From short-run fun to screaming Devil Machine - Ready to fly

That one was given to me, but Texas Timers sells them for $9.50 for TD/Medallion .049/.051 and Norvel AME, among others.

If I do as I mentioned and start with a 6" MA prop, it might be okay on 35'. The RR1 was pulling harder than a Black widow, and the Tee Dee probably won't be a lot faster if I over prop it. There's a big leap in RPM between a 6" and a 5.5" with a Tee Dee. If it's too hot to handle I can back down to my hotrod Medallion. All you have to do to swap engines is grab it with a rag and unscrew the engine from the backplate mount(that's why I made it so strong). I don't have a fine thread NV for the Medallion, but I can rig it up with a Tee Dee carb and it'll run fine.

I don't know what to expect. The Streak weighs twice as much as the Satan and it flat hauls ass with a 5.5" prop. For good or for bad, I'll get it on video. It's an experiment. I'm confident I can fly it without wrecking it. I don't get dizzy any more. Even if I do, I can fly a half a circle back and forth until it runs out of gas. The Satan has never been badly wrecked. The only time was when my line got hooked on the adjusting stub on the front of the handle and I cracked the tail booms. I changed the location of the adjuster after that.

Notice I am mounting it with the Cylinder up. I looked at different configurations and the NV was too easy to bend any other way. The Satan's mount is large enough that the cylinder doesn't stick up as high as you might think. Not as high as a Bee cylinder.

Hang onto your hat. That plane is gonna move out.

lousyflyer wrote:Hang onto your hat. That plane is gonna move out.

I need me one o' them yaller hardhats with an engine on the front... with a chin strap.

RknRusty wrote:

lousyflyer wrote:Hang onto your hat. That plane is gonna move out.

I need me one o' them yaller hardhats with an engine on the front... with a chin strap.

Here we go again! I'll be watching my atomic clock for misplaced minutes as your Time Vortices sweep West !!!

Kim wrote:

RknRusty wrote:

lousyflyer wrote:Hang onto your hat. That plane is gonna move out.

I need me one o' them yaller hardhats with an engine on the front... with a chin strap.

Here we go again! I'll be watching my atomic clock for misplaced minutes as your Time Vortices sweep West !!!

I hope not, I don't know how to take cover from a timequake. Stay tuned and stand back.

Got the glass on tonight. Since I can't seem to resist making documentaries, here's the project as of tonight.

Last night I epoxied the new firewall onto the nose. Tonight I got the fiberglass cut out and in place. I left studs screwed into the blind nuts so they wouldn't get glue in them


Here is the glass folded down and tacked with dots of CA in the corners to hold it in place.


I used 5 minute epoxy thinned with alcohol and painted it on with a brush.


Tomorrow, I'll sand the firewall face flat and paint it. I test balanced it yesterday and it looks like it's going to need nearly an ounce of lead, maybe screwed onto the TD's beam mount wings, but weight is definitely not going to be a problem. I think it'll still be less than 5 ounces. The prop is a little closer to the LE, so I hope that tightens up the tricks.

Couple of questions Rusty. Do you ever have trouble with epoxy setting up when it is thinned with alcohol? This happens to me sometimes. When you say you will be under five ounces is that with the engine? Thanks.

JPvelo wrote:Couple of questions Rusty. Do you ever have trouble with epoxy setting up when it is thinned with alcohol? This happens to me sometimes. When you say you will be under five ounces is that with the engine? Thanks.

No problem with 98% alcohol. It did set more slowly, but my glue is suspect. I think it was old when I bought it. Yes, the Satan's AUW was 4.6 ounces with the Black Widow. I expect it should be about the same with the Tee Dee and the added weight. Maybe a tad more.

Here's the finished product.
All mounted up with the radial backplate mount and KK needle valve assembly. I have 2-56 hex screws into blind nuts behind the firewall, secured with thread locker.


I had to add nose weight to make up for the difference in length and weight from the RR1 and Black Widow. I fastened lead weights with 2-56 screws and nuts to the beam mount wings. Here's the underside, showing the nuts, but I forgot what you call the ones with the plastic thingamajig in them, but they shouldn't vibrate loose.


Ready to fly!

That looks a proper weapon Rusty

Hopefully not a weapon of mass destruction!

