Thanks Bladerunner!! I guess I'm gonna end up building a Fokker DVIII Ben Buckle kit that I got from a good friend of mine. Should look pretty good chasing my club mates 1/6th scale PUP around!! Where's Scalercflyer and Biplane Murphy? Steve

I don't know where Marty is, but I was doing homework with the kids...LOL
And Making dinner. And playing Rummikub with the kids and my Gal.

Becoming quite the family man aren't you Murph!! Been flying any? Steve

Yep....All kinds of homework (which I thought I never had to do again...LOL)....and way less flying.

Thank GOD I can fly my electrics in the yard off my 2 private runways!!

I'm here Boys!
 

I'm here Boys! :D Haven't done much building lately, just some repairs on my Tiggie/Pfalz. :( I'm trying to decide which plane to build or scratch build or modify. :confused: My Buddy gave me 3 Comet kits that I will convert eventually. A DRI, an SE5a, and a Sopwith Camel all about 26="WS. :) These are former rubber models. I'm thinking though, I might need a larger aircraft. ???? I've been thinking of resurrecting my 69"WS DVIII for electric. Might be a bit pricey for the motor/ESC. Should be a fun project though. I just need to find the energy to begin building something. :<: I don't know about you Guys, but I don't have time to watch Dancin' with the stars or american idol, etc. That's for sissys! :eek::D REAL MEN BUILD WWI planes! :eek::D:cool: What do you Guys think? Perhaps a N11 ala PR plans.......? So many decisions...... BTW bladerunner, superb models..... I think Steve and Murph like the red tripe! Martin

Is the DR1 a superstars model(wing span 26 inches)? I just built one and still trying to get it in flying trim. When I flew it did not have enough aileron movement, read it would not turn, but flew nice and level in a straight line. I cut power and landed before it got to the trees. Had to walk and get it. Added more throw on the ailerons now just waiting on a good day to fly. If the Camel is a superstars kit and you don't want to build send to me. HAHA The superstars Comet Camel has a 32 inch wing span.

Never had a comet kit but, are they better for electric flight than Guillows?

While I try to be nice, :D I'd have to agree that I don't watch any of that nonsense on tv either, and yes, I wish more folks would build.
Actually where I think the problem starts is that REAL BOYS BUILD instead of playing Nintendo and all that garbage. I do have to admit that I burned considerable time watching Charlie's Angels,:D but I think that was an acceptable sideline from my model building as a kid.

Good choices on the planes, as I have all 3 of those planes flying as Guillows kits at similar spans. All plenty flyable too.

Many are quite similar, but I believe that they have a number of larger designs that would be well suited for eflight. I bought a Comet Aeronca (if I remember correctly) as a kid, and got it because it was one of the few in the price range that I had. I didn't bother to read the box to see that it was low price, due to the parts only being print sheet, and not die cut. Man I hacked that kit up at 12 yrs old or so.:D I believe some of the Comet designs have come back lately, by folks that have drawn over the plans using AutoCad, which can then be used to create laser cut parts. Seems to be a growing interest in reproducing these vintage kits, using modern cad and laser cutting.

My LHS has a number of vintage 16" to 20" comet kits and wonder if they could handle coverlite without crumpling and use an IPS power system. I tried an Easy-Build kit once and the heat shrinking crushed it. The Guillows kits seem to handle covering other than paper much better.

If anyone is interested, here are a couple of video clips of the GP SE5A and Fokker D-VII flying.
www.hoosierdawnpatrol.com/2007videos/spse5a.wmv
www.hoosierdawnpatrol.com/2007videos/spdvii.wmv

there are also several other electric videos on the website
www.hoosierdawnpatrol.com

thanks
steve

...

What you see falling out is the pilot. The battery was still in the fuse, and working. The radio quit about 10 feet from me and never worked during the flight, but was working at the crash site. I still have no idea what failed.

BTE: I'm 170lbs lighter than when that video was taken


steve

Albatros Detailing
 

Here's what I've been busy with lately. I spent a couple nights building an engine (finally) for my Albatros. I've had this plane flying for several months now, but it didn't have a propper "engine". It's such a great flying plane, I figured it deserved it. I also put a few little circle access covers on the nose, and put a serial number on the tail.

Engine was made from Depron, 3mm. The Cylinders are five layers of 5/8 inch squares, glued together with CA. Then I put a screw threw them and put the screw into the drill press, and shaped with sandpaper.

The exhaust was depron too, the pipes out of the engine are 2 layers, and the large main pipe is 3 layers, blended into the primaries. Not sure if "rust" is the proper color for an Albatros exhaust, but I figured it gave it acool look.

Nice work! Love the rust on the exhaust pipes, very realistic!

