12 inch Pitts Special

[Chris]

Hi everyone, just thought I'd share my latest creation. It's built for standard RFFS-100 components - KP-00, single LiPoly cell, etc. It weighs in just shy of an ounce despite the full color. The wood was stained with red food coloring before assembly, and the stripes are just white paint. I outlined the stripes with a permanent magic marker and it did wonders to clean up the less than sharp edges on the paint.

I've yet to fly this one (just finished it this morning), but the prototype flew very nicely, so my fingers are crossed. I have some plans in the works and will post them as soon as I can.

[Chris]

And some more...

Sorry the photos are so compressed - RC Zone really needs to up the limmit on file size... 60k is a bit on the small side...

[Dave Robelen]

Hi Chris,
The file size may be on the small side, but you sure made the best of it! You have me drooling in the keyboard with that gem. I sure hope the flight qualities match up to the great looks. Your work with the micro stuff is a genuine inspiration, Thanks.
Regards, Dave

[GHMBO]

Chris
That is very nice. So small and yet spats, flying wires and all. A very good job.
Jim

[CalmAir]

Hi Chris,

You are really on a roll lately. This one looks very nice, just like the MicoMoth did. I am going to invest in an RFFS system this winter and try out one of these little guys. I have a couple more to finish first.

Thanks for posting your creations here on the Zone!

Dale

[FLB]

Hi Chris,

Great great job... All is perfect; model, paint scheme, pictures, presentation... Now just have to wait for the pictures in flight:D
A real pleasure for the eyes:cool:

Thanks for the explanation of your construction technique. As soon as I get time enough, I will try.

Do you put a coat of something on the balsa before decoration or is it directly paint on it?

As CalmAir said, I will maybe invest in a RFFS system too for this winter;)

Regards

Frederic

[Chris]

Thanks Dave, coming from you, I take those words as quite a compliment. I still haven't flown it yet - been busy cleaning up the mess from it's construction. Funny thing about these little micros - you make just as big of a mess building them as you do with their larger brothers... or at least I do.

And thanks Jim, Dale and Frederic. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up the plans today. Weather permitting (which is looking good), I'll fly it tonight and make sure the CG is correct and the plans should be good to go.

Frederic, I didn't prepare the wood, although I'd recommend coating the wood after the dye with some thinned dope or something similar. I ran into a bit of trouble with the dye getting into the white paint, and had to give the stripes 2 coats to look white (and they're still a little on the pink side). Also, I've heard that food coloring will fade. I've picked up some fabric dye for my next one. As for the in-flight photos, they'll have to wait for my father to get back from vacation, as he's the only one besides me who knows how to use my camera.

[Chris]

I flew the Pitts tonight and it flew great!! A slight tendency to turn to the left, but I'm attributing that to a slight warpage in the right wing giving it a little more lift than the left. Nothing a few seconds over a steaming tea pot and some gentle bending can't fix.

The flight qualities are really nice. It easily slows to the speed of a brisk walk. It'll go even slower but you have to be on your toes - the stalls are somewhat sharp but it recovers quickly. I stalled it about 4 feet off the ground and recovered with about 6 inches to spare. With the nose level, it'll pick up speed, but I don't think it could ever be considered fast. I wasn't able to loop it, although I only tried 3 times, and that was when the battery was about 1/2 empty. I'm thinking it might be simply too draggy to pick up enough speed during the dive to carry it over the top. Each time, it would get to the top and more or less do a wing-over. One time, as it dropped one wing, it stopped up-side down and rolled back over the opposite way (I think a breeze caught it or something). Of course, being a Pitts, it looked perfectly natural... :p

I'll try to get some in-flight photos tomorrow evening. If you think it looks nice on the ground, you'll love it in the air!!

Anyway, the CG was perfect, so the plans are more or less finished, I just have to write the construction notes.

[CalmAir]

Hi Chris,

Glad to here that your first test flight went well. Sounds like it behaves as one would expect it to. I still cant get over all of the detail on that little rascal.

How did you apply the food coloring? Did you brush it on or use a small sprayer?

Dale

[Chris]

Hi Dale, I applied the dye with a medium paint brush. I tried to cover the surface as quickly as possible, and then went back to work it into the grain. I would actually recommend using fabric dye, as I've heard the food coloring will fade.

Anyway, here's some in-flight photos...

