Good Morning all,

Several months back I was in a LHS and came across a box on the bottom shelf with about an inch of dust on it. When I pulled the box out and blew the dust off I saw a kit I couldn't pass up. It was a House of Balsa T-6 Texan gasser. I couldn't pass it up for $40. When I got it home and opened it up I saw a stamp on the inside of the box that is dated 1994. Thinking oh great I got a kit that is 13 years old, this should be fun. I was expecting broken pieces, missing pieces. I pulled out all the wood and looked it over and compared them to the drawings. All pieces were present and accounted for. The next thing I noticed was how thick the wood was. Holly cow I could build a house with this stuff. Now realizing how heavy (2.5-3 pounds) this plane would be I needed to figure out how I was going to reduce the weight. I found this thread https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...=HOB+T+6+Texan and decided to apply Flying Beagle's process. My goal is also 30oz but I don’t think I will be able to achieve that. I guess weight really does not matter with all the great motors out there. If I want it to fly All I have to do is dish out some bucks.

On to the build. I made a copy of the drawings and tucked the originals away. On the copy I decided where to reduce weight. I got out the trusty compass and started drawing circles. The circles are where I will be getting rid of some weight. After I made sure all duplicate pieces had circles in the same spots I got out the balsa circle cutter. After 15 minutes of messing with the cutter I gave up. The balsa proved too thick for the cutter to work. Out comes the Forstner bits. Too bad I don’t have the correct sizes to match the circles I drew. So I used the forstner bit that came the closest to my circle sizes.
I Got the tail feathers drilled out. I did notice that the bottom side of each circle I drilled had some kind of Spall (a small fragment or chip ). Out comes the balsa putty. I filled all areas that showed some spalling and set it aside to dry. I will post some pictures later today.
If anybody has any advise please feel free to chime in. My goals are to have this finished by January so I can fly it at the Arizona Electric Festival. Here is a link http://rccraze.com/azfestival/index.htm

Here are the HOB Texan stats
Wing span 44 in.
Wing area 319 sq. in.
Wt. with radio 2.5 to 3 lbs.
Wing loading 18-21 oz./sq. ft.
Fuselage length 29 in.
4 channel radio reqd.
Engine .15 to .19

Have a Good one.
Thomas

My 2.5lb P-26 Peashooter currently uses a Scorpion 3008/32, 11x7 GWS direct drive props and 2200 3S 20C lipo packs, pulling about 22 amps wide open throttle and giving about 100 watts per pound. I started with an AXI 2212/26, went to a Scorpion 2215/22 on 2200 3S 10C lipos, not enough power with the big dummy radial engine in front. Your T-6 has less frontal area blanking the prop but with the weight it will need to fly and land fairly fast. Check the length of the landing gear to be sure that you will have enough ground clearance to use up to 11" props, you may want to lengthen it. Try to make the tail structure, control linkage and tailwheel assembly as light as possible to avoid the need to add weight to the nose and keep overall weight down as much as possible. Good luck with your T6

E-Challenged,

Thanks for the info. I am thinking about using the same Scorpion motor. I may also use the Scorpion 3014-16 (from http://www.bmkdesigns.net )with a 10x5e. should give me about 56oz of thrust and 300 watts at 30 amps. Not sure which way I will go. I guess it will depend on what my actual finished weight is.

Thomas

Subscribed.

Joe

Subscribed as well. Looking forward to the build. I'll video the maiden when it comes time.

Pat

Originally Posted by E-Challenged

My 2.5lb P-26 Peashooter currently uses a Scorpion 3008/32, 11x7 GWS direct drive props and 2200 3S 20C lipo packs, pulling about 22 amps wide open throttle and giving about 100 watts per pound. I started with an AXI 2212/26, went to a Scorpion 2215/22 on 2200 3S 10C lipos, not enough power with the big dummy radial engine in front. Your T-6 has less frontal area blanking the prop but with the weight it will need to fly and land fairly fast. Check the length of the landing gear to be sure that you will have enough ground clearance to use up to 11" props, you may want to lengthen it. Try to make the tail structure, control linkage and tailwheel assembly as light as possible to avoid the need to add weight to the nose and keep overall weight down as much as possible. Good luck with your T6

Peashooter? Where can I get a kit or short kit/plans? Just saw this bird last week in the air and space museum....

