Lookin good Marcus.
You guys are lucky...the only thing flying here around x-mass is snow. That's kind of nice too though.


Lee

Thanks Lee.

A little thought about the sunny and hot X-mas around here: usually itĀ“s so hot, one has to go flying either very early in the morning
(7-10a.m.) or very late in the afternoon (6-8p.m.).
However, these last weeks the temps have kept mid-range so it was a pleasure to fly during all day.

We sure miss the "white christmas" people around here only sees in pictures - more or less, the same way you miss the sunny beaches which we have plenty of in Brazil, "only" 7200km of white sands coastline...
The funny thing about this is that you see heavily dressed Santas on the street or store entrances, sweating like crazy - even in the shopping malls where THERE IS airconditioning. Or seeing showcases with X-mas trees all covered with white cotton to simulate the snow...


Have progressed a little more on the cabin of the SD, doing the padded sides, which on the left side houses the throttle and stab trim...these knobs/levers yet to be done.
Also cut out the Instrument Panel, will be painted white and then all instruments added, the usual way: a sheet of plastic behind the dashboard, and behind the plastic another panel with the instrument dials glued onto it. A little touch up here and there, simulation of the bezels and ready to go.

I still havenĀ“t found a suitable piece of blue velour fabric to simulate the sheared terry fabric used to line the interior of the fullsize PP-ZPA, below the padded side bars all the way down to the floor. Will keep searching...

Enjoy the photos...

Marcus

Hey Guys.....Nice pics Marcus... glad you set a date to get her in the air. Been cold up here in the northeast. I don't like flying in the cold. I'm still looking to build something. I havent made up my mind yet, been too busy doing other things. Ken.. Good job on the toy drive.

Hey Bob, Thanks.
I set a date but am afraid I wonĀ“t make it. ItĀ“s more like a goal to keep motivation.

Yesterday the first FG cowl popped out of the mold, almost perfect! Only a few spots where the resin stuck to the mold and teared off the cowl, but nothing a little use of plastic clay wonĀ“t correct.
Frank ist already cleaning the mold to lay up another one.
But I donĀ“t think IĀ“ll wait for the second one, will work on the first one over the weekend and then take pics.
Frank also promised me the wingtips and wheelpants till next week...

Nothing done yesterday evening, was out of home. Today will be the same.

Heading for the flying site tomorrow, hope the weather n temps keep as they are today.
By the way, our club has a HP: http://www.asasdovale.com.br/ take a look at our nice facilities...

See ya around

Marcus

WOW Marcus.... Nice club, I'm jelous. You guys have a very nice setup there. Who makes that flying bird, and what's it called?

Thanks Bob, weĀ“re 120+ members.

Are you talking about the Airplane on a pedestal?

ThatĀ“s a Neiva T-25 Universal, a brazilian made Basic Trainer (2 seats side-by-side) developed and built to replace all the glorious, old AT-6 Texans.
The T-25 was designed by the same Ungarian-Brazilian Aircraft Engineer, Josef Kovacs, who designed the impeccable T-27 Tucano, which ist truly a 100% Brazilian developed and built Advanced Trainer, which already evolved into the A-29 Ground Attack "Super Tucano", both versions are also exported, and the T-27 is also being produced under license by Short Aircraft in England.

The T-25 still flies at some Air Bases throughout Brazil also at the Air Force Academy, after the T-25 the cadets fly the AT-26 Xavante (a brazilian version of the Aermacchi MB339) and then graduate to the F-5 Tiger II- The Dassault Mirage III are being retired after 30+ years in service. BAF is i the process of selecting a new multi-role fighter to buy, choosing between the Mig-29, Su-27, Saab Viggen, and others.
USA refused to sell F-16 to a secon AF in South America, the only fortuanet being the Venezuelans - and now I am sure the american government regrets that decision...

Well, thatĀ“s a brief view on our fighter pilot trainig program...

See ya
Marcus

No.. This bird http://www.asasdovale.com.br/filmes/passaralho1.MPG This looks pretty cool! I saw it in your film section.

