RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Has anyone done the removable wing mod Bob shows in the manual? Did it work well? How did it stand up over time. I am using foam wing cores. How wide did the center section of the plane with the wing stubs wind up being?

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Bob,

As mentioned above, I'm not sure how much room there will be for a full cockpit...I do plan on scratching something together though to at least make an attempt at a cockpit-ish "look". :)

As for pilots, I'll be using two figures, as 71-0291 was an A/B trainer with 2 seats. For reasons that are likely obvious if one reads post #28, the pilots will be painted to resemble my father and I, with dad in the back seat. :)

As for size, I agree...1/10th or so looks about right, but I'll make that decision when I get there. :)

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Just got off the phone with Bob...what a pleasant and helpful fellow. Quite pleased to find a guy who still answers his own phone, and will take the time to answer any questions, and even talk a bit of airplane. :)

Learned my nose assembly was, indeed, shipped yesterday, and pipe/fan order will be shipped when fans are back in stock (a couple of weeks).

Bob even accepted an invitation to swing by our field and fly Eagles next time he's heading for Florida. :)

All in all, a good experience, and the call went a long ways to restoring my faith in the man.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

I've found Bob Parkinson to be the same way. He has been very patient and open with me over the last 12 months it has taken for me to decide to finally take the jet plunge. I've talked to him a number of times, emailed him a good bit. I can't say enough for him. He's the kind of guy its nice to have in the hobby. I really respect that he has remained true to ducted fan and to the grass roots level of jets... hmmm, grass roots, off grass planes.... yea, well, I never said I was funny, that's my wife.

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Wheee :)

Well, fan and pipe are both finally on their way. Since Bob was backordered on the fan, he was kind enough to allow me to cancel that portion of the order, and will be sending the pipe within the next day or so.

I then learned that JMP had the same fan unit in stock, so just ordered it a few minutes ago, and was told I should have it Monday or so.

:)

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

If you firm up your weekend building schedule, send an e-mail or PM here and I'll pay you a visit.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Hey tom,

Can't send you a PM, system says you can't receive them. (???)

Going up to Pa in a bit this afternoon (around 3:30-ish) for just a little while, going to dink around and see what I can do this weekend.

Then going to go up there right at 10:00 tomorrow, to spend several hours on wings and stabs. :)

Hope to see you up there.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Got a tiny bit more work done this evening...once again, I forgot the camera (sigh), so I'll get some pics tomorrow.

Tonight's work inluding mounting the lower pair of tailplane supports, and marking the wing cores to cut the slot for the wing spars. Mike's going to take the wing cores home tonight and cut the slots.

Tomorrow's plans include putting the LE, TE, and wing skins on. Might get to temp mounting the wings, so we can align and mount the upper pair of tailplane supports as well. If the nose fuse assembly arrives tomorrow, we'll work on it as well.

We're making a few minor mods to the plans where the wings mate to the spars and fuse that should increase the overall stength of the wing->fuse joint...will detail those with pictures and documentation tomorrow.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Wheeeeeeeeee....

Ya know, days like yesterday make ya wonder why you got into this in the first place. Oh well, at least we got SOMETHING done.

First, the serious portion:

Roughly halfway through the day, I mated the wing cores up to the fuse, to test the fit and alignment. This was the first time I'd been able to do this with the spar slots cut in the cores.

The cores mated up to the alignment pins PERFECTLY...BUT (you knew one of those was coming, didn't you?) the spar was TOO LOW! The spar was a good 1/4" below where it should have been to enter the wing.

????

HTF did THAT happen I'm thinking???

Ok...those of you building a RECENT RE kit, pay close attention to this part...I just got off the phone with Bob this morning, and he confirms that the following is likely the issue:

The MASTER plan shows a dashed line for the spar slot in the side view. This plan indicates the top of the spar slot will be just barely below the 1/4" string on the inside of the fuse. THIS PLAN IS CORRECT, and should be the reference used when locating the spar on the main spar mount (which doubles as a fan mount for pusher fans, btw)

However, in the insturction book, a NEWLY UPDATED figure, titled "New High G Spar Assembly" is provided. On that drawing, the top of the spar is dimensioned (please note: This is not a scale drawing...what I'm giving you here is a labeled dimension, not a measurement) at 5/8" from the top of the spar mount. Using this measurement will result in the comparison between alignment pins and spar shown in the attached photo.

Note that the pin SHOULD be aligned with the CENTER of the spar, not up near the top as it is. Following the location for the spar slot on the MASTER PLAN will provide the correct location.

After our conversation, what Bob and I both suspect is that this newer drawing SHOULD have been dimensioned at 5/16", not 5/8"...I haven't confirmed that by measuring off on the master plan, but will try to do so tomorrow.

