built a spitfire
 

This is a balsa craft spitfire kit for either electric or glo, I made it an electric but because Im still into Nimh batteries It came in like a lead slead, I wish I had the Lipo set ups with charger and all, it would be better with the less weight ,flys nice and its twitchy at slow speeds,dont know how to fix that, I think its charateristic because of the small tail .:cool:

Steve,
The parties have started. Didn't you get invited?
Have a great New Year. Got 4 WW1's to build in next 4 months. I'll keep you company.
Neal

I just came out of one of my two busy seasons. Finished kitting the wings to my Tripehound and stated two of them today. Also picked up the rest of the wood at 1/2 price sale at the local Hobby Lobby craft store. Going back for some more today.

Along with the Tripehound, I'm working on a Sterling SE5a. What a pain in the flying area (-: Was rummaging through my stuff and found a brand new roll of Supercoverite prepainted fabric in olive drab. Will probably try it on the SE5a.

Oh, by the way, I've found a neat and different scale color scheme for the Tripehound.

Haven't been able to maiden the Dr.1 as the weather went away on us here in Illinois.
Walt

Nice to hear from you guys!!! Walt, I got a Dare Tripehound kit for Christmas along with a Aerodromerc Fokker DVII. Guess I've got enough to keep me busy for awhile! About to leave for LHS (60 miles away) and get more CA and some covering. Plan on spending my weekend building. Walt, if you can, please post a video of your Dr1 flying. I'd love to see how that plane looks in the air! Steve.:D

Not bad! I got a microcoordinate table for Christmas plus I have a prototype kit of an Albatros Dr.1 on my building board. Guess what I have done this evening so far :D

RHONDAS.

What is your power setup.

The Pete Nicholson/ Balsacraft/ Ripmax/ World_Hobby Spitfire flys great with the right power setup.
http://www.oldpilotsairport.com/images/spitmk9_10.jpg

All the best for the New Year to all Wattfliers.

I'm feeling better!
 

Well Boys, I'm feeling better about this thread! :) Apparently there are several WWI builds going on or being started. Walt, please keep us up to date with the Tripe hound build. :) As you know, I have a small vested interest in it. Now that the holidays are done, I can resume my foamie DRI project. I am just coming off of a large Honey Do list (floors, painting, fix this, fix that) :eek: . Apparently none of you Guys have this problem that prevents you from building!! :D Well anyway, I am about half way through the DRI build. If I can find the digital camera again, I will post some pics. Also thought it would be neat to post pics of our workshops along with some of your storage tips/hints. I could use some new ideas. My shop is jammed full of essential stuff with the usual space concerns. :rolleyes: Any help would be appreciated. WWI Ace, are you feeling better too about the thread? Hmmm, what should I build next.....???? Keep building and flying those WWI planes. Martin

Happy New Year Martin.

Unfortunately my "Honey Do" list never ends. :(

I'm blessed with a Honey, who insists I Do take some time for myself (-:

Went back to Hobby Lobby Craft store yesterday with the wood list for my Debolt Swiss Bipe (not it's not a WWI bird, but I am thinking about using a round cowl) a clerk told me the 1/2 price sale was still on, but that balsa had never been a part of it. Selected my wood, went to the check-out and $80.00 became $40 (-:

Am keeping a photo record of the tripehound build, but thought I'd wait until I've got ten good ones before posting.
Walt

for those who are interested...i did a bit of a video of the Polk DR1.

its about 7 mb.

its a bit shakey...my usual cameraman wasnt available...

http://www.totalerc.com/videos/polkdr1lowrider23.wmv

Very nice Tim,
Very scale flight. It looks like it has plenty of power. The take off and climb out are impressive
Cheers,
Jay

Happy New Year guys....I've cleaned out the work shop, and am just now getting the D V111 ready to install radio and then cover...it's been sitting all winter waiting for another project to be finished...Power is going to be the new Eflite 60 outrunner on about a 2 to 1 reduction 6S4P lithiums ..
I'll post a couple pictures later this evening when it's put together. I've been kind of stalling a bit as I have to figure out a way to make the wire struts look like 1 1/4 " tubing ....any ideas?? I was thinking to slot some 3/8" dowels to slide over the wire struts.

Ron - plastic tubing? Much lighter and easier to fit and paint.

I got plans for a Pucara IA 58, late '60s twin engines argentinian plane.
Several doubts, I never build something like this before, I'll go slow, is a long term project. I didn't have a build manual.
Cheers, Alex

Gary:.......thanks on that...maybe I could slit the tubing and slide it over the wire, then ca the cut...hmmm.....I want it to look just like the tube that was originally used which was not streamlined in any way. On the DR1 I used 3/8" basswood dowels for all the struts, but I wanted something just a little more substantial in the strength department for the
D V111 wing. Once the fairing is figured out it's onto the axle wing then I can install radio and cover

Ron - the "purist" aeromodelling route, which is quite neat, is to soak some 1/32" balsa and wrap it round your 3/8" dowel, obviously grain lengthways (sorry, you knew that). Pi/D says 1 1/8" (Pi x 3/8) wide strips would be perfect once removed from the dowel and popped into position, then you could CA them closed.

That would definitely be pure aeromodelling (which I love)!!

Great VID TIM. Loved the takeoff and landing. Very scale like.

Garry...guess what...we must think somewhat alike on this, because that's what popped into my head just after I read your last post on this.
So...I'm gonna try it..I have lots of 1/32" balsa on hand...maybe I'll use ammonia on it to help the forming....if that won't work, maybe I'll try 1/64 ply....it works reasonably well, and is stronger as it has grain in two directions.other than that, I can build a box around the wire and sand it round..I used that method on my D V1..it's slow, but it worked.

Tim,
I'd love to see the video, but I&^%#$$&^ Explorer insists on downloading it as a text file and WMV says the url is wrong. Any help?
Walt

Just finished a nitro D-VII, (oops) Best scale drawings are available from Bob's Aircraft Documentation at 3114 Yukon Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Many pages when you order the three view. Two pages consist of drawings dated 19, Mar, 1918. Can't read German but the drawings are clear. Suggest stock #7252. Cost $5 + $5 shipping. Whole catalog only costs $10 and has lots of good WWI stuff. My next project will be the Bristol M1c and it will be epower. Will use the Balsa USA kit. 59" span and about 5 & 1/2 pounds. If you add up the drawings, catalog $10, and shipping you can get the works for $20. Catalog has many WWI listings of both photo paks and three views. Photo paks are quite expensive and don't tell you much about dimensions, etc. just colors.

Hey guys,
I need some leads on color schemes for the SE5a. I was surprised at the lack of info on google and Yahoo.
Walt

try putting http://www.totalerc.com/videos

into your browser...then right click on the video and select save target as:
\

or do like me and try out Opera...the best browser ever...

seriously guys, if you havent tried opera, you're missing out!

Tim.

Walt Thyng - - According to Bob's Acft Documentation item F-938 is SE5A restored original. Upper is Olive drab, bottom is linen. Two others listed as OD upper, one lower linen other lower is cream. Three view line drawings with documentation is item item 35204.

P:S The color package is item 2700-34 W/ gear,strut,surface detail, gun and instruments $29. reduced coverage 2700/14 $19. All plus $5 shipping.

ballgunner: (scary name in either sense) can't see spending $20 on a free airplane, especially when it's the "standard" SE5a colors.

Tim: still no luck. Got to the web site, but couldn;t find videos. Does Opera work with Macs?
Walt