Sterling C-series Pt-17

Very nice job Ken . Hope it flys as good as it looks

Red, blue, yellow and white just stands out. Crisp lines too and the natural cowl. I love the split 9. What's the wing spread?

"I got it home and broke most of it apart and did a total redo."

Makes me smile. It's rewarding to take someone's cast off and make something out of it. A beautiful result Ken!

Beautiful Love the colors, can go wrong with  cub yellow and Insignia  red maybe ?? Is that a Fox 19 ? I was going to say 15 but I am confused about your spark ignition?  Would like also to see video thanks for sharing Ken

Engine is a Fox .35. This one is pre muffler ears with the large bypass. For the past 25 years, I attend a antique and hot rod car show. This show begins at 8 am and is over by 10 am. Today, it was so crowded, I left after 45 minutes. However, it's the one day that I see my friend Joe who's responsible for this build. I showed him the pictures and his jaw dropped. He was like a little kid. I told him that I was going to just go home and put the finishing touches on it which I did. I raked up leaves and got into the Black Rifle Coffee. I poured me a cup of AK-47 and worked on planes. It just doesn't get better than that.

Wow! that is so nice I don't know what to say except that is so nice of a job on a Sterling kit. They are hard to make look good. Two thumbs up on your model. It is nice to see some one is building airplanes.

                                        Mike1484

Nice job on a now rarely seen model, Ken, and with the earlier spun aluminum cowl, too. The last batch of those model kits, Sterling replaced it with a simpler vacuum formed plastic, not near as nice. Love the classic look of the engine through the cowl, sharp job on the finish.

Looks really Nice , good job on repairing a FuBar model . Good luck on the flight .

beautifully built model Ken. It looks outstanding, right down to the prop and pilots. As with the others would love to see some flight video It it a stunt capable model? Im sorry I have no idea. I have recently seen some biplanes flown at the club and they performed really well. All the best flying it Ken

Today at 8;30 am the PT-17 flew. I was very excited, it was a bit cold so starting required a bit of lighter fluid to get the engine running. It started, I dialed in the needle and my son flew it. It went flawless and I didn't expect that. The tank is a Brodak tank that my friend purchased and he couldn't even remember if it was air tested. I was elated that it worked. The Fox .35 was underwater earlier in it's life and the piston/cylinder was practically welded together from rust. I soaked and soaked and heated, after a month, I took it over to the vice and beat the piston out with a wooden dowel. I sanded the cylinder with sandpaper to remove the rust and used Scotch-Brite pads. Heavily pitted and all seemed like a total waste of time. Once reassembled, it had a pop to it so I figured what the heck. Well , it ran, maybe not like a new one but I wanted just enough to fly her and that's what I have. I do have video of it, I just need to get it to You Tube. New Years was started off successfully for me. Ken

Congratulations Ken! I somehow missed seeing this thread last November. A terrific looking scale-model airplane!! I'm sure that Shawn enjoyed the maiden-flight.

Ken,
You knocked it out of the park!

Please explain the lighter fluid trick. What kind of lighter fluid?

I tried bench testing a Fox .35 acquired some time in the last eight months. The one ounce tank was set up with the top of the fuel tank even with the NVA (because it lines up centered on the NVA for smaller engines).


I got several pops on a prime, but basically flipped two ounces through it with no joy. I tried lean with primes in the venturi, tried rich with lots of fast flipping, then disconnected fuel and flipped to clear the flood...

Then I repeated the whole process with the tank floor level with the NVA.

I got enough pops that my wife commented on me smelling like exhaust. I flipped enough that I scraped a bit of skin off my flipping finger.

Grrrr!

If your trying to start a Fox, it needs to be wet almost flooded. For cold weather starting, I use Ronsonol lighter fluid, the type for a Zippo lighter. Just a shot in the venturi or the exhaust and pull it through the engine a revolution or two prior to hooking up battery. USE CAUTION, this will kick and backfire instantly if not careful.  Having one ounce is considerably small. If that's all you have, make certain your tank is fully topped off and the tank isn't on a hill or incline preventing consistent fuel draw. If the engine has a stock Fox needle valve assembly, it NEEDS a piece of fuel tubing on it. This is responsible for possibly half of your problem prior to flipping. If the temperature is low as in 50 degrees or lower, the engine is going to require 2 times more prime in the exhaust not in the venturi.

