Fliers are always the best models.

Flipped over on my first (and only) landing today. Did some minor damage to the rudder, broke off the Lewis gun (but not the mounting rail), and loosened some of the wires. Nothing major but not something I could fix at the field either. It was a bit frustrating since I had to drive an hour and a half for one ten minute flight.

The landing approach seemed OK, but at the very last minute I realized that the tail was a bit too high and as the wheels touched it went over. Pure pilot error. I'm not yet used to the glide slope of this model and I'm also not used to how to visually line up my approach at this new field. I'm sure I came in a bit high.

Some of the wires were extremely loose and I wondered how that could be but then realized that the cabane struts had been pulled sideways ("apart"). This highlights a possibly significant fault with the way the cabane struts are mounted and how that works with my rigging. As things stand there is no side to side cross bracing on the cabanes as there would have been on the original. I didn't build any in. So side force (in particular down force on the landing wires as in a hard flopping landing or if the high dihedral wings get flipped over) will pull the cabane music wires out of their slots in the center section. That's what happened today.

On the drive home I was considering how to prevent this in the future and considered soldering a non-scale 2mm music from side to side (just under the center section). But then it occurred to me that if the wires had held and the wings had not be allowed to flex, perhaps the wings themselves could have sustained some damage.

It'll be flying again soon enough. But as I said it's a little frustrating to have to work on it again after only four flights. For what it's worth, the flight itself went well, and I extended the flight envelop a bit doing more radical turns and a few easy wing overs. It's still a bit skittish in the air, but that's mostly me not yet being able to exactly predict how it's going to respond to controls.

It's kinda fun being a test pilot when your feet are on the ground! Sure am glad your SE is a positive outcome. It sure is a good looking bird you did a great job on the initial build AND the re-work!

My SE5a ready to go again. All that was needed was to pop the cabane struts back in place and then all the rigging was fine. Then just a slight repair and strengthening to the top of the rudder and a bit of paint and was done. Now if the rain would just stop.

Meanwhile I also got myself a nice little ARF to fly on the windier days and just as one more model to fly after the long drive to the field. It's a model of the Brazilian Paulistinha P-56 which was an unlicensed version of the Taylor Cub. The ARF, from Modelcraft, is nicely built and finished, came with a lot of nice extras, and best of all was cheap (about $180). I already had the Saito 56 and all the radio gear. I've always thought that Cubs are good practice for WWI types. They can be a little funky in the air and you need to "fly them on the wing" and can't get too crazy with the aerobatics.

Next I need to put my Snipe back on the "refurbish for flight" table. It's been a long time and it has a few areas of hanger rash.

Wow going for the Snipe!

Ideally, I like to always have three flyable models at any given time. Because I think it's always likely that that number can be quickly reduced to one. The advantage of the ARF is that I can get EITHER the SE5a or the Snipe AND the ARF in the van at the same time. So that's a good 80 minutes of flight time, which is about all I ever want.

Here's a link to the part in my long Snipe build thread where I finally fly it:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-s...-build-74.html

Abufletcher, thanks for the link. I'm sure to use it in the future as I may build either a Snipe or fokker D-VIII in 2015. I heard a rumor at a Mad Patrol event last December that he may be retiring soon. I ordered the Snipe and Tripehound plans. I'm still wrestling with 1/3 Pup rigging. Appears perfect for top wing and lower wing roots. But my lower wing now has 1.5 degrees of "Wash-IN" at the tips. plan to fix this weekend with some strut sanding and wire tweaks.

Glad to see the SE-5A back up to combat strength in your squadron.

That Paulistinha P-56 looks looks an excellent bargain..and very nice looking.......Keep em flyin high

Cub are great fliers! They can do just about anything. I had a Goldberg Cub with a few mods powered with a Supre Tigre 60. It would lomcevak! I could fly that thing like I breathe!

