Sacrificial Wen-Mac Kingcobra

Kim wrote:Yo Bob!

I've got an elevator from a silver Aracobra I could try to get to you quick if you can use it...heck, I got a whole airframe but don't know if it's value is worth the postage.

I intend to take it and it's brother to S.M.A.L.L. and sell or adopt them out with a pile of other stuff I don't have the heart to burn...yet.

Junk Yard Kim

Thanks for the offer Kim, but just go ahead and sell the parts.  I will probably break down and rebuild the thing.  I love doing that stuff anyway. (I can make a new elevator out of balsa and afix with cloth hinges.)

Bob, you might consider bolting in a tee dee and install a wedge tank...it'll kinka be like a 'rat rod' of plastic rtf's!

akjgardner wrote:Hey Bob, The weak lynk is that fuel tank.Very brittle. BEE Careful.

Yes, very fragile.  I tried to save the fuel filler nipple but it snapped off when I carefully tried to remove it, even used penetrating oil in the attempt.  Oh well, another heated brass tube to insert.  I believe the filler tube goes all the way to the bottom of the tank so I will have to be careful not to disturb it.  It's also located on the outboard side of the tank.  



Well, I tried to loosen the motor by using penetrating oil and working the prop.  No go, I just broke off the other blade.  I was also worried about twisting the con rod off the piston, been there done that.  .  Into the boil pot tomorrow but I could just mount one of my spare engines, and fix the elevator and go crash it.



I know better than to try and remove the wing.  Can't be done without breaking it.  If you know how, let me in on the secret.  I bought one on ebay a couple of years ago and asked the seller NOT to remove the wing.  He either didn't see or ignored my request removing the wing and breaking the tabs.  Saved him a couple of bucks shipping and cost me an airplane.



I think I can save that elevator.



But now that I have it all apart I'm thinking , wouldn't it be nice to remove all the decals, clean it up within an inch of it's rated life, repair all the damage, paint it plastic cote blue, re-decal it, build a canopy out of balsa and put it on the shelf and worship it.  Nah, go crash it.  

AMF did a good job on this model for all it's faults. Landing gear for example.  It is well screwed together and is quite innovative being the only model I have seen with ailerons molded in a constant right turn position keeping it hanging out on the lines without additional tip weight. But I did trash that silly pilot ejection mechanism.

Right and left ailerons:





And....suffer me this.  "The best little car in the world" - I think this every time I drive my MX-5, "Miata" to most.  I spent most of yesterday giving it it's spring clean-up and couldn't resist snapping a picture as I passed it going into the house.  It took me about 65 years to find a sports car that I'm totally infatuated with.  Not just any MX-5, this MX-5.  I had a perfect 2001 low miles, rust free, six speed Miata and sold it keeping this one.  Externally, this one looks fine, but underneath it's a rusty mess (whoops, better not go there ).  But it drives and runs better than any car that I have ever owned.  They are going to have to bury me in this one.  





PS:  Ha Mark, we hit "send" at the same time and you won.  Love the '57 Chevy.

Bob

Nothing like a nice boneyard resurrection! I'd get it running and fly it like it is.



I got this for $5 at a flea market a few years ago. https://www.coxengineforum.com/t7240-went-to-a-flea-market-today#91555

I remember that post. Missing half an elevator and canopy, twin to mine but at least yours has the fuel tank nipples. Did you ever fly it?

I have several and I haven't flown a one.

Bob

Speaking of a King Cobra, how do you like this one?
This is Sonny Williams of my MCLS club and he had it flying last Saturday in Huntersville.
Powered by an OS .60fp, about 850 squares.

Wow, Lotta plane Rusty. I hope that Sonny is fully anchored to the ground while flying it with that OS .60. Reminds me somewhat of the ancient Flip Flop we discovered while researching the picture of the fellow holding one in front of the old 35 Chevy coupe. But that King Cobra is a whole world of difference.

RknRusty wrote:Speaking of a King Cobra, how do you like this one?
This is Sonny Williams of my MCLS club and he had it flying last Saturday in Huntersville.
Powered by an OS .60fp, about 850 squares.

Man, I GOT to get down there this year!

Well, I didn't have much choice if I was ever going to fly this thing, sacrificial or not.

The motor was stuck beyond saving without a full disassembly, the fuel tank was a mess, and there really was not a practical way to fly with half an elevator. Soooo I attacked the sucker.









