This new build came about because of an OS FS 48 Surpass I've had sitting in the spare engine pile for about 25 years. It last ran on castor, which of course was now glue after all that time 🫤. Anyway it's now restored to its former glory and runs like a Swiss watch. I went to pick up the original cub so it would have something to drag through the sky, and my thumb went straight through the top. U.V and coro don't get on very well after 25yrs 🙂. Fortunately I still have a library of the core-flute designs from back in the Spadworld days. Including the Cub. Even managed to find a big enough piece of coro in the stash to get underway. It's a fairly new piece used to advertise the latest and greatest in cell phones....from 2003 😳. At least this sheet was stored out of the sun so 22yrs on it's as good as new.
So far the fuse is cut out with one major cock-up, I cut it with the flutes running in the wrong direction 🙄. But I'll make it work. Won't cut windows in to help keep it less fragile. The original wing has survived so one less thing to do. Mocked up it sort of looks right, so hope it sort of flies right. Was looking to make more progress today, but the weather was such that a trip to the field to convert 1/2 gallon of methanol into assisting climate change was needed. So that's what me and the Dominator did 😁.
Had photo's included in this blurb, but when I hit the post button I was told "10 posts before URL links can be used" So they will have to wait.

Ah. So here I go getting to 10 posts so I can add pictures. Post 3

Post 4....sorry for the repetition, but we'll get there.

Post 5....

Post 6

Post 7....Getting there...

Post 8

Post 9

Post 10. Now photo's can happen 🙂

Looking forward to photos. There were some interesting coros back in the day.

Well, the first fuse I cut with the flutes in the wrong direction, turns out I can't use. Made a mistake cutting the profile for the windscreen. So had to start again 🙄. The new one has the flutes in the right direction, and I could also implement a modification used in my original. Instead of cutting away the rear fuse pieces as per JJ's plan, Just cut the side profile and fold the remainder up to fit inside the fuse. This is glued and makes the whole thing quite rigid.The same for the front end. It saves cutting and gluing fiddly bits of Coro....The fuse is now all glued up. And the tail feathers were well and truly skewered prior to sticking...Wheels are also of course a consideration. The originals are good, but a bit small for the size of the plane. Some time ago I scored a bit of foam pipe insulation. About the right size for tires. Sketched up some rims and 3D printed them.They turned out very useful, and the first set have done multiple landings without issue on the Dominator. Don't know if they would be all that good on seal, but our strip is grass.The axles are made from 4" nails with an M4 thread cut at the end. No sign of bending even with several 'Arrivals' rather than landings 😁.Next stage will be the engine mount and associated guff to keep it attached to the plane. It's similar to JJ's design, but with an extra piece of wood attached to the drain pipe end. This will allow mounting everything without screws poking through from the outside....I hope 😳.So far, it's all going as expected. Sure hope it continues like that 🤞.
Will post the next update when progress continues, In the mean time, this is the before and after of the OS FS 48 Surpass which as mentioned does an excellent impersonation of a Swiss watch....Cheers
Pete' New Zealand.

I got a kick out of you making your wheels, in my OLD coro's I was making my wheels from pool noodles. ..I cant recall the plane I was building, but it flew well with some of the violent manuevers changing the tail to wing alignment on occasion !

It would go a bit out of trim if you really yanked it around. It was the aluminum C channel buil. Really would have loved to flown that airframe electric once..

Thanks Foodstick.
Yes, very happy with the wheels. Tried pushing the Dominator out of balance to see if I could make them whistle. But they don't. Guessing the insulation I'm using is similar to the pool noodles in texture with vague memories from the Spadworld posts. Very good on grass 👍. Have been side tracked with other projects at the moment, but have an idea of how to sort the drain pipe and engine mount to negate using screws. The idea looks GREAT in my head 🙂. How that works out in actuality is yet to be seen. Plus, my faithful old Hitec Eclipse 7 radio sucked a kumara 🫤. But had a just as old Optic 6 to replace it with. All of my batteries (Panasonic Eneloop) are at least 15yrs old, and their capacity isn't what it used to be. So rather than fork out for replacements, I've converted the radio to run on 18650 LiFe's. Have a truck load of tossed battery packs which when dismantled, usually show only one or two dead cells. The rest are OK. So the transmitter uses 3 cells. Knocked up a regulator to drop the voltage to 10.2v. Did the same with the plane which uses 2 cells and a regulator to supply 5v for the receiver. The regulators were made from salvaged parts from various dead things and all work very well. It was all free which is my favorite price 😁.

