rainedave

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Hi. I'm getting back into R/C after being away from it since the early 90s. I've started a Sr. Falcon from Pond plans, and since I have a digital camera I thought I'd document the build. I'm working on a card table in a small bedroom, it's a bit cramped.

If anyone's interested I'll post pictures along the way. Here're a few:

1. Stab center sheeting with elevator pinned in place.
2. Stab tip carved and sanded into elevator
3. Wing ribs being sanded on balsa/basswood laminated spars.

Gollywock

Excellent craftsmanship. Jim

GoldenAge

Very nice work! Please post more pics as you go[8D]

Scott

FlyerInOKC

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Keep sending photos! Your workmanship A+++

rainedave

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I've started the right wing panel. This is a pretty big plane. Work is going slow due to other distractions like setting up a LAN in my Dad's house, etc.

Anyway, I'm about half way through the right panel. The LE and TE are glued in place, but the ribs have not been glued to the spars. I need to jig it up and get all the ribs parallel and square before gluing those joints. Right now there's a lot of lateral wiggle, but once the center sheeting, tip block and rib/spar joints are glued it will be solid.

I increased the length of the three spar doublers in the center section. And I made the middle doubler out of 1/4" birch ply. I will also add ply doublers behind the LE and in front of the TE after the wing halves are joined. It sounds heavy, but I build light: a carry-over from FF building.

1. Dry trial fitting of the parts.
2. The root rib angled for the dihedral joint. The first four ribs are 3/32 smaller top and bottom to accept the sheeting.
3. The three spar doublers showing the 1/4" birch in the middle.
4. Overview of right panel with LE and TE glued in place.

Next: Jig the panel square and glue the spars in place; carve/sand the tip and sheet the center section.

GoldenAge

Very nice, thanks for the update! Been some good building weather here in the eastern US the last few days....rain, rain and more rain

Scott

rainedave

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Scott, you're absolutely right. Nothing to do but stay inside and build.

I have a few more updates tonight. I am enjoying the livin' heck out of this model! I always knew Goldberg was a master designer and a great kit engineer, but this is one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever done. One thing I've definitely noticed is that I build a lot slower these days. And without my Walgreens' reading glasses I can't even read a ruler anymore.

1. Shaping the tip block.
2. Top wing sheeting. I'm waiting to sheet the bottom until after the halves are joined and the doublers are in place.
3. Tip sanded.
4. Side view of tip. The light and shadow show how the end follows the mean camber line of the airfoil. I doubt it adds anything aerodynamically, but I like the way it looks.
5. The fin dry fit in the stab slot. I added a cap to the tops of the fin and rudder for rigidity.

rainedave

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After taking a couple of weeks off, I started work on the fuselage. Here is where I decided to make the biggest changes so far. The plans show a decalage set-up that I assume was to benefit early 60s two or three channel flying. The wing has about 2 1/2 degrees positive and the tail has about the same amount of negative (leading edge raised). In addition, the plane balances at just under 40% back and there is no downthrust shown on the plans. At the risk of possibly messing up the original flight characteristics I am setting the tail at zero, the wing at about 1 1/2, adding a bit of down and right thrust and balancing at 25-30%. This is the decalage/CG that I am familiar with and what I have found on most all modern trainer types. I should get the fuse finished over the weekend and I'll post more picks.

Here's a pic of how I'm cutting the sides to change the stab incidence:

rainedave

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I'm still lumbering along with the fuselage. I had to wait for an engine mount and nose gear to arrive before proceeding much further. This plane has a very cramped engine bay. I can't see how anyone has ever been able to fit a .60 in one of these planes. My OS SF .40 is pretty snug with the mounting lugs almost touching the sides.

