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Author Topic: STREGA A.R.C. Build .  (Read 6338 times)

Offline Air Ministry .

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STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« on: August 12, 2018, 08:12:25 PM »
As everyones seen , ive spent thousands of hours in the ARC section . Or maybe 20 minutes, anyway .

Think I recall someone saying something about ' REINSTALLING THE BEARERS ( Engine Bearers ) in the Brodak Strega  ARC/ ARF .  ??? ??

Clearing a few dags , the glue there seems not overly hard .

Will the nose eventually work loose , running a Super Tigre 60 . ?

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Got donated a ARC for about the cost of the wood , out here . ( Australia )

As ' we ' have the Urtnowski Strega plan , & the Mike rogers Patternmaster plan . The IDEA is to have a fairly Authentic ' Big Jim ' Aerodynamics Ship .

Wood for flaps is way soft , & as the T E is 3/8 deep , will replace with 3/8 sheet flaps. Firm Ones .

The Tail Plane / Elevator. Never been a fan of the ' wedge ' Airfoil . Will Rebuild or Replace with Airfoil to match the Plans Ones. ( Elev T E in kit 1/4 deep  ! )

Controls seem o.k. but unbushed . Removed the Bellcrank ! Will do whole custom set up . ( price imported's prohibitive ) Reversed Bellcrank will be .
on 1/8 bushed through pin .

Had envisaged joiners inside ply mounts, till saw there were NONE in the Outer wing .  :P Will likely put in long spar joiners / mount ( pivot outer )
and resheet center section .

Anyone had a Std Wing ( two piece ) ' un join / come loose at the join ?

As the first thing that fell off was the nose ring , and Id wanted to fit a bigger spinner ( 2 1/4 in. or 2 1/2 in ) , I will . Redo stuff Fwd of bearers for that .
& fit Motor Pads .

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looks O.K. & straight .  BARE WOOD , All , weight as supplied is 40 ounces ! .

Will put in 28 thou. leadouts , bush the line guide for em . bush all controls , and fit removable tail wheel leg . Got ROUND wheels too . Not square ones . 
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SO , is the nose o.k. glue wise , as is . Or s there a hot set up to prolong the longivity ??

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2018, 08:24:46 PM »
Found This One . https://stunthanger.com/smf/arf's/strega-arc/

Further Note , just ' rounding off ' the L.E. like any other 1/4 Sq. L.E. with 1/16 sheeting  .
As I intend to fly it in hurricanes etc . Want it to ' cut ' the atmosphere . That's my excuse, anyway .

Have been a bit concerned about the ply dosnt run through under the wing ,
and the rear join is to a cross grain laminate , so several lamn. join there .

May rework the whole under cradle , having read the above post .
With the loot pessed into it , when finished , Id like it to LAST , not be a fly by night hit & run job .

Might get the Camera Out , for the Mods , IF theres Any Intrest .  H^^

Offline Skip Chernoff

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2018, 12:29:04 AM »
I have an ARC Strega that I've been flying off and on for about a year. It is powered by a ST 60. The "kit" engine bearers were junk so using a carbide cutter on my Dremel tool I removed them and built a crutch with real hardwood bearers. The plane was finished with .6oz glass cloth on the fuse and flaps then painted with Rustoleum. The wings and tail group were Monokoted. The all up weight was 75 ounces. I fly it on 66.5' lines eyelet to eyelet. I found that the flap to elevator ratio was critical .Less flap more elevator. I also replaced the wing mounted gear for fuselage mounted gear.
The positives are it takes off and lands beautifully, level and inverted flight are "locked in",loops great
The negatives are that on hard corners she has a tendency to stall ,so I fly the hard corner stuff much larger.
I'm guessing that if the plane was in the 65 oz range it would be a much better flier,but these planes are BIG and they do put on weight easily......Also she needed close to 3oz in tip weight alone.....Cheers,Skip

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2018, 10:24:12 PM »
O M etc , a REPLY ! .

Never Again . Muttering and fuming . . . the Plot thickens . . . read on .

WELL , Ive saved TWO OUNCES so far .

The INNER Tip was 1.55 Oz. - removed , split , hollowed . Got it down to about 0.6 Oz ,
Threw a flatish end drill bit in the drill press , with a piece of 1/8 " steel under it , at ' full travel ' ,
Proceeded to swiss cheese the surface ( carefull it was flat & square to at drilling ) ;
Further sanded 60 Wt. on end of chisel hadle for dowl/mandrel .

Drilled 2 mm the leadout guides , pushed in brass things , superglued'em to the nylon sliders . Before ( Just  ;D ) the Tip went back on . .
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I figure as the outers further out , a Oz saved on the inner's more'n an ounce saved on the outer . Being as its about 1 / 12 th Speed Variation factor .  ??? :-\

One can allways hope .

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Infernal Wing .

Its Possable to cut the beams for the joiners from the ribs , using a guide for the knife blade .
Luckinly , the forward face on the one in the leading edge on both sidfes , was softer than the rest , so I didnt slip and screw the sheeting ,
tho I removed all the center section sheeting AFT of the spar .AND THE ply B/C mounts in the inner .
Filled all the rectangle holes in the ribs .
The Glues not there in half the places. Just as well . Rock hard gook . :P

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Quite a bit of weigfht tossed . a few Oz. Anyway .

Glared at ply supply , in the end used 4 mm lite ply , out to the undercarrage mounts ( and pulled ANOTHER few web stiffeners off, filed , scraped , sanded flush - the spar rear faces . Left the ply 1/4 wider in the center bay ( The STREGA PLAN shows 1/4 Sq Spruce, tapered . )
And it shows angled sheetiung With Extra webs , Which Im NOT giving it - the webs there .

