Hi All,
Does anyone know the diameter of the fuel gauge ,hanging under the top wing, on a full size Stearman? Also, how about the size of the knobs on the throttle? I am building the 87" Ziroli Stearman and am thinking about adding these items and want to get the size correct.
Thanks
Jim

Send a PM to Jeff Foley, if he doesn't already know he can go out to the airport and measure his on "Ole Possum" for you.

Thrushdust,
I did a search for Jeff but come up empty. How do I contact Him?

Jim

Top of page this page click on - RC Community - R/C People & Places - Members - search - Jeff Foley - Roanoke Rapids, NC - send PM

The fuel gauge glass is roughly 3/4" diameter and about 8" long. The knobs on the throttle quadrant are about 2" for the throttle and about 1-1/2" for the mixture. These are guesstimates based on comparing them to nearby items like wing tapes and fuselage tubing. It's been about a year and a half since I rode in the blue/white one, with the "Recall" one on our wing, over downtown St. Louis.

Jim, you're from Il? The pic of the Stearman parked in the grass is at a grass field in Belleville, east of St. Louis.

Khodges,
Thanks for the pictures and sizes thats helpfull. I live just south of Chicago. I am probably about 5 hours from you.

Jim

Jim I have a way of making glass rods from resin if you're interested. Here's a sample of something from my Camel build.

Don't forget the rear view mirror and it's fairing!

Bob,
How did you make the parts out of resin? I could cast the fuel gauge out of epoxy but my epoxy is yellow color. I could order some glass tube from Small Parts. Let me know how you did it.
Jim

I actually live in western NC. I was at the American WACO Club fly-in in St. Louis (Creve Coeur Airport) in July 2007. There were a bunch of Stearmans there also. I have a few more Stearman pics if you're interested. Here's another of the rear-view mirror and fairing from the front, like Thrushdust mentioned. On Saturday, there was a fly-out from CCA to a residential airpark in Belleville where one of the WACO owners lived. It was awesome flying over downtown St. Louis. We had to stay below Class B airspace so we were at about 1200 feet. There were radio towers to our south that were higher than we were.

The guy who owned the "Recall" Stearman had two other planes. One was a beautiful T-6 Texan, and the other was........ well, it's a lot faster than either the Texan or Stearman, and there's not much fabric on it.

Jim I used a product called Cast'n craft, Clear casting resin. It's available at Michaels crafts.

The IMPORTANT part is finding a suitable tube or shape to cast your parts in. For the domed shaped part I used a pill capsule of the right size. I used a syringe body for the bank indicator. You need something that you can pour the resin into and then you can either push it out or destroy it. That way you'll have a smooth outside wall on your part. Other wise the resin won't be smooth.

For what you want you could use a plastic drinking straw or similar object.
Give it a try, its easy and you'll have exactly what you need.

Hi Jim,

I spotted this thread a few days ago, but have been too busy to get out to the airport. I will try to get you some measurements in a day or two.

Jeff Foley

I'll go down to the hangar and measure mine tomorrow.

Best Regards,
Flak

Flak,
Thanks, that would be great. I am also interested in the rib that runs down the center of the top wing center section. how tall is it and what is it for?

Jim

Jim,
I just returned from the hangar. Here are the photos and measurements. BTW, the round thing under the top wing is the mirror used by the instructor to view the horror on the face of the student. The fuel guage is a clear tube hanging vertically. You can see them both in the photos. The face of the mirror is 4 3/4" diameter with a metal ring around it that has a a 5 1/4" O/D. the ring is about 3/32" thick. The morror housing is cone/bullet shaped like an old 30/40's headlight bucket. It is 5 1/2" deep from front to back. The fuel guage is a clear tube 6 1/2" in length and about 3/4" diameter. It goes into a plug about 1" from top to bottom. The throttle knob is about 1 1/4" in diameter. The ridge is actually a removable curved square piece of channel that is 1" square on top of the wing that is bolted to two square mounts. This appears to be a support for the fuel tank that is in the center of the upper wing. I do hope all this helps out.

Best Regards,
Flak

Flak,
Thank you very much for measuring and posting the fine photos. This information is very helpfull. This Stearman is the first real scale project I have undertaken and I am trying to keep it somewhat accurate. I will post a few pictures when I complete it. If I get it done in time I might try to take it to Toledo.
One last question, is there a wing walk on the lower wing on both sides of the fuselage or just one?

Jim

The wing walk is on both sides.

The support bar on top of the wing was originally there to help hold the fuel tank in place. The tank bay was open and after it was discovered that rain water was collecting in the center sections and rotting them....an AD was issued to cover the section. One of the very few AD's ever issued for the Stearman airframe. It is built like a tank.

Jeff

Yes, the wing walk is on both sides....better be, as I was on both sides taking the photos...LOL! When the weather gets warmer, I'll pull the PT-17 out and do a "Walk Around" and place it in a new thread for everyone's benefit.

I am a member of the CAF (Commemorative Air Force) "Heart of America" wing at #6 Aero Plaza, New Century, KS. 66031 (The Old Olathe Naval Air Station). We also have a PT-19 Fairchild, Two BT-13 Vultee Valiant Vibrators, One L-19/01 Bird Dog, One L-2 Taylorcraft, and a J-3 Medical Ambulance Aircraft with the hatchback ond stretcher carrier. All of these aircraft are fine R/C project choices. Give me an incoming message if you want to know about becoming a CAF member.

Speaking of "Ghost Squadron"; when I first walked in the hangar, there was a heavy dew in the air, as the outside temperature was about 61 deg. and the inside temp. was probably much colder. This gave a smokey look in the hangar. For a moment, I thought I heard Glenn Miller's band playing and voices (softly spoken, the words undetectable) coming from the area where the aircraft and vehicles were parked. I was the only "Living" soul there at that time. This is why I truly love and enjoy my hobbies.

Best Regards,
Flak