Friday, February 28, 2014

How to braid rubber motors

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Lanzo Stick


Optional "Cabin" with superimposed rib template.  NB: Airfoil closer to that on MB plan than the Grant-8 typically shown.

John Pond plan showing a different airfoil

Saturday, February 22, 2014

¡Caramba!

An interesting line up of Old Time models from ¡Caramba!


www.carambamodels.com

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Stu Warner's Westburg WS-3 Pursuit (part 3)

It now resembles a flying bird cage.

There are 30 stringers requiring 318 glue joints. That doesn’t include the glue joints in all of the 3/8” X 1/8” strips used to form the cowl. I would estimate that I have broken at least 1/4 of the stringers so far - and I’m not done yet!

The weight so far seems good at 29.8 oz for all that you see. How does that stack up with other contest models?

Monday, February 10, 2014

Korda C Stick II

The Korda “C” airframe covered with the same material used to make The Emperor’s New Clothes, 1/4 mil clear mylar. I have never kept track of weights much as a model progresses but decided to do it once before the final thermal. I will weigh everything again after the Japanese tissue is applied over the mylar. This is a fiddly, somewhat frustrating thing to do, tissue over mylar, but the end result is worth it. You definitely have to think long term to suffer doing this. Here are the weights, before mylar and after the mylar is applied. Before mylar, fuselage, 14.0 gm/.49 oz; wing 13.8/.48 oz; stab, 4.4/.15; rudder, 1.7/.08 for a total of 33.9/1.18oz.. After mylar: fuselage 15.9/.56; wing 16.9/.59; stab, 5.6/.19; rudder, 2.1/.07 for a total of 40.5gm/1.41 oz. So the mylar did not add much weight, 6.6gm/.23oz. If I want to reach my goal the tissue plus front end cannot be more than a hair over an ounce.

Cheers, Karl Gies



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Jasco Flamingo V

Have now finished as much as I can on the fuselage. Will be starting on the wing next. This has a very enjoyable build, and has really help pass this horrible winter.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Korda C Stick I


My Korda “C” Stick already to cover. The weights so far: fuselage 14.0 gm./.49 oz.; wing 13.8/.48; stab 4.4/.15; rudder 1.7/.06; prop 6.3/.22; nose block w/bushing 4.8/.17 for a total of 45 grams/1.57 ounces. I hope to have a finished weight of about 2.5 ounces. I will cover it with Japanese tissue over 1/4 mylar and the prop will be fiberglassed. It already has 25 lb. nylon leader material glued around the edges. Good tip from Phil Klintworth, rough the nylon leader material up by pulling it through a piece of sandpaper folded over. It is then glued it to the prop edges with Ambroid, Duco or some other model cement. This will keep the blades from being nicked up. The motor will be twenty strands of 1/8 FAI and this might sound like a lot but this is a 17” diameter prop. This model was built from a Holman/O’Reilly short kit with excellent wood. I might build another wing and see if I can get the weight down a little bit. This seems a little heavy for the wing to me. It is prime building weather here in Lewistown, Montana, last night got down to 32 below zero and tonight it is down to 18 below at 9:15 p.m. 
Cheers, Karl Gies





Jasco Flamingo IV

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Buzz 400

Hi Tom,

Here's the Buzz 400 progress so far.
I cannot glue the top and lower hatches to the fuselage until I can connect
the wires to the Speed Controller for the proper rotation of the prop. In
order to do that I need a male Deans plug, which has to be soldered to the
speed controller, and also a 7.4 volt 1300 mah lipo battery. Both items are
on order.

Things to do: Sand wing, stab,& rudder. Install servos and pushrods, check
for proper movement. Sand fuselage.

Wait for delivery of items. Also wait for the covering material you are
going to send.

I may start building the Bob Aberle Minnie Mambo.

Bucky