Jim,
I thought about taking pics of the struts as I built them, but failed. That's why I don't do very good build logs........I just get too busy to get the pics. Let me make a few crude drawings, and Ill post them later on today.

D

Jim,
Ok, please forgive my "crude" drawing detail, hopefully you will get the idea.

One of the staples that has been in my workshop forever has been a good selection of brass tubing. I have many sizes of K&S tubes that telescope together from 1/8 inch all the way to 1/2 inch. Dad had them as long as I can remember as well and we have used them for countless hobby applications.
I happened to have just enough of what I needed for these struts, starting with the 1/2 inch size and the next telescoping size smaller. I found a wood dowel that just fit snug in the larger tube, and when I chucked a piece of it in the drill press, was able to sand just enough off to make it fit snugly into the smaller tube as well.
I cut two plugs per strut......one for each end, and measured to make them long enough to act as stops for the spring. For the springs, I made a trip to the local hardware store and rummaged thru their selection and found some stiff compression springs that just fit in the tubes as well.
So, back on the drill press I drilled the center of each dowel plug to hold the 6/32" threaded rods for the heavy duty ball links. These make the connections to the landing gear, and the support braces.
Each dowel was epoxied into its respective end, and the threaded rods and ball links added. Once the spring was added to the one tube, the other slid right on, and when together, make a nice little shock absorber! The overall dimension length was determined by the actual landing gear size....they ended up being about 6 inches long.
I hope that makes sense. Again, I wish I would have taken a pic of it all dissembled.......but again, I was focused on the goal, not the explanation! lol

I'm attaching a pic, but it won't let me add a video.

Darryl

Originally Posted by Darryl Miller

.........................
Each dowel was epoxied into its respective end, and the threaded rods and ball links added. ..................
Darryl

Very good.
I assume you mean that you drilled and tapped the wood dowels to take the threaded ball link shaft?
Correct?

Yes, that’s correct. Also, the top strut portion has a short piece of carbon tube that is just there to hide the threaded rod. Cosmetic only.

D

Duplicate, my bad.

I would remove the threaded ball joints, harden up the thread cut into the end grain wood with CA, then when cured, tap again and re-fit the ball joint.

Jim, Well, I actually did that…. Just forgot to write the step. I always harden drilled and tapped holes with ca.

But a good catch and reminder to others.

D

What had a beautiful day for flying yesterday! The new 22-8 prop arrived Saturday, and so I spent a little time Sunday Morning making adjustments to the throttling and choke on the engine and I installed the prop. I’m not sure which helped better, the throttle or choke adjustments, but the engine is definitely easier to start now. A club member suggested setting the choke up on a three position switch, similar to what a weed eater uses…..ie, full choke till it pops, then partial choke to get it running, and then off after that. That procedure seems to have really helpful as it took no time to get running.
With the new prop, the tach was showing just under 7000 rpm….usually
65-6800. However, I’m still suspect of my tach as it didn’t seem to be consistent throughout the test run, and at times even showed over 10k rpms.
After stopping the heads were in a good temp range, and all that was left was to load it and head to the field.

First, here is a link to some video from one of the flights yesterday. Hopefully it will work for anyone interested.

Waco Taperwing, October 17, 2021 (2 min 56 sec)

Starting there was just as easy. In operation, I could not see or feel a huge difference in the overall power however. While I think it did perform better overall, and the engine is running very well….the prop Change alone didactic provide a substantial improvement.

Overall I am still pleased, and feel more comforting each flight with the Waco. I will continue to fly it this fall, and then decide whether I want to try a different engine or not. The physical specs on a 70 cc twin such as DLE or EME compare to the current engine, and would easily fit with only minor changes to the firewall. We shall see as the winter approaches.

Regards

Darryl

Very nice!
It appears to have sufficient power from just watching the video. Scale power I would say.
A bit of rudder in the turns would balance them up a bit!

Otherwise, very well done.

Well, consider this a little addendum to this blog, as I just got back from a long weekend of flying at my former club. I was lucky to be able to the Waco along with me to northern Illinois as I visited some of my modeling friends from my former club.

It seems it has been 10 years since a gentleman there approached me to assist with a project of his that he had been working on for 12 years. His family had gifted him a Balsa USA 1/3 scale Stearman when he retired, (his favorite airplane), and was in the final stages of completing it and getting it ready to fly. While we had never met, someone in our club aimed him at me as someone he could trust to help and possibly fly his plane until he got comfortable with it. Well, long story short, we have been flying it several times a year ever since taking it on some long trips around the Midwest. While he did fly it on the buddy box once, he decided not long after we started that he was just as content to watch as I flew it. Sadly, after I moved away, he hadn't found another pilot to replace me, so we organized a weekend where I could go back and fly it again, and to instruct another club member still in the area to take over. We had a wonderful weekend of flying weather and had several big planes there as well, and it was a bonus to be able to take my Waco along to show off to my old club mates as well. Please enjoy a few of these pics of the action.
Photos courtesy of Jim Black of Geneva, IL, Pete Micale of Sterling, IL, and myself.

Details of the Stearman, 1/3 scale Balsa USA kit. RCS 215 5 cylinder radial. Aircraft weighs 50 pounds ready to fly.

Waco YMF is a Barth (?) 1/3 scale kit powered by a DLE 170 engine. Aircraft is only 38 pounds ready to fly! (way overpowered but FUN!)

Pawnee is a Hangar 9, 50 CC power. Taylorcraft, also Hangar 9 with a 30 cc DLE engin

Looking like a good time was had by all.

Glad you had a great time and trip. Nothing better thin good friends.

Keep Them Flying! , Ken

Thanks Ken!
Hope to see you at the meeting Monday..

D

Well, winter has come and gone and its time to get the Waco back out and flying. This time around though, she will have a newer, larger power plant in the cowl! Over the winter I sold thee 55cc twin and picked up a Valley. View 70 cc twin! Today was the first runs at home, and while It took me a while to get it going, I think I finally have the start settings figured out. On the second and third runs it started on the 4th or 5th flip after the choke pop.
It is a strong smooth runner with a smooth idle and transition. Hopefully tomorrow will cooperate weather wise and I can take it to the field. Stand by for reports!

D

Originally Posted by Darryl Miller

.........................Valley. View 70 cc twin! .........................
D

That's good news Darryl.!
Do you have a link with any details of that engine?
Just for interest sake?

Jim.