mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

I,m gonna try and do this building thread of the rcm plans 1/3rd scale pete by David Anderson rcm plan #1282!!! so far i have the plans, an extremely nice lazercut short kit cut by lazerworks out of wichita falls, texas!! thanks Eddie!!!!! my plans are to build it pretty much as david designed it only i cheated and got the short kit!!! i will have the rest of the wood for the sheeting,stringers,and ect. this monday and will attempt to do this scale!!! also thanks to bill dietrich for the scale views in which i plan to study very well!!!! here is what the short kit looks like from eddie!!!!

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

well i'm sure i ordered way to much wood i ordered what is on the material list minus the plywood and it was around $70.00,

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

I hafta admit that I do not know the differance between a short kit and, well, anything else.  Can you enlighten me?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

A short kit usually only includes the "cut" parts. Parts such as the formers, ribs, firewall, or any other pre-cut piece. Some short kits will also include molded plastic or fiberglass parts, but not all of them do. The rest of the materials are up to the modeler to provide. This includes all stick and flat wood needed as well as any other hardware that is needed to build the plane. So basically a short kit just save you from having to cut the parts out, but the rest is still up to you. Short kits are a great way to get going on a plane build it you're not quite ready to move up to cutting a kit yourself.

Hope this helps

Ken

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

your absolutely right!!! i don't mind cutting some of the parts or fabricating gear but after 20 plus years of the hobby i have gotten lazy and paying for the laser time is a real time saver plus the parts are a good fit!!!and no one makes an arf of this plane!!! that i'm aware of!!! i did manage to kill some time making the wing flying wire attachments till the rest of the wood gets here!!!

Bill Diedrich

You got my attention Mike, glad I could help with the 3-views.
I'll see what else I can round up for ya. as far as pics, ect.

Bill D.

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

thanks, i greatly appreciate all you can find!!!!! shoot i have measured 9" of snow in my driveway hope i can get out by monday??? we set new records for here in north texas for the snowfall

Bill Diedrich

Yep we got some of the white fluffy stuff down here to, 3" in
about 4 hours, but it is leaving just as fast as it arrived.

Mike I have an EAA book that is about air racing in the 30's
I'll scan everything it has on the Pete plus I'll send you some
pics off my CD I have compiled, with pics of all of Benny
Howard's racers.

Bill D.

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

Great.  That sounds like the way to go before advancing to scratch building.  Scratch scares me a little, but it is my eventual goal.

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

cool!!!! thanks, i'm gonna go ahead and try to make it to eddies tomorrow morning and get the rest of the wood for the pete and get my wing tube material. this project is gonna be time consuming to say the least it's got a lot of parts and i want it to be scale!!!

ARUP

Benny Howard's 'Pete' is a neat airplane! I will build the Gordon Israel 'Redhead' soon. G. Israel helped build all of Howard's airplanes. The Anderson plan and airplane is really nice but remember, the origional (and reproduction) doesn't have (or need) flaps as indicated on that plan, if I remember correctly. Benny Howard made Pete, Ike and Mike long legged on purpose. 3 point landings put the wing at a high angle of attack to slow the 'bombs' down for landing on unimproved fields of the day. The models don't need it added on. It's your airplane, though! My $0.02.

P.S. I have a Wm F. Kerka drawing of Pete that I could e-m if you need it. Mr. Kerka's drawings are very detailed and examples are found in the EAA book by Schmid and Weaver- 'The Golden Age of Air Racing'. That book is a 'bible' on the subject and goes highly recommended. You might also contact the Society of Air Racing Historians, of which I am a member. Contact Herman Schaub or Don Berliner and they may direct you to more info on Pete.

R/C Lee

My Feedback: (3)

I ordered a set of plans two weeks ago from RCM for the Pete. Sounds like you liked the quality of the Lazerworks short kit. Did it include the wing tubes, or will you buy them separately. What engine are you thinking of installing? I was thinking of a gasser, but flying at 3500 ft, here, I may have to up-engine to something in the 30cc range. Any ideas? Looking forward to seeing more of your build. Lee

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

yes the shork kit is a time saver, cutting out all these parts will take some time. i have totally cut a previous build or 2 or3 there is enjoyment in doing this but like i said i got spoiled and lazy and opted for someone to do it for me!!! i like to build and fly equally!! cutting wing ribs that are all different is challenging all perfect and you wind up with less balsa dust in the factory!!!!

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

cool i'll take any you can provide!!! thanks, the only reason the flaps are gonna be there is because thats the way it was designed david even states that in the build article !! he put them on there for scale landing speeds???? i'm gonna assume thats pretty much what he competed in at the time?? besides if i dont need them i dont have to drop them.they are kina hidden in the design?? or maybe i'll glue them shut i'm just not sure right now!!!