         What propeller are you using? Last time you mentioned trying to start this engine, you had incorrect propellers. Acquire a 10x6, 10x5, 9.5x6, 9x6 for bench running.  You must sand the propeller prior to using. A MUST and wear a glove. Clock you prop so that it's horizontal on the compression stroke. Put your finger over the venturi and rotate the prop and watch that fuel comes up to the spraybar. If it doesn't open the needle valve, if it does open the needle valve. You will know when it lights off if it's too rich or too lean. It won't stay running if too lean and it will be screaming. If it's too rich it will shut off and sound as if it's running underwater.  Prime the engine and place the prop horizontal. Don't flip in counterclockwise rotation as one would normally do. Smack the prop backwards and it will light off practically 75% of the time.

Good to hear you got a good enough run on the repaired engine (Fox) and are happy with the flight characteristics . Darn that's early in the morning for me to even think about fling airplanes LOL Whats the plans for the plane now ?

Congratulations Ken on first flight ….. I’m not surprised that it
“went flawless “ looking at your builds and finishes….Will like to see that upcoming video….Also congrats on the early New Year flight …. What was the air temp that prompted the lighter fluid start trick?…. Never heard of that one by the way…

The temp was nearing 40 degrees, it certainly felt warm in the sun but in the shade it was cold. As the day progressed, it was dropping steady. What made matters worse is that it rained a bit just after midnight so everything was a little wet with a touch of frost here and there. I keep lighter fluid on hand in my pit box beginning in October. You don't need much but it will instantly kick a engine off.

Just to elaborate on the flight, the plans call for a 2" bellcrank. My buddy Joe who started used the 2" and it's not a good choice. It makes the controls very touchy. I instructed my son to use his combat handle which has a very small spacing and the plane was still hunting a bit until he got used to it. I plane on building another and I want to use a spark ignition engine to power it. I prefer to not use the 2" and try and go a bit larger. it landed very nicely which showed some realism, no bouncing just a nice greased in landing.

Nice,…. Well, That’s a sign of a competitor… Know the machine and know what it takes to get it to perform in varying conditions….I like the idea of the sparker in a Stearman like that…. Along with a little smoke trail and a cool sound…. Nice matchup….

The Fox .35 was underwater earlier in it's life and the piston/cylinder was practically welded together from rust.



You would never know it, beautiful engine beautiful plane.

I thourghly enjoyed your post Ken.  I'm living though you at times.

Nice Ken
Broke maiden , let me
Know
When video is posted please. Got to love the Fox 35.

I haven't had the opportunity to fly since Jan 1. Today, I got out and took a few planes with me. I brought the Sterling PT-17 with me. Everyone was in awe and couldn't wait to see it fly. I was busy trying out several other stalled projects. I was finally asked to give the Stearman a flight. I agreed but out of laziness, I used my Spectra combat lines vs the steel lines I used on it's maiden. The field hasn't been cut in months and there was small pieces of stick debris all over from the trees. On take off, the line caught something on the ground, obviously the up line because it went straight up. It went up so vertical, I don't think I could replicate it if I tried. Well folks, it's game over for the PT-17. Heartbreaking but it's a part of the hobby. I feel that if I had used my steel lines, the outcome would've or possibly been different. I feel that when the line caught, it just slid through whatever was holding it allowing it to climb up and out and finally over. I've had steel lines catch in the past and it usually drives the plane into the ground abruptly vs letting it fly. Who knows . The plane is in bad shape.

Sorry to hear about the crash Ken, You put some real care into that airplane….But! IMO….They are made to fly and there’s just an inherent risk in flying …. But that’s what keeps it exciting and gives a sense of accomplishment…. I’ve broken a bunch of ‘em too…. It will just give you an excuse for that next new project

Thanks, I tried to glue some of it back together. It will never fly again. I did manage a video of it so I'll keep that for memories. There's just to much hidden damage on the plane and there's a butt load of pieces in this plane. I do have another kit so I will be doing another. I managed to massage the extremely bent cowling back together. It looks quite well. I think due to the fact this engine spent most of it's life in dirt and water, I can only think it was trying to return to it's former home. It's now totally packed with mud and dirt and somehow, it looks happy on the nose. Maybe I should've never cleaned it and polished it.

So sorry to read of your loss of this beautiful airplane Ken, doubley so because it was due to external forces. Engine deserves a special place in your shop.

Bob