[Chris]

And some more...

[CalmAir]

Thank you Chris,

Those photos are excellent! Love the red and white against the blue sky. Kudos to the photog!

Dale

[Chris]

Thanks Dale, yea, the red really looks nice. I was going to make it yellow w/black stripes to save on weight (I could do the black with markers), but the red is well worth the few grams of paint.

I actually took these photos. Somehow managed to fly it, holding my camera in one hand, the transmitter in the other, all while looking through the view finder. Crashed it 3 times in the process, though. Out of about 45 photos, these and maybe 5 more were the only ones to come out in focus, as it was tough to keep it centered long enough for the autofocus to lock on.

[Chris]

Well, a little later than I had hoped, but here are the plans for the MicroPitts. Enjoy!

MicroPitts plan (http://www.chris3d.com/files/micropitts.pdf)

[Mike Taylor]

What a great service! Design, testing, redesign, more testing, and beautiful plans - free... This is a superb piece of work. It's hard to keep up with you; the moth is just about ready to go. I've got to canabalize another flier first, and it hard to dismantle a good flying plane. The problem is, these are too light to hurt just by crashing them!

Dan, about that laser cutter...

[FLB]

Hi Master Chris,

I'm just coming back from my "Future Shop" to buy new color cartridges for my printer. For what? For printing your both PDF presentations.:D

What a marvellous job:cool:
Thanks for sharing all your experimentations and more... It's great.

Best regards

Frederic

[dhurd]

Mike,
Trust me they are in the works. My laser person is going to NEAT and he does a lot of cutting within the R/C field so he's been busy filling eveyones orders, otherwise I would probably already have the moth in stock. But he promised me he would work on my stuff when he got back.

Dan

[toekneesoaprano]

Wow! Your plane and the plans are wonderful. You should be verr proud of such a great looking and flying plane.

I was very impressed with your Tiger Moth but this is simply superb.

I can't wait to build it. In terms of flyability how does it compare with the Tiger Moth? Run time is about the same?

Any other recommendations before beginning?

You are an "arteest"!

Toeknee

[t-turley]

Chris,

Darn you!! ;) :eek: :D I had sworn to myself NO NEW R/C PROJECTS!! Now look what you've done to me! :D

Gorgeous plane, and excellent photos!! After drooling over the photos for several days, I've decided to build a larger version of your plane. I enlarged the drawings 2X on a copier, and I snagged some balsa while out to lunch today. At 24", I'm thinking mine should fly great on an EDF50 motor, DX-A gearbox, and two Qualcoms. Thanks for sharing your excellent work.

Tony Turley

[Chris]

Thanks Toeknee. Regarding how the Pitts flies, let me start by saying that I scavenged the parts from the Tiger Moth to build the Pitts, so it's been a while since I flew it. That being said, I really think the Pitts flies better. The stalls are a bit sharper than the Moth, but I don't recall being able to slow the Moth down as much as I can the Pitts. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it sometimes it seems it flies slow enough that, with a gentle hand, you could reach out and pluck it right out of the air. And, of course, it's a scale Pitts, so it just looks way better than the Moth (and I really like the Moth).


As far as run time, mine will easily fly for 10 minutes or more. About 1/2 way through the flight, it won't have the power to do loops, but it'll very comfortably buzz around for quite a while just doing slow passes, stalls and dives, etc. I borrowed a video camera and will try to get some video of it in the air this weekend.

As for any recommendations, just do as the plan says and use the lightest wood you can find. The fuselage sides should be cut from the softest, most bendable wood you can find. The wings and fuselage formers should be made out of wood wit a little stiffness, but still very light. Weight is key with this plans, as it has relatively little wing area. Jim McPherson, over on the E Zone board found that a small reinforcement strip of balsa placed on the inside when you glue together the front bottom of the nose really helps hold it together while the glue dries. Other than that, it's all covered in the plan (hopefully)

And thank you, Tony, please post photos of your plane as you build it, I'd love to see it. Wow, 24 inch wing span... that seems soooo big after building these little things :p Probably the biggest advantage of scaling it up for larger equipment is that you won't be limited by the current you're ESC can deliver. A bigger prop would probably make this thing much more aerobatics. And while on the subject, you may want to consider sheeting the bottoms of your wings, or even making them semi-symmetrical. I can't say for sure how that would effect it's flight characteristics, but it's worth a try.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris,

I'm not quite halfway thorugh building this beautiful Micro Pitts - I'm very busy at work and have a young family as well.

