My Shoestring Stunter is RTF

RknRusty wrote:No, they're just hidden behind polyspan and a tapered fillet. I wondered the same thing until I looked closer.. I was sewing the rest of the hinges when Jim called me to meet his old CL buddy, so I loaded up the Mazda and went flying. One pretty day popped up amongst the Winter weather so I took good advantage of it. Big fun. He had a big plane too.

What did you think? Glad you got a break to have some fun.

cribbs74 wrote:

RknRusty wrote:No, they're just hidden behind polyspan and a tapered fillet. I wondered the same thing until I looked closer.. I was sewing the rest of the hinges when Jim called me to meet his old CL buddy, so I loaded up the Mazda and went flying. One pretty day popped up amongst the Winter weather so I took good advantage of it. Big fun. He had a big plane too.

What did you think? Glad you got a break to have some fun.

What did I think about what, the doublers? I thought they were missing. Or what did I think about the big plane? I forgot what it was, it had a Super Tigre 39 on it, a little bigger than the Shoestring and with flaps. He flew the pattern beautifully after the wind died, with a perfect 2-4-2 break. But didn't offer to let me fly it, I didn't ask either. I offered a couple of times to let him fly one of my Streaks, I flew both today, but he declined. It turns out the T-28 was originally his, as well as the big box of CL stuff Jim gave me last month.

I'll write more about today's adventures later on tonight. I just came in from cleaning the planes.

Yeah sorry, seeing the big plane fly. Sounds like a good time. I'll wait for the writeup

The hinges are all finished


Now it has a rudder


And what plane wouldn't be complete without a big ol' puncture hole in the wing

Ah shoot! What happened? Did you drop something? It should patch well. Bummer.

Looks great though. I love that plane!!!! Great lines.

Ron

It toppled out of the vice while my back was turned. Needless to say I didn't have it clamped very tightly. Looks like a good place for some decorative overlay. That heavy old brake disk makes a pretty good portable vice holder.

One bad thing about Monokote, it's so brittle. I had a dime sized hole in the Refried Bean from just landing in dry winter grass. Ultracote would never shatter open like that. That stuff even resists a barely used razor blade.

I'd like to get some paint on it today, but it's raining, so it might not be a good time for that.

You can barely see the angles masked where the fuse will turn to black.



And the rudder, which I painted in the kitchen today while it was raining.


I hope all that paint doesn't weigh as much as it looks, because I'm pushing max weight already.

I can picture it flying already. Good paintwork Rusty.

If it's too heavy just put a bigger engine on it.

Lookin real sharp. Love the stitch hinges.

Tape is off for now. Can you see the repair?
I'll probably do the black tonight. The elevator is hooked up, but only about 5 threads screw into the clevis. I'll have to unsolder it and see if there is enough rod to work with. If not, I'll JB weld it, but I don't really want to do that.

Here is the top view:


Here is the bottom view:

Repair looks seamless in the picture. Good color match. I see you have rudder offset. I have still no idea about that issue yet. I am running no offset on anything, to include my Ringmaster.

All I ever hear is to not use it as it's pointless, yet I still see it on new builds (not just yours) I am very confused about the whole rudder offset thing.

Ron

I'm happy with the way it looks. You can see it in real life. It's a little wavy over the epoxy.

I put offset on the Shoestring only because that's the way it was designed.
All I know is I read that designers quit offsetting the rudder after the '50s. I think it probably gives a little yaw out. But maybe the added drag isn't worth the benefit of the yaw, which the thrust angle takes care of. As you probably know, I have a Baby Flite Streak I built with no offset and another with offset. They are dimensionally identical other than that and the engine, and the one with no offset weighs 1.5oz more. The one with no offset pulls the lines tighter and makes smaller loops. Daz all I knows. If I ever accidentally clip the tail off the Shoestring, I'll try a straight one.

