Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Hi, I'm building a Phaeton II from Balsa USA, I'm ready to cover it and soon I will post pictures from the entire building process, my problems during construction, and of course a flight report; there is so little information about this plane that I need some input to compare my findings, is someone can give me how much their planes weight, if they fallow the factory wing and stab. incidences, etc, etc will be nice.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

I recently finished a Balsa USA Phaeton II and it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite airplanes. Its all up flying weight is 7.5 pounds. The Saito 80 engine weighs 19 ounces, which leaves 6.3 pounds for the airframe weight with all the hardware installed.

It is covered with Sig Koverall and finished with dope. I set all of the surfaces to the plan specs, and the cg is per the plan. The only tricky part of construction was the assembly of the cabane and “N” struts. I made up a jig using dense composition board to hold things in alignment for wrapping and soldering which worked quite well. Since it is time consuming to assemble with only two hands, I made a cradle for it so I could transport it assembled in the bed of my truck.

It is almost as easy to fly as a trainer and it really looks good in the air. I am still getting used to it and haven’t pushed the limits yet, but so far I’m quite pleased.

The picture shows a Magnum 52 four stroke but I changed to the Saito 80 before the first flight. I believe the Magnum would fly it OK but required a little weight in the cowl to balance, whereas with the Saito it balanced without any.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Thank you for your feed back, as per plans the CG is 4" form the top wing leading edge, I'm going to add some weight on the tail, mine is very nose heavy; this is you balance point or you move it?. I start the covering yesterday, almost done hope to have it maiden flight this weekend. What about the wing incidence?

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Mine is balanced four inches back as specified, and the wing incidence is as shown on the plans. If yours is a bit noseheavy before covering, it might not require much ballast after the covering is on.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Hey jucava,
do a search here under "Balsa USA Phaeton 90 Bipe"
There is a thread with over 85 responses!
Lots of info on this plane...
Pud

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Thanks Pud but I'm instrestest in the Phaeton II not the Phaeton 90, same name but diferent size and characteristics.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II..woops!
 

DOH!
Sorry....missed the "non-.90" part in your original postings.
Sometimes it the details that will kill 'ya!! [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Pud

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Hey LouW, I see you didn't like the cowl ahh, mine came out horrible after I trimmed it for my OS FX 61 mount sideways; will see how it look with the plane cover, the only thing let to cover is the fuselage, I hope to do the maiden flight next Saturday if we have a nice flying day.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Once I decided to paint my Phaeton like a 1930's era navy airplane, the supplied cowl, designed for a horizontal opposed engine, just wouldn't do. I built up the lower section from balsa blocks and made the upper section from .020 aluminum sheet to which I applied an "engine turned" pattern. The "radiator" is made from foam covered with 1/16 balsa.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Nice touch, I finish the fuselage covering tonight, I will be posting pictures soon.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

I've been flying my Phateon II since last summer. I have TT Pro 61 on it with a 12X6APC turning ~11,000. The plane is a blast to fly. With it's short fuselage it is a little squirrelly on the ground but with patience and practice it becomes very manageable. The only warnings that I will give are:

1) It takes about 1.5 rotations to recover from a spin. The first couple of times this happens might be exciting. My advice is be HIGH up the first few times you attempt to spin.

2) One day I was flying some low and slow figure 8's waiting to land when all of a sudden it stalled and spun out of the sky(see 1 above) luckily it landed(crashed) is some bushes with no damage. After this happened I tried the same thing (up higher of course) and discovered that if you stall in a banked condition you will spin. Stall with the wings level and it will recover straight ahead. I think that the stall speed in the banked condition is higher than a low wing plane (like a 4*) so it creeps up on you suddenly.

Once I figured these things out flying it has been a blast.

I have a Phateon 90 in the box waiting for my building table to clear!!

Enjoy the plane, it is a blast

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

My friend if you hold up elevator and ruder + aileron going very slow, any plane will spin; also you have the drag of one more wing; I discover the same when I start flying biplanes with my SIG Hog Bipe on a cross wind landing, too slow and the ruder input to keep the crawl = cart wheels on the runway; just a couple of scratches.

I would add to your first point, that beside entering the spin very high, exit it also high, just in case; one time I exit to close to the ground and barely clear the ground, after that maneuver I landed and get the extra pair of under-wares from the car, uffff.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Loved mine! It had a Supertigre 90 in it (it was the Pheaton II) and it really flew well. I miss it almost as much as my Goldberg Ultimate. Really nice flying machine IMO.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Do you guys did something special with the elevator, it feel weak to me, just the two elevators joint by a small dowel?

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

BEEN FLYING A PHAETON II FOR A YEAR. NICE FLYING SMALL BIPE. SET MINE UP BY THE BOOK OTHER THAN 4 AILERONS. ALSO STICK BUILT THE STAB....FIN. MINE WEIGHS 6 LBS EVEN.
4 STROKE MAG. 61 TURNING 13X6 PROP IS GREAT.GOOD AEROBATICS AND SSLLOOWWW LANDINGS. YOU WILL LOVE IT.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Dis you use push-pull or pull-pull on your control surfaces?

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Ok, finally construction pictures.

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more

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and more

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and more

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and more

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just a couple more

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and of course the helper. Any feedback, comments, mods, etc.

The plane is already cover and I'm finishing the radio installation but the camera is on a vacation trip with my Dad.

I feel the elevator joint a little weak, with only a dowel joining both halves, any experience with the stock design.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

The pictures look familiar. Even the helper. I had a black lab to help me also, unfortunately, at 13 years and badly cripple, she didn't survive to see it fly. The Phaeton II is becoming my favorite airplane. I'm just putting finishing touches on a hog bipe and hope to have some comparisons soon. You will love it.

RE: Balsa USA Phaeton II
 

Think my dad (it was WAY back when the Pheaton II first came out) built it with some music wire bent in a |___| shape to join the elevators... worked fine :) I forgot what size wire, but it was the same size as the elevator thickness. He slotted the elevator where the wire ran, epoxied it in, and then glassed over that whole area before covering... was really strong.