CrazyIrishman

Do any vendors currently make a Stearman N2S/Kaydet kit in 1/8th scale? I would prefer to build from a complete kit (w/ cowling,windshields,hardware,etc)but an ARF or ARC version would be fine.

In the event a kit isn't available would anyone have 1/8 th scale plans?

I was told some time ago that a plan set from a larger Stearman could be shrunk down to the size I'm looking for. The plans from Nick Ziroli ( 77" Stearman) were mentioned.

When plans are downsized what changes must be made besides wood dimensions?


Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Marty
[email protected]


PS. I do have prior experience with smaller models but none this size or larger.

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

I am presently finishing up construction of a prototype kit release of a 1/8th scale Stearman, kitted by Kurt Bengston of AerodromeRC. It is designed for electric power, but the structure is pretty sturdy, and I think it would be suitable for glow if that's what your plan is. The kit is a "short kit" and is all lasercut.

Here's a link to his website and a pic of the framed up structure.

[link=http://www.aerodromerc.com]Aerodrome RC[/link]

Rick

CrazyIrishman

Rick,

Since this is a prototype kit at the moment can you tell me from your experience if anything needs to be changed or modified before this becomes a regular production kit?

With this being a short kit what other items do you need to complete it aside from servo's, motor, and covering?

I am currently leaning to electric power and using the covering that resembles real fabric. The color scheme I will most likely use would be yellow w/ red stripes as used by the Navy.

Thanks for LMK about Aerodrome RC. They have alot of interesting kits!!


Thanks again,

Marty

aka-CrazyIrishman

fledermaus

Is that the 48" Stearman that is currently on the AerodromeRC site? I too have been looking for plans or a kit for a roughly 40-sized Stearman, and your picture looks exactly like the kind of construction job I would enjoy - real building!

Did the short kit build nicely? I see that they warn that there could be some problems with their prototype kits?

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

I've recently completed the Stearman. Some photos of her are shown below.

The prototype kit built up pretty well, with very few modifications needed. Most of the changes I made were very minor, and more out of personal preference than any design flaw. Kurt Bengston is one talented and prolific designer. I have submitted a detailed log to him of all the things I found wrong or didn't like about the kit, plans, or design. They were all minor, but I wanted to be brutally honest and nitpicky so he can make the kit as good as it can be for production. If NO changes were made, it would still build well with little difficulty and be a great kit.

The kit comes with all the lasercut parts, like ribs, wingtips, fuselage formers and side pieces (you build a light ply box forward section that gets rounded formers and stringers around it for shape). The firewall, interplane struts, wing trailing edges, and rudder/fin and stabilizer/elevator are all lasercut and included.
The only wood you have to buy is sheet wood for the fuselage front, leading edge square stock, spruce or bass strip stock for miscellaneous fuselage cabane pieces, basswood for fuse stringers, various small sizes of square balsa strip stock for the main spars and rudder/stab interior framing, and of course 1/8" music wire for the cabanes and landing gear. Not a big list, really. Most veteran kit or scratch builders will have most of the wood already lying around. I even used some of the waste wood from the lasercut sheets to make some of the strip wood needed.

No hardware at all comes with the kit, but the plans clearly show what specialized hardware is needed, like Dubro metal landing gear straps for the interplane struts, etc. Nothing exotic is called for or needed. It's all common hobby shop stuff. There are laser cut control horns provided in the kit, and lasercut balsa and ply parts for making your own wheels, and even some foam rubber cord for tires is included. There is a lasercut dummy engine kit available separately, but I used Williams dummy cylinders for a more scale look.


What's most amazing about this kit is the finished weight. Mine came out to 68 oz., ready to fly. This is with electric power. That works out to about 15 oz/sq. ft. wing loading!

Here is a link to my build thread on RCGroups. It has some detail shots and building notes.

[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294474]Aerodrome RC Stearman[/link]

Rick

fledermaus

Rick:

Beautiful Stearman! That is the one I want to build too.

What power system do you have in it?

Awesome job.

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

I am using the recommended power setup, which consists of an AXI 2820/10 outrunner motor, a Castle Phoenix 45 ESC, and a Thunder power 3S2P 4200 mah LiPo pack.

If I were going to recommend a glow engine for it, I'd say a good strong .25-.35 would be plenty. A 4 stroke .40 would probably be OK too. The problem with going glow (besides the obvious mess and noise issues) would be the difficulty in reproducing the dummy engine, which IMHO is what makes or breaks a military Stearman.

Note that the plane was NOT designed for glow, but it is a pretty rugged design, and I think it would take the added stress with only maybe a bit of beefing up in the firewall area needed.

Rick

Bob Putnam

Rick -- just found this thread and saw the pix of your Stearman. I remember you saying, on another thread about Kyosho Super Stearman conversions, that you were going to build this plane. I gotta say, fantastic work!

Even though I'm only now nearing the completion of my Kyosho PT 17 makeover, the pictures of your project really make me want to start all over. I'm pretty inexperienced in the iron-on covering process, but I think I'm a lot better after this recovering job. I probably should tear it off and start right now, and it would look pretty good. It's OK, I guess, from 5 or 6 feet away!

I recall you saying you were waiting for instrument panels made by a guy on the RCU discussion group. Did you get them? I made my own, and it was actually not too hard. (photos attached) Someone with your skills would have no trouble making some beautiful ones.

More photos in following message.

Congrats on a nice job,
Bob

Bob Putnam

ALSO regarding the Kyosho PT 17 Stearman: I noted the cockpits are different sizes (aft one quite a bit larger). I don't think this is scale, and it was easy enough to fix by shortening the aft one.

I solved the problem of changing batteries without removing the wing by making a removable seat/floor unit for the forward cockpit. This is held in place by swiveling metal catches (actually made for mounting flying wires) which lock into little slots inside the fuse. Under this removable seat/floor, there's about 1 1/2" of space before the top of the wing -- enough for the receiver, wires, etc., to be suspended in soft foam.

With the seat unit out, I can just slide batteries forward into the nose.

Dunno how the balance thing will work out yet; fingers crossed that I can get enough weight forward,
Bob

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

Bob,

I ordered a custom set of panels from this guy: [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=90457]http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=90457[/link]

He sells here on RCU.

I did that simply as a timesaver, as there was a contest I was trying to finish in time for, and the panels would have cost me valuable time--that I didn't have-- to do myself. They came out okay, but I think yours look a lot better, judging from your photos. Mine are good enough for sport scale where you don't look too closely, but not much more than that. I may decide later to do a nicer looking set to enhance the cockpit's' appearance, along with some other details like you did. FWIW, the cockpit openings on the Kyosho PT-17 are way non-scale. Not only in size, but the shape is wrong, too. Look at some fullscale Stearman cockpits. The front of the hole is square, not rounded like in the Kyosho. The instrument panel sits just shy of flush with the front edge.

I stripped the fuselage covering off my NIB .40 Kyosho PT-17 ARF this weekend, and was SHOCKED to see all the extra WOOD in the fuselage! I guess I'm spoiled after building the Aerodrome kit. There is NO wood in it that isn't necessary. I guess that's why it weighs less than 4.5 lbs ready to fly, and is only a tiny bit smaller than the Kyosho plane. All the Kyosho coversions I've read about are in the 6 lb. + range. The Kyosho plane is way overbuilt, IMO. I will be chopping some of the wood out of it before I recover it.

I am building it just to have a knockaround sport version of the Stearman to fly.

Thanks for the comments on my AerodromeRC Stearman.

Rick