Since I opted not to use the hardwood rails I wasn't satisfied with the attachment of the firewall, so I moved it back 1/4" to fit between the ply fuse doublers instead of butted against their ends. This gave me a lot more ply-to-ply surface for the epoxy. Still not totally satisfied with this joint I used two 1/8" dowells per side to pin the firewall in place. It may be overkill, but the firewall/nose section has to support the engine as well as the nose gear. If I build another one I think I'll use the rails. I may still epoxy some tyvek around the sides behind the firewall. Those hardwood rails are making more and more sense now.

I bought a Great Planes 10 1/2" canopy (Kaos replacement?) that looks pretty good. I know Goldberg sells a replacement canopy for their ARF and SIG has an 11" version, but I already had a Tower order together. I've also installed the wing servos.

I ordered three rolls of Worldtex from Horizon. I've never used it but have read good things about it. I really wanted to use silk, but with my current living setup I just can't get into all of that nitrate dope and stuff right now. I ordered natural, orange and dark blue. The natural has a transparent quality to it, so the wing and stab framework will show through as they would with silk.

I was worried about the weight of this thing as I've been adding wood and glue here and there, but the total weight of the wood: wing, stab, fin, control surfaces and fuselage is 35 1/2 oz. That's 2 1/4 lbs. without the landing gear, radio, engine, tank and covering. I should be well under the 6 1/2lbs. indicated on the plans.

Here are some more pictures.

dicknadine

Keep it up. looks like your doing a 1st rate build. dick

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Great job on the building and great photos too. I didn’t remember that the Falcon had plywood doublers in the fuselage. Is that a mod, I was thinking they were balsa.

rainedave

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Thanks dicknadine. It's been great fun so far. My Worldtex arrived today. This stuff looks beautiful! The natural has a milky transluscent quality that will really show the framework in the sunlight.

8178, thanks, too. It's slightly modified from the plans. They show 1/8" ply doublers around the wing saddle area and 1/16" balsa below that. I just went ahead and doubled the entire front portion of the sides with 1/8" liteply. This also gave me a better surface to attach servo rails and pushrod standoffs. Here's a scan of the plans:

8178

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Thanks, I thought they were balsa. I think the 56 had all balsa.

rainedave

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Well, I'm finally nearing the point of prepping for covering. The fuselage has had its corners radiused and looks nice. Because of my cramped work space there are a lot of little dings and dents from bumping into bookcases, doors, light fixtures, etc. No real damage, but I'll need to fill a spot here and there and work my way down to 320 grit paper.

Servos, pushrods and fuel tank are all in place. The only thing left to do is install the main gear - a HUGE THANKS! to Bob Harris - and finish the front of the fin where it tapers into the fuselage.

I toyed with the idea of using wing bolts, but decided to stick with the original rubber band method. I've strayed from the plans enough as it is.

Here are some more pics including a bleeding-edge, high tech device for marking the inside of the fuselage for servo and tank rails. The little ply latch for the tank hatch is detailed on the plans:

radioflier

Great craftsmanship! One question: how did you cut such accurately shaped rectangular holes in the wing and stab ribs?

ron

rainedave

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Thanks, radioflier! I use a few different established rib cutting methods depending on the airfoil, number of ribs, type of spars and taper, etc. For the main wing I used a kind of combination. Instead of making two plywood templates and sandwiching blanks between them, I just made one pattern and drew sheets of "printwood" that I cut out one by one. Then I put them all on the spars and sanded them uniform as in the picture above.

When I'm cutting out parts I always load up a brand new #11 blade and get a fresh new razor blade. I cut with the grain using the X-acto and cut cross-grain by pressing the razor blade straight down. I always seem to tear out the wood when I try to pull a blade across the grain, so I work with the two differnt blades. The X-acto is nice because I can swivel the knife when cutting curves. As soon as they start to feel dull, I get a new blade.

For the stab ribs I just printed out two sets of patterns on printer paper and adhered them to balsa sheets using 3M Super 77. I then cut them out the same way. Brush on a bit of thinner and the paper pulls right off.

When I cut the spar slots I used a straightedge since the grain will sometimes pull the blade off track. The key is to make several medium pressure cuts instead of trying to cut all the way through in one pass.

