Time to find a RingMaster

Pat does nice kits from what I hear. Join the the Brotherhood of the Ring and you can see what he has. He does more than just Ringmasters.

Brodak has an S1 kit for $88, but it is more like the S-1A with the built up leading edge. You don't want an original kit, it's heavy and overpriced.

Ron

I just sold a Sterling S-1, but I sold it because the wood in those old kits always seem to be bad. And it has a solid leading edge and the airfoil needs to be thicker to stunt better. I don't think Pat King has a S-1. He has some really nice Ringmaster kits though. The full size bipe is awesome.

You know Duke now that I look at his list you're right he doesn't sell the standard S-1. However, he does sell similar ones with thicker airfoils and more wing area. They would look real close to an S-1 when built, but would probably fly much better.


Ron

You are right Ron. They do fly better. You can call him and talk to him about it, he's a great guy. My friend is building his RM Super Flash. I'd put the classic RM tail on it though. And I have another friend with the S-1 Bipe.

Fred, I completely understand your attention to detail and construction. Nothing can be more frustrating trying to undo a major mistake be it a twist, improperly glued joints or unselected wood choices. With that in mind, Barry Baxter provides a clean detailed plan with ALL the ribs pictured. Many times plans just provide the center rib and tip rib. In the case of the Ring not being a constant chord wing, this is a pain in the A$$ if you don't have templates. As much as the laser cut kits are nice, they're not well suited for punishment.

They will not sustain regular hangar rash nor will they contact terra firma. They're quite fun however with modern plain bushed 25's and smaller mills but the older Sterling kits take the abuse. Mine is nearing 50 yrs old. The beauty of the Sterling kit was the poorly designed wing structure. It departs on the trailing edge which saves those immensely. The wing then while moving forward breaks on the ply biscuit that joins the leading edge halves. This acts like a hinge and shouldn't be beefed up due to it being sacrificial. The worst possible thing to use in the Ringmaster is the center spar. It's absolutely useless and all it does is break every rib on impact. As the wing is moving forward on impact, the spar has all the ribs glued to it. As the spar is trying to slide due to the wing moving it can't therefore ripping all the ribs out of the wing. Hence the term "Rib Ripper" as we've nicknamed the spar.

What we tend to forget here is that these planes really attained there wing strength due to silkspan and dope. The problem is that they have no torsional strength. Monokote however will provide enough substantial twist resistance to keep the wing from warping without the need for the rib ripper. I would think if you have the time, you could easily build a lightweight Ring to your liking well under what the Sterling kit sells for. One can easily make small changes to improve the old design to withstand the rigors of flying.

Barry Baxter has the prints exactly like the original S-1. The S-1 is the solid leading edge while the S1-A is a built up leading edge with a sheeted airfoil. The sheeted airfoil is nice but I truly feel that the S-1 flies better. It's certainly more durable. Ken

Fred
I think I have both sets of plans at home, I'll check. If you come up for the Bladder Grabber we can copy them.

Ken, Duke, Ron, and all others, thanks for the advice.
Ken I took note some months back when you mentioned the rib ripper spar and promptly forgot that great bit of advice. I appreciate that you took the time to repost that advice...when I get set to build a RingMaster I will go back and review many of your posts and others here who have been resurrecting various RingMasters and flying them. I am a member on Brother Hood of the Ring as well as Stuka Stunt

Part of this exercise is to recreate a childhood memory of my dad's RingMaster with McCoy 29. The only departure is he had a points ignition and my .35 and .29s are 1950s very good condition glow...The other departure is...I will not be using a Jim Walker "U-Reelie" handle...My dad used one and I got it years later and it is just too danged heavy to "feel" the plane while looking for the opponent in a combat circle

My Yak is .29 Mccoy powered. I need to put a little 80 weight in her to get it to start but when she's running she's on. It just takes a while for it too cool to get compression back. My .35 Mccoy has the gated cylinder liner and I'm almost positive with 100% certainty that the series 21 (Brick) piston with Dykes ring will fit with no machine work. I suppose you get the best of both worlds. Ken

I am more and more confused each time I search for RingMaster information.... I guess due to my affinity for computers

I spent the last couple of decades exploiting computer power to catalog lists that are sort-able and searchable.. In fact you could say that having built a Timex Sinclair in the 70s I was an "Early Adopte"r...yes Virginia I had several Commodore Vic 20s, 64s, Tape drives and a Trash 80 as well as an Atari 800 before getting a REAL personal computer that ran CPM (later DOS 3.1) on a 8088.....

What does this have to do with a Sterling RingMaster...???

Those that have gone before will know... I count at least 58 versions and got too tired to continue the search.

