Rubber power anyone?

This weekend was a productive one. I was able to cover my P-30 free flight plane "The Hobbit". I purposely purchased some Jap tissue for this plane many years ago. It's nice to see it go to good use and it was a true joy to work with. I really love covering with tissue. I use the thinned white glue method and it works beautifully. I shrink with alcohol and water and BAM!!!! it looks great.


Now, while I was doing one project and finishing another temptation wouldn't let me leave this one alone. I started this Mig-15 which is designed for Jetex. I have only a few Jetex pellets left. I was able though to receive from a friend a brand new Jet-X Powermax engine and about 20 fuel pellets. The underside of this Mig is open and the Jetex 50 is getting installed. I haven't seen Jetex work in over 30 years. I think they're the coolest things ever. Here's the progress on the Mig so far. A very productive day. I got into covering last evening and discovered that the silver tissue in the kit is some of the weirdest tissue I ever used. It doesn't like compound curves PERIOD and it doesn't shrink normally. I should've went with white tissue and sprayed it silver with a misted coat of dope. My bigger concern is losing this plane with the Jet-X unit. I'm more worried about the engine than the plane. I hope to get some video of this.


Ken

Ken , that P-30 really looks good !!! You have been busy and hope you do get some video of the Jet-X in action I did a search and couldn't find any video of one working , I 've never seen one in action and hope you don't lose it also .

getback wrote:Ken , that P-30 really looks good !!! You have been busy and hope you do get some video of the Jet-X in action I did a search and couldn't find any video of one working , I 've never seen one in action and hope you don't lose it also .

Ken. - those models sure do take me right back to the beginning. I have plans for a couple of jets DeHaviland DH-110 venom and I can't remember the other one, as I always wanted to try one of those jetex power motors. I had a lead on a couple but have not been suscessful. I've sent you a PM to help locate one and some fuel. Rene. O

Here's a few shots of the Sig Tiger I've been working on:

Looking good Jim , I read up some on this model and seems to bee a lot of tidiest work to get it right. Did you scratch build or kit it ? Hope you get us some film of it flying , I see it only weighs in at 1 Oz. man that's light I guess theres a little yellow in us on here , I like It !!

Thank you Eric. It's built from a kit, looks like it will come in right at an ounce. I'll get some video of test glides tomorrow.

Jim

COOL , Jim looking forward to it ... Was it as hard to build as it sounds in the instruction's ?

It's not hard to build so much as it is tedious. That's a lot of little sticks! That being said the stick and tissue bug has bit. I'm going to build some stuff for a contest here in October.

Jim

Built my Grandson a SIG Tiger a few years back.  
It flew so well he flew it "to "death".  
I did carve a balsa prop. for it though..........Doing that rather than using a plastic one makes so much difference to the performance.

Should have mentioned..........10 grams of rubber works well in the Tiger.
Two loops/four strands well lubed. In a P30 I get close to 2000 turns on these motors, but a blast tube is a must.

Ok Eric,

As promised here's the test glides:

https://youtu.be/7YSWR3pThow
https://youtu.be/k2eOFREECso
https://youtu.be/ydjrTrRC9gk

I wouldn't be too concerned about losing your Jetex powered model. Those things only run for a few seconds and unless you had some sort of powered glider, the model will come down soon enough.
I used to fly Jetex powered stick planes and ended up just heating the whole engine with a propane torch to get it to start instead of grappling with the fiddly fuse/screen method usually attempted.
And DO take a picture of the unfired Jetex motor before you light it up. They always end up looking like a scorched wreck after the very first run.

My problem with free flight in general is the lack places to fly it where I live. I wish I could legally go on the golf courses to fly as they're the only large mass areas near me that has open fields. The areas I have are limited in length. This Mig stalls rapidly if the power is not on. In order to fly it, I need to dial in a hard turn which also causes stalling. The jets like to fly straight for the most part and getting them to turn is a bit tricky. I've put some tip wash into the wing panels to stabilize but when I start trimming for a turn, the wind can easily roll the model and cause it to spiral in. The bottom line is my field is too small. My concerns of losing it are more directed to the fact that the outskirts of my field are lined with huge trees. My success with free flight is similar to Charlie Brown and a football. Ken

JPvelo wrote:Ok Eric,

As promised here's the test glides:

https://youtu.be/7YSWR3pThow
https://youtu.be/k2eOFREECso
https://youtu.be/ydjrTrRC9gk

It glides really nice! Should be a great flyer with the motor running

What did you use to seal the tissue (dope?) or did I miss it?

KariFS wrote:

JPvelo wrote:Ok Eric,

As promised here's the test glides:

https://youtu.be/7YSWR3pThow
https://youtu.be/k2eOFREECso
https://youtu.be/ydjrTrRC9gk

It glides really nice! Should be a great flyer with the motor running

What did you use to seal the tissue (dope?) or did I miss it?

Tissue was applied with a glue stick, a first for me. Sealed with dope.

Jim

Thanks Jim , It looks ok to me , although I don't know what to look for other than maybe it could stand a bit more up , but I am sure you didn't put more in it to keep from walking 1/2 mile to get it good job ! So I guess Ken has gotten him a Jet-X engine ? I know you were looking at one time , May be a football field / soccer combo field I don't no there is a lot of country around here and finding a place if you ask is not too hard , Crop fields ever where , but you have to catch in the off season. a lot of grass feed fields .