Flipping the front of the tailplane up would not be a good idea - it would certainly bring the model down, as it would go into a half outside loop, but there may well be consequences for the wings when subjected to negative G, apart from the fact that landing upside down wouldn't be a good thing! As an alternative to a tip-up tail, a tip-up wing works fine, leading edge UP of course.

I would install a dowel though the fuselage a little way in front of the tailplane LE and lower down in the fuselage, and either a dowel in the junction of the fin and tailplane TE or a wire hook on the fin TE. You would need to sheet the bay in front of the tailplane with 1/16" sheet and cut a slot for the front of the fin to pivot in. Also a stop for the front of the tailplane will be required. Then if you hook bands from the dowel at the tailplane TE to the dowel through the fuselage the tailplane will naturally try to tip up. To hold it down you can either use a little band around the tailplane TE dowel and one in the fuselage, which could be burned through by the DT fuse, but you should have a snuffer tube to make sure the fuse doesn't fall off and start a fire. Better would be to pull the taiplane down with monofilament fishing line passing through a curved ali tube and running forward to a convenient point where a snuffer tube can be fitted in the fuselage. The fishing line terminates in a small ring, the DT band passes through this to a dowel a little way in front of the snuffer tube. Much harder to explain in words than to do!!

With the small prop and weak motor your Contestor won't fly like a vintage Wakefield, but it will be light enough to catch a thermal and fly away in the right conditions.

Cheers for that. I'll mull over how best to do the dethermalizer, I've dug out my books and will go through them

I am putting it aside for a bit as I don't have enough rubber to do the motor after all and be in a position to balance it so will have to mail order some 1/4 inch . Oh well.

The middle son likes it anyway!



ATB

Tom

.

Nice models!

I'm certainly no expert on balsa props i,ve only made a handful but this is the easiest way i have found http://www.hbrf.org.nz/joomla/index....cles&Itemid=59

Thanks, that doesn't look as daunting as carving a big chunk and I've some sheet that's pretty thick to laminate with on hand.

ATB

Tom

Replikit used to do some prop kits similar to this; I don't know if they still do since the change? I used one for a Senator but they also made 18" ones for the Contestor/Gypsy.

Originally Posted by *jj

Replikit used to do some prop kits similar to this; I don't know if they still do since the change? I used one for a Senator but they also made 18" ones for the Contestor/Gypsy.

As does Spencer Willis in the Free Flight Supplies site. At a price though, 24 quid plus postage. Mind you, you would need to be using a full size motor to power a prop like that.

Tom, that Contestor has a very nice structure. You did an excellent covering job.
For smaller props (under 10 inches) I’ve tried using multiple stacked laminations, then sanded them down to the shape I wanted. I think you can still have a lot of fun with the smaller prop you already have and use less rubber for the initial test flights. You might want to consider making a tube for winding the rubber, just in case it breaks and damages the model.
The attached pics are not my models. They were taken at a nearby sod farm. You can see the props and the DT tail pop up.
John

That's a beautiful Contestor. I hope we'll see it at one of the Old Warden meetings this year. There are usually one or two other Contestors there.

I'm certainly going to fly it as is before I stick anything home made and the right size on it, I've no where to fly a serious Wakefield type plane anyway at the moment.

In a fit of enthusiasm when I was last modelling, a few years back I bought a Airsail Ascender 1949 from the nice chap in the little shop in Oxford who's name I forget. It's about time in started that, It has a single blade prop with the block supplied so there's nowt stopping me.

But in the meantime I've started something more in my comfort zone to occupy me before the lads get home, a Veronite no.5. I'll start a build log in the proper place but I've cut the parts out, got the materials together and the plans safely under the waxed paper on the building board. Time to select the 3/32 for the longerons and get it in the ammonia solution!

ATB and thanks!

Tom

Originally Posted by Work in Progress

That's a beautiful Contestor. I hope we'll see it at one of the Old Warden meetings this year. There are usually one or two other Contestors there.

And at Middle Wallop: fly it at the Easter meeting (SAM 1066).

Froglube,

You have inspired me. I have always really liked the Contestor and seeing yours looking absolutely stunning set me off again, so yesterday I ordered a lazer partial kit from Belair. I ordered two actually, one for my friend and one for me.
This will be my second attempt at a Contestor as some time ago I bought a Replikit short kit but I was dissapointed to find that many of the wood parts didn't fit the supplied plan, which it turned out was printed slightly too small. I contacted Replikit who asked me to send the whole lot back to them to sort out. That was two days before they stopped trading - so I didn't. I finished up giving the whole lot away.
Now I have a pdf copy of the plan and my intention is to print out the plan to fit the wood parts. Easy!
Due to some mobility problems on my part, my Contestor will have to be electric powered and radio controlled. I have done this before to a Thunderking glider (my avatar) and also a work-in-progress Fillons Champion. I already have all the bits I need for the Contestor including a small geared brushless inrunner, ESC and a pair of 2g servos etc.
My intention is to fit an all-moving tailplane and to hide the motor/gearbox completely from view.
My friend has done a similar conversion to a Copland streamline Wakefield which he built some years ago. It flys really well and looks great in the air and it weighs about the same as the original would have.

I can't wait for the kits to arrive now.
Thanks again.

Dave.

Uw, I would only embarrass myself with how bad i am at actually flying these things!

I would love to make it to one of these big meets to learn from all you folk and gawp at all the shiny stuff but unfortunately I never learned to drive so stuck up here in the Rossendale valey amongst the wind farms am dependent on herselfs charity when it comes to long expeditions with anything that doesnt travel well on buses or trains.

Back when i was seriously collecting militaria I remember travelling from Beltring to Oxford through the heart of London carrying a 120 litre bergan stuffed full of two days frantic purchasing with a chopped No. 5 rifle strapped to the outside and a deactivated Bren wrapped in bin liners in each hand! Back then no one batted a eyelid how times have changed. I've changed, I think that would cripple me now, fifteen years later.

Dach, I had the same problem with the Replikit kit, luckily all the bits were all overlarge on mine so I sanded them back. Had I paid for it with my own money I'd have been more narked than I was but thankfully a mate got the two kits as part of a elaborate swap. It didnt enter my big fat head just to get the plan enlarged to fit the bits! Nice one! I wish I wasn't such a Luddite and was up to fitting some sort of RC assit to these big free flighters, some panic button I could hit if they were heading into the trees. When I'm better at this maybe and the house isn't being such of a money pit. Anyroad I need to get the hang of DTs first. Best of luck with the Contestor!

ATB

Tom