I'm more worried about it being a weapon of self destruction.

Make sure you video the flight. I have a feeling it will be worth it.

lousyflyer wrote:Make sure you video the flight. I have a feeling it will be worth it.

I will, LF. If it's dry outside I may fly it after kindergarten lets out across the street tomorrow. I'll be sure and set up the camera.

I cranked it up today to figure out where to set the NV and the ol' Tee Dee runs really good... and loud. I forgot my earmuffs and now I feel like I just walked out of an AC/DC concert. That's the engine that had the strange bump on the crankcase that I posted a thread about a couple of months ago. Nothing seems to be wrong with it though. It turns a 5.5" prop faster than the .051 on the Streak. I'll fly it on the 40' lines. I have a question about it but I'll put it in the bladder thread since it's relevant to the topic.

It has dacron leadouts that are a year old now. After popping one on the Chopper Saturday, I'm thinking of performing surgery on it tonight to replace them. I'll have to get it done tonight if I expect to fly tomorrow... or I may blow it off for now. What are the chances of popping two in a row.

Hello Rusty, I've seen some real funny things that have happened over the years. I've seen nylon bellcranks saw right through .027" stainless and I've seen the .027 stainless saw right through aluminum bellcranks. I would certainly from now on try and use wire from your bellcrank either solid or flexible out to your terminations. When you start questioning what if or do you think it's going to hold up, bad things can happen. On a 1/2A, it's quite simple to even replace the leadouts with .030 solids and still successfully wrap the lead outs properly on the bellcrank. I actually even stopped flying 1/2A's on .008's due to lines breaking and have since switched to .012's. Ken

Well it's been dark and rainy so when I passed by the fishing outfitter today I bought some 20# test braided steel wire coated in plastic and some crimp tubes. I think I'll perform surgery on the leadouts and plan on Saturday morning which has a sunny forecast, 0% chance of rain and 6mph West wind. Sounds perfect.

I flew it twice today. Then a Deputy Sheriff showed up and said an alarm at the church went off. I hope my racket didn't cause it. I was about to fuel up the Streak when she drove up. I didn't want to cause a nuisance so I packed out. I really didn't get my rocks off flying today. I hope I can get back out before next Saturday, but I better go see the Pastor first.
I did make a video of the Satan with it's retrofit Tee Dee. I'll post a report on that tomorrow. I'm whipped from watching college football tonight.

My South Carolina Gamecocks beat the crap out of Georgia, but our mop-up crew let the Dogs score one touchdown.

hey Rusty,

Congrat on your team, that was a huge win for them! looks like they can play with anybody!

Mark Boesen wrote:hey Rusty,

Congrat on your team, that was a huge win for them! looks like they can play with anybody!

Ouch, I just checked the Huskers news when I saw your post. Anybody but OSU, damn.
Thanks for the congrats, the Cocks have an awesome team and Spurrier has a knack for keeping them level headed and focused. Not too high, not too low, and great position coaches. I am amazed that they handled the Dawgs like that. Next week we'll be facing an angry LSU in Baton Rouge with their drunken night-time crowd. So We'll try to take it to them. Then Florida. Whew. But as for today, it's fun reading the newspaper.

I'll post more about the Li'l Satan later on and put up a video. The plane flew great. My airframe skills are improving. But the Tee Dee was a huge disappointment. I have never had a Tee Dee fail to perform for me. It sounded like 5 o-clock Charlie on M*A*S*H. In two flights it sputtered around and blew dark gray oil all over the plane. That crankcase had a wrinkle in the underside of it, but it ran great on the bench at a pretty 19.5k with a 5.5x3 MA prop, so I thought it was okay. The NVA runs at an odd setting(1.3 turns) and is much more sensitive than any of my others. I wonder if it was going lean, would that cause the engine to spew dark gray exhaust(metal, I presume)? I have a Medallion I could use the case from, but it runs so good I hate to cannibalize it. Or I could put the TD carb on it and try it that way.

I'm open to ideas. Later, you'll be able to listen to it. The video will probably be up by early this evening.

If I'd been able to fly the Streak, at least I could have left the field feeling better, it's always fun to fly. But the alarm incident put me off of that plan.
See y'all later.