to build the GP Sprint.  Thanks for voting tho... 

Not really sure how to take that but yea, maybe,.......or not. I still have to cast a vote, so no there is no bias on my part yet.