The decals came off easy, the adhesive not so. Determination, patience, and a gallon or two of Goo-Gone prevailed. Now to address that broken elevator, broken mount for the nose gear, broken fuel tank, and frozen engine (boiling now) then some paint. Anyone ever use that Fusion on plastic? Shows black but it's really Corsair blue. I would like to remove the wing and paint it yellow and the fuselage blue, but I know the tabs would snap off if I did.

Still a step up from this mess.

Hi Bob,
Looks like a fun project! If you got a arts-n-craft store or hobby shop close by you might make that elevator out of polystyrene.

That's crossed my mind Mark, and I'm sure that I have a sheet around the house somewhere laying flat in a place that I will never find it.

But, I have been playing around with something like this:



The right side pin of the horizontal stab is missing but I could drill a hole and insert the tapered end of the bamboo in there and fix the other end somehow to the plastic control. I'm afraid that if I use cloth hinges they would not align with the pivot point of the more centrally located control. Of course I could just shorten the control rod and replace the whole elevator assembly.

Working on it.

looks good, there's always more than one way to do something, pin with skewer or make a small pin out of music wire and your right, might be easy to just make a whole new elevator...as far as the plastic, i've been there, found some polystyrene at local hobbytown, stuff is easy to sand and shape.

rsv1cox wrote:That's crossed my mind Mark, and I'm sure that I have a sheet around the house somewhere laying flat in a place that I will never find it. But, I have been playing around with something like this:



The right side pin of the horizontal stab is missing but I could drill a hole and insert the tapered end of the bamboo in there and fix the other end somehow to the plastic control.  I'm afraid that if I use cloth hinges they would not align with the pivot point of the more centrally located control.  Of course I could just shorten the control rod and replace the whole elevator assembly. Working on it.

Your work restoring missing elevator panel reminds me of an experience I had 45 years ago.

Back in high school 1971 or '72, as a Junior or Senior I bought a stripped Cox .049 turtle deck P-51 CL from the then fairly new Gemco department store (like Walmart) in Waipahu, Oahu, Hawaii from their outdoor tent sale. It was new but missing box, elevator, fuselage rear bottom cover from wing trailing edge to tail. I bought it for I forget what, think it was $0.50. It had a new .049 with red postage stamp back and prized fine thread brass needle. (Still have the engine.   ) I took it home, used 1/16" inch balsa sheet to craft me an elevator and made a square edge fuselage bottom. Used over and under crinoline cloth for hinges. Then finished my work in olive drab of color close to the molded plastic.

For only a fraction of the cost I had a functional RTF.

So now you have my motor running Mark.

If I'm seeing your picture correctly you shaped and grafted a piece of plastic onto the right hand side of a broken elevator?  If so, you must have used plastic cement and I'm wondering about it's holding ability under stress? It seems that I can see the attachment point just to the right of the pivot.  But the plastic so perfectly matches the shape and color of the original I am questioning my eyesight.  

Amazing that you could find that striped material so matching the original.  

Having nothing else to do I am going to try drilling a small hole where the broken pin was on the stab, then notch (tab A&B) the bamboo/plastic interface and epoxy.  I will have to split the balsa and epoxy the bamboo rod down the middle to retain the proper pivot point to match the other side.  Or I may just build a whole new elevator, or.........I may just trash it and go drive my MX-5.  

Confession time.

As mentioned I A/F boiled the Wen-Mac motor and it came out great.  I followed my adopted procedure (from you I believe) of cleaning it without a full disassembly by removing from the boil, plunging it into a container of Simple Green, cycling it CW & CCW while submerged purging the A/F, then into a container of hot water purging the SG, then a compressed air blow-out, then into a container of alcohol and more CW & CCW, followed by a dousing of RemOil and more CW & CCW.  Saves gaskets.

But................ I had removed the severely bent needle, something like 45 degrees.  I replaced it in the NVA and attempted to straighten it without heating it first.  Paid the price as it snapped off as the expletives flew.





I have replacements but it still gnaws at me!!!!!!!



I am serious about building me a canopy for it.  Not the clown type of my Corsair but something more to scale.  Robbed one from one of my other Airacobras to use as an example.  Probably out of balsa.  Just got in my order from SIG.





Nice story George.  Making something out of nothing.

