Beginners Ringmaster

Yabby Mon Sep 18, 2023 6:22 am

Built myself a Beginners Ringmaster from plans I found on the internet. The plans identify it as a Sterling Kit. Being a slab wing and profile fuse its simplicity and ease of build appealed to me. I decided at the beginning of this flying season I was going to learn to fly inverted properly and that i would keep crashing and building planes till I finally managed it. As it turned out the Beginners Ringmaster is a very capable little jigger. I built two of them and one is pictured below. Both were built quite quickly and no effort made for presentation as I didnt expect them to last very long at all.

I powered them with a Cox 049 TD and flew them on 35 ft lines. The first plane I flew only lasted 3 flights for three crashes with the third crash being terminal and not repairable. but in those three flights I did at least manage to fly inverted for several laps each flight and do some what could loosely be called lazy eights. The plane flies very smoothly and is extremely predictable but at the same time very maneuvarable. It is also quite fast with the 049 TD on 35 foot lines and I think I need to fly it on 42 foot lines. After destroying the first one with three crashes in 3 flights I decided to call it a day and not destroy the second one on the same day. Old Bugger

The next weekend I flew my second plane and managed six flights no crashes, lots of inverted laps, lazy eights and some outside loops. Weird how suddenly the pieces seemed to fall into place. Mind you I expect more crashes learning to fly these maneuveres as its ok whilst everything is going well but as soon as something goes wrong old habbits automatically want to fly the plane ther wrong way. No!

Lots of practice is what is needed to wire the brain and muscle memory to make the right decisions without thinking when inverted etc. and that will take time. But at least ive made a start and made some progress. Really happy with the choice of plane. This weekend Im going to try going inverted with a reverse wingover. Huh...

Better get on with building a couple more of these Beginners Ringmasters as through no fault of their own I dont expect them to last long. lol!

rdw777 Mon Sep 18, 2023 6:43 am

Nice Yabby !!…I think flying CL and being determined to master the the stunts does and will take some sacrifices of the planes as you mentioned…. Certainly would for me!!!….Good for you to press on and try those….. Are you using a fuel proofer over the spray paint?…. I’ve been using spar varnish over things that are spray painted and works mostly OK….Maybe some spray paints are more fuel resistant than others?

getback Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:13 am

Cool stuff yabby ! Good to see/hear your getting out there and learning new tricks and practice in . Lord knows I need some fling invert has /is a challenge for me to , Coming out of a wingover i have never tried but seen most people do it this way i need to try that Huh...

Good luck and keep building Popcorn

Yabby Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:41 pm

Thanks Robert @rdw777 and Eric @getback Thumbs Up

I dont like smashing planes in crashes but found that some of the fun flying was going as I could fly round and round and loops and wingovers almost with my eyes closed and it had all become nice and safe but the same. So I decided I really needed to learn to do some stunts and to be prepared to lose some planes. Fortunately the planes Im flying are cheap and easy to build. I dont intend to learn to do stunts to the level of perfection the stunt guys do. Laughing

I just want to be able to do more stuff when I fly and the new challenge has renewed my enthusiasm for flying.

My planes are sprayed with Rust-oleum straight to the balsa. No dope or anything else. I find it quite fuel proof but it will still get soggy and heavy with castor oil so I wipe my plane down after each flight with Window cleaner which contains amonia and removes castor and fuel very well indeed. I have seen club members using window cleaner on their fancy stunt planes also. I wouldnt recommend Rust-oleum when building a plane where you want a really good finish/presentation of the model, It just doesnt provide a very good finish but does the job for planes you expect to have a short life and are not looking for a high presentation finish.

Come the end of this season I hope to be reasonably competent/safe flying inverted, lazy 8s, inside and outside loops, wingovers, and reverse wingovers . You can only try. lol!

rsv1cox Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:49 pm

Try some sanding sealer on the balsa Yabby before spraying. It works wonders, sands well and does not add a lot of weight. I use Minwax. Prevents the color layer from being absorbed into the balsa so you use much less. In the end it probably weighs less. Dries fast, may add an hour or two to your build time including sanding.

Yabby Tue Sep 19, 2023 5:23 am

Thanks for the tip Bob @rsv1cox . I will have a look at my local hobby shop and Im sure they will have something similar for the purpose. Beer Cheers

**944_Jim** Tue Sep 19, 2023 5:48 pm

Yabby,
I use a clear lacquer sanding sealer for sealing/prepping as if it were nitrate dope. Just like nitrate dope, it isn't fuel proof. Once sanded smooth, I topcoat it with a fuelproof paint (butyrate dope). Clean up is typical cheap lacquer thinner.

I got it from my local mom&pop hardware store a few years ago. Note it calls out being nitrocellulose (just like old Ambroid and later Sig-ment glues):
https://www.amazon.com/Deft-Interior-Finish-Brushing-Lacquer/dp/B000LNSGB6

I bet whatever Rustoleum paint you are using will apply just fine over the stuff. I do know it dries fast, but I usually don't touch it until the next day. A couple of thin coats,.sanding between coats will leave a nice, hard, smooth finish.

I also use it for securing tissue to framed structures just like dope (including light sanding between coats. Again, it needs a fuelproof coating...just like nitrate does.

rsv1cox Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:47 pm

Agreed. All these guys got hit with one or two coats of sanding sealer prior to paint. Some Rustoleum some Krylon.

Yabby Wed Sep 20, 2023 12:00 am

thanks for the info 944_jim @944_Jim Thumbs Up

I have seen some stuff a friend uses called Ezi Dope that is water based. It seemed to seal the balsa on his planes pre painting. I might give that a go as I can get it at the local hobby shop. It also worked well with tissue he applied to the fuse of his planes. I guess there are a number of brands and solutions out there to seal the balsa. On the planes Im currently building the fraction of extra weight wont be a problem anyway as Im running my TD 049's on them just under peak revs to slightly slow the lap times whilst trying to learn to fly inverted etc. Hopefully the good inverted flights I had last weekend continue and over time it will more and more become worth investing time into the models looks as I will stick them into the ground less often. Way to go yet though lol!

**944_Jim** Wed Sep 20, 2023 11:42 am

Aren't we close to the Annual RingMaster day? I haven't seen any traffic from "Brotherhood of the Ring" in ages. I also don't know who is collecting the worldwide number of RingMaster flights if we have one this year

duaneh Wed Sep 20, 2023 1:25 pm

Jim, it's set for Oct. 7-8, 2023.
Details here:
https://ringmasterflyathon.com/

Kim Wed Sep 20, 2023 3:43 pm

For those who do Facebook, this is also a source:

Annual Worldwide Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon

We'll be flying both days at Breezy Hill.

**944_Jim** Wed Sep 20, 2023 4:04 pm

Thanks guys...I'm going to prep the WingChicken BRM for this.

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