Graupner Citabria 0.49 Now with pictures!

Hello Coxaddicted,

I'm looking forward to see the pictures. Is the plane already completely built?

Lieven

Hi Lieven,

yes it is completely build, i am a little bit to lazy for building one. Due to other projects I have not enough time for building a plane (The time I have is for keeping my models running, rebuild and of course have some fun with them).

On tuesday for example, I had a day off and spend all my time in dissassembling/ TLC my Traxxas Slash after a hard crash at full speed. It is really fast (over 90kmh) therefore it has some wearout and I had to change the complete drivetrain too (no tooths on the pinion gear )

I know that is no excuse for not self building a model. But If I would do so, there would be no time in flying/driving/care them.

I hope I will receive the box today.

BTW: I shot a 5 channel 2.4GHZ radio on Ebay. So the project will start soon

Hi guys,

the citabria was delivered today!

Here is a pic after outboxing:




The Baby Bee looks very clean and very good overall condition.
Starting weight is around 18 oz.
To be continued...

It looks like a well built plane - without suffering any damage from postage. From what year dates the model? In my youth, I had 2 fat Graupner catalogues, late 70's early 80's, and a couple of yearly novelty catalogues. God knows where these are now. awaiting your first testing and more pics.

Lieven

Update / News:

I received a 2.4 GHZ Radio/Transmitter, which I will install soon. The servos (ailerion/rudder) work fine, but I have to find the right channels first (Radio is used and I have no manual yet).

I decided to use a 480mah lipo battery instead of 4x 1,5v aa size batteries in order to lower the wheigt.

I already dissasembled the baby bee and soaked it in fuel unless it is almost new. I will reassemble the engine today and will make a bench test soon.

The plane has no tail wheel, maybe I will install one (I would like to start normal and not by hand launch). Any comments from your side?

The ordinary Babe Bee is ready to run again:



I have replaced the reed and do some tlc.

I decided to try this engine first.

Yesterday I gave the Bee a first shot. Sadly it allways quits after a few rounds. The engine is like new, everything cleaned, a new reed is also installed. Maybe I have to buy a better/finer nozzle for priming.

BTW: It was the first Cox I runned without muffler

I think I will install a muffler, it is really loud, maybe too loud. I also asked at some local flying fields If I could fly my cox on their field. Only electric or four stroke with mufflers below 88db are allowed

Babbitts, aren't They?

Is your fuel new? Sometimes these little guys will get cranky on older fuel. Great project, by the way !

Kim

That could be Kim, I didn't thought about the fuel yet.

I bought the fuel last september and opened the can. It was allways stored in the dark cellar but I used to fill me a little bottle with fuel and some additional castor when I go out with the rc/cars.

This ,,special blend'' is about 4 weeks old, maybe to old. This would explain why my cox rc car also didn't start well and quit after some revs.

I will try some fresh fuel out of the Original Can, hopefully it is ok (Fuel is in Germany not easy to get and expensive too )

Stay Tuned!

What kind of bolts are used to bolt the engine to the fire wall? The holes on my Babe Bee are just under 3mm so an M3 bolt won't fit.

Lieven

Morning Lieven,

i am not pretty sure, but I think there were M 2.5 Bolts/Screws used. The screw has a diameter about 2,5 mm ( if my calliper is correct ) The Nut is cemented behind the firewall.

BTW: I got the Rc ready to work now. The engine has been started also, I was a little bit to shy (don't want to loose a finger )

I found a nice flying field nearby, I hope nobody will complain about the noise (Here in Germany the people are a little bit sensitive and have to comment everything).

It is still to windy here, I think we will have no flying weather the whole may. Therefore I have to wait for better weather.

