The other thing I don't like about flying with helis is that I can't hear the sound of my model's engine. But, anyway, as I said, despite there supposedly being "many members" in my new club, I sure haven't seen many. I honestly expect to be the only one at the field most days.

After thinking about this thread, my conclusion is random warps are not scale. Deep I know.

No progress on the Snipe, but I've flown the SE5a a few more times and am getting the feel for it. No one at the field to take in-flight shots, so here are a couple more glamor photos.

I like them a lot. You've got a knack for photography.

I am very impressed with the "look" of your model. Bravo!

Every now and again there are models that capture the spirit, history and essence of the full scale aircraft. This is with out a doubt one of those models. Glad you were able to get the bugs worked out.

Must say ....Don you did a marvelous job for a plane you built "In between" all the others...lots of excellent detail to savor...Just gotta love a serious SE5.

It is a class act.

Maybe that's because there are so few of them. The SE5a is one of the more frequently modeled WWI aircraft but the vast majority are either fun scale or while reasonable scale in terms of outlines, lack deetail. I still think the SE5 is an ugly aircraft ("flying tractor") but the details give it the all-business look of a classic fighter.

Regarding the Snipe, I've been going back and forth between just re-rigging one side (the left) and the idea of replacing all the struts and even the attachment points to make it more like the SE5a.

I need to look more closely at the strut fittings on the original.

One idea you might use for rigging ease is by making adjustable struts. Tap for threads appropriate brass tubing then epoxy into strut ends. A little blob of clay keeps epoxy out when putting into the strut ends. Your end fittings can be simple bolts, 'Z' bends or custom items soldered to threaded rod. The other end of your strut is fixed. Hope you get the Sniped sorted. It, like the SE, is a neat model!

The Snipe used the standard "cup" style strut fittings. That's what I'm going for cosmetically. What I have to work on my model is 2M bolts coming up out of the spar at the strut locations. Unfortunately, these bolts aren't at an angle but rather stick straight up/down. In other words, they aren't parallel with the strut. But I like the idea of putting brass tubes in the strut ends instead of using the current L-brackets (in slots). But the L-brackets were a good practical solution on what Chris thought of as "sport scale" model. I decided to do things differently on the SE5a (and the CI) because those aircraft used very different types of fittings.

For the "cup" fittings to function, all of the wires have to be attached to the cup (which is firmly attached to the spar) rather than the strut. The strut is quite literally held in place by the force of the rigging (since struts are in compression not tension). But I might be able to work something out. It might require silver-soldering a brass cup to the bolts.

Anyway, at this point, I'm still just rolling ideas around. So I suppose there's progress but nothing you can actually see yet.

Four more flights. Three and a half more landings. Finally a calm day after weeks of 10-15mhp winds. So up the SE5a went. I'm still learning its ins and outs, for example, turning with the rudder also requires significant elevator to keep from diving. And it'll definitely turn tightly. No loops or anything fancy yet, but it turns well in either direction and flies hands off. I managed two flights several weeks ago, and two more today. The first take-off wasn't the prettiest; it really needs a long, scale run. The landings was smooth as butter. A real joy to see with a WWI bird. The second take-off was just about perfect, but as you can see, the landing wasn't pretty. It came in just a tad too hot, with the tail just a tad too high...I was fighting a bit to keep it steady in a sudden gust...and then the wheel may have hit a divot in the field. Well, it flipped right over and torn off the rudder. The rudder itself seems undamaged. But I'll have to dig out the remains of the three Robart-style hinges. Some of the rigging wires were tugged out of position, but that's probably just a matter of pushing the cabane struts back in place. More annoying is that one of the Flair wheels seems to have split.

Extracting broken hinge points.......
1. cut off exposed knuckle of hinge
2. bevel the inside edge of a brass tube (a size that just fits the barbed end of the hinge) and put a couple or three cuts in the end of the tube and use this improvised tool for drilling out the broken hinge

I have used this on more than one occasion and it works for me.......

I was hoping someone would have a trick for this!

Could have been worse.

Based on these pictures I'd say that Don simply executed a "Scale Maneuver". In a well-judged contest he should have gotten bonus points for that landing.

Dick