Bob, the Passaralho is a one-of-a-kind ornithopter designed and built by one of the most recognized modelers in Brasil, FAI F4C Competitor, Pattern Champ, Helipilot, and entertainer extraordinaire, Roberto Camertoni. Designed around a heli engine, including a clutch arrangment that only activates the wings after a certain throttle position is reached, so the engine can be started without flapping the wings, the Passaralho entertained the crowds a lot of times, only the landing isnĀ“t as gracious as one would expect from a bird.
The name is not exactly a classy name, translating to "flying d*ick"...He doesnĀ“t belong to our club, but was a frequent visitor, so everybody knew him very well.

The sad news is that this guy became an outlaw - he murdered his wife with a shotgun a couple of years ago and is a fugitive since then. No one ever heard of him after that again...a real shame. And all were schocked with this tragic outcome...and a great loss to the aeromodellign community...

Good news ist that the weather will be fine this weekend and I am heading home to prepare my plane to go flying tomorrow...

See ya al around, have a nice weekend

Marcus

Thanks for the info.. Have a good weekend!

Hi Fellas,
hope you all had a nice weekend. I did fly a lot on saturday, both from the concrete and grass runways (if you look close on the pix at the website, youĀ“ll notice that there is a strip cut into the grass X-wise to the concrete runway - and usually straight into the wind!!).
For a tailtradgger itĀ“s a must. My sportplane called the Mutley 3 which I presented here a while ago just calls for a grassy strip - I think it could be a pseudoscale flier...hehe - the clubĀ“s keepr had just mowed it the day before so the dry grass leaves just were blown backwards, just a pretty "scale" sight when one taxies and moves the throttle forward for takeoff...

I have finally received the Fiberglass cowl for the SD, taken from the mold I did months ago. Although it has yet to be trimmed off some 3/4" to get the length right, it did fit really well indeed, after I removed some 5/16" from the aluminum boot cowl, creating a "step" onto which the cowl will be screwed later, it will also be split at the scale location to allow for acces to the engine without removing the spinner and prop combo.
The spinner is custommade but also somewhat wrong in shape, the tip is just a tad too sharp, could be a little more rounded, will talk to the guy who made it, if there is any possibility to change it or if I have to order a new one. Apparently there isnĀ“t much material left inside to turn it off in a lathe...

Enjoy the pics - the cowl still look awful because it hasnĀ“t yet been primed... and some clay was used to correct a few spots where the first lamination stuck to the mold when releasing...
But itĀ“s finally looking like a Super Deke, isnĀ“t it?

See ya around

Marcus

And here go some more...
MArcus

HI
I split the cowl like the fullsize, building a lip on the lower half where to screw on the top half...will be glassed as well. And blid nuts inserted from the inside, thus the wooden lip.

Marcus

Hi there,

I cut out the Oil Inspection Hatch yesterday, and hinged it.
I laminated strips of fibreglass to both sides, and a strip of wood to the bottom where the latch will be, forming a lip where the hatch rests on, just like the fullsize.
I took 3 Dubro Giant-Scale-Hinges and removed their cotterpins, replaced them by one single wire with a bend on the two ends, and epoxied them side-by-side to both the hatch and the cowl, imitating a pianohinge.

Sorry but I forgot to change the cam setting to take a close-up pic, but you can figure out how it looks.

Marcus

A new years greeting to you all from the Netherlands !

And a Happy New Year to you! From the United States.

E Feliz Ano Novo pra vocĆŖs tambĆ©m...(and happy new year for you too!!) from Brazil!

Marcus

Hi All,

I'm a very beginner in everything related to RC airplane. I just ordered Dynaflite SD, 6 channel radio, gasoline engine & everything else. i have read alot about glow fuel vs gasoline & that glow fuel will force me to declare bankruptsy sooner so i had to order gas & there4 had to get a giant scale as well [:@] !!! was it a good desicion or bad to start with that combo? thanks alot for your opinion & time.

Hi Muhammed,
thanks for joining the club - and welcome aboard.