I have a question, I have been painstakingly using an exacto knife to cut out each piece one by one as I tape the paper over the balsa wood. Is this the correct procedure?

Is there an easier or better way? I then sand down all the rough areas. To get it just right, it takes me awhile to finish each piece.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Chris - I'm so anxious to fly it and I'm not real close to being done yet.

Regards,

Tony.

[Chris]

Hi Tony,

The easiest way I've found of cutting out parts is to print the plans on a laser printer (or print them on an inkjet and run them through a copier) and iron them onto your wood. Placed face down on the wood, when heat is applied, the toner will re-melt and some of it will soak into the wood. Keep the paper from shifting as you iron and you'll get razor sharp lines. I used to rubber-cement the paper to the wood and cut parts out that way, but this is many, many times faster and easier.

Anyway, good luck with the model. Above all else, pay attention to the weight - you should shoot for not much more than 27 grams or so.

-Chris

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris - thank you for your reply. Do you use scissors or an exacto knife to cut out the parts? It's hard for me to not make mistakes with the exacto.

Also, is the std RFFS 100 just fine? Do you recommend a certain propeller size for this?

What about the right battery - any suggestions.

And finally - I need just a good, cheap/decent radio as I don't have one - any recommendations.

Thanks, so much Chris - I can't wait to fly this.

Tony

[Chris]

Hi Tony,

I always use an exacto knife, but I've used them on a regular basis for the past 15 years (I went to college for graphic design about 2 years before everything switched from cut and paste to desktop publishing...), so I'm very comfortable with them. If scissors work for you, go for it. They just seem to crush the wood a bit on me.

Standard RFFS100 was fine for me. I have one of the new ones but have yet to use it. I'm sure the upgraded one is nice, but I never had any trouble with the Moth or the Pitts with the original.

Definitely a single 145 mah LiPoly for the battery. You really have to pay attention to weight - even the extra gram (or whatever it is) for the 170 mah LiPoly is too much. If you build it light, it should easily fly for 12 minutes or more on a single charge, so it's not like you need a higher capacity battery for reasonable flight times.

I have a HiTec Focus 4 and a Flash 5, and they both work great. You could get a 3 channel, but you're limiting yourself if you ever wanted to fly a 4 channel plane. You can get a decent 4 channel TX for under $120. Just make sure it's compatible with the RX - Futaba and HiTec use a different shift than Airtronics.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris,

I finally have all the pieces cut-out now an I am ready to paint them. You mentioned, colored dye, do you mean like RIT? What about just using marker? Does this add too much weight?

Please have some patience with me - I have several questions as this is the first plane I have ever put together. It is beautiful in my opinion and I prefer to get as much of it right as possible in the assembly process.

- Also what is a dihedral of 1/8" - you recommended this for the top wings and a 5/8 dihedral for the bottom wings. Does this mean bending them slightly?

- When gluing in F2 - how do you angle it to provide 6 degree of right and 3 degree of down thrust. I don't understand this. Which way would F2 be angled then?

- Does C1 and C2 go in front of or behind C3?

- To reinforce the bottom opening directly in front of where the bottom wing will attach, what kind of string do you recommend to saturate with CA for reinforcement here? Also, I don't understand where this is yet, but I haven't assembled the plane yet so I don't know if it will be clear when I start.

- How exactly do you connect the 2 elevator halves with a 1/16 stick? Also, is this the length of the stick or thickness and width - please confirm both.

- How do you attach the elvator to the horizontal stabilizer with a thin sliver of rubber-band?

- What are the cabane struts - how are these differenent then then the curved struts with the diamonds on them? Do I need to make these - and how do I do this?

- Is the entire bottome fuselage re-covered in 1/32 Balsa for support?

- I've used 1/32 balsa for everything - will this work? I even used this for the wheels and wheel covers.

- Are the hash marks on the fuselage just to tell the builder where to bend the body? I don't have to slit or perforate these areas where the hash/dash marks are, do I?

Thanks Chris - I appreciate all your help and look forward to your response.

Tony.

[Chris]

>You mentioned, colored dye, do you mean like RIT?
> What about just using marker? Does this add too
>much weight?

