I had a Lil Jumping Bean as well when I was a kid.  Good memories.  I learned to loop (I/s & o/s), wing over, fly inverted, etc.  She never broke, no matter how many times I landed her vertically!  Good little ship.  It seems like you have a very good start there....nice looking wing.

Glenn.....Watch those wing tips...Don"t glue them on backwards like I did, Now I have my own Bean!!

  RK Flyer  

Black Widow on mine. Strong engine, but with only 8cc of gas, the fun light flickers off too soon. So I later equipped it with a Medallion and a balloon tank for better inverted flight. Much more friendly needling the Medallion too.

I know it's early for recommendations, but this is my personal favorite 1/2A fuel:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXDBNH&P=8
It's the newly re-formulated mix with the contents labeled on a band around the neck(25/20, 1/2 castor/1/2 synth). So if you see it in a hobby shop, make sure it's not the deadly old formula, which does Not list the contents.

I also have prop preferences for easiest looping, but we can discuss that after your bird is ready to fly.
Rusty

http://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=6627

Parts tracings and plans of the original.  It is worth consulting, not so sure about having it printed since you have good kit.

Phil

Thanks for the link. I also found the original instructions and a plan to laser cut-out the parts (the files are too large to be attached here).
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2356569-Goldberg-Lil-Jumpin-Bean

Thanks for the advice, I will cover the wing with Monokote or the like.

I glued the wing tips and the brass eyelets for the leadout cables. My progress is slow because I use white glue and 24hr epoxy. CA glue and 5mn epoxy make me nervous.

Thanks for the advice Fredvon4.

Today I glued the bellcrank platform in place, attached the leadout cables and set the bellcrank in place with the mounting screw. There is no explanation on the plan or in the manual about the parts required to mount the bellcrank in. There are two screws of the same diameter but one is longer than the other. One is for the bellcrank and the other one for the elevator horn. But on the plan they are of same length. I chose the little one. And I did not use any metal washer, just the plastic tube around which the bellcrank rotates.

As you can see I broke the outer #1 rib when I assembled the wing.

I also broke the pushrod. The Z bend was not right so I tried to straighten it but it immediately broke. Living in Europe I will replace it with German music wire.

Thanks for the hint, I chose the second option.

I have some time before the Midnight Mass so decided to go on with the build.

I messed up the end of the leadout cables so decided to replace them with some very stiff fishing line. As you can see on the original instruction manual, the leadouts were made of 1/64" music wire or Dacron flying line. The cable included in the kit is nice, it's my fault.
I made an Uni knot at the bellcranck and a simple Surgeon knot at the other end. Looks OK to me.

I assembled the center-sheeting parts before gluing the sheetings to the wing. I reinforced the pushrod exit hole edges with CA glue.

Merry Christmas everybody.  

This is not the Li'l Jumpin' Bean, but it is my resurrection of it(called the "ReFried Bean") after I lost it after many crashes and finally when the bellcrank pulled out during a figure 8.

Notice I had to relocate it, but my point is the extra brace I added for pull strength, bracing it to the next rib. There are other ways to strengthen it, but I didn't know how to suspend a crank back when I did this.

Also shown is the finished product of the RFB.

 That "Refried Bean" is really cool, looks like fun!

Thanks for the tips guys.
That re-fried bean sure flies well with the Norvel. Very nice. I hope mine flies as well, but I know it won't be as fast.

The wing is completed. I added some scrap filler blocks at the tips, just as on the original. I think this will add a lot to the aesthetics.
I also sanded the whole wing and finally glued the counterweight to the outer tip. The sanding took me 4 hours because of the filler blocks.

Should I cover the wing with Monokote before gluing it to the fuselage?

Message received loud and clear, thanks Mark.

And of course I do it exactly opposite Lol. So whatever works best for you. That being said, I think Mark is a better 1/2A builder than I am.
Rusty

I would never say I'm better.  I've always been mightily impressed with your planes, Rusty.  I've even thought several times about copying you and building a Refried Bean from scratch.  

