Marks flea market morning

The stunter looks well made, should make a nice racket. I picked a Magnum up lately too. Still waiting for the wind to stop howling.

Very, very nice day at the Flea Market! That SkyCopter looks to be untouched....with the unobtainable plastic tank intact! That Mustang will look great just hanging from the ceiling. Ive been negotiating with some guy on FB market place, with a NIB SkyJumper. Asked if he’d ship it to me, said He thinks he could, sent me more pictures of the parachute & jumper. I guess he’s waiting on calculating the mailing cost. Wait and see.

The Mustang looks like the Sig foam wing Mustang designed by Mike Gretz as it also has a 50" wingspan. Mike Gretz was also responsible for the Sig Twister design. I have one I never built due to the weight issues they generally encounter. The recommended engine is the Fox .35 but it really requires a diet to use that engine. The Sig kit used ABS plastic belly pan and cowls including wingtips. Those items combined with the foam wing can get heavy real fast. Bob Hunt offered to core out my styrofoam wing cores to assist in lightening them up. Swapping out all of the ABS pieces for carved balsa seemed to be in order as well. It's on the to do list with a lot of others.

Even the ones I have seen fly with a Fox .35 flew quite well. The plane however flies much better with a .40 or larger. I'm now getting the itch to start it. The kit has been discontinued for a number of years. It also came in the largest box I had seen a control line kit ever come in. This is a kit that takes up a lot of space. In addition, those that sell them on EBAY generally have the shipping listed very very high.

Looking at the prop, the Zinger 10x6 would be a size for the Fox .35. Wouldn't be my choice for that engine as it really causes the Fox to overheat and sag. Using that prop on a .40 would turn that plane into a Reno racer.

I had a chance to look closer, yes, off the shelf Fox .35 I have a couple of them.  Looks bench run although the engine compartment is clean.  

Disappointed, I was hoping for an OS 40/45, but the needle was a give-away.  Yes, I'm thinking a sheeted foam core wing too.  Come on down here Ken and fly it, or maybe I will make it up to Philly.  





Seller was asking $100, Mark offered $75 and he took it. Said he paid $125 for it whether kit or built I don't know. Shipping (Mark) was free.

Nice score! Sounds like you have some good flea markets down there. The plane looks well built. If it is as you suspect an FP or such, does it have a venturi onsert and needle, or has the carb been wired open?

Marleysky wrote:Very, very nice day at the Flea Market!  That SkyCopter looks to be untouched....with the unobtainable plastic tank intact!  That Mustang will look great just hanging from the ceiling.   Ive been negotiating with some guy on FB market place, with a NIB SkyJumper. Asked if he’d ship it to me, said He thinks he could, sent me more pictures of the parachute & jumper. I guess he’s waiting on calculating the mailing cost. Wait and see.

The Sky Copter is pretty grungy Rene and has a broken-off forward skid. The engine and rotator are castor stuck too. But the box is good as are the two pamphlet instruction books, but I trashed the fuel soaked other stuff. Seller wanted $20 for the Sky Jumper and $30 for the Sky Copter, box value I would guess. Mark offered $41 for both and took it. Not a great deal, but again, shipping was free.

Sky Jumper is clean, looks never ran and the engine is free. but it looks like there is fuel residue in the tank/

Good luck on your Sky Jumper deal and let us know. I would like to know how that jumper is expelled out of there.







Bob

Bob, I paid $70 for the kit mid eighties. This was the second most expensive kit offered by Sig. The Sig Magnum was the most money which was nearing $100. I certainly would enjoy flying your plane. I looked at the distance to W Virginia and was quite surprised to see were almost 7 hours apart. It would certainly require some looking over. The engine though appearance wise has little to no time on it. That would be a concern. No problem there as a well broken in engine could easily be transplanted.

I wouldn't attempt a flight with that engine until it had some bench time or a good looking over on it. The engine in there now is the 1980's Fox. They could be real good or real bad. It doesn't appear to me as though the engine was run at all in the plane. A new cowled in Fox .35 develops burnt castor very quickly all over the head and sides. So I agree with your findings in terms of unrun in the plane.

And the plastic Mustang kits?

Bob, if you do fly it or find someone too fly it, I would highly recommend flying it with the cowling off. The engine will cool better and you would avoid melting the plastic cowl. Dubro makes a exhaust extension which is a aluminum extrusion about 6" long. The last time I bought one, it was about $9. This yields about 3-4 tongue mufflers that will fit the Fox .35 and other engines which utilize the same muffler such as the OS Fp.40. This would get the mess and hot exhaust outside of the cowling. It would just require a nice square cut and two holes drilled and tapped for a 4-40 screw which needs to be long enough to go from the ears on the case to the extrusion. The stock Fox .35 muffler, the last one they offered from the mid 80's on the 40th anniversary engine was the blimp style. Not only is it heavy, it's very restrictive. I typically cut the stinger off of the back due to the exit hole being only slightly larger than a 1/4". The more you cut off, the larger the hole becomes. I cut them off until I get a hole which is just under 1/2".