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

the short kit does'nt include the wing tubes but he can supply them for an additional cost.. they are aircraft grade T-6 w/phenolic tube sockets!!! and he does a really good job at cutting a kit out!!! he can also do the graphics when you are ready!!!!

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

when you get you plans and your and find a 30cc gasser that will fit let me know so far all i have found were the saito fg30 will fit for sure !!!! but i'm still looking

Bill Diedrich

For those of you out there that are thinking of building this aircraft
check out David Anderson's web site for the plans and construction article
http://www.mnbigbirds.com/Andersen%20Plans.htm

Bill D.

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

thanks for the link and pic's!!!! here are starter pic's of the wings,i opted to use bass wood instead of balsa for the wing spars,i shot david an e-mail asking him what his thoughts were for a gas engine that would fit in it besides the saito gassers the are way out of my price range!!!! i really don't want to mount a gas engine inverted but i may have to not sure just yet!!!

ARUP

Hi Mwhar760- If you have flown 'heavy metal' warbirds then the Pete should not be a problem but I cannot speak from experience since I haven't built Pete. If you don't care to compete in scale competitions then adding flaps is of no consequence. Calculate its wing loading and compare it to some other airplanes out there. Larger airplanes fly better so that is in your favor. You could always build two sets of wings! I've done that before. That will be a very impressive airplane no matter what you do! As far as scale landing speeds, there are lots of discussions about that! Time is linear so should, theoretically, scale accordingly. Tailwinds, ARUP

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

Well i don't know honestly in 20+ years i have never put flaps on anything but a goldberg chipmunk years ago and wound up never using them!!! i normally build and fly aerobatic and 3-d capable tail dragger aircraft and got the itch to build a couple of 1930"s era planes and have loved the howard series of racers!!! i have watched the video of david flying the plane and yes it does slow it down!!! i really have'nt made up my mind on that as of this time i may glue them up and not worry about the flaps, i'm still working on the wings and have'nt gotten to that point. i'm thinking ahead of the engine honestly would like to keep everything inside and go gas but the fg series of saito's are out of the question and as of this time thats the only thing i can find that will??? thanks for your idea's.......

Bill Diedrich

Mike I have an RCS SV-26 that I have laid on the plans, it has a rear mounted carb
and the way the cowl is on the Pete the engine could be mounted with the cylinder
up-right instead of inverted, the only problem I could see is that the fins may touch
the cowl slightly and a custom exhaust would have to be made. I think either the
RCS SV26 or the Aerovate RCGF 26 would be a good fit as both have a rear carb set up.

BTW did you get all of the pics of the Pete I e-mailed to you?

Bill D.

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

I will check out the RCS SV-26 i happen to have the rcgf 26 in a seagull yak arf it'll fit but the exaust will stick way out of the cowl!!!! yes i did get all that you sent and i saved all of it thanks!!!!!!!!

Bill Diedrich

Mike I think both are real close in size, will look at the again tonight
what type of muffler do you have on the RCGF-26. I think if you can
fabricate a header similar to the one like is used in some of the Top Flite
kits (pic below) with a seperate can to the rear it might work.

Action Ed

I can't actually believe you are going to tell a builder that moving up to cutting your own parts and pieces is actually a step up or something actually better than using a laser cut parts pack.

I've been laser cutting parts now for the better part of 10 years and from the quality of the plans that most people have to work from I have discovered that the plans and the mistakes that people make cutting out the parts are some of the biggest reasons people get discouraged when they're trying to build a model airplane.

This is especially true in the area of the fuselage, when it's extremely important to build a straight fuselage with formers, doublers and bulkheads that are not symmetrical, making it very difficult to achieve a straight and true fuselage.

The same can be said for wing ribs, which is more important to have straight than the fuselage. Some of the complicated airfoils that are presented in tapered wing applications can be just as discouraging.

So just to set the record straight, if the laser cutter is any good at his job then a laser cut parts pack should not even be in the same category as a hand cut scratch build job.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Eddie,
I'm sorry if you took offense with my statement, as Imeant none. However, many builders do enjoy cutting the kit themselves and my statement was intended to say that laser cutters are a good alternative if people aren't ready to cut their own parts from scratch. Ihave built planes from short kits that you have cut in the past as well as I've cut my own planes as well, and Iagree that your short kits are all good quality and are a value to many builders. But I also like the time spent on my scroll saw cutting the parts out as I enjoy that part ofbuilding. Is either method right or wrong, heck no. The modeler is the ulitimate judge as to what is right or wrong with how they get the parts for the plane that they want to build.

So Iwill rephrase my statement,

Ken