Markers are fine, but it's difficult to get the same coverage you get with some dye or ink and a brush. I recently used a bottle of refill ink for stamp pads (I believe from Carter, picked it up at Staples) and a brush and it worked out quite well.

>Also what is a dihedral of 1/8" - you recommended
>this for the top wings and a 5/8 dihedral for the bottom
>wings. Does this mean bending them slightly?

Dihedral is when the wing tips are higher than the center. Once you have all the ribs glued into the wings, hold the two wing halves together in a slight "v" and you'll see where the roots will need to be sanded for a tight fit. I'm not really sure how to explain it better than that, you might want to experiment with some scrap wood.

>When gluing in F2 - how do you angle it to provide 6
>degree of right and 3 degree of down thrust. I don't
>understand this. Which way would F2 be angled then?

As I stated in the construction notes, take the motor out of a KP00 (I also shave off the little posts on the back of the gearbox where the wires go through) and rest the gearbox against F2 once it's roughly in place. Gently position F2 while observing the angle of the prop until there's the stated right and down thrust, then remove the gearbox and glue in F2.

>Does C1 and C2 go in front of or behind C3?

It doesn't matter - once they're glued together, C3 defines the front of the cowl. Think about it a bit and you'll understand...

>To reinforce the bottom opening directly in front of
>where the bottom wing will attach, what kind of
>string do you recommend to saturate with CA for
>reinforcement here? Also, I don't understand where
>this is yet, but I haven't assembled the plane yet so
>I don't know if it will be clear when I start.

I used kevlar string, but anything will work. You just want something that will wick up CA, it should be about 1/32 in diameter or so. The area you'll glue this is where the two fuselage halves join on the bottom - from left to right along the inside of the back of this joint. Again, it's hard to explain but it should be obvious when you get to that point.

>How exactly do you connect the 2 elevator halves
>with a 1/16 stick? Also, is this the length of the stick
>or thickness and width - please confirm both.

Take a 1/16 inch stick, cut a little notch out and glue it to one elevator. Position both elevators together with the horizontal stabilizer so the hinge notches line up, trim the 1/16 stick, notch it and glue it to the other elevator. 1/16 is obviously the thickness of the stick, as it takes about 1/2 inch length to join the two elevators together. Just use some common sense and you should be fine.

>How do you attach the elvator to the horizontal
>stabilizer with a thin sliver of rubber-band?

You cut a sliver of rubber band and glue it into the hinge slits in the stabilizer and elevator (on each side). Make sure you leave a gap of about 1/32 to 1/16 inch between the control surfaces and stabilizers.

> What are the cabane struts - how are these differenent
>then then the curved struts with the diamonds on them?
>Do I need to make these - and how do I do this?

The cabane struts are the struts in the center of the top wing, connecting it to the fuselage directly in front of the cockpit. There's little circles in the plans indicating their location. Look closely at the picture on the cover page of the plan and you'll see them.

>Is the entire bottome fuselage re-covered in 1/32 Balsa
> for support?

I'm not sure what you mean by "re-covered". There's a single sheet that's glued on the bottom to enclose the fuselage and give it some rigidity.

> I've used 1/32 balsa for everything - will this work? I even
> used this for the wheels and wheel covers.

The plan clearly indicates what thickness of wood to use where. Just make sure you use the lightest wood you can find - there can be huge differences in weight from one sheet to another - even of the same thickness. The only place it's critical to use thicker, denser wood is on F2 - because it will need to take the stress of the motor. If you used 1/32 for the wheels, that's fine, if you needed to build up the wheel pants from a bunch of layers of 1/32, you'll probably be better off doing as the plan states because the glue necessary to laminate a ton of 1/32 pieces will end up adding too much weight.


>Are the hash marks on the fuselage just to tell
>the builder where to bend the body? I don't have to
>slit or perforate these areas where the hash/dash
>marks are, do I?

They're just to indicate the position of the fuselage formers - you don't bend or cut these at all.

Before you get to far along, I really need to stress that the plane must be built *as light as possible*. I've heard from people who's planes turned out 2 to 3 grams heavier than mine (which was 26 to 27 grams, if I recall correctly), and they reported the performance was very sluggish. If this is your first plane, it might be better to build something like the Skeeter (the plans come with the RFFS100) unless you're confident you can build it with an absolute minimum of glue.