                   On another note, while many would say that the Fox doesn't offer enough power.  I always use a reference that the Fox .35 likes a load not a overload. A Fox on a large stunter due to it's size keeps the engine very happy as it has the Fox in it's proper torque range. The Fox makes more power when mounted inverted or upright as opposed to sidewinder on a profile. It also doesn't burp when going into the outside maneuvers as bad which most complain about. Another common mistake which I see on this model is that the builder didn't swap the needle valve to the other side of the fuse. It's exiting on the same side as the exhaust. This is very good in burning the @#$% out of your fingers.

         In addition, the tank is accessible which is a good thing. The question is, is it glued in to the compartment? Seeing the ply tabs which retain the cowling on is a bit concerning to me. Reason being is that when a ABS cowling is usually screwed on, it quickly develops spider web cracks where the holes penetrate due to vibration. In addition, if the screws penetrate even slightly through the ply tabs, they run the risk of puncturing the side walls of the tank due to vibration as well.

             The standard tank width for a wedge style tank in the model is 2". The problem is that most kit manufacturers offer f-1 -f-2 fuselage formers exactly 2". This presents a real problem sometimes due to the fact that when the end caps go onto the tank, it's now wider than 2" by almost 1/8". I have had to crush tanks to get them into the model. Whenever I build a full bodied stunter anymore, I widen the fuse formers to accommodate this. This allows you to also cant the rear of the tank to the outboard side. The Sig Mustang didn't utilize adjustable leadouts and any canting of the tank on this model can be most helpful. It will allow a clean shut off at the end of the run and can also offer proper feeding throughout the flight.

Thanks for the information Ken, it will take some work before it is ever air worthy.

The first thing it will need is filling in around the fueling tube. Right now it's a direct funnel to the interior of the engine bay for any spill-over. Balsa filler followed by an epoxy seal and paint should fix it.

Checking this morning I found the engine locked and the prop nut loose. Also I'm not happy with the space the builder left between the flaps and the elevator. But the twisted steel leadouts look solid and well done.

I have a box full of old mufflers including some that you describe, will have to dig it out to see what's there. But I made a simple non-restrictive exhaust guide for both my Nieuport 28's, maybe that would work. Both of my spare Fox .35's have the needle opposite the exhaust, one is a direct replacement for that Mustang's engine.

NEW222 wrote:Nice score! Sounds like you have some good flea markets down there. The plane looks well built. If it is as you suspect an FP or such, does it have a venturi onsert and needle, or has the carb been wired open?

Looks normal Chancey with no insert.

Thinking the same thing Victor, but he left those kits there. I was more interested in the white Jaguar XK-120.

Generally, I would forego the top vent and fill it in in it's entirety. Get a muffler or tongue muffler and put a pressure nipple outside of the fuse. Hook the pressure line to the filler on top of the tank. This way you have muffler pressure which the Fox likes and you pull the fuel line off of the pressure nipple and fill through it. The bottom vent is uncapped when filling and capped when running. The gaps in the flap and elevator areas are due to the builder not mortising the hing barrels in. Clear Monokote strips placed above and below the surfaces will seal the hinge gaps and won't look unsightly. It's just that you need to leave enough in the open area to flex so it doesn't bind the movement. This is a good practice especially with a plane that's heavier.

Good looking plane either way , you going to fly one those choppers ?

getback wrote:Good looking plane either way , you going to fly one those choppers ?

I might, no way to get dizzy.  Had one years ago.  Mark's first Cox engine injury when he started it and didn't get his finger out of the way quick enough.  Nasty cut, but it didn't slow him down.

Got three of them now.  This last one may be the best.  Engine and spindle completely locked up.  Case screws difficult to extract, you can't heat these up. Lot's of patience and Simple Green fixed it.  






A good Samaritan here (Bob #1) is sending me a replacement for that broken skid and will make it whole again

rsv1cox wrote:
Sky Jumper is clean, looks never ran and the engine is free.  but it looks like there is fuel residue in the tank/

Good luck on your Sky Jumper deal and let us know.  I would like to know how that jumper is expelled out of there.





k
Bob

Sometimes people do things that reassures my belief in kind, honest, trustworthy human beings. I recently received two packages from distant sellers, who, by my request packaged and mailed items to me without having secured payment before hand! Both sent the stuff like, when you get it, if your happy with it, send me a check. Which I gratefully have done. I’m feeling happy and proud of ourselves as a group.
So, the SkyCopter shows up. It’s complete as shown in the pictures, the bottom of the box is waterstained and a bit moldy. Looks to have never been removed from the box.

Ooooo, looky:
Step 8: ARM EJECTOR SYSTEM
KEEP FACE AWAY FROM DOOR WHEN SKY JUMPER IS LOADED

Man, that guys gonna pop outa there like being shot from a cannon!! Or, he’s been drinking again....

First tie him up:
Looks like he’s going to war with spaghetti and meatballs in his hands.

Roll and fold parachute:

Test Ejector system:


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Mine tested poorly, the latch catches and the door is bowed out at the top and won’t open far enough to eject the jumper! I’ll have to work on the door so the hinged side doesn’t get caught on the body. COOL
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Caution watch your face!!



Now tell us something we don’t already know!

Ok, I think this is Step 8:

Thanks Rene, that answers a lot of my questions.

On rushing air opens the door,,,,,, I gotta see that. The door on mine doesn't open easy either.

Thanks for info.

Bob