Here are a few pictures befor I filled and sanded. I reduced the weight by 5/8oz.

Originally Posted by Steve Merrill

Peashooter? Where can I get a kit or short kit/plans? Just saw this bird last week in the air and space museum....

Cleveland Plans has Peashooter plans in various scales. Not a lot of other plans or kits for it. Mine was my first own design effort for the first build-off contest. No plans or short kit available for mine.

Well I did spend much time on it today. I did lighten the fuse. I was able to shave off 1oz. I really dont think I will be able to get the weight down. But with the power system I am putting in it it really won't matter. I used the 3/16" original bulk heads. I really didnt feel like cutting new ones, plus the blade on the scroll saw broke. Right now the fuse sits at 2.5oz. If you are a first time builder reading this, Don't do this plane as your first build. Although its not a hard build the instructions are not the best.

Well its been a few days since my last post. Not much in the way of building. I have thrown out the instructions. They are pretty much usless. I got the turtle deck added to the fuse. I had to soak the balsa for about 1.5 hours for it to bend. Its some thick stuff. I need to add the triangle braces to the front section of the fuse for the fire wall.
I have completed about 90% of the wing center section. I need to add the leading edge and I will sand it when I get the entire wing built so I will end up with the same contour over the entire length. I have completed about 50% of the left wing outter panel. In the pictures you may notice that the inner rib is in place. I ended taking it out because I forgot to set the dihedral. I may need to cut a new rib because it didnt fair well when I removed it. There is one part of the instructions that I am not sure about. When completing the top portion of the wing the instructions say "pin root $ leading edge of tip to table. Place 1/8 & 3/16 spacers at T.E. of wing & pin to board. This sets 3/16" washout in wing panel." What exactually is washout? I need that one explained. I will do a search on that. If I get some time tonight I should finish up the wing panel I have started and hopefully get the left side complete also. I have a few more picts to post when I get home.

Thomas,

Washout helps to reduce tip stall tendencies. Wait until I fly the twin this weekend and you'll get to see serious tip stalls first hand. For some reason I always want to fly that plane way too slow and it tries to snap over on it's back with no warning. The T-6 wing design is very close to my twin. Add that washout! When I build the 150% version of the twin I will build washout into the wing. I've learned my lesson.

Joe

I didn't get as far as I wanted, Oh well. I did get the right wing panel finished (not sanded) and the center section is also done (not sanded)

The instructions (that I threw away) say I can use a #11 rubbermaid microwave bowl for the cowl. Has anybody ever seen one of these. I can't find one to save my life.

Originally Posted by h8tobu

The instructions (that I threw away) say I can use a #11 rubbermaid microwave bowl for the cowl. Has anybody ever seen one of these. I can't find one to save my life.

I should have checked e-mail earlier and I would have seen this. I just got back from Safeway. I could have checked there for you. I do have some that I think are the right size but they are stained from storing chili. If you're going to paint it anyway then that shouldn't matter. I'll bring one with me tomorrow.

Joe

Washout is especially necessary on low wingers. Really helps prevent tip stalls. It is best to build in washout during wing assembly but it can be twisted in during covering. The ailerons need to be twisted also to follow the twist in the wing. On your model I would have the trailing edge of wing at the tip twisted upward about 1/4 inch. It is important the both wing panels have the same incidence and same amount of washout. Other tips, you will need noticeable down and right thrust in motor and all wing and tail surfaces will need to be symmetrical with no warps. I have trouble building completely straight fuselages and keeping them straight after serious repairs. A banana shaped fuselage makes trimming and good flying performance more difficult.

Good luck with the holey T-6