Bob

I am not seeing the bamboo skewer as the method I would use

On the stab out board hinge pivot location that is broken I would carefully drill a tiny hole and push a tee pin through Into the (CA Hardened) Balsa elevator then clip off the exposed portion

I would bend some small diameter music wire into a "U" and epoxy it to the good plastic- and new balsa elevator half, with the U just in front of the center pivot/ horn and probably have to relieve the fuselage pivot opening to accommodate the slightly weird new Balsa side pivot area

Thanks Fred,  I was hoping that you or roddie or someone would chime in with some logic regarding this effort.  

Using the smallest drill bit that I had, I did drill a hole in the far end of the stab but with my shaky hands and poor eyesight I managed to hit it slightly off center.  I will have to epoxy or JB Weld a reinforcement dot there, insert the pivot with some release agent twist to form a rotational pocket and try again.  Something like bedding a .243 on a micro scale.  I did hit the other end spot on though tapered the bamboo end and stuck it in for a tight fit.  Will fillet it with epoxy let it dry and try to break it loose.  



That bamboo is tough stuff.  This is a trial effort but I think that it will work.  If it doesn't, I will try again with a new effort.

Outboard shaky hand drilling aside...Your method is good... I was not seeing how but now that I see it ----I would actually do that way but with my bag of skewers that have all sorts of sizes and pick a slightly smaller diameter than you are using


Looking good...drive on sir, it is just a sacrificial beater any way....I doubt I would even spend a bunch o time making it perty

Yeah, but now I'm falling in love with the damn thing like I knew I would if I ever got into it.  

Don't care even if I put hour's into it, it's going up.  Might even do as Mark suggested, drop in a Tee Dee .049, a wedgie and fire it off.  

Add:  Internal control horn and rod, a feature I always liked about these.  Control horn located on the strong side too that might help.  I forgot to bush the add on, might have to clam shell something on there. New piece is just tacked on with CA, still have to layer with epoxy and sand.





Bob

My rainy day today has me playing with TeeDees as my bio on left sez...my personal Fav Cox engines

Do yourself a favor--- if you have one...use a Medallion with simple baloon tank--- and go have a giggling ball getting dizzy

rsv1cox wrote:As mentioned I A/F boiled the Wen-Mac motor and it came out great.  I followed my adopted procedure (from you I believe) of cleaning it without a full disassembly by removing from the boil, plunging it into a container of Simple Green, cycling it CW & CCW while submerged purging the A/F, then into a container of hot water purging the SG, then a compressed air blow-out, then into a container of alcohol and more CW & CCW, followed by a dousing of RemOil and more CW & CCW.  Saves gaskets.

But................ I had removed the severely bent needle, something like 45 degrees.  I replaced it in the NVA and attempted to straighten it without heating it first.  Paid the price as it snapped off as the expletives flew.



I have replacements but it still gnaws at me!!!!!!!

Stuff happens, been there done that. I bought (bid win) a later Wen Mac .049 like yours. Orifice in spray bar won't clear even in boiling. I pulled the spray bar from the crankcase. Plan to JB weld me another, either an Enya assembly or one from a Sure Start assembly.

Nice story George.  Making something out of nothing.

You're welcome. Noticed a couple days ago, Bernie at Cox Int'l had the highly desired NOS Goldberg nylon engine mounts for postage back engines for a very reasonable fee. Alas! They are sold out today! (Snooze, you lose!   ) Kudos to those who grabbed them. These use the Cox tank mount bolt pattern and allow firewall mounting without redrilling new holes.



Please note that this RTF donor engine doesn't have the original plain aluminum prop drive plate. I replaced that some time back with the cooler looking black.

I guess that's a press in fit George.  Maybe I could tap it out if I know which end to approach.  Nice looking engine.  

This elevator is working out better than expected, so much so that I'm keeping the trial piece. I epoxied the open end tip of the bamboo letting it set a bit before rotating it for a few minutes so it would not glue up.  Made a nice little pocket and prevents any end play.  I filled in the bamboo/balsa interface with epoxy and made a bushing on the bamboo end duplicating the plastic side.  Pretty darn strong and I'm happy with it.  Even glued on a filler piece to match the "good" side.  Now to sand down and seal with sanding sealer prior to painting.  

Kinda rough right now but it will be better.





Rainy and miserable here in WV too Fred, that's why I have nothing else to do but to stay inside and bother everybody.  

Bob

Kim wrote:Man, I GOT to get down there this year!

Yes, Kim, please come if you can. Not to sound melodramatic, but if we're ever going to meet in person, I feel time is growing short. But then I keep thinking that, yet here I am. The May contest is the smaller of the two, but still bigger than most. And more fun than oughtta be allowed.