Orv, I am not familiar with the small Berkeley kits like this one so this will be a real treat for me!

Thank you for the great picture, for it offers a lot of fine detail to study!
The layout is cool and the way the firewall/LG was designed looks quite simple. It does look like it could be built somewhat lightly.

As for building and flying in a day, not sure how that was done unless they meant a '24 hour' day. Ambroid dried very quickly but as all glues usually say on the back, "let dry for 24 hours for a full bond"

Question: since the fuse was printed I must assume that it would not be painted the way most planes were. I suppose there were instructions to just clear dope it?  It would appear that the flying surfaces would be treated normally. 

I will enjoy this a lot! Thanks again.

Robert

Hi Orv,

Neat little airplanes!

I remember seeing those advertised when I was a kid, but never built one. Built one hollow log back then, but that never made it into the air. The first (and only) half A c/l airplane I flew, was the Walker Firebaby. Flew pretty well with a McCoy .049 diesel.

Is that an Atwood Signature on the right?

Looking forward to your photos. 

Bill

Folks,
Berkeley made so many different kits, does anyone out there have a complete list? I thought the Berkeley free flight RTF model I had was called a Yank but I just went through my old model mags from the 50s and can't find an ad for it. I can only find an ad for the Super Yank. Does anyone know if they made both a Yank and a Super Yank?
Now to answer some questions:
Robert,
Fortunately, the balsa wing parts in the kits are fairly light balsa for a Berkeley kit. My main worry is the rather long nose moment, heavy Cub engine, heavy wheels and the steel cowl cheeks may make the model too nose heavy.
Although the plans don't give any instructions for the finish, I plan on clear doping the fuse. and color doping the wings and tail feathers red.
Jim,
Thanks for letting me know about the Profile Puddle Jumper. I thought I had all three versions of the PJ but you have shown me that there were four. I have never seen this kit on Ebay but I found an ad in 1950 MAN mag. If anyone has a kit they want to find a good home for, please let me know. Does anyone have the plans? The built up wing could make a model light enough to old time stunt with my strong 1949 OK Cub .049.
Bill,
The engine on the right is not a Signature, its kind of a Frankenstein engine. The plan side view shows a Wasp with FF tank (made first by Atwood and then by Holland) so I Ebayed a good looking one but unfortunately it was worn out. I had a strong running Atwood .049 with a broken mounting lug so I swapped the cylinder and piston into the Wasp but found that the threads on the Wasp head were too tight to fit the Atwood cylinder. I will remedy that on my lathe later to have a good looking, good running Wasp, though I am worried that the FF tank with the bottom pick-up may not be suitable for this C/L application
George,
You bet! that is a new OK Cub .075 diesel I still have to run and break in. I'm banking on the fact that this diesel will have enough jam to stunt this model.
Orv.

Isn't the tank just a balloon type that fits inside the cowl?

John & Robert,
I seriously considered using a 'Larry' baggie tank or a balloon tank but the nacelle is quite cramped particularly at the rear. The other problem is if I keep the engine tightly cowled in like I'd had planned then getting at the fuel line at the engine to fill the tank would be next to impossible.
My next consideration was to be as original to the plans as possible and incorporate the tank with the nacelle like shown on the plans but as Robert has pointed out, they only show a filler tube, no pick-up or vent. This concept must have been the fancy of the plan artist since I don't think anyone ever tried it out.
I mulled over the drawing for some time and decided that the way they show probably wouldn't work even if we added the pick-up and vent. If the pick-up went to the back, it would be next to the fuse and we know that during flight the fuel wants to reside as far away from the center of the circle as possible. This would mean that the engine would suck fuel for only a short time.
I decided to build the tank into the inside nacelle instead. Now the pick-up tube will be to the outside of the circle.
The photos show how I did this and it seemed to work out pretty well, I hope it will run in the air.

Orv.