Man, I know what it's like to have to wait for the wind to lessen for flying! In Kansas, we get lots of wind! Now and then, I say "What the Heck!", and go flying, when the wind is still 15 mph. It is also gusty! Supposedly, the planes don't know it's windy, but they do bounce around in the air more, it seems, and deadstick landings have to be well-planned, in only seconds! The wind will keep you on your toes!
Aircraft with a higher wing loading, and a thinner airfoil, seem to be less affected by the wind; that means your plane is heavier and flies faster, though. It starts getting into a performance envelope that requires more skill, to be successful. When you are able to accumulate time in the air, you will discover in what wind velocities your plane and you can comfortably operate. So, I have different planes for different conditions. You will build more, different airplanes, to make available more days that will be compatible for flying! Good luck! Keep us informed!

Hey Gus,

thanks for the explanation. We have only 10 mph wind but with gusts. As I am a bloody beginner I will wait. Don't want to loose the citabria

Is the Bee running strong and steady now? I'm looking forward to your maiden voyage. I hope you get some nice calm days so you can concentrate on learning to control the plane. What did you ever do about the tail, did you put a wheel or a dragger on it?

Good discipline on waiting for a windless day! If there's any breeze at all (like there normally is) you might want to plan your flight so that you stay upwind the whole time. This way, if you have a moment's confusion, your model will be carried toward you rather than away from you.

Hey Guys,

thanks for the tips! I have time (you may know that i have got enough other cox time-waster projects ) so it is no problem for me to wait.

Rusty, thank you for reminding me of the tail. I did not make anything yet, I was in a hobby store regarding this but they did not offer such small diameters. I will show you a picture of the tail later, a controlable rear wheel mounted on the rudder would be nice I think.

In the meantime I will give the Bee some further runs to be sure that it is reliable and a muffler will be installed too.

Hey Coxaddicated, nice project. I have been a fan of the cox engines since I first laid my eyes on them. I have a mint cox sportsman 15 engine, never run. Just ordered a baby bee myself from ebay, its the older classic one, love the barrel shaped fins on the older engines That plane you got looks similar to a piper cub. Well I will put my baby bee on a quarter pint balsa plane, it would have to scaled up of course since it was designed around the pee wee .02 cox engine. I want it to be a slow flayer,

by the way, I see you got a kyosho beetle box, have you got that buggy? If selling let me know. thanks

Thank you for the coment ronit. Sadly I have no news about the plane, i am waiting for better weather it is not a Piper Cub. It is a American Champion Citabria. But it looks a little bit like a Piper Cub

Regarding the Kyosho Buggy: Yes I got the Box, Manuals and the Car. It was my first real RC Car bought from my pocket money (I had to save money for this very long ), therefore I do not want to sell it at the moment.

Actually I bought a new body kit (a repro but very close to the original which I still have), electronic speed controller and cleaned all parts. It is running but I still have to paint the new body. Due to all my projects it is packed in a box and waiting for days where I have got deadly dullness .

Looks like a nice little plane.
At some point you might want to swap engines for one with a bigger tank?

Thanks Mark,

for the maiden flight i will use the Babe Bee. If the plane hopefully survive the maiden flight, I would like to use the BW with its bigger tank (will still fit under the bonnet).

My Radio has 6 channels, so the throttle option + tanked engine is possible too, but this will be a winter project. I am waiting for better weather, it is rainy and cold since two weeks .

As mentioned I will add a muffler. Last time I have runned the engine in my parents garden and pedestrians where shaking their head. I don't want to get in stress with the police due to noise disturbance, but everybody who is dealing with a cox has this problem.

What do you do over there in America? I guess you have enough place where you do not disturb anybody? Or are the people sensitized because they know these engines from childhood

You could go with some 9-gram servos and save a ton of weight. Probably could add 2 aileron servos and still be under what those monsters weigh.

How do the receivers and battery packs look these days? They must be very light either. You see them also used as throttle control on C/L planes.

I still have a Sanwa 27 Mhz 2 channel radio control, similar to the Cox/Sanwa Cadet. Must be totally ancient by now.

Lieven