Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines)

batjac Wed Jul 31, 2013 7:54 pm

Well, as I was at the Delta Park circle today, I was the only one flying 1/2A. I had fun, but watching the other guys fly their larger planes made me interested. I had thoughts about eventually building a .40 sized plane and using one of my R/C .40's with the throttle locked open. But I was in no hurry.

Well, the guys at the circle gave me directions to a nearby hobby shop where I could get some proper clips for the leadouts on the planes I was flying. After I picked them out, I started wandering through the shop, and they had a Fox Stunt .35 in the case. It was about $10 less than Tower is selling it for, so I figured I might as well grab it. But, I already have two planes in progress on my building board, so I don't really have the time and room to start a new project. Well imagine that! They also had a Top Flite Flite Streak ARF on the shelf. Well, that solved the problem of time and building space. Just throw it together and I'm ready to go for Friday. So I bought the ARF. But, since all my stuff is geared towards 1/2A, I needed to buy new lines. And a new handle. And a new prop. And a new....

Well, it's a good thing I got a bonus at work last week, because my stop for some $2 hardware cost me $200. Shocked

So, now I'm straying a little bit from the 1/2A Lightside into the Darkside.

The Darth Mark

**RknRusty** Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:55 pm

Way to go, Dark Mark. A few of us are starting down that scary path. I've already got contests on the brain, something I never imagined I would care about. Somewhere, on some forum, is a thread about toughening up those ARF Streaks. If I find it I'll post the link. You might need to do some of that to keep the Fox from shaking it to pieces.

I'll see if I can find that info.
Dusty Rusty

Mark Boesen Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:19 pm

...since they're all model airplanes, i'd have to think the 'dark side' would be a non-model airplane hobby or at least r/c electric rtf's?

duke.johnson Thu Aug 01, 2013 1:23 pm

We're all one happy family. Big planes or small planes. I still love building and flying 1/2A. And I can fly them at the house. My son and I have a joint effort in rebuilding a flight streak arf, I think I'm going to put an OS .20 FP in it.

ian1954 Thu Aug 01, 2013 1:52 pm

Oh dear! Oh dear!

If I weren't thousands of miles away from home at the moment - I would change my avatar. If that is the defintion of the "Dark Side" then I am afraid that I am there - big time!

**Cribbs74** Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:07 pm

I think you just saw the light!!!!

Seriously though 1/2A is loads of fun, but the larger planes fly with a little more style.

Enjoy! Just don't forget your 1/2A roots.

Ron

duke.johnson Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:31 pm

Cribbs74 wrote:I think you just saw the light!!!!

Seriously though 1/2A is loads of fun, but the larger planes fly with a little more style.

Enjoy! Just don't forget your 1/2A roots.

Ron

Amennnnnnnnnnn!
One 1/2A brother to another. From another Mother. lol!

ian1954 Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:43 pm

Done! Avatar changed. I will get used to this IPad thingy one day!

**RknRusty** Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:18 pm

Cribbs74 wrote:I think you just saw the light!!!!

Seriously though 1/2A is loads of fun, but the larger planes fly with a little more style.

Enjoy! Just don't forget your 1/2A roots.

Ron

The other day at the field, I flew 1/2A to take a break and relax... in sort of a high intensity way. lol!

That reminds me, I need to update my Cox contest run time.

ian1954 Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:36 pm

When I get home I will post some pictures to show how far over to the "Dark Side" I am!

batjac Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:42 pm

Well, the two camps on the Flite Streak ARF are: 1) It's fine if you don't abuse it, go ahead and fly it as is, or 2) It's got a junk fuselage that'll bust up in no time. So, I decided to be safe and just go ahead and cut out a new fuselage from 1/2 inch balsa with 3/32 ply doublers. The only problem was that the plans called for a 1/2 x 3/8 piece of maple for the engine bearers, but all I had in my wood box was a 1/2 x 3/4 piece of hardwood. So I spent a bit of time with a hand saw cutting it down to size. The bottom one is the new fuse, if it wasn't obvious.
Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) DSCN0599_zps7c6b2fd6

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) DSCN0599_zps7c6b2fd6

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) DSCN0598_zps15914aa1

The red doesn't match exactly, but it's close enough. And, the only black I had on hand was a roll of crappy Econokote. I really, really dislike that stuff. But, meh, it works. And the new fuse has less wrinkles than the ARF fuse. So, now after an evening and a half of fuse building, I'm back to where I was when I first opened the box. It'll be ready for Friday morning, this time. I'll maiden it with the Fireballs Friday, and then go out with my son on Saturday to get his feet wet.