[toekneesoaprano]

Chris - thanks for your quick reply, this is so helpful.

After, further review - things are starting to make sense for me. I think, I will be just fine now.

If I have further questions I will take pics of where I'm at with a Digital Camera and forward to this post for your review - if you don't mind of course. This should be more efficient in terms of communication. But again, I think I'm getting on track now.

I have been sanding everything so that the weight is reduced as much as possible without impairing the model's physical integrity.

Chris - this is a real beauty. If you ever get laser-cut plans in the future, I would be interested in purchasing.

Tomorrow I begin painting the parts - I will try the stamp dye or RIT - I have both.

I will begin assembly on Friday. I hope to finish most of the plane by next weekend (I only do a little at a time). Then I will add RFFS System.

I hope to try flying the plane by early April. Can't wait to show you pics.

Tony

[toekneesoaprano]

Chris,

Thank you for all your help in the past. All my parts are cut out and painted now. I am beginning assembly and have a couple of questions for you.

1) Does F3 go into the fuselage vertical to the ground? It looks like this from your pics. Essentially if you were looking into the fueslage (like on page 5 of your plans at the pics on the right) so if you were looking into the fuesalage you would see F3 with the rounded tip/end pointed down?

Does F4 then go in this same way but just further behind F3?

2) Where should F2 be glued in? Just on the front bottom floor behind where the prop goes? Does this lay flat in the plane or is it vertical/upright like F3 and F4? Which way do the pointer tips face - to the front or back.

Thanks Chris - I think I can begin assembling the pieces once I get this confirmed. Also, if I provide my email address to you can you send me larger pics of this for assembly purposes?

This is my first ever plane and I have cut everything out as mentioned but I'm a little skittish about assembly. Thanks so much I look forward to your reply.

Tony

[Chris]

On page 2 of the plans, the dotted lines on the fuselage sides labeled F1, F2, F3, F4... indicate the location of the fuselage formers. The dotted lines for F2 are just approximate - as stated in the plans, you'll need to angle this former to provide the few degrees of right and down thrust. The little points on F2 go down - the battery will slide under this former and up into the cowl.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris,

I have attached some photos of my fuselage - I have some questions on how I should glue these two halves together. I have inlcuded photos to help you understand my specific questions. These are the first photos I have attempted to attach on site, so if I don't attach them correctly I will try again.

1) Do I glue the fuselage halves together exactly flush - edge to edge as in photo 1.

2) Or do I attach the halves together inside edge to inside edge only, as in photo 2.

In other words - do I glue the entire edge and secure them flush or flat to each other like in photo 1.

Or do I just glue them inside edge to inside edge so that the complete edges are "flushly" glued together but just these inner edges.

Does this make sense to you. I am "green" when it comes to building airplane models - this is my first. But I have cut out and painted everything so I am ready to assemble.

I am kinda of proud of what I have accomplished so far but I could not have done ANY of this without you Chris and your wonderful model and insight.

I look forward to your response on my gluing/attachment questions. I am eager to glue and finish! Thank you again.

Regards,

Tony

[toekneesoaprano]

And the "inside edge to edge" photo.

[Chris]

If you read through the construction notes and look at the photos (the third one down on the left) it clearly shows how it should be glued - like in your first picture - edge to edge. Also, as the plans state, you should glue the rear (from the cockpit to the back) first.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hello Chris,

Well - it's not going so good. I must have broken a haf dozen finished fuselage bodies trying to glue them. My guess is that this is not suppossed to be quite this difficult.

- Gluing the rear turtledeck up to the slot for the vertical stabilizer is not the problem. However, when that is dry and I try to bend the fuselage body to glue the front upper deck, the balsa just snaps. As you know it seems to require a lot of bow/bending to get the front upper deck glued once the rear turtledeck is finished.

What would you recommend? What's the trick to bending the balsa? I've thought of steaming the wood before bending, does this help?

I'm at a loss and need your expertise and/or suggestions.

Regards,

Tony.

[Chris]

Are you using 1/32 inch contest grade balsa? If not, you should be, as anything else is just too dense and stiff to bend as required. You should be able to take a strip of your wood and bend it into a circle with a diameter of less than an inch without it breaking. You can steam the wood, although I've built 5 Pitts' so far and have not needed to. Even if you could steam non contest grade wood into shape, it probably would be too heavy to fly.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris,

I have some nice photos of the fuselage so far. However you can see that I have a bow in the top back right side of the fuselage can I fix this? If not, I'll start over as I have pre-made another set of body halves.

