This project came to me awhile back. The model had been hanging from a friends garage cieling until 1 sad day the string broke and down she came! Badly gamaged from the fall, the model was slated for repair and re-cover for static display.

Since the wings didn't appear to be all that bad work began there. Well, you can't inmagine my surprise when the cover started to come off and saw what was on the inside! Though the level of craftsmanship wasn't all that great, the effort was monumental.

As it stand now, one wing is stripped, sanded, and basically repaired, though after starting the second wing can see where the aileron and hinge spar needs to be reworked to match the other side. The other is stripped, but needs some pretty extensive repair to bring it up to coverable.

PAT

Hey Pat. What are you going to with all your extra space? That thing has been in there as long as I can remember

charlie

That wing is incredible looking. A shame to cover it up, really. No one builds like this today, do they?

Was this built from plans, from a kit, or from the builder's own design?

i remember seeing that in your shop too pat--wow that wing does have some serious structure to it! its interesting to see how over engineered some kits are..or maybe it was based on improving a previous version.

it seems like restoring an older r/c plane has some serious issues to it..i had the remains of my older brother's p-40 stunter--and found it was pretty much beyond repair--then i found another TF stunter (the hawker) which is very similar and a basis for pretty much starting over--it also allows me to have some plans and parts for what isnt there---its kinda like some restorations where the only original part is the registration plate..LOL..i have the motor, some wood, the landing gear and some material and paint samples--and pictures that are in color from the 60's..since the brother has passed on--it has a great importance but not a high priority to be done tomorrow--old models certainly have thier charm, when done right.. the key is to have "Trittle Quality" as a restoration point!! hey i invented a phrase!!!

re-building something for static display must me quite a departure for you!!

Tim

I don't know if this one was kit built or done from plans. The Gentleman who owns the model picked it up in his travels, and doesn't know the history of the model.

K, I'd say it safe to assume that the average modeler wouldn't be too tempted to get into a project like that. As much as I like to build, it looks prety intimidating to me.

Z, Yep, that's the one. Setting this one up to fly would be a monumental undertaking. The quality of the original build is way below what I would call the basis for an airworthy model without doing some serious work on the structure. But to hang in the owners office, it should finish out really nice.

PAT

I'm pretty sure that it was built from the largest Cleveland SR-7 kit. I think there was a built up rib or conventional model option on the plans. Can you imagine that it was intended as a free flight model. If you fly from a dry lake bed, maybe. Hope this model gives you ideas for a 60-some inch wingspan light weight Tritlized version.

I can't wait to see the fuse and the tail feathers both covered and uncovered!

Daniel

Originally Posted by E-Challenged

I'm pretty sure that it was built from the largest Cleveland SR-7 kit. I think there was a built up rib or conventional model option on the plans. Can you imagine that it was intended as a free flight model. If you fly from a dry lake bed, maybe. Hope this model gives you ideas for a 60-some inch wingspan light weight Tritlized version.

I've got a copy of the Cleveland plans here. Pat, if your model is 84 inch span then it may have been built over the outlines of the Cleveland plan. But the Cleveland doesn't have built up ribs or scale spar design like this one. It's rib for rib but the spars are more typical of standard model construction. Although it's possible that someone could have adlibed these extra details onto the outline.

Another option is that it was built it up directly over something like scaled up Wylam drawings. Then added a few twists to allow for mounting stuff as shown by the massive blocks of wood around the wing root.