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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: John KruziK on January 27, 2009, 06:51:17 PM
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Reading post on lightning was inspiring. And being a sucker for FREE plans I printed it out. Went through scrap wood box and looks like I have enough to build it. Going to start cutting now. John
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Hi John, What Lightning is this? Thanks, Mike :)
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I do believe that he is talking about White Lightening by Bruce Feaver. Great looking little plane. Bought the plans a couple years ago just after he released it. Built it quickly and is now sitting awaiting finish and hardware.
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Chancey is correct ,there was a thread with link to Bruce Feaver's site. www.hippockeraeronautics.com he offers the plans to download for free. Site is worth searching around also. John
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Thanks for all the help everyone, I do appreciate it. :) Mike
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i must have done something wrong. i bought a ap wasp .061 for mine. when i rubber banded it in to test for cg, it was very tail heavy :o i tried my tt .07 , not even close. too much paint i guess :( i`ll try it again but this time i`ll test for cg before i glue & paint it so i can cut some off the tail if need be! i would like to put a balloon or bladder tank on it but i`m clueless on how to do it. is there a tutorial on it some where?? i don`t know where to look.
tanks,
conk
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There was an article in Flying model , about a sky shark, that showed how to do a balloon tank. I'll see if I can find it. John
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Minnesotamodeler has an excellent description of balloon tanks with pictures on post 95 of the Black Hawk Models auto giro thread. The link below will take you to the beginning of that very long thread. The balloon tank pictures are on post 95 which is on the second page of that thread. I realize that there are other kinds of balloon tanks but apparently this style works well for 1/2a.
http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=3096.0
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John,
Do you have a Norvel tank?
If not, you might look for one of those to try on your AP .061. That would add some nose weight, while moving the engine forward, and shifting the CG forward as well.
They made two sizes of the Norvel tank if I'm not mistaken, and the larger would probably be longer as well.
Other than that, it should be pretty simple to extend the nose and beam mounts, to get closer to the proper balance.
Bill
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Chancey is correct ,there was a thread with link to Bruce Feaver's site. www.hippockeraeronautics.com he offers the plans to download for free. Site is worth searching around also. John
That link no longer works. Is there any chance to see this model?
Quote by John KruziK:
"There was an article in Flying model , about a sky shark, that showed how to do a balloon tank. I'll see if I can find it. John"
Did you find that article? Would love to see it!
Robert
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Robert,, try hippocketaeronautics.com, also see the post for "white lightning".
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For a free set of plans in PDF, please visit my website on this design
http://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/cl_sp_white_lightening.htm
Thanks all and have fun with it, and I am eternally gratefull that many have downloaded and enjoyed this airplane, Version 2.0 is being developed.
Cheers
Bruce Feaver
Hip Pocket Aeronautics
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Any chance you could offer the plan in a jpeg or gif format so it will be easier to tile print?
John
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I have arranged to have a tiled PDF plan available, I don't do jpegs and gifs for plans so I hope these work out.
Click here, http://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/cl_sp_white_lightening.htm
and go to the center of the page where you can download a Pre_Tiled PDF of the plan for the White Lightening for your enjoyment. You should be able to print it out on 8 pieces of 8 1/2" by 11" paper.
Cheers
Bruce Feaver
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That worked perfectly, #^
Many thanks, you are an asset to the hobby.
John
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Good deal! Thanks
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Great plans ,looking forward to building it in the future. Thank you
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I just downloaded the plans. Very nice! Thank you Bruce for making them available to everyone. #^
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There was indeed a few other fliers who also built this plane. The posts were fairly recent, me being one of them. When I completed mine the weather was getting too cold to finish the painting process. The plane does in fact build tail heavy. For me, this is not a problem as I'm going to try at as is at first. There is plenty of solutions to fixing that. I can't wait to complete this one . I positioned several engines on the plane and drilled it accordingly so I will be able to use a few different ones if I choose. I always had great success with the flat wingers such as the Skyray and I feel this plane will work even better. Ken
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How good of a "Getting back into" it is this plane in your experience . I flew profile and some Jr ringmasters 35 yrs ago and am looking to get back into flying control line.
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How good of a "Getting back into" it is this plane in your experience . I flew profile and some Jr ringmasters 35 yrs ago and am looking to get back into flying control line.
Fro a rank beginner I would say no for sure but for someone who successfully has built and flown a Baby Ringmaster, even if it has been a while should have no problem. Bet you'd even like it a lot!
Robert
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Thanks for the reply. it all didn't seem so difficult back then. If it looked good then it usually flew good. Hope the same goes for this one
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One thing is for sure if your used to the flying with the older style 1/2 a engines, wait until you try the modern powerplants. I'm not knocking the old school equipment I still use it. Its just surely night and day when flying with a Norvel or similar style. It took me a while to realize how to deal with the newer engines. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to start them and prop sizes. Once I figured it all out it sure makes an enjoyable day. I plan on using the AP Wasp .061 on mine but I'm still going to give the Cox Tee Dee a go for certain. The plane has a good size nose for different tank applications as well. I'm having some slight difficulty in keeping the wing area from cupping. I straighten it now and then using a heat gun going slightly opposite in the direction of the warp. Its looking pretty good now as its taken me approx 3 attempts. I feel that I should've made the ply stiffeners on the wing tips go from leading edge to trailing edge. Another nice feature is that there is very little material needed for this build which is a nice cost saver. In the event of a severe crash its not a total loss. Based on other solid wing models I've built, the wings generally don't break. It lends itself to be somewhat recyclable. Ken
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This is great thank you y1 y1 y1 #^ #^
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Should be a very popular plane. Im looking forward to building it . Just need to get some of my old stuff out of storage,wherever it is. A friend gave me her ex husbands geseike nobler which was my all time favorite plane way back when. Im goiung to recover it and hopefully one day ill have the skills to fly it,but nothing compares to the 1/2 a days at the park.
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To help prevent wing warps and cupping on flat wings use light, but stiff C-Grain balsa.
Very similar to Red Reinhardt's Snapper and the Dick Sarpolus fighter squadron...
W.
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On my Lightning I put a spruce stiffmer LE to TE on each side and no problems. It was 1/16" x 18".
I like mine soo well I am working on a 43" span for a .19.
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Just finished mine last week. Kept it on a diet by using a dope and tissue finish and not using landing gear. It appears to balance perfectly with just the Norvel .061 and the balloon tank on the nose. To wet and windy to fly it now but I am looking forward to spring. I suppose I will use 40' lines to start.
John
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John, that plane looks great. I went with a single gear on mine to reduce a little weight and drag. Could you tell us what version .061 that is. Its good to see another one added to the fleet. Ken
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Nice looking plane got all balsa together now i need to get some time to start cutting and glueing
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I'm using a well broken in .061 Big Mig. I was planning on single gear if it turned out tail heavy but that proved not to be the case. :)
I could not remember if the plans called for any right thrust so I added a very little. The rudder is also a little bigger than the plans called for. We will see.
John
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John, your plane rocks! Just goes to show that you don't have to use a lot of heavy paint to produce a great looking plane, Love the Lightening bolts too!
One problem I can see. It looks like you have a six inch prop on it. You might be good if it is a 6X2 but if it is a 6X3 then the engine is over propped. The Norvels do like to turn high RPMs and you would do better with a 5X3 than a 6X3.
I await your flight reports! Robert
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All done and it fly's good! John