I finally got the rudder on. I was having a lot of trouble aligning it, it's harder to eyeball than on a 1/2A. I couldn't tack it with pins because there was no room to manipulate it with the elevator in the way. I had to lay a straight edge along the fuse, then mark a straight line and cut a groove for it to press in to. Then I laid a 90 deg angle on the stab as close as I could get it and eyeballed it and superglued it with thick Gorilla CA. I made a fillet with spackle, and when it dries I'll smooth it and harden it with thin CA. That was a real pain, but I didn't want that to be the reason it comes into the circle during loops. The red paint is nice and hard now, so I can tape it and put the black on this weekend. I'm doing my best not to get fingerprints and smudges all over the red paint.

Sounds like you should have it done this weekend. Post pics if and when you get them.

Ron

I got it mostly painted today, all except the silver canopy which I'll brush on. The rest is Rustoleum.

A little Glad Press-n-Seal to cover the wings and green Frog tape to mask the red areas:


The inboard nose. Got Glare?:


The outboard nose:

That's not red showing through around the nacelle, just a reflection off the wing.

Bottom views:


Top View. In the house for drying in the warmth of the gas furnace::


I haven't weighed it yet. The red was only 0.2 oz., but I was a bit heavy handed with the black. I'll put some fuelproof clear on at least the nose. The press-n Seal boogered up some patches of red paint and I made it worse messing with it. But perfection is elusive. I still have to touch up some edges and corners with my red and black Testors paint pens. After that and the canopy paint, the LG and engine go on and it should be about ready to fly.

Absolutely gorgeous Rusty!

What's the trick with your paint? It looks like glass. I have seen hand rubbed stuff that looks as good as that.

cribbs74 wrote:Absolutely gorgeous Rusty!

What's the trick with your paint? It looks like glass. I have seen hand rubbed stuff that looks as good as that.

I don't know, Ron. I guess I'm just good with a rattle can. I was happy I got the angles where the colors meet really neat and straight. I did that with Frog tape, which is meant for latex, but it did pretty well with the enamel. I'll give it until Thursday or Friday in front of the furnace vent before I spray any clear on it. Until then I'll think about decals.

I'll put my AMA number on it, but the damn thing is 7 digits long. I don't particularly like the Shoestring decal set, for instance those big "16s." I do like the script "Shoestring" decal that goes on the cheek scoop, so I will use that. If I had any black Monokote I'd put black flames(Refried Bean style) on the wings, but I don't have any. Got plenty of navy blue, but no black. I might have enough white, but I don't know if that would look good. I'll keep thinking on it. I'll look at Google pictures for inspiration.

You don't like the 16's?????

For shame.

I like them I think they look the part however, since you went custom on the paint something else might look better. They sell decal paper on Ebay. You could draw up anything you want and then print it off on your color printer. Seal it with clear and away you go!

Ron



For the flames you could go white and then go a touch smaller and overlay the white with red.

Yeah, maybe the idea of the 16 will grow on me. Any clue what it signifies?

RknRusty wrote:Yeah, maybe the idea of the 16 will grow on me. Any clue what it signifies?

No idea, it was a goodyear racing plane. Perhap just needed a number to compete.

Here is a really good PDF. Article on the story behind the plane. It's long, but a good read nonetheless.

http://felixdk.websitetoolbox.com/post/The-Story-of-the-quotShoestringquot-Racer-1596713

Ron

When the builders of the Shoestring registered the aircraft, they were the 16th in line to enter. The plane itself was built by several workers who more or less made weekly contributions to the build and also volunteered their time to see the project through. Seeing that the plane was built on a "Shoestring" budget it retained it's name. Ken

Ken Cook wrote: When the builders of the Shoestring registered the aircraft, they were the 16th in line to enter. The plane itself was built by several workers who more or less made weekly contributions to the build and also volunteered their time to see the project through. Seeing that the plane was built on a "Shoestring" budget it retained it's name. Ken

I had wondered about the name too. Thanks for the info.