Help identify this kit.
 

This is a 1/6th scale model of a: LUSCOMBE 8, from around 1938. 78" span,46" long, fiberglass fuselage cowel pants, built up wings & tail feathers. Excellent craftsmanship, and fit. I have no plans or information on this airplane. HELP!!!! I have pictures, but do not seem able to load them here. More help? -antic

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's gonna be kinda tough to help you out without a picture.

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

I have pictures, but do not seem able to load them. -Antic

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Don't use the fast reply. Click the post reply directly below my post and to the left. You will see a button to upload images and files on the next page.

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Luscombe 8

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

No idea on the kit, but it looks like you got the pic to upload!

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Look around for some issues of Scale R/C Modeler from somewhere between 1975 to say 1991 (I'm just guessing here). I seem to recall an ad for a glass Luscomb kit around that size.

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

At least 10 years ago, there was a similar kit on the market. The company did not last long.

More recently, I found what I believe to be the same kit, from a different company. The name escapes me, but the new company was in Texas, and dealt mainly in electric stuff.

I know that this isn't much to go on, but it may be a start.

If you learn anything, please post it here. I'd be interested in buying the Luscombe.

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Re: Luscombe 8. I now have 12 flights on this airplane, and all has gone very well. It behaves perfectly with no trim added. A little rudder in with the aileron makes the turns more accurate. Takeoff, and ground handling are excellent. This plane is now in Kealakekua, Big Island, Hawaii. If interested, let me know. -Jack Hillyer [email protected]

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

antic,

Your airplane is a Luscombe Silvaire kitted in the 90's by JMD Models. The kit is out of production, but the company survives. You can go to their web site, but they now concentrate on helicopter bodies and related stuff.

I bought the kit at the Toledo show, where JMD had a booth, in about 1995 or so. I bought a Saito 60 twin at the same time. Both are still in the box. I recently retired from my engineering career, and have been building full time. I expect to get on the Luscombe toward the end of this year.

JMD brought out a small electric version of this kit in the early 2000's. There was a companion Cessna 195 kit. Both were pretty nice from what I could see. None of these kits are available now.

The owner of JMD models told me he owns a real Luscombe Silvaire, and designed the kits around measurements from his own airplane. It should be good fidelity to scale!

I sent the thin ABS cowl and wheel pants to one of the (now defunct) fiberglass manufacturers who sent me back a set of cowl and pants in fiberglass at no charge for the use of the plastic parts to make the parts. If your plane has glass cowl and pants, they probably came off the same tooling made with my set of plastic parts. Sweet deal!! You may be able to tell - my glass cowl and pants are the deep blue fiberglass that was around a few years ago.

Glad to know the plane flies well.

What is your plane powered with???

Regards,

Randy Little

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Randy:

According to my research, Luscombes were not called Silvaire till the Silvaire Co. bought the manufaacturing rights.

Mine has a rag wing w/o flaps which was only on the earlier versions. The later ones had metal wings, with flaps. The early models only had one window on each side, like this one, which also helps identify the year. There are several web sites that have many pictures to help pin it down. I concluded that it is a: Luscombe 8A, vintage 1938-40.

Power is a RCV 58CD which is plenty, and it fits very nicely inside the cowl. Nice sound too. I was very careful, but still managed to come in tail heavy. I mounted steel nose weights inside the spinner which did the trick. It flies perfectly balancing at 25% MAC. My cowl, and pants are very sturdy fiberglass, but are white, not blue. I made the struts functional which allows some adjustment of the dihedral, and this plane likes dihedral like the earlier real ones. Without flaps, landings are a little hot, so a real good reliable idle is required. A automatic glow driver helped, along with OS F plug. Ground handing is excellent, and take offs are perfectly straight without rudder input. A very nice airplane.

Is there any way you could run off a set of instructions for me. I will gladly pay for the plans, and mailing.

Thanx for the information: Jack Hillyer, [email protected].

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

Jack,

I would be more than happy to accommodate you with a set of plans and the instruction booklet. I also have an orignal price sheet / show handout!

The plans are one sheet only, with the main goal to build the wing. The former locations are shown for the fuselage. The plans and assembly booklet make reference to both the fabric and metal wing versions. The different empennage shapes for various versions are also shown in phantom on the plans. The detail of the single strut for metal wing and dual strut for fabric wing are shown. The fuse windows are left for the builder to cut out, making the possiblilty of using the single window detail or later rear window models a possibility. The kit is very flexible in this way.

I looked up the Luscombe Silvaire on Wikipedia. They have a lot of info. Versions as early as either A or C were known as Silvaire depending on which part of the summary you believe. There is no reference to the Silvaire corp. I have not heard of it. Certainly the C version of 1940 was a Silvaire, and it had fabric wings. The metal wing did not appear until 1945 somewhere around version E. The only versions that had flaps were some of the F models very near the end of production in 1950.

Please PM me with your mailing address. Or, you may email me at [email protected] I will get the plans copied at the local Staples. They have done this for me before, and it usually costs about $5 per sheet. They have even done a reverse (mirror image) plan for me before at no extra charge. This was so I could easily build the left wing panel of a Precedent Champ. The plans with the kit showed only the R panel. I can copy the other materials (they are 8 1/2 x 11) at home on my printer at no cost. I will mail the materials out to you with the total cost, and you can send me a check by return mail. I think all will cost less than $10.

Regards,

Randy Little

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

I used to have a 1947 Luscombe 8D. It had metal wings and rear cabin windows. The earlier Model 8s had their fuel tanks mounted in the fuselage, immediately behind the pilot's/passenger's heads (not a great place for 14 gals of fuel in event of a crash!) Hence, the absence of rear windows. The later Model 8s had 24gal wing tanks (one 12gal tank per side) which opened up the space behind the seat for a hat shelf and rear windows. I believe the "Silvaire" name was applied to all the later model 8s by Don Luscombe in order to make the airplane sound special (a marketing ploy) but all model 8s have ultimately become known as Silvaires. The stylized "S" that you see on the cowls of almost all Luscombes these days stand for Silvaire.

My 8D saw all three coasts in the 2-1/2 years (720 flying hours) that I owned her. It was probably the "funnest" airplane I ever owned! I eventually traded her and a '67 Skymaster for a '51 Cessna 195. (Now THAT'S a Brute!)

I wouldn't mind finding a kit or plans of a Luscombe 8. If anybody knows of any, please let me know.

Harvey

RE: Help identify this kit.
 

More interesting info on the Silvaire. I knew, of course, that the "S" on the cowl stood for Silvaire.

My plans would be of little use to you, as the JMD kit has a glass fuse, hence no fuse detail except for the outline view.

Regards,

Randy L.