Anyway, in speaking with Bob, he's advised that vertical placement of the wing, in relation to the fuse, is not critically important. As a result, we MAY decide to simply cut off and remount the alignment pins, and move everything (including the tailplane supports) down a bit, since that would prove to be easier than removing the epoxied spar assembly. However, I'm still giving a great deal of thought to the latter, since I we're already having to "work around" the earlier spar width issue...to be honest, I probably won't be happy with myself unless I just do the work to remove the spar assembly, cut new spars to correct width, and remount at the correct height on the fuse. That whole "if a thing's worth doing..." thing.

In any event, onward we moved. We plaed a call to Bob to ask about the issue, but he wasn't home so we left a message. Deciding we couldn't just waste the entire afternoon, we figured we might as well get the wings skinned. How hard can it be, right? Some double sided tape, slap a wing skin down, poof.

Here's a note to you future builders: The tape Bob sends? Umm...it's tape from the very 7th layer of Hell itself. It doesn't just stick things together, it reaches out through the ether and SUCKS THINGS INTO ITS GRASP. And believe me, once it has something in its grasp, it is VERY VERY reluctant to release it. Think fly paper on steroids here, folks.

It is for THIS REASON, that I offer the following 2 pieces of advice when applying wing skins:

1) Use 2 people. Yes, one CAN do it just fine, but it's just much easier if one of you is aligning the skin, and the other is focusing exclusively on NOT LETTING THE SKIN TOUCH THE TAPE UNTIL READY.
2) Make sure you both know which one of you is doing which task. :)

Trust me...by the time you say "Don't let the skin touch the..." it'll be WAY WAY too late. And trying to remove the now misplaced skin from the tape only makes matters worse. Much MUCH worse.

Well...ok...it wasn't THAT bad. We DID manage to get the skin back off, and with iiat's help, cleaned the gunk from it...and the core was still in fine shape, so we were able to make another attempt, this one far more successful.

It was a pretty humorous site though...later.

Ah well..

I DID at least manage to remember the camera this time, so the blog at http://bluesconvert.blogspot.com has been updated with a few pictures. There's also some detail there showing one of the mods we made to the wing cores, lining the spar slot with 1/16" balsa.

Oh...and a picture of Fuzzy Butt.

Enjoy.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

hey bob sorry i didnt get back to you on your post #160 the reason i set my rossi upright in the r.e. is for easy access to the glow plug and the byron set-up the head needs lots of air for cooling i figured if i can stick the head just out of the hatch it will get all the air it wants for cooling as for the slits inside of the inlets is to help keep the pipe cool i ran my pipe up inside and under the turtle deck of the fuse the reason i went with the b&d retracts is that i got a hell of a buy on them normaly i would have put spring-airs in there or a air up spring down style
i have a question for everyone i was taught to do all of your putty work before you glass the aircraft(thats why i use drywall mud) why do you glass first then do your putty work after?? thanks donniercjet

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Donnierjet

Thanks for your reply. I thought the slits in the nose section were for pipe cooling. I agree, you want to fair as much as possible before glassing. Then only minimal filling is needed prior to painting. Would you use dry wall mud if you were going to coat the plane with a film, eg ultracoat or only if you are painting. Would seem like you could get into a possible seperation issue from vibration if you did.

I picked up my motor yesterday and ordered the retracts (Robart air up spring down). Also ordered the remainder of my wood from Lone Star Hobbies. Started patterns today. I'm still debating in my mind if I am going to paint it or do Bob's wing skins and ultracoat. I have two other difficult builds for this winter and time may dictate the later. Doing it the white and blue trim scheme would work out very well that way though.

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

I 2nd what gboulton had to say. I saw the plan and we both concluded that the 5/8" dimension on the updated "High G Spar Assembly" plan must have been in error. Glad to hear that Bob confirmed our conclusion. It's weird that this error wasn't recognized and corrected long ago?

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

I suspect it's nothing more complicated than the idea that most people will build from the master plan, and revert to the instruction book only in the event that the master plan doesn't show a dimension that's needed. To be honest, I doubt that's EVER the case.

As I said before about the spar width...had I checked the template sheet (which i suspect most would have) IT never would have been an issue either. Live and learn, I guess. :)

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Just wanted to jump in and share a little tip...I'm sure most of you are aware of this one, but just in case someone's not:

Decided to go ahead and remove the entire spar assemblies, and start from scratch to build them right. Removal was MUCH easier than I expected.

The spars had been epoxied into place with 45 minute epoxy. I figured removal would be a nightmare. However, I simply took my covering heat gun, heated up the epoxy for several minutes, and then carefully started working things loose. A couple of times I used an XActo to score the epoxy bead a bit, and presto....out came the spars, clean as can be. No repair will need to be done on the surrounding wood, and only light sanding will be required before putting the new spars in place.

Plans are to cut and assemble new spar assemblies tomorrow...and, time permitting, mount them into the fuse.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Gboulton, That is awesome news, and a great tip too. I had no idea epoxy could be detached wiht heat. Makes me want to avoid using it near anything hot! LOL

Excellent, you get to make your spars perfect. That's going to make you feel a lot better about everything.