I had to laugh (and cringe) a little that the ad for the Paulistinha ARF displays the Japanese "koreisha" symbol, which is used on cars to indicated an "aged person at the wheel." The implication in the ad is that this model is "so easy even old people can fly it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreisha_mark

Have fun 'old guy'! lol

Would have prolly been "so easy a caveman can fly it" but the caveman lobby has made grear strides in skill recognition these days.
Doc

First step in preparing the Snipe for flight was to check radio operation. And nothing. So it looks like there's a dead battery (even after several attempts to charge it in the model). So I disassembled the front end to be able to get at the battery and am charging it outside to be sure that it's not a switch problem. Some foam had turned crusty and also found a spider living in my Snipe.

As you can see the "business end" is quite crowded. It's got to be since the nose is so short. Balancing a model like this is really tough. That custom molded lead pancake you see is as far forward as it possible can be and even then needs to weight 850g (30oz). This is a real shame because without all this weight the model itself only weighs 3.5kg. I'm sure there are a few things I could have done to lighten the model from the cockpit back, but honestly not that much.

Anyway, I'm going to put my thinking cap on and see if there is anything I can do to lighten the model overall and also to make the model easier to service.

Silkspan on the tail feathers IF you can get the dope!

Honestly, I just don't think a few grams off the tail is going to make any real difference. Even if we accept the idea that each gram at tail adds 5-6 grams at the nose, that doesn't put much of a dent in that 850g weight. I mean I know if flies, though I don't really know how it might fly slowly, so I almost feel that any weight removed anywhere will help.

The best of the best can use 1/2 the paint and get the same results. I doubt you can do anything of reason as it sits now. I would skip redesigning the model; its done. A bigger engine is a good way to trade dead weight for something useful. I would start perfecting the alignment.

The reason the real Snipe could get away with such a short nose is that enormous 250hp, 220kg Bentley BR2 radial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley_BR2

Abu what's the wing area of the Snipe? At 9.5 lb it may not be all that "heavy" respectively. If the wing loading is reasonable then maybe TFFs suggestion of a larger engine to improve power loading is a good one. I realize space is a consideration and keeping things all inside is important but there may be something available that would work.
Doc

What made it tolerable was the tailplane trim. Those BMWs and Mercedes were 700 lbs.

Doc, I'm not sure. But there's quite a bit of wing. I had already gotten Chris to OK my upgrade from a 50-size engine to a Saito 72. I actually do have a Saito 82 sitting around which has the same exterior size as the 72. But I'm not sure I need more power. It flies, and seemingly flies well, a full throttle.

*****

I just checked on the area. The span is 63" and the chord is a bit over 10 inches. So that 630 x 2 = 1,260 square inches of wing...perhaps a bit less since the upper wing center section is smaller and has a gap. BTW, I never know if you've suppose to include the fuse gap on the lower wing in these calculations. I would assume not. So let's knock that down to maybe 1,200 square inches.

Using the calculation method given on this page that yields a wing loading about 18.6oz per square foot.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/inform...ng_loading.htm

So the wing loading is very good (light) but at 9.5 lb thats a lot for a 56, it may fly fine at wfo but there's nothing extra. I'd be a bit nervous running that close to the edge and if I could get the 82 in there without having to completely redesign the front of the airplane I'd go for it.
Doc

I guess I wasn't clear before. I already have a Saito 72 in the Snipe. Initially (as a 1/6 scale WWI biplane) it was to have the 50-size engine. But at 63" I felt that more was needed.

Yup. I mis understood completely, still a 72 pulling near 4.5 kilos is a lot of work. I had an Aeromaster bipe that went 9 lbs and I had an OS 90 4 stroke on it. totally different type with symetrical airfoils and such but even with the scale like airfoil it seems like more would be better. My rule for power is if enough is good then more is better and too much should be given serious consideration. My 1/3 scale Nieuport 28 weighs 37 lbs dry (about 4 times your snipe) and has a DA 100cc engine. I fly around at something less than 1/2 throttle and seldom exceed 1/2 even taking off but if I need to pull the nose up in a hurry a big dose of throttle makes it go as high as needed.
Doc