I'm salvaging what I can from a cannibalized kit that's been on the shelf for 20 years. I'll have to make some parts, and others have survived in the box.

Last weekend I made the lead and trailing edge spars. I stacked the jigs that came with my Li'l Jumpin' Bean kit to make a airfoil shaped sanding block. First I trimmed it down with a small hand plane, comparing it with a spar fragment that remained in the kit. Then I sanded it until it was shaped like the airfoil sanding block. I had to freehand it the rest of the way because it's smaller and a bit different shape than the Jumpin' Bean spar. To freehand it, I put a soft flat sanding block in the vice and just carefully went back and forth. It came out pretty nice. The trailing edge was a lot easier. They are both a tiny bit larger than the originals, when measuring thickness from front to back. I hope that adds some strength without noticable weight. I chose good sticks with long grain for these pieces. I'm glad to have new wood in this area. When I build the front center section with the bellcrank housing and firewall, I'll probably opt for new wood in some places since that's where the brunt of the shock goes in a crash. Not that I'll ever do that.

Then I used the jigs to hold them in place while I glued the ribs in place. It looks good, except upon close inspection, it's a bit twisted. I was pretty sure the spars were straight before I started gluing them. I'll try binding it straight and spray it (I read that ammonia and water work well for this), then dry it. I hope the ammonia won't de-bond the ca glue. If it won't straighten up all the way, I can probably straighten it with the heat shrink Ultracote.

Here are some pictures of my progress:



So that's it for now. I'll add to it as I go.

I ordered a Brodak kit that should be waiting for me when I get back to Oakland. I want to investigate doing a beam mount modification as my intent is to use a Tee Dee .049/.051 and a tank in the wing, much like would be found on a Voodoo or Jr. Satan. The radial mount for the TD just adds weight and drag.

Probably use a bladder tank or something similar. I think the FF folks may have some ideas to get pressure fuel system without crank case pressure. On Voodoos, we used baby pacifiers but I am told that the type we used is no longer available.

I thought of putting a tank in the wing, but after the debacle that is my Stuntman23, I hesitate to try anything fancy. But I hate running out of fuel before I'm finished flying. And it's always in the middle of a loop or something.

Originally Posted by RknRusty

I thought of putting a tank in the wing, but after the debacle that is my Stuntman23, I hesitate to try anything fancy. But I hate running out of fuel before I'm finished flying. And it's always in the middle of a loop or something.

I think a bladder or balloon tank works a lot better... Also, with a TD mounted in a beam mount, you should be able to get the relationship of the tank an NV right,

http://www.kittingittogether.com/

Bladder materials, Glabreathe heads, and fine thread needle valves.

Bladder is way to go with TD's and Sure Sarts. They are simple but are under pressure. Use hemostat to pich tubing. It takes a little practice but works easy. Or use uniflow 1 oz. Tank. You need to do some mods but its easy. I know 1/2A's are cheap but for UC biger engines/planes are way to go. A Litlle Satan with a TD .049 is a hand ful. Its to small. The Hacker is much better.
Dan

I was going to suggest a uniflow for RknRsty's tank issue on his other plane. Do you know where to find one off the shelf that size? I was on a site the other day with a section on making them. But I forgot. To bookmark it... Gotta hunt it down.

The thing I remember about using hemostats was on Voodoos with Super Tigre G21 .35 fedd by a baby pacifier, which when new took quite a squeeze of the Sullivan fuel bulb to get it to fill. Then you started the ST ( running a 8 x 8 wood prop. There's something about a square prop - diameter = pitch, but I forget what it is other then fast ) on a prime with your left hand with the hemostat in your right, ready to release. If it fired, you better really hope your crew had a very good grip on the wing because it was a tremendous instantaneous burst of power when the hemostat was released.

I have the plans for the Voodoo and 2 ST .35 and 3 8 x 8 wood props. I figure that ought to be enough for me to see if I can still keep up with a 100+ mph wing... But it is going to take e a while to get up the confidence in my flying again to try. I flew TD powered Lil Satans and one Jr Satan (Veco .19BB on a pacifier) back in the day, too... They were a blast... I can still visualize flying my first LS with my first TD... I don't think I ever ran a reed valve after that, at least in CL.