And it's true.  The best way is the way that's best for you, Paul.  Feel free to try it both ways.  I did and picked my favorite.  Rusty did and picked his favorite.  So now it's your turn to pick your favorite so that when you read that same question from someone else in about five years you can tell him what your favorite method is.  There's no right or wrong, and it's all about sharing.

Mark

I think I tried ironing on Monokote after wing installation exactly once.  I'll never do it again.  I always iron on the wing covering first, then cut away the Monokote from the center where it will glue to the fuselage using a NEW blade on my knife. 

Mark

Ok. Now with this method stated I have a major question to you Mark, or others that do it this way. I do wholeheartedly agree that it is and or would be easier to cover the wing before installation. Makes it much easier to cover than play around with the fuselage or tail assemblies in the way to either get in the way, or break! I have only covered one wing installed, and that was with doculam, so I did have a lot of extra and waste was of no concern. But where I see a problem with 'pre-covering' then cutting out the center section, with a new blade or not, does it not 'score' the wood underneath any amount, thus weakening it? This is the only reason I have not pre-covered my planes. Just trying to understand. Not like my planes have any life expectancy of great time anyways.... Thank you.

But where I see a problem with 'pre-covering' then cutting out the center section, with a new blade or not, does it not 'score' the wood underneath any amount, thus weakening it? This is the only reason I have not pre-covered my planes. Just trying to understand. Not like my planes have any life expectancy of great time anyways.... Thank you.

I do understand your concern.  And it is of a little more concern with a 1/2A plane than with a larger plane, since the center sheeting is usually 1/16" sheeting.  That's why I ensure that I use a brand new blade.  If you mark where the covering is to come off with a fine line sharpie (my choice) and then lightly score the covering, you can usually make a good score without actually cutting all the way through.  Monokote is actually pretty thick skinned.  Once I have the score line, I pick a spot in the center of the wing and carefully cut all the way through the Monokote on both sides of section where the covering would be removed.  Usually about 1/2" to 3/4".  Then I lift up that little cut section, kind of like a pocket, and cut across from left to right making two little tabs fore and aft.  Next, I lightly pull up on one of the tabs and run the blade tip along the score lines, left and right, as I go, making a nice clean cut as the blade follows the score lines and the covering lifts up. Doing this on both front and back tabs of the section to be cut away gets me to the leading and trailing edge where I trim off the tag.  Once the covering is cut away, run the sealing iron back along the edge of the Monokote to seal it back down.

If my explanation is too confusing, I'll see if I can make some time to shoot a quickie vid of how I cut the Monokote away.

But, what if I scored the wood underneath?  Well, I use CA for most everything, and I figure if I made a little score in the wood, the CA would just wick in and fill in the score.  No harm, no foul.  I've never had a wing fail on me yet at the center sheeting in the 30-something years I've been using Monokote and trimming this way.

Mark

Ouch, Paul. So sorry. There is not much that can make you feel worse than the flu. Anyone who hasn't had the real thing just can't imagine. Hammer that fever down the best you can and stay in bed. The Bean will wait. Hopefully if you got your shot, it'll shorten the flu by a few days. Hope you have someone to look after you. My favorite sick food; Campbells beef consume' and Saltines. Helps you stay hydrated.
Best wishes,
Rusty

Just pulled out my original kit of the  Carl Goldberg "Li' J Bean" and had a look through it.  Picked it up somewhere for $5.00 many years ago, along with a $5.00  CG Stuntman.  Although I can see that the use of Monokote has its puncture resistance properties I'm still a big fan of silk span on the smaller models.  Very much dated info/opinion here but...  We trashed around with Baby Ringmasters (built up wing versions) and .049's back in the 1970's and as a kid I was always amazed at the kind of beating they could take before major damage.  I use to think that part of that was all about the extremely light weight the models had. Flying over somewhat longer uncut grass was a bit of a bonus when crashing or landing as we sorta thought the grass helped to cushion the blows in a way.  We flew them without landing gear (hand launched) which reduced the weight a bit more and helped with the C.G. (moved it rearward a bit).  They were great fun.  Patching the odd tear in the covering was also a snap.  We did use Monokote on the larger Ringmasters and it seemed, obviously, to "fit" better into that larger models weight/power range. I have no empirical date to support my thinking here..we were just kids starting out in the hobby after all.  Regardless of covering enjoy the build and the flying.    