Duke or others that have a full sized set of S-1 plans... Thank you...I have decided to take you up. Once I lay them out I will again cut my own from the stash of very very very good balsa I acquired over the years from Sig and House of Balsa....pity tho...I love Laser Cut Kits... Just can not justify the super high costs, obviously a new old stock kit die cut out of questionable 40 year old balsa is a fools errand ( I do remember vividly my dad having to buy sheet balsa to recreate some ribs or formers that the die cutter had crushed into mush)

Just so all watching this thread know...I do not care about being Legal OTS or any other standard... I simply desire a good performing old skool aircraft that my Dad flew... I never bothered to build one as my interest quickly went to combat competition...as a teen age kid the vast majority of cheaper, fun, and superb aircraft in the hobby shop kept me away from the Nobler, RingMaster, and SuperClown kits

Fred, the S-1 will do just what your asking of it. It will work perfectly acceptable with any of the period engines you choose. The only thing to keep a eye out for is 1" leading edge stock if you can find it. Midwest still offers the 1" leading edge stock but only in bundles of 10. This can be quite expensive. If you happen to know of a older hobby shop, you can sometimes stumble on some good finds. Otherwise you have to make the leading edge yourself. Ken

Twas thinking of gluing up 1/2" stock but if I can find true 1" stuff the better...

Thanks Ken...off on another search

Without ever asking I assume the cost of a laser cut kit from one of the many suppliers on line is high

Any one ever ordered up a on time laser job from any of them?

Ok Ok I am lazy and Hate carving out ribs....grin

Fred
Brodak has ribs sets for $18.00 http://brodak.com/ringmaster-s-1-rib-set.html
And S-1 kits for $87.99 http://brodak.com/ringmaster-s-1-kit.html

I've used their rib sets before and I'm using the P-51 set right now. They are nice laser cut ribs and make things go pretty fast. I hate cutting ribs also. They don't look like they are for a solid LE, but they look like they could by cut to work with on. You could call John Brodak and he would know, he's a nice guy and would help with anything.

Fred,

I too have a PDF version of an S-1 plan. I believe it's the Pat King version. I also have two built up Sterling models if you need measurements or anything let me know. If you are ever in OKC I'll just give you the darn thing

Guaranteed to be just like your Dad built.

Ron

You guys amaze me

I guess my search skills need honing... I thought I had spent enough time on Brodak site to memorize EVERY thing they sell...never noticed the rib kits.... the only building task I do NOT like...grading and shaping all other Ply and Balsa parts is too easy. I just suck at making ribs (mostly cuz I like to cut out inner material and usually hose it all up) Yes Virginia I know how to use templates, band saws, disk and belt sanders, and a drill press...and truth is constant chord wing ribs are not that much trouble...Just a PITA for me...Plus since I discovered Laser cut parts I very much just like looking at Perfect exact match parts that rarely need messing with

Ron pop a copy of the PDF to my e-mail...if you discarded it (been a while) PM me

I have so many planes on my too do list it may be a while before I get to the RingMaster


On the board right now (shop is finally finished)
Scalpel Based on Steve Adams (Select Hobbies) design that TeeDee wrote about here many months back

I am making two of them, one RC and one CL....probably going to commit sacrilege and mount a Valentine .049 on one

In line are several Jeff Dawson fast movers (Sonic Chickens and a LiteHawk) will be Norvel .061 powred
followed by a Dick Mathis Mongoose...Enya .35 will haul it around

and I finally scored a Lil Satan remake from the E-bay fellow in Hawaii who is also cutting me a VooDoo kit

I still want to cut and build the Jr Satan Ron sent decal and plans for

duke.johnson wrote:Fred
I think I have both sets of plans at home, I'll check. If you come up for the Bladder Grabber we can copy them.

If we go to the Bladder Grabber it will be Sunday, we have a carrier contest Saturday

Duke...not dead idea yet..I lost contact with Jeff

Recently searched American for a flight to SeaTac and got stung with sticker shock...I used to round trip up that way fairly often fro well under $500 now over $600.... I have some frequent flier miles but was saving them for another family event this year

Jeff Dawson has road tripped up there in the past and I considered tagging along but I loath long car rides theses days at my age

Bladder Grabber made it to my bucket list a year or so back and I am determined to make it so

The Broadway Bod Busters Proudly Presents Bladder Grabber XXXV
BIG BLOCK BASH
August 9, 10, 11 at Harvey Field, Snohomish Washington
Double elimination High Performance 1/2A flown starting at noon on Friday
1/2a Winner Earns $500
Seven rounds of AMA Fast Combat flown Saturday and Sunday
Big Block Winner Earns $1,000
$50 fee buys you entry into the 1/2A competition, the
Big Block Bash, catered lunch all three days and a
chance to win $1,500
Line Tension Shutoffs must be used in fast combat
For further information contact Jeffrey Rein
Jeffrey_a_rein@yahoo.com

Did you lose contact with Jeff Dawson or Jeff Rein? I saw The Rein Man at the Regionals this last weekend. He did very well, of course.

Jeff Dawson e-mail went dark on me...no response in the last several months

Have a feeler out to Ken Cook to see what's up

Have Jeff's phone number but reluctant to pester him on it...when I was down to San Antonio to visit he was extremely busy at his day job and behind on making the planes for his orders and his own stock to this years contests. I do mean a SUPER busy man