Got double-sided tape? LOL

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Took the plane back to the LHS last night, having successfully removed the spar assemblies. Got started on new spars and spar mounts...I'm MUCH happier having decided to backtrack and do these right from the start.

Hoping to make some real progress this weekend, especially if the nose fuse arrives. Dynamax fan got here this week, and after admitting my complete stupidity to the good folks at JMP, they talked me through its assembly, so that should be fine.

If all goes well, by the end of the weekend, the thing MIGHT actually start resembling an airplane instead of a boat. :)

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

I have a question on the main gear mounting plates. How are you guys mounting them to the fuselage? The plans and the real plane show them slightly angled outwards. I dont' see much of a problem on mounting the outboard side of a ply plate, I am just going to epoxy a harwood rail to the inside of the fuse and epoxy and bolt the plate to that. What about the inboard end though? All I see is balsa on the bottom of the plane. Are you cross mounting a ply plate to attach to or maybe running a set of hard wood bearers accross the fuse and then bonding the inboard side of the plates to something on that? A ply piece all the way accross is going to weigh a ton. I just don't see much structure to mount to. What am I missing?

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Excellent question, Bob...had been wondering that myself, but thought it might become clear as I approached that point...looking forward to the answers.

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

On the road for business in sunny Tampa today, but the wife informed me today I shall be returning home to...

THE LONG AWAITED NOSE FUSE!

Yay! :)

There shall be MUCH building this weekend...unless I fly. :)

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

"...unless I fly."

Thanks for rubbing it in.

bob branch
Harsens Island, MICHIGAN!

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

:D:D

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Well, at least next Friday I'll get to fly some indoor electric. It would be no substitute if it were not such a hoot. We fly in an indoor hockey arena. ANYONE can fly in a golf dome. Try a hockey arena with the glass and the boards! Its the glass that gets ya. Imagine the fastest jet you have ever seen, then inverse the speed and then divide it by 1/10th to get the max speed a model needs to have. Nothing store bought is slow enough but we have created planes that work.

Meanwhile I have a fan issue with my OS .91. The folks at Iron Bay and I are trouble shooting it but it is going to hold me up a week or two while we get it debugged. So this weekend I'll hit kinkos and copy the plans and cut the parts. Then I have to await solution of the fan issue before I can proceed.

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

LOL.. you're cracking me up Bob. Not much cold here yet, but we've had a lot of wind down here all winter. You don't get any wind up there by the Lakes do ya? :)

Hope to see you this weekend Gordon!

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

Another question (I got a million of em!): I am using an OS .91 DF with a pusher fan (Byron.). I am going to mount the engine on the side like Bob's plans show and run a Macs .90 size pipe from the short exhaust header on the back of the OS that comes with the motor. How do I attach the pipe to the header? I have seen some kind of a retainer with a couple of spring straps that go around the motor. Is that what I use? And if so where to I get it". Or do I use Silicone tubing go over that short header with the thick silicone O ring that comes with the motor and attach with pipe clamps like you do with a pipe on a longer header? What do I need to use?

On another item, I picked up my retracts today. Starting to run out of excuses except for the room addition that starts a week from Monday. The builders say they won't interfere with my shop area, they just want me to pull all the planes off the wall so they don't displace any as the open the roof and take out old and install new roof joices. Great, where the heck do I put all these planes now? Maybe I can take em to Ford Field and store em there. I understand it will be empty on Monday. WE certainly won't be having a football team in there.... WE don't have a real football team in Detroit. ;-(

Well, at least we have a REAL HOCKEY TEAM in Detroit. :-)

bob branch

RE: Regal Eagle - A Journey
 

bob

page 3 post 70

thats how i built my main gear mounts for my r.e. the only thing i didnt do was to angle or "toe in" the retracts inward about 5-8 degrees (so the wire in the retracted position is pointed inward to get the wheels inside of the fuse) i set my 1/4 ply mount on the 1/4 by 1/4 stringers against the fuse and held the inside of the mount flush with the bottom of the fan mount its only 3 or 4 degrees but when the gear is down its quite alot i also put a triangle mount vertically up the side of the fuse just to give it more support for those not so perfect landings on the last page of your instruction manual figure 17 shows a drawing of the main retract mount i just dont think that the bottom sheeting will be strong enough to hold the mount thats why i added the triangle support

my problem that im running into right now is where to mount the fuel tanks i plan on installing 2- 11 oz. saddle tanks 1 on each side of the fuse but the wheels are in the way in the retracted position im trying to stay away from in front of the fan and stay as close to the c.g. as possible any ideas?? i think if i would have "toed in " the retracts in the mount i could have put them tight to the fuse sides and the wheels might have cleared them
any ideas lets hear them

thanks donniercjet