Thanks for caring guys. My wife is by my side but she is also sick. We should be fine in a few days.

I have another question: in case I cover the wing first, should I finish the fuselage (dope + silkspan + paint) before gluing the wing and the fuselage together? And is this kind of finish appropriate for a 1/2A fuselage?

In the days of yore, my brother built a lil jumping bean and I built the Stuntman 23.  We put Tee Dee .09s on them.  I remember that when he released mine, it was just gone.  My eyes caught up to it about a quarter lap around.  A bullet on a string for sure.  I think you are on a better track.  enjoy!

That old style is a far superior firewall too, so good for you on that. Remember what I said early on, when you get ready for that first loop, let us know first. Don't just yank and hope, or it may not make it through the bottom. This place is full of folks that can tell you how to "FLY" it through a loop.

Glad you're feeling better.
Rusty

The original needed the landing gear to balance properly as the nose is quite short.  With a stunt bee or black widow and no landing gear the nose is still a little short and needs a spacer behind the engine to balance.  I have about 1/4 inch of plywood on mine.

Phil

Sounds like too much opaque finish.

Thanks for the flying compliments, Paul.
Mine was an over-painted lead sled in its pre-fried days. Lol, the Pre-Fried Bean .
But it still flew fine with some lead in its snoot. The BW hauled it easily in its early days on 35' lines. The Medallion came later as it became a testbed for fuel supply experiments. My favorite prop for 1/2A is the GF series master Airscrew 6x3, cut down to 5.5, 5.25 and 5"... forgive me if I'm repeating myself, I might've already said that. They turn the engines faster and bog less than with the Cox Rubber Ducky, no matter how short I cut the Cox props.

If an engine is just too fast for your area and you're restricted to 35' lines, an APC 6x2 lets the engine spool up to useful SPI range while slowing the airframe to a more manageable speed. That's a good trick if you ever put a TD on it. And it'll loop better with the lower pitch. I don't recommend learning loops with a 4 pitch Cox or MA, they won't let the plane turn as tightly(in my humble experience).

Here's my Pre-Fried Bean. First built up wing I ever made.
 

Nice Pre-Fried Bean Rusty and Happy New Year everybody.  

I decided to glue the landing gear to the fuselage. I don't really like this loose shock-absorber idea, and the fairing blocks don't make my work any easier. I sandwiched the fuselage between some light ply found in the box. I also inserted the 1/8" x 1" dowel in order to get the proper LG angle. The dowel was cut flush with the LG and the latter sewn to the fuselage.

I glued the nuts to the rear of the 1/4" firewall.

Ok I'm done with the assembling. Took some time because I used a lot of 24hr epoxy. As you can see, I had to stuff the wing saddle with scrap balsa in order to have an invisible joint between the wing and the fuselage.
Thanks for the tip Rusty. I did not glass the front of the firewall because it is 1/4" thick, so has a lot of side surface for the glass.

I will now cover the wing and start doping the fuselage. I will take my time to finish the model because the Li'l Bean won't fly before spring. 

Just a word to say that I'm almost finished.

I just need to spray some clear epoxy to protect the nitro paint and I'm waiting for my Cox engine I just bought on eBay.
I will post a picture of the finished model next week.

Don't forget to take a picture of it before you fly it.

Lol, I will.
I messed up the finishing because I tried not to cover the fuselage with Silkspan.
The decals seem to be the originals because among all the decals there is the dashboard.
Brodak must have got hold of the last decals: super quality like things use to be.