what part of the country do fly in ? also there are some very nice glass props that work real well. try kittingitogether.

Let me know what you guys think, and if there is any thing that sticks out that may need attention.  [/color]

Neat!
If that is a notch in the LE for tank clearnce, I would strengthen it with a 1" wide strip if thin FG cloth.
But then, I'm a belt and suspenders guy.
Good Luck!
Screwdriver looks like a very appropriate name, especially w/ a Norvel.  Hang on!!!!!!
Roger v.

Chris,
     That is a very neat looking model. Looks like it will fly really well. 
      As to beam mount planes we make several that use either type of engine and we have just developed a method to incorporate a conversion set up in 80% of all of our 1/2A kits. We will be putting it into our kits starting next month. Most other kits on the market can be converted with motor mounts that are available.
LARRY
Black Hawk Models

Hello Chris,
               Thirty years ago I raced motorcycles at
Nelson Ledges just north of Akron. Ahhh.. good times!

  I know that you're concentrating on 1/2A's for now,
but I wanted to extend an invitation to come to a
contest or two at Niagara Falls Ontario, next summer.
The circle is close enough to the Falls that you can
see the mist plume on a clear day.
   The combat guys are starting to compete again
over in Buffalo. They play hardball but everyone is
friendly and welcoming.
You can get an idea of what's going on by checking
out the contest reports and news at

www.balsabeavers.ca

If you're new to competion, bring a plane and
fly the "Jim Walker". We would love to see you
there.

Cheers! - Keith Morgan (Goozgog)

Hi Chris- in regards to the leading edge notch for the tank. At a minimum you want to sand a taper or radius at the corners of the cut-out. Sharp 90 degree angles will concentrate stress at that point and may cause problems after flying  it a bit- especially if you doink it into the ground.

If you dont have any lite fiberglass cloth- an extra layer of tissue or silk with the edges tapered to distribute the stress doped over the area will help without a noticeable weight gain.

On full scale aircraft you will almost never see a sharp angle / thickness change in a structural component. Experience has proven that they are a bad idea - more than a few planes have gone due to stress cracks starting at places like that.

FYI - I love the plane-and if it flies too fast and ya get dizzy I'm sure you could stand in one spot and do lazy 8's until you regain your balance. It sure looks like it will do some nice inside / outside loops!

you know I didn't cut myself at all last time I flew,  but we'll see, haha. I'm currently doping it in my bathroom because of the exhaust fan. I wish it was a little stronger. I've got a nice little butyrate buzz going on, but I just hope it dries before amy gets home.

That notch will be fine, really all that I did was to make a more pronounced radius in the leading edge. Its a pretty smooth transition (I sanded a little more since the pictures), and really not deep enough to effect the structural integrity of the leading edge. There is a lot of support under that sheeting as well.

The cool part on this model is that the 45's coming off the tail are the stops for the elevator. I probably could stand in one spot!

Hello Chris

      Looks great - hope to see you back out with our group again


   Dalton H.

Here is the finished plane! heavy tissue, two coats of supercoat clear over the tissue, two coats of color, no top clear. The weight was 6.8 ounces with the engine and tank mounted. I flew it on sunday in near gail force winds. On 25% Nitro, with a 5.5 x 3 tornado prop, I was flying 3 laps in about 8 seconds, so not too bad. Handles really nice, doesn't hunt or anything. Balance point is a fraction of an inch in front of the leadout. Flies nice and steady level, but the outboard wing is a bit high. I'll have to put another nickel in the tip sometime. I'm trying to figure out a way to put its name, ScrewDriver on the plane. The wind was really bad, so I didn't get to experiment as much as I would have liked. 2 flights was all I could manage. Hope you like it, I think it has a sort of "old school" look to it:



Here is my dad and I with a few of our fleet: I have a baby flight streak and the screwdriver, and my dad has a flight streak and a baby lightning streak. We have a few more than this, and the collection is getting bigger. thats what i like about half a:

 I'll have to put another nickel in the tip sometime. I'm trying to figure out a way to put its name, ScrewDriver on the plane.
+ + + + + + + +

Hi Chris,
Here's one way to do the name. See: 

On the tip weight - - If you already have a nickel in the outboard wing, that may be enough; you may have a tiny warp in the wing. The only way to tell is to try level inverted flight and see if the outboard tip is still high. If it is, then you do need more tipweight.

Guess it's a fairly common way of arranging multiple photos.