Well it's mounted and the cowl is fitted. Took my time doing the cutouts and making sure everything fit correctly. I epoxied the cowl ring in place and set it aside to dry. Hope to get the inside painted flat black and the heat tape on at some point on Sunday.

Strgazr27.
Any update...pics ?
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Actually I am almost done with it I should have a bunch of pictures up by Thursday night. I'm pretty happy with the way it is coming along. The wait to maiden it is killing me yet at the same time, scaring the C*** out of me Lol.

As promised here are a bunch of pictures for you guys. I still have a few little loose ends to tie up but it's 99% ready to go. I'm running an 18X8 for break-in but will likely switch this once it's ready to go. I need to finish up the Williams Brothers dummy radial as well as finish the cockpits. Any questions ask away.

A few more including the smoke tank. This will be finished and installed along with a Sullivan Skywriter pump as soon as I have the funds for the pump.

Bobby,

Just trying to be helpful - from the pictures it looks like you may still have the orginal spark plug from DLE installed there have been many posts that indicate that the delivered plug is a source of many problems and to replace is with a genuine NGK CM6. I am really interested in your flight reports as I have the plane and the same engine waiting to get started. I am trying to decide between my DLE 30 or the Zenoah G26ei. Please keep us posted.

Howard

Bobby,

The plane flies fine, don't worry. Just don't try to glide it in. Keep enough power on that it slowly descends and cut power after your wheels touch down. It has a lot of drag but flies great as long as you keep some air blowing over the control surfaces.

Mine is aout 5 years old.

I have been toying with getting another one since I lost mine a couple years ago. I had it since they came out and it was by far the most enjoyable plane I ever had to fly. Just got to be careful on takeoffs. Landing was a breeze. I put dubro inflatable tires on it and only had them filled about half way. As soon as they touch down it would stick to the pavement and not bounce at all. Mine was powered with a O.S. 160 2 cycle. It would fly away from the other three at our field that had G26's in them. I did get tired of having to take it apart to give the inside a look over every few flights ( just my habit, in case something came loose). If they redesigned it with a top hatch like so many of the current planes have, I would have at least one flyable at all times.
Stangevil29
P.S. it was the only plane the wife ever liked as well.

Worked on it a bit this morning after my last midnight shift. Hope to finish it this weekend

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xXyDL-E4KI[/youtube]

Bobby,

The DLE 30 likes to swing a BIG prop. I have mine on a T-Craft and use a 20x6 Master Airscrew wood. Good performance and that big prop looks great.

Enjoy!

Howard I appreciate the heads up. I haven't had any issues with the stock plug but will take your advice and pick up 2 extras. Thanks.

Life,

I have the 18X8 on it right now. How do you think the 20X6 would do with the SS? The T-Craft wouldn't happen to be the new H9 version would it? That plane is VERY high on my list and would love to run another DLE 30 in it but refuse to cut the cowl to have it fit. A little trimming on the bottom wouldn't bother me but not the sides.

Thanks for the help!

Bobby, That is about the finest installation (of everything) I have ever seen on the Stearman. Very nice and neat!

Also, just a heads up, put one of the wings on the plane the next time you run the engine. All of that vibration is weakening the tail. The wing will help take some of the vibration.
Nice running little motor!

Bobby,

The 20x6 flies the T-Craft verrry nicely. Yes, it is the new version. Buy a prop, try it on both. I like a lot of thrust and am less interested in speed. The bipe has a lot of drag, so the extra thrust might please you. Low pitch props also seem to make the plane fly a little better, overall...in my opinion.

Thanks bud! Did just as you said and the tail shaking was next to nothing! Yeah it's amazing how much power these things make. I have about 1/2 gallon through it and just MINOR needle tweaking. I am very happy the way it pulls with the 18X8 on it.

WOWThanks! The kind words are appreciated. There are a few items that bug me and will be fixed in the next week or two but other than that I am happy with the way it turned out. It's so much easier to work on and maintain something when just a little thought and order goes into the build. I learned that early on.

Thanks again!

L,

I agree and plan on flying it on the mellow side for awhile. I'm not into cutting holes in the sky. I love planes that fly scale like. I picked up a 20X6 this morning and hope to give it a try over the weekend. I have a scale I can hook up to the tether and should be able to see the difference in pull and RPM with my tach. Thanks for the info!

Hi Guys-

I think I am going to go ahead with the Super Stearman as my first Bipe, 5th plane.

I just have some basic questions for you guys.

I have read through most of this thread-What is the most important mod to the GP ARF? I it really necessary or can the plane fly well without it (and land of course)? My club has an asphalt runway.

I plan on using 4 aileron servos. Any specific hints?

I plan on using a Saito 150 I happen to have. Is there a muffler that works better than the standard?

Last oneTop wing is just under 6 feet-I think I am OK-but just to ask-I have a Santa Fe SUV-Im pretty sure it will fit just fine-and I do have a large wing bag-But any advice on transport to the field?



Thanks for all the help.

Larry

Bobby, you can get the NGK CM6 Plugs from a car parts store I got mine from O'Reilly 's, they had to order them but at $3.50 I was able to wait 2 days

Howard,
I got 2 DLE 30's and both run like clock work, and the DLE30 is 12oz+ lighter.

larry,
I think the most advantagious mod would be to loose the kit supplied wheels and get some dubro inflatables. Fill them about half way and it will stick to the ground once you touch down. The plane is pretty heavy, with the supplied tires it will want to really bunny hop. If I had got another one I would defiantley go too a gasser with it. Your 1.50 will fly it ok but, you'll quickly get tired of buying a lot of fuel for it, at least I would. I had a OS 1.60 2 strk and it was perfect for power in my opinion. That was before I switched over to gassers only. For me taking the wings and rigging off of it all the time got real tiresome. I did every 3 or 4 flights just to make sure everything inside stayed in place and was holding up. I left it together for transport and it was hung by a sling for storage. Just ny .02
Stangevil29

Cat,

Thanks for the heads up. We don't have an O'Eeilly's by me but I was able to pick them up at Autozone for $3.49

Bobby
Is that the JTec Muffler in the pic's ?

Yes it is. And worth every penny I paid for it. I tried 5 different mufflers and none fit within the cowl until I picked up the JTEC. I drilled and tapped it for the smoke nozzle from a Bisson and threw it in our media blasting booth at work as it had a few scratched in the smooth finish. Nobody see's it inside the cowl but they bothered me Lol. I LOVE the way this thing sounds at idle. Nice deep burble. AT WOT it is certainly not quite but has an awesome sound to it. Only other thing I plan on doing is angle cutting the tips to match the fuselage.