The Recreator Mark

**RknRusty** Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:51 pm

Smart choice. It'll be a lot tougher now.

duke.johnson Sun Aug 04, 2013 10:41 am

Here's mine latest venture to the big plane Darkside. It's a modified Bob Hunt Holeshot, with a OS .25FP, 4oz tank, fam wing, completely covered in Econo-kote.

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) Dsc_0014

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) Dsc_0014

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) Dsc_0015

batjac Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:04 pm

Great job on the plane, Duke. You do much better with the Econocote than I do. The only thing that I like Econokote for over Monokote is on curved surfaces like solid wingtips. The only thing that surprises me on your plane is the color scheme. Who would have thought you'd use orange?!? Smile

I have a Super Tigre .25 that's been sitting beside the desk waiting to be cleaned up and started. Maybe I'll build a wing and tail for the ARF fuselage and use the Super Tigre.

The Super Mark

duke.johnson Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:02 pm

Mark-Econo-kote is ok, but it's strong suit is the low temp. That plane has a foam wing and monokote takes to much heat for foam. It looks pretty good from your house. lol!

I have the plans to this plane if you like it. It's a great beginner stunt plane. Bob Hunt designed it for his son Robby to learn the pattern. And then designed the
RD-1, which Robby took to contests and started winning one after another.

**RknRusty** Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:03 pm

That's a sharp looking design, Duke. Good work.

duke.johnson Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:08 pm

RknRusty wrote:That's a sharp looking design, Duke. Good work.

Thanks Rusty!

**Cribbs74** Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:12 pm

I agree Duke, it looks great! Love the FP

Ron

sdjjadk Thu Aug 08, 2013 2:02 pm

Neat planes guys.
Here is part of my "Dark Side" T/F Nobler with an O.S. 40LA. Yes it's an A.R.F. but I got it at cost so I couldn't pass it up.

Shawn

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) Nobler10

Dabbling in the Darkside (other nitro engines) Nobler10

duke.johnson Thu Aug 08, 2013 3:32 pm

Cribbs74 wrote:I agree Duke, it looks great! Love the FP

Ron

Thanks Ron. I love the FP series. They run perfect evertime and start on the first flip almost everytime. The break in is little of nothing, you can do it at the flying field (which I did just after that picture was taken). I've only flown it once, just to see if it flew level, which it did (just needing a little more tip weight).

**Cribbs74** Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:00 pm

sdjjadk wrote:Neat planes guys.
Here is part of my "Dark Side" T/F Nobler with an O.S. 40LA. Yes it's an A.R.F. but I got it at cost so I couldn't pass it up.

Shawn

Hey! I wrecked one of those just the other day. They nose in with authority!

The kicker is it wasn't mine. How was I supposed to know the engine would quit when inverted?

Ron

duke.johnson Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:55 pm

Man Ron, I hate crashing someone else's plane. But I to had a Nobler ARF and your right they do nose in with authority. That's how mine ended it's life. I was flying some of the best stunts I'd ever done and then it went into the concrete like it was going to China. I still have the wing, not much damage to it. But the rest of it was toast, even the Fox .35 60th Anv.

sdjjadk Fri Aug 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Sorry to hear about the crashes.
I'm kind of glad I haven't flow mine yet. So do the Nobler arf's just go nose in without warning? Or just when the engine quits? Is it a CG problem or incidence problem? Is there is anything I can do to prevent it from nosing in?
This is my first T/F Nobler arf and the last Nobler I flew was a kit built Junior back in the 80's but I seem to remember it having no bad tendencies what so ever.

Shawn

batjac Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:53 pm

The Flite Streak survived its maiden flight! Yay! I half tanked it and flew a cautious circuit. Did great. Then, I refueled with a full tank and flew it. Was going pretty good until I got brave and did a loop. It completed the loop, but when I level it out, it just kept sinking. I gave it up elevator and it just kept going in. It hit hard at a shallow angle, So it scraped the muffler and broke the prop. Since I'm using the Fox 35, the 10 inch prop is really too big for the landing gear. If I'd used the 2" wheel it came with, the prop would have scraped the ground before the plane reached level flight, so I replaced it with a 3 1/4" wheel. But, being a light spongy wheel, it compressed and let the prop and muffler scrape. I bought some piano wire and I'll make a new, longer landing gear. I also bought a fuel tank. The one it came with is pretty crappy. Still it was a good day.

The Scraped Up Mark

pkrankow Fri Aug 09, 2013 7:14 pm

Sounds familiar. I left the house today with a 10x6 prop on my Super Ringmaster, returned with a 9x6 and some grooves in the board I had for take off...never took off. I fell off the end of the board into grass taller than the landing gear.

Phil

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Maidened the Flite Streak today!

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