I-fly-any-and-all

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I cant find yor video... searching your email didnt work for me a link would be helpful.
Thanks

scale only 4 me

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PEnVJd7BJA

ShaneSunday

Well hello ladies and gentleman.
 This is my first post in these forums but I have been lurking around for a year or so. I have to say it is fantastic to see so many people building these royal models. I had thought I was the only one these days. I am in the process of rebuilding the PT-17 stearman. the previous owner built it like a brick and it was full of this wett soaked in oily stuff? Some say it's what drives these contraptions. Well not when I'm done. Veggy power all the way!  It has to be said that the favourite is the p-38 here though. Funny enough it is what lead me to buying the royal plans so I could build one myself. Doesn't come with former or rib paterns though.

Also seem another favourite is the zero. Wow some of the builds of the zero are just fantastic. Well I just wanted to say hello and I will share some of the PT-17 steerman picks when she is done.

Cheeers

Shane

scale only 4 me

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Shane, welcome and I'd love to see some pics,, I miss my Stearman,, I shouldn't have sold it

pics in my gallery and here
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...er%20Stearman/

Riddle4U

Yer bloody welcome here mate (my best old world impression). Good luck with the P-38 dream, plenty of people willing to assist with info for you on this site. - Eric (thread author)

ShaneSunday

Hey there Fellas thanks a lot. It's nice to feel welcome. Scale only, I have yet to get this girl ready for flight. I've heard a few things about her and I've seen as much video as I could find on the royal kit which isn't enough. So far though I've heard she is a bit of a heffer but has no real vices aside from the fact that she is no glider. This concerns me a little because she will be caring about 2 1/2 lbs of battery in her forward fuse along with the expensive scorpion motor. Yours by the way is a thing of beauty nice colour scheme and I like the fact you put the cowl on it. Not something a whole lot of Stearman enthusiast would do. Vivla difference! You'll just have to build another one. Remember, time is a magazine...

Just a couple pics I have. I'm still working on covering the wings and I need to get a warp out of the top one. I hope you like them. and thanks again

Shane

ShaneSunday

I had this old girl given to me which I was very excited to get. When I finally picked her up I found she had 15 years of dust and grease all over it. It was originally covered in solartex and when I pealed it all away I removed almost 2lbs. I also removed another 1 3/4 lbs of lead out of the nose. I made swiss cheese of the formers closer to the rear. I tore away the cover on the tail feathers and sanded them down to take even more weight off of it. The UC was made from a couple oak trees or something. I had to cut them off and move the wire to a more forward position as the wheels were too far back. Now they are closer to straight if not a little forward. The fuel soaked underbelly was rubbed with de-greaser then gently heated with a blow dryer to bring out more of the oil. This worked a treat but still the belly needed replacing anyhow. I've tried covering with litespan which is incredibly lite but I'm far too rough for such a finish. I covered one wing then proceeded to put my finger through it. it's great on the tail surface so lets keep those fingers crossed. I'm taking the wing over to a friend to get the warp out. Once that's done it's servos electronics and cosmetics. Also I'll need to finish the handsome fellow who will sit in the office.

So you know... Be done in two shakes.

LesUyeda

"the fact that she is no glider"

Biplanes are not gliders; hardly any of them. They have way too much drag, especially after you get all the rigging in place.

L:es

scale only 4 me

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True,, it's a drag thing, not a wing loading issue,, they actually fly very slow for take off and landing. Just it hits a wall on landing if you try and land it without a little throttle and use only elevator to flair.. Just remember to use the throttle to land and you'll be fine.

I had to add near 2lbs to the nose with a ys120 up there,, My first flight I didn't really believe the CG location on the plans,, Big mistake,, after I added the weight to get it right where the plans called for it flew like a dream.

good luck

ShaneSunday

Thanks for the advice Scale. I'll get back to work on her when I get a bit of free time. As it is I've been doing minor repairs and just making sure everything is airworthy for the weekends. We don't get too much good weather here and when we do it's out to the flying field.

Cheers guys.

smithcreek

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Almost there, should be together in a week or so.

ShaneSunday

here are a few photos of the wings covered. I might paint the ailerons but a buddy says they will help with orientation as it's an all silver air frame.







I tested the motor and it tore it's self from the fire mount. I may have to reinforce that. When building a stronger mount I then had to build another fire wall to mount to which then forces me to rebuild the faux muffler. I got all of this done and fitted to the model only to find my batteries won't fit in now. So some rethinking needs done there as well. but so far....

scale dail

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Wow! that P-26 Peashooter is looking REAL good!!! That could be my favorite Royal plane I have seen on this thread!

I test flew one for a customer back around 92' it was his first plane, and it was great, until the engine quit. I got it turned around pushing the nose down and the steeper I dived, it still would not pick up speed. Not much left for the flare over the runway, it flipped on its back with the head rest crushed in and the top of the rudder got scraped. Never saw the guy again. I hope that did not kill the hobby for him, his Peashooter was very nice too.