Actually a SD is never a bad decision, but this is a somewhat biased statement...the SD is a good choice, provided you already know how to pilot a RC aircraft.
Otherwise, it would be wise to to buy a 40-60 size trainer first (there are lots of good ARF trainers out there, so youĀ“ll be in the air in no time) and start taking flying lessons from an instructor at a club.
That will save you more than your money invested into the SD and gasser and equipment. It will prevent you from becoming disapointed much too soon by eventually breaking the SD - because it happens to every one. in the event of a crash, these trainers arenĀ“t expensive to replace or to fix, differently from a SD, even the Dynaflite one.
And specially if it was a plane one invested lotsa time and money - besides the gap in your wallet, the bigger gap will be on your self-esteem. ItĀ“s much easier to overcome this by learing to fly with a trainer and later graduating to scale airplanes.

Sorry if this sound somewhat hard, but itĀ“s the truth. And while you learn to fly, there is absolutely no problem in starting the building of your pride and joy, feel free to ask about any question you may have, the folks around here are all glad to help.

Again, welcome to the group.

Marcus

Muhamed.... I have to agree with Marcus. Buy yourself an ARF and learn to fly first. Being an Instructor myself, I've taught quite a few people to fly and some of them that wanted to start with an aerobatic, warbird, or scale project, were glad that I talked them into a trainer first. BUT by all means, go ahead and build your SD. You'll have a blast!!!

Bob,

Thanks for the advise, an instructor in a nearby rc club told me the same & i'm going to change the order to a trainer airplane however i wanted to get the gas engine to save money from the begining which required a biger airplane anyway. Thanks again bob.

Don't worry, your just getting started. There will be many planes, engines and lots of costs you won't be able to justify in you RC future should you get hooked like the rest of us.


Lee

Muhamed,
which engine did you order?

If itĀ“s a G-26 or G-38, donĀ“t worry, there are bigger trainers out there ( 80" wingspan range) that will take the gasser without any problem.
Better having too much rather than not enough power.

Marcus

I enjoyed the update photos on your plane Marcus. It is really looking good. Unfortunately I've stopped receiving e-mail notices on all of the threads that I have subscribed to here on RCU. I don't know what happened, they just stopped. The box is still checked.

Ken

Hi Ken,
hope you get the thing solved, maybe you contact the RCU-Administrator.

I have been forced to put the SD project on a halt again - the weekend before Xmas I had a major mishap with my sport plane, the Mutley.
It was totaled (including the engine, the crankshaft was bent, several cooling fins broken, the magneto coil and sensor bent out of shape) due to a complete black-out when the plane buried itself into the ground 350+meters away on a cow pasture, adjacent to our club. Probably either vibrations disconnetcted the battery connector from the receiver (all other connections were intact even after the crash) or there was a holding interference and the PCM receiver entered fail safe, which was not preset to neutralize the controls and pull the throttle back...

So I had to buy another plane just to keep flying, but even this was delayed due to some familiy vacations over the holidays, this week I started working on the new plane...I bought an used GP Spacewalker ARF, which I am overhauling and modifying to accept a 25-cc gasser. Should be flying great, in a week or so. I also canĀ“t help to make a few mods to make it more "spacewalker alike" - my pilot will be Bugs Bunny, the whole approach is to make a cartoon scale airplane. Will be christened the "Bunnywalker". Enjoy the pics. I know itĀ“s a bit offsubject, but soon IĀ“ll return to the SD.

My goals now are:
buy a new computer radio (I am still flying on 35mHz, and our official frequency range is 72mHz)
get the SD ready for our annual Fly-in in April.
But things will go on slowly, because the whole thing caused a hole in my modeling budget: new ariplane, new engine, and possibly a new radio...
Also time is short, I will fly to Mexiko on 1.15. for a week or so, in February IĀ“ll be in Germany for a week+, in March I have several trips inside Brasil as well...
well, I wrote a book again...

Nuff said
Marcus

Marcus, I'm sure sorry to hear that you lost Mutley. I flat will not use PCM. I only use PPM/FM because I want to know when the plane is experiencing interference. I also only fly on the HAM band (50mhz). I've been an Amateur Radio Operator since 1959. Rarely do I find someone flying on 50mhz.

Best of luck with the new plane.

Ken