Another question I have is do I glue both the upper rear fuselage tips with the very rear fuselage tips at this time. Or do I wait to glue upper ones when the vertical and horizontal stabilizer are added?

Please refer to the second and third photos attached to undersand better.

Thanks Chris - I'm getting there and am starting to figure out how to glue and piece this together.

Tony

[toekneesoaprano]

Chris - by upper rear tips, I mean the flange ends on top are these glued prior to placing in F3 and F4 as well?

Also do I glue the lower flange in front of the little u grove/slot or just behind the slot for now?

[toekneesoaprano]

Here's a pic of the rear too.

[toekneesoaprano]

Hi Chris - check out my fuselage - seems ok.

I have a question though, I am about to attach the wings but what kind of string should I use to reinforce the fuselage as you mention, for the area in front of the wings? I don't have Kevlar or know where to get it.

Also, how do you place the string in - just one strand glued to each inside wall? Can you elaborate as I about about to install the wings.

Check out the pics.

Thanks Chris.

Joe

[toekneesoaprano]

I have to sand down F3 it's too tall.

[Chris]

Looking good. See attached picture for the placement of the string. It's just to reinforce the area shown because it's under such stress. You can use anything, really, as long as it's thick enough to wick up plenty of CA - something with a diameter of .5 to 1 mm.

That's ok that you have to trim F3 down a bit, I made it slightly large to compensate for varying thickness of wood used for the fuselage sides.

for the area behind F3, you can glue 1/16 sticks along the inside bottom edges of the fuselages - between F3 and F4. This will bring them in and even out the curve. I actually take a 1/16 stick and carefully cut it in half to minimize weight.

[miraclesailor]

Joe:

If you still cannot find string. I have had real good luck using unwaxed dental floss. It collects the CA nicely and is really strong.

Later,
Dan

[Trikster]

Now Chris... What I want to know is can you make this?

http://www.aviation-history.com/sopwith/caml9a.jpg

If you can, man I would be happy. The Sopwith Camel has been a favorite of mine since I was a child (and not because of Snoopy). If you think you can and need a lot of really good pictures, go here: Sopwith Camel - Holcombs Aerodome (http://www.angelfire.com/va2/aerodrome/camel/camel.html)

Keep up the great work man, your planes are awesome!

Kevin

[bluemax1962]

Chris,

Your Pitts is absolutely fantastic! I have the prints downloaded. Will have to start pricing the elec's. Neat :-)

I am sure a S. Camel would be neat, but any thoughts on my favorite....Beechcraft Staggerwing?

Does anyone know where I can find some good canadate plans for an Elec Staggerwing? (under 36")

I missed the Tiger moth. How can I see what I missed?

Thanks...Great work Chris!

Perry

[Mike Taylor]

Check out this thread: http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94358&highlight=Micro+Moth

The plans are here: http://www.chris3d.com/files/micromoth.pdf

[Chris]

After the Corsair, the next on my list is to get my Dr.1 flying. After that, there's (in no particular order) a P6 Hawk, Camel, Albatros (this will be a tough one with the rounded fuselage), Spitfire, possibly a Mustang and I've had more than one request for a Staggerwing :)

[Trikster]

Wow, and Albatros... That will be a challenge. Perhaps a formed fuse from block stock? I bet even contest balsa and water and a heat gun might not bend that tight...

[Mike Taylor]

The Albatross fuselage is completely made up of compund curves. The original was made over a form of laminated strips of wood. I am thinking that a vaucuum formed Depron fuselage is the easiest way to get this one to work (at least, that is my plan...).

[Chris]

I more or less resigned myself to the fact that it would be near impossible to create the Albatros fuselage easily with sheet wood. I figured I'd probably go 'ol stick and tissue.

[miraclesailor]

Chris:

When you mentioned the Albatros I looked around for a nice picture of it and came up with this:

Albatros D.Va Fuselage Profiles
By: Mark Miller

http://wwi-cookup.com/albatros/dva/profiles_markmiller_fuselage.html

This is a nice study on the fuselage construction. I thought you would find it interesting.