I-fly-any-and-all

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Wow that steerman sure looks nice!

smithcreek

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I was telling my friend who is also about finished with a Royal P-26 that I've only read stories from two people that flew them. You must have described your experience before, maybe earlier in this thread or on another thread, because it was one of the two I told him. The other story was a horror story about "worst plane ever" but I figure the guy was either a poor builder, poor flyer or both. He said a few things that were just plain wrong. He said the plane was short coupled. Well, if you can't tell just by looking, get out the tape measure and it's not. It has a short nose, but not short coupled by any means. He also said the airfoil was inadequate. Not sure what gave him that idea, it's a Clark-Y or something very similar from what I can tell, probably the most widely used RC airfoil there is for good reasons. Anyway, I'll find out soon enough. All the markings are done including some dry transfers I found for the nomenclature. I just need to clear coat then assemble. I don't have any doubt it will take off and fly well, landing might be interesting. I just have this feeling that it's going to have some weird tendencies like an AT-6 or something. Well, only one way to find out. I'll try to get video and post it when it happens. I'll definitely be waiting for a perfect no wind evening, but the first time that happens it's a go.

scale dail

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I do have some time on SCALE p-26's with scale dimentions, not these tweeked and stretced ARF's that you see at some flying fields.

More than one had a little problem with the gear forks compressing and the bottom of the pant scaping the ground and causing that side to "trip" with the plane on its back. Take off was not so bad with good prop blast over the tail and rudder. The big problem with the P-26 is a high CG. It is way up high making it top heavy on the ground. Also in the air you must use a lot of rudder in the turns. The one that I had flew kind of like a helecopter, you had to rudder the tail around, like the rudder was not big enough.
Landing is the really bad part. Any hard streering will result in a "trip" and over she goes. I had to reinforce the head rest for the weight of the plane. Best to fly when there is a good headwind.

smithcreek

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Scale P-26, yeah there's that one ARF that is just embarrassing, I think it's from CMP. What a fugly piece of crap. Hardly recognizable as a P-26, but hey "it only took me 15 hours to BUILD".

Are the pictures you posted a Pepino P-26? Looks very nice. Looks like a really thick wing. The Pepino is a nice size also. I've seen several of the Pepino P-26 and the only thing I don't like is the fuse in front of the cockpit. It has a weird honeypot shape that the real plane just doesn't have.

No problem on the rudder, I fly most of my turns with more rudder than anything else. Did yours have flaps? We put in the two scale flaps on each side. They aren't huge flaps but I'm hoping they will let it slow down a bit, bouncing on a landing is my biggest concern. I get the feeling with any bounce it will tip to one side then depending on the speed, cartwheel, nose or flip over. Oh well, if we didn't want a challenge to build or fly we'd have never built anything but 4-stars!

scale dail

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Do not know who's plans but NOT pepino. I later added scale flaps. 70" span 20 POUNDS[X(][X(][X(]. 1 out of 3 landings ended up on its back. Mine was too heavy. That made the top heaviness worse. It was scarier than my F-104 to fly! I'm too old for such stuff!
The model is in the March field mueseum now. Any scale P-26 needs to be light. Shorter ground roll and lower CG.

scale dail

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He flies pattern and jets! Ha! Ha! Ha! The P-26 is a different animal! They did not wait for the afternoon wind to fly it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSKsqKlMX4

saramos

Hey Cory, I saw your plane at March this past weekend! Stopped by there to take photos of the Beech 18 (C45).

Just picked up a Royal Cessna 182 last week for a hundred clams.

Scott

scale dail

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I am glad it is still there. But museum people are not very kind to models.

smithcreek

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After fiberglass but before paint it weighed 12 lbs, so I'm guessing it will be about 14 pounds with a 67" wingspan. The balance was good before paint, hopefully that won't change too much. That Williams Brothers dummy radial works out nice as ballast. All in all that's a pretty decent weight for 870 square inches of wing. I've seen that video of the guy trying to fly the P-26 before. Don't know where to start on what he did wrong, so many things to choose from. Blasting the throttle without any taxi testing has to be my favorite though.

scale dail

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All I can say Smithcreek, is fly it with a little head wind. Sounds like your in good shape with the wieght. Nice Nice job on the airframe!

saramos

I recently had a long conversation on the subject of models at museums with Dave Platt. I've been involved in some projects with the Connecticut Air and Space Center. One is their desire to acquire a scale model of the OS2U Kingfisher. I knew that Dave had built one and contacted him in regards to his source of information. He was extremely generous and sent me all his original 3views, model plans, doc book, and other related reference material. We also discussed his model. He's had some issues in the past with the treatment of models donated to museums, and now would not consider making a donation, but would be willing to sell to a museum. Not for the money, but to insure that the model would be properly appreciated and cared for.

smithcreek

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Should be done today. With all the major components except the battery mounted she weighs in at 13 lbs and is pretty close to balances, so I'm happy. With the battery and a little ballast should come in at 14 just like I hoped. I built this as part of a "group build" with other guys in my club. We started out with six of us, now it looks like only two of us will finish the planes. The other guy just needs to install his batteries and balance, so I am going to wait to fly it until we can get together for a photo shoot with the two of them together. That should only be a few days. The evenings have been good for flying lately, the wind drops off to nothing around 6pm, so it shouldn't be long until the maiden.