I have never bought a commercial tank that was plumbed to suit me. Brodak has had tank kits, and that is what I would buy if I didn't have a couple of fair size boxes of tanks.

I have a clapped out ST G21-35, an ex slow rat motor, on a Bear monoboom airplane. It has a uniflow metal tank on crankcase pressure. On 10% nitro, 8 x 8 APC, it is an honest 100 MPH airplane. It has about a two minute run time, and I am soaked with sweat when it runs out of fuel. On an APC 9 x 7 it is a 95 MPH airplane and noticeably easier to herd around the sky.

Ammonia is not needed to soak balsa. A whisp of Simple Green will help wet the balsa, but is not necessary.

Thanks for the interest. I'm kind of running past the computer today, but tonight I'll sit down and look into all of your suggestions. I don't have a Tee Dee, just Black Widows, but they make some high flow (Killer Bee) backplates for them now, to run with an external supply.

I just got one of the new style SPI cylinder/short-piston sets in the mail yesterday. I broke it in today on a babe-bee. I'm going to put it on the Stuntman engine and see if that doesn't give it a little boost. I'll be posting the results in that thread.

Rusty,
If you like to fly you need to get away from reed engines. TD's are way to go.
AP Wasp, just wire the carb. Medallion with spi P/L. I just bought a Fora 1.0cc
engine.
Norvell .049/.061/Paw 1.0cc. The Black Widow was made for mouse 1 racing. A TD in Stuntman 23 is ok. The Jumping Bean is better. Check out other forums ie: clstunt.com stunthanger.com/ mecoa.com. All have swap adds section. RC groups has by far vast amount of members. What you spend trying to make a reedy go you can get better engines. Good luck to you,Dan

Originally Posted by Pinecone

http://www.kittingittogether.com/

Bladder materials, Glabreathe heads, and fine thread needle valves.

I went to that site, but I couldn't find anything about bladder tanks. I can find what I need to learn about them though.

Originally Posted by dankar04

Bladder is way to go with TD's and Sure Sarts. They are simple but are under pressure. Use hemostat to pich tubing. It takes a little practice but works easy. Or use uniflow 1 oz. Tank. You need to do some mods but its easy. I know 1/2A's are cheap but for UC biger engines/planes are way to go. A Litlle Satan with a TD .049 is a hand ful. Its to small. The Hacker is much better.
Dan

I'll start looking at tank options before I get too far along. This plane looks like it'll be a handful. The kit says use 26' lines, but that sounds too wild. Surely 30' would work. I fly 35' lines on my other planes.

Originally Posted by Jim Thomerson

I have never bought a commercial tank that was plumbed to suit me. Brodak has had tank kits, and that is what I would buy if I didn't have a couple of fair size boxes of tanks...
Ammonia is not needed to soak balsa. A whisp of Simple Green will help wet the balsa, but is not necessary.

I'll check Brodak for tanks and fuel accessories.
So you think just plain water and clamp it straight until it dries?

Originally Posted by dankar04

Rusty,
If you like to fly you need to get away from reed engines. ... Check out other forums ie: clstunt.com stunthanger.com/ mecoa.com. All have swap adds section. RC groups has by far vast amount of members. What you spend trying to make a reedy go you can get better engines. Good luck to you,Dan

Yeah, I like to fly more than anything. I like building too, but flying is the reason I do it. I'll do some reading around those forums.

Thanks everyone.

Rusty: dunno What? the origins of this Plane is It's been in my attic for 16/18 years :-) But it Flies OK with it's BW on 35 " Steel lines

I flew my LS on 35' - I'm thinking .008.

Awesome little yellowjacket. Looks like the front of a profile plane with a Satan style tail. Stronger than a Lil Satan.
When the tail end of the fuse on my Jumpin Bean wears out on my bean I can make one like that. That's exactly what that looks like.

Texastimers has a site and shows complete bladder tank assembly. Tubing is cheap and fitting are to. You can use automotive vacume conectors. Check valve or hemostat. Makes great water pistol also. Just fill bladder insert in pants and spray folks once in awhile.