Later,
Dan

P.S. I am still excited about the Corsair!

[Chris]

Wow, that's some nice 3D work that guy is doing.

Re: the Corsair, I've had to go with an aileron wing to overcome a myriad of problems. The new wing is done and ready for testing... once the weather decided to cooperate.

[miraclesailor]

Chris:

Balsa in one hand, blue ink in the other, salivating all over myself, waiting for the flight report and plans.

Later,
Dan

[bluemax1962]

Chris,

Can't get enogh of your work. Thanks to your motivation I have started work on a Beechcraft Staggerwing. Whne there is more to show I will send you info.

I have found a source of Kevlar thread. It is spooled like a flat 1/16" ribbon, but is not yet twisted into thread. It can be CA glued as is a light ribbon of stiffener. It can be twisted into a thread or even pulled apart to make finer thread. I have not tried to yet, but I imagine a matt could be made form the stuff.

Question: Do you think you (or others) would be interested in this stuff if I can get it in bulk? I have enough for me to play with for now, but wonder who else would use it and for what. I can send a photo if you would like.

Any Thoughts?

Perry

[dhurd]

Just wanted to let everyone know that we now have Chris' Pitts amd Tiger Moth both available as laser cut kits. We also added a new model called the Widget.

Dan
DWE
www.smallrc.com
Toll Free: 1-866-FLY-MICRO

[mhmitchell]

Wow! This hobby gets better all the time (thanks to people like you) . And it flies outside too.
Where do you get the actuaters,what kind of rcvr, and motor?

If you really want a challenge how about a mini F-86 with ducted fan. Love to try that myself but alas no design skills.
Mike

[Mike Taylor]

Mike,

Check oput Dan's site in the message above yours. That's where all the goodies come from...

[toekneesoaprano]

Ok Guys - here are my questions. I finally got my RFFS-100 kit. I am beginnng to mount this in my Pitts.

1) Does it matter if the motor is motor is mounted so that the big gear is on top or should the big gear be on the bottom.

In other words, should the motor be mounted so that the big gear is under the motor or above it? Does it matter?

2) Do I really need to trim off the little mounting holes on the KP-00 to reduce weight. It looks like I could use these quite nicely as a mounting surface to glue or pin on to F2 in order to mount it.

3) Also on the Pitts - should the gears extend outside the cowl or remain flush - just inside the cowl. How precise should this be?

Thanks - Tony :)

[Mike Taylor]

The motor doesn't care which way it is mounted; right up, upside down or sideways. You would most likely mount it so the output shaft is nearest to the top to keep the prop higher.

I'd leave the lugs on and attach it by them, either with specks of glue or tiny screws. That way you have an easy way to adjust the side and down thrust if you need to change it later. In smaller planes (like the Lightning/Micro Taxi) you need to cut them off to get it to fit in the room available. In that case, I just use some servo tape...

I haven't built the Pitts yet, so I can't comment on the location of the gears, but it looks in the picture as though they are just insided the cowling. THe U-80 prop doesn't have to go on the shaft very far before it is firmly attached.

[toekneesoaprano]

Thank you Mike - I really appreciate this information. Have a great day. I'll let you know how it goes.

Best Regards,

Tony:)

[Trikster]

Laser cut kits with the radio gear... I think I might tear up... :) How very awesome! Which is the easier to fly model, the Tiger Moth or the Pitts? I assume the TM...

[toekneesoaprano]

Ok - I have a question again.

So I've mounted the KP-00 motor in my Pitts and the cowl is on the front of the fuselage - so it's time to attach the top and bottom wings.

I know that the top wings are angled a fair amount from the center to the wing tips. In other words the top wings on the Pitts form a slight/mild V-shape - while the bottom ones are square from center to tip - in other words the bottom wings form a straight line from tip to tip.

But should the top ones be longer tip to tip then the bottom ones or should they really be the same length.

In other words, do the top wings extend out further from the base of the fuselage to each wing tip or should they be even with the tips of the bottom wings too?

Chris can you comment or anyone else that knows this about the Pitts, please help me here - thank you.

In the pics attached to the earlier threads here - it looks like the top wings extend out over the bottoms slightly but I don't know if this is just an illusion from the camera taking the picture from the top of the plane or over the plane I should say. Please help.

Best Regards,

Tony