Don, finally got around to seeing your Tommy vid, wow, wonderful plane! Seems to fly really well. Do you feel the rudder is big enough? (as in some sea planes have oversized rudders)

The Navy Tommie's rudder is 4 inches taller than the one built for the Army. Mine seems to fly good with the rudder I put on it. The floats made it easy to balance with that short nose. I had to add 1/4 oz weight to the front of each float.

Good deal. Nothing like leverage. Without floats may have needed more weight.

re. your Tommy Scout
 

Don,

Did you do a build log on your Tommy?

I'd love to see how you did it. It looks great BTW.

Dave

ps. If you didn't do a build, how 'bout some pictures!

No build log and here are the only pictures I took. To make the Tommy I started by taking the plastice fuselage top off the fuselage foam. I then removed about a 2 inch section starting where the bottom of the foam starts to taper upward and going forward. Then I put the top plastic back on the foam. Cut the plastic off at the firewall. Made a round foam disk the size the front needed to be and glued on front of fuselage. Used photo paper and made the top front of the fuselage level from the cockpit to firewall. Made cheek pieces using photo paper. Cut fuselage wing supports at the top joint and glued back together straight. Add foam on top wing in center aft then cut wing to shape. Narrowed bottom wing and cut to shape. I have a paper model file with floats. I enlarger it to size using wing span and used the floats as a pattern to cut foam ones. I have a cowl mold that is about the right size to fit most of my planes. I used it and a drink bottle to make the cowl.

Pull/Pull
 

Hey D would you 'splain to us how you set up your pull/pull cable control system? I never tried one. I have just started a scratch build Fokker DVIII Peter Rake design that I would like to incorporate the system on. Marty

Mini DRI
 

Boys looks like Tower has gotten in the Hobbico FlyZone Fokker Dr.1 Micro EP RTF 14.1"! I just got a notice. OH BOY OH BOY!!!!:D Marty

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXBBSJ&P=ML

To start with you need a servo arm screw with a big head or a washer under the head. I run a thread from one side of the elevator control arm to the servo arm, through a hole from the top, up over the arm around the servo arm screw under the washer and through a hole from the top on the other end of the servo arm. Back to the other side of the elevator control arm and tie. Now pull the thread just tight and tie at other end of the elevator control arm. Do same on other side of the elevator and the rudder. To adj controls setting just loosen the servo screw so the thread will slip. Tighten the screw when control surfaces are where you want them. On some of my planes the two halfs of the elevator are not connected together and I have to set them in a straight line before tightening the servo screw. On most of my planes I make a servo holder of foam that holds the servo one behind the other with the one farthest from the control surfaces mounted higher. I wrap the servos with masking tape and Gorilla glue then into the holder. Feeding the thread through the plane can drive you nuts sometimes. The thread will want to cross what you already have installed. I alway pull a new thread from the control arm to the servos, then pull it tight and watch for installed threads to move. If they moved I know the threads are crossed and I need to redo it. Then I pull the thread from the servo to the control arm and pull tight again watching for install threads to move.

I have my Spad XI almost ready to install the controls. I will take pictures for you and post here. The elevator is push rod but the rudder will be pull-pull. The real plane had pull-pull on the elevator hidden in the vertical fin so I just went the easy route with a push rod.

Pull/pull system
 

D what do you use for cables? Carpet thread or fishing string? Marty

Pull/Pull
 

D I was just thinking about a trick I saw once. Someone used a straight fishing hook (sans the barb) to tie the cables to and then insert into a EZ connector on the servo arm. What do you think? marty

Oh NO, Oh NOOOOO..... it's RED! Marty

They probably had an EZ conector on each end of the servo arm which meams you have to keep adj back and forth to get the control surface where you want with tension on the thread. By using one thread that slides through the servo arm you can set tension without worring where the control surface is. Then you can change the control surface and the tension will not change. Makes it much easier to make trim adj.

I use the brown carpet thread. I find the planes still flight good even if the thread is not real tight. The control surfaces will always go back to where you have them trimmed, air flow will take them there, the servo does not have to pull them there but does have to hold them in trim. The thing I like about pull-pull nothing is ever trying to push the control surface apart at the hinge like a push rod. Force is aways pulling the hinge line together. I do not have to reinforce the foam where the control arm is attached. Only time I have the foam break at the control arm is in a crash.

Carpet thread
 

Thanks for the answer D! I still have some that you sent me. marty

That right there is good stuff. Very smart.

Agreed! I'm going to set mine up the same way Boys :cool: marty

Have the fuselage ready for servos and controls to be installed in my Spad XI. This could be a very easy bash if someone wanted to make a very simple change to the GWS Tiger Moth. Just change the shape of the rudder and repaint. DONE.

To make it more like the Spad XI cut or sand notches in the trailing edges of wings and tail. Put paper over cockpits and cut new holes. All other changes require more work. Change motor mounting and make paper cowl. Change wing struts. Make landing gear. I think this is the easiest bash I have done.

Your cat
 

Het D! Is that a picture of your cat riding a ball on the fuse sides? :D Marty

Looking good!!! Wheels will be in the mail Sat. morn.:D

My cat is black and I had a hard time making him hold still so I could paint white strips on him. I found a black and white cat in the woods but wife told me not to bring the smelly thing in the house.

Really looking good D , I am anxious for the flight video :D

It may take a while to make the video. My son, who was making the videos, is now a Lt. in the Pubic Health Service and has been stationed at Fort Huachuca Army base in Az. Wife will know have to take a video, then I will have to send it to him to edit and add the music.

Looks good Don...may need to dig up the old Tiger Moth and do something like that! Been looking at my Jenny off and on for a while...hmmmm

You can do about anything with a Jenny. Make it a barnstromer. Could be made into a crop duster. How about some 5 inch dolls mounted as wing-walkers. Maybe a doll hanging on a rope ladder as if just picked off the top of a Model T car. You could pull a banner behind it. I think I saw a picture of one with the writting on the side written upside down so it could be read as the plane flew by upside down.