I guess I'm kind of neurotic in that I actually enjoy cutting out parts and sanding them smooth. At any rate, it takes patience and can be time consuming. But, it's therapeutic, too. Sort of like getting off in a quite place by yourself and reading a book.

rainedave

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I thought I'd do one more post tonight. I have to commit myself to covering or I'll fiddle with and tweak stuff forever. I really hate to see this project coming to a close. I'm reminded why I'm in this hobby to begin with.

Here are a few pics of the landing gear. I used yellow wood glue to install the 1/4" birch ply sockets. I still might gob some epoxy inside around the triangle stock. I think the mains look awesome with their 60 degree aftward rake. Ignore the old spinner and prop, I just used them to set up the clearance. I'll also put heat shrink tubing or something over the wires where they touch in the channel to prevent metal-to-metal contact.

GoldenAge

I noticed that you're getting back into R/C after a 15 year or so break. I did the same thing. Quitting in the late 70's and starting again in ~2003. My building skills were completely intact, no problems there, but when I started flying, I found out quickly what the years do to flying skills (aerobatics in particular) and eyesight! I used to be a club flying instructor, now if I can get the plane down in one piece, I'm a happy camper

Is that an OS FSR .40 in there? I have a .45 and it's a powerful engine.

Keep the pics coming,

Scott

rainedave

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Thanks Scott. It's an OS SF .40 I bought around '91. It's been bench run, but never flown.

The last planes I was flying before I got out were a Midwest Super Hots and a Dynaflight .60 Mustang. No way I'd start back with that now. I'm counting on the Sr. Falcon being a slow forgiving bird, which is what I need.

I've been using a free computer flight sim called FMS for the main purpose of getting my right/left reflexes back in order. When I started using the sim I had to really concentrate on reversed right/left when flying towards myself. I want to get that back to where I don't have to think about it so much.

The next pics will be of the covering process. Thanks again.

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Rainday, the 40 will be a good match, I fly my Sr Falcon at several flyings with the 40 FSR and it performs fantastically. I guess I have almost 200 flights with it now. Very smooth and positive performer. A good choice for someone getting back into the hobby after a layoff. You will not be disappointed! Mine weighs in at around 6-1/2 lbs wet. I have another framed up ready for silk and dope for the Vintage RC Society flyin. It will sport a Merco 61 and World Engines Blue Max Radio!!!

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.com

rainedave

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Bob, glad to hear about the .40. I wasn't 100% sure it would be enough. Unless you sidemount that .61, I don't see how it could fit in this plane's nose. I really wanted to use silk on this project; it's what I use on my OT FF planes, but at present I just don't have the space or the setup to do it right. I'm using what I hope to be the next best thing which is Worldtex (Solartex). Here's a pic of the transparent natural and the blue and orange. Oh, and thanks again for the wire, it was a perfect fit. I will NOT miss the 2006 VR/CS Fly-in.

BobHH

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I covered my Sr Falcon in the picture with Ultracoat white and painted the red and black with Rustoleum spray cans from Lowes! I have heard of the Worldtex but have not seen any of it. It looks great! I have used Soletex on my Esquire with good results. It looks like fabric but is just a bit heavier that silk. It has yet to sag or turn loose. Get covering we want to see that bird fly!!!

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.com

rainedave

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Bob, that Sr. of yours is immaculate. It's hard to believe that's red spray paint.

I'm fooling around in Photoshop and thinking of something along these lines. The wing and stab will be the natural fabric and maybe the pinstripes could be silver:

Bass1

Scott, Did you live/fly at the T.R.C. field in Va Beach in the 70's?.

GoldenAge

Bass1,

Yes! We had a nice field at Oceana (where the pic in my avatar was taken). Left TRC in 1980 and heard the club lost the field shortly after. I lived in the Green Run area in Va. Beach at the time. In the Kempsville area now.

Love Wildhorse field with no trees nearby. I usually fly during the middle of the week out there when I have the time.

Scott