Hi Mgnostis.
Missed your earlier post sorry. Indeed there were some incredible examples from those days. The Coro spit is one I would like to have a crack at one day. Might make it a bit bigger than the original. Easier to keep track of with these old eyes 😊. Once the Cub is done, I will have 5 planes airworthy. The Cub, two Dominators, a Debonair and a balsa 3ch with an OS 15. I only have two Dominators as that is the most flown plane and there's always the possibility I might need the spare when another failed attempt to push the planet out of orbit occurs 🤔. Actually had to cut out another fuse about 2 months ago when the wing fell off while at about 50ft🫤. Turns out the wing is quite an important part. The only real carnage after the wingless fuse 'Landed' was the prop, spinner, firewall and throttle servo. Was so happy the engine (SC 46) survived I shouted it a new set of bearings. Rather glad I did as the ones in it were quire worn, rusty and noisy.

Unfortunately I haven't had time to do any more on the Cub. Although I'm retired, there seems to be less time now than when I was working 🫤. Something I've heard from other retired people. Did do a mock up of the engine support I'd like to use. Should work, but MAN what a pain trying to work out the angles for the braces 😳.Also, my welder decided to go on strike yesterday, so today I'll have to try and repair that 🙄.
Did however finally bite the bullet and upgrade my antique radio gear and now own a Spektrum NX8. So a bit of time spent learning the tricks to programming that up. A successful trial yesterday at the field with the Dominator coming home in one piece, so the radio gear I'm very happy with 👍.
Cheers
Pete' New Zealand.

Finally got a bit of time today to continue with the Cub project. Decided to change the way the engine and associated bits are being mounted into the fuse. The drain pipe and stand was just going to be a pain not only to fit, but also dismantle if needed in the future. So it's now going to be like this...Still more of a mockup at this point, but everything fits 🤗. Might only have one more day this week to continue, and then it's full on for a while. Back to the dairy plant I retired from to help a mate out with the winter maintenance 🙄. At lease I'll have access to their engineering shop should the Cub need a thing made. Always a silver lining 🙂.
Cheers
Pete' New Zealand.

The coroplast planes always had some unique aspects good and bad, But with work they were always kinda fun


Oh and I laughed a bit when I saw you had one of my old radios, the Optic 6... I had GREAT luck with that ole frequency changer on 72. Never had a problem with it..even if it was often called a DIAL A CRASH ! hhahahaah

Hi Foodstick. Never heard the term 'Dial a crash' with the Optic 6 😆. Although I didn't use it for long it never had an issue. Even with the bodged together battery system. The freq module was taken from the Eclipse 7 as it was inter changeable with the two units but works on 36Mhz. Can't beat a long wire transmitter 😁. However since the arrival of the Spektrum the only evidence from days of old is the hole in the tail there the Rx wire used to run.
Small progress with the Cub as this winter maintenance lark continues at the dairy plant. Only a couple of weeks 🤞to go, then I can get back to retirement. Which I miss dearly 😁. Have finished up the engine mounting setup.Hangs on with 4 screws up through the bottom which also clamps the inside and outside landing gear plate together....Also managed to get the front wing mount made and installed.Found a great source of 5-ply for nix. Cable rolls use it for the ends, Of course it's about the same quality as pallet wood, but fine for models 😊.Slow progress, but still progress none the less.
The last flight I had with the Dominator showed a resonance with the engine at idle. I'd heard it before in the past on other engines and something told me it was one of those 'Bad' noises 😳. After a flight I hit the engine cutoff switch and the engine stopped....Instantly. Turning the prop slowly by hand showed a jam up internally. Sure enough when I took the engine apart, the cause became obvious....Yep, one of the balls had broken. Fortunately the bearing still had the shield on so the broken bit was contained. It was a fairly new bearing as the original had done the same thing, only that time the broken bits went up through the cylinder causing all the usual carnage on the way. Including gouging a line up the side of the cylinder. But it still had compression...sort of...so I fitted new bearings to the old ASP46. Didn't notice the cylinder damage until the new ones were being fitted 🙄. But it ran well. Another new bearing has been fitted and it runs fine, but haven't had a chance to air test it due to work and weather. But not long now 🤞😁.
Cheers
Pete' New Zealand.

Well with luck🤞there is only one more week of maintenance upgrade left at the plant, then I can get back to the serious task of retirement. And as such, finally complete the Cub and see of it will defy gravity as anticipated 😁. In the interim I've changed the transmission fluid in the John Deere L110 ride on we use to mow the strip. As we bought this in January this year with around 700Hrs on it I gave it a full engine service, and we took the deck apart and completely overhauled that. You've seen it in the background of shots. There was no horror waiting on the magnet under the filler cap, so very happy that further dismantling wasn't needed 😉. Took it out last week for the mid winter haircut of the strip, and it was a flawless event. Tomorrow (Saturday) looks to be another very airworthy day, a week of which I've missed here in Hokitika being stuck at Colditz getting the new machines up and running. Confirmed by my flying mate texting me with things like "The wind sock must be broken. It's been hanging like a limp one all day" 😭. Oh well, one more week in purgatory......🤞.
Stay tuned!
Cheers
Pete' New Zealand.

Enough with maintenance, lets get on to the building