Short first flight
 

:sad:
Today I finally managed to try the first flight of my Dr.I. No more excuses about the weather, the pilot, the airfield..........:D

First thing I noticed was, that the wooden stick where the tail sits on needs a wheel. I know that is not scale, but we have an asphalt runway and there is no way to go on a straight line with that wooden part only. As soon as speed builds up, the plane turns around itself. Maybe with a more experienced pilot :rolleyes: it might work.
But, as I was on the field, I had to try to start.

So for the next try I throttled up slowly and tried to go straight into the wind with some rudder. It finally worked after several attempts and just when the wheels lifted the ground, they immediately fell off and rolled away.:eek:
SABOTAGE!

The surprised pilot just managed to "ground" the plane a few feet further.
Result: loose upper wing, broken prop, broken firewall, scratched cowling, shattered nerves.
Everything but the nerves could be repaired within 20 min.:D
...........and it has a tailwheel now.:tc:

Everything ready for the next try!

Uli

...

No, he run out of green covering up the red applied at the factory. HAHA

Killing me!
 

You Guys are killing me! :eek::D Martin

Albatros
 

Superb job 7car7! :) You are my Hero! :D:cool: I hope I can only come close to your building skills someday. The engine looks fabulous and just "right" for the Albatros. ;) I never thought to use depron (I have many small pieces) to build an engine. I'm gonna try it. Great Job. Now where is Steve and Chris when I need them........ Martin

Dang it, Steve. That sure was a pretty bird too, I'm sorry to hear about the wreck. Heck I'm sorry I saw it - ouch. :sad:

On a brighter side, congrats about the weight loss - thats super news!

;-)

Next 2 ones will be Green (Voss) and black (Jacobs)
So no red at all :tc:

Uli

...

That's tough to watch. Sorry.

Congrats on the new healthier you!

I might paint the propeller tips in red, just as a safety precaution.:)
And the LiPo battery is red too.;)

Uli

Here is my rebuild of my Sterling DVII with new thicker top wing and tail repainted white instead of pink. It flys and lands faster than my GP SE5A. Maybe in time I will learn how to land it slower like I did the SE5A. It weights about the same as the SE5A but has less wing area.

I like that scheme/\. What is the symbol on the side?

The paint scheme is based on Jacobs DVII. Here are 2 things about the symbol.

Yes Jacobs flew Fok. D.VII 365/18 an early Fokker Schwerin built machine. It carried the crosses in the normal positions and a modified version of the 'god of the north wind.' Seen in both the Fokker Dr.I and Anthology 1

Mr Lawson has a copy of the translated diary of Jacobs, what does JJ refer to it as in there, if at all. I was told he informed biographers in 1972 that it was in fact a "DEVIL".

DVII
 

Nice job on the DVII degreen! Martin

Boys, here's the newest release from Great Planes (Sopwith Pup slow flyer). :) Looks to be similar to the SE5a. :)Heard anything about it? :confused: I might be a little premature since it was just released. Marty

http://www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/gpma1133-150.jpg

Available late March? $60 from TowerHobby

Here http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVWC0&P=7

Pup
 

I want one! Marty

3sea bees arf,,,beautiful
 

If you ever get a chance to pick up a 3seabees arf do it! I just maidened this beauty yesterday. The flying wires were perfect,the assembly was great, it flew sooo nice I could not believe it. I used a AXI 5330/24 on 10 cells(way more power than you need but safe). I had a 22/10 prop on it and flew it 3 times with not a single problem. When my friend gets the You Tube clip done I'll put it on here. Bob at 3 seabees was great to work with. Most times on a maiden I fly once and go home a happy camper. Yesterday I flew 3 times and went home a very happy camper. Nothing to adjust,fix,mend,nothing. Just put it away and will fly it next weekend again.
Don Hofeldt the electric guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1SDmLAnr4M

I want one too,its realy nice
 

Nice size too,Can I ask how much the plane it self cost? I want to sell my giant cub and get one. Whats 3 seabees web site, 3 seebeescom?

Looks like them here:

http://www.3seabees.com/

Price list here:

http://www.3seabees.com/pricing.html

Looks like $969.00 for that one.

That sure is a good looking gem, bladerunner!

3seabees
 

I have always looked at these and one day I just pushed the button. The price is alot of money to get off of these days but I bought mine about 1 1/2 years ago. this plane was better than I had hoped. flew very good and landings and take off were no problem. the price list they show is not current though. Not sure why they have not updated it but you can expect about 10% more.Call and ask if the plane you want is in stock and you can get a price then too.

I would have to add in divorce costs as well :(

$969 down payment + divorce + alimony + lawyers + child support. I think I will stick with my 1/10 scale.

DH-4 ....priceless

Amen Don!