Aryldited 1/4 in on center ribs , spars , T E , night before last , And Joined Em , THEN ' as above ' braces .
Dickered with a few bits this morning , so LOWER Center Section Sheet can go on , run right across .

Will get some shallow ribs directly under the Fuse Sides .

Generall Idea was get wing ready , then store the sucker .

Got to make a nice bushed B/C assy. leadouts etc , yet . >:( Also Flaps And Tailplane , Elevators )

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Bearers seem hard , and Ive committed enough surgery . Only real snot was hitting No 3 rib with the saw cutting the B/C pin ,
Wulda been easier to have removed All C/S Sheeting earlyer , but was ' exploratory ' . ( a good excuse ;D )

Put a 1/2 x 3/8 Oak cross brase between bearers at  behind engine , trimmed the ply floor about 1/4 , the balsa 5/8 ,
Trimmed Front of bearers to same length , Another oak brace ACROSS the top of bearers at extreeme front , Ditto over Aft One .
New little balsa fillets in over the front & new nose block . ALSO 1/16 ply inside bearers so match the FSR 40 / 45 .  ???

Dunno why I'll use this . ? Its LIGHTER than the ST 60 , smoother ? they say . And its gotta go somewhere , will Swing same props
or is good on a 4 inch pitch .

My fancy C F 3 Bl Prop matches the 2 in. N.N. spinner , but will see . Gotta do Motor Mount Pads, and nut plate things .
Gets a bit monotonous , as im Not into Superglue ecept as where a necessity .

Gotta put 1/8 Hard Ply reinforcers oveer the lite ply at the C/S for the B/C pivot .


( FUDGE , phone ( camera ) stuck on movie . or not so stuck if you knew anything about it whatsoever  :P

Nose Block / ring engine pads & nut retainers all installed . glue drying. first underside Center Section Sheeting replaced ) .

Thanking you all for the replies .
« Last Edit: August 16, 2018, 08:00:51 PM by Matt Spencer »

Offline Charles Carter

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2018, 11:53:23 PM »
I have a Strega ARF and I rounded the leading edge of the wing.  I used Tom Morris control system everywhere except I kept the original bellcrank.   I replace the main landing gear with longer gear because I wanted to use up 15 inch props with my Stalker 81 RE.  I changed the stock canopy with a Hawker Hunter canopy from RSM.  I hallowed out the inboard wing tip to save on wing tip weight.  I put a taller rudder due to 15 inch props.  I put a Rabe rudder on the my Strega.  I glued half of the nose ring to cowl.  I installed plastic inserts to hold the cowl screws in better.  When I installed the wing saddle I glued wooden biscuits front and aft of the wing saddle into the front and aft of the fuselage sides.  I made sure there is no way the wing is going to ever get loose.  I didn't  replace the original engine bearers but I painted on epoxy through out the engine and fuel tank compartment.  I made removable flaps and I  shaved an half of inch off the trailing edge of the flaps.  I did make two access hatches to allow me to fully adjust the control system.  My Strega has four hundred flights on it.  You can see it at the link below.





Charles
« Last Edit: August 16, 2018, 11:18:18 AM by Charles Carter »

Offline Perry Rose

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2018, 09:00:39 AM »
I built the Strega kit from Brodak and won a put together Strega ARF. The kit weighed 65 ounces with a Double Star Lite .60RE and the ARF was 74 ounces with a .60 size engine from Brodak I don't recall the brand. The ARF flew much better than the kit built plane. The  pointed leading edge is built to the plans of the kit. It is shown just that way. In the plans I had anyway. Building the kit is complicated at best, it's worth it to get the ARC.
I may be wrong but I doubt it.
I wouldn't take her to a dog fight even if she had a chance to win.
The worst part of growing old is remembering when you were young.

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2018, 06:43:48 PM »
I figure the leading edge was intended to be radiused like any other 1/4 Sq L.E. with 1/6 sheeting .

Plane the front till the exposed edge is about 1/8 deep, and radius to / from the point of the top or the 1/4 Sq diamond forward ,
thus eliminateing max weight & retaining full depth at the max member thickness , something like that, anyway .

Got my custom very bellcrank in last night , A flurry of snow to mark the occason of finishing the soldering - leadouts etc , before it went in .
Some 3/4 wide 1/8 8 ply , 3 3/4 - Width of fuse. inside of the spars & reinforcers . Easy to see in hindsight how to go , wouldve saved time .
Thrown some joiners / reinforcers inside the T E center , Ex 1/2 Sq at back - to reinforce for cuttaway for horn . Yet to be made  >:( .

Clowned around with the Fuse. , doped the front ( keeps grubby fingerprints from marring .  :-X
Have a Reno P-51 Canopy plug . a test pull & cut , has it fitting the cockpit cut out ( as supplied ) rather well .

So to continue the ' Patternmaster ' theme , originally with it's Stiletto ish  top deck , and as per Windy's Red Baron ,
will have a half width odd fairing, from the canopy aft to the rudder .
ditto Think I will do a deeper enclosing engine cowl , and maybe a NACA intake on top deck , or two ' machine gun ' holes / intakes
to cool the FSR case .

Purple  :o ???for the fuse , or fuse top , as at the moment maybe the colour choice .

Get the replacement center shear webs , braces , and sheeting on today , we hope .

Maybe dig out some flap wood & look at something for the tailplane & elevators .  :P

Offline Mike Alimov

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2018, 06:00:03 PM »
I've flown Strega ARF with Saito 72 swinging a 15" prop.  Stock everything except rounded leading edge and ball links on the pushrods.  Nothing has shaken loose, incl. motor mounts.

Offline Charles Carter

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2018, 01:31:59 AM »
It occured to me I forgot to mention that I tighten the nuts on the bell crank post.  The nuts are not very tight in the first place.  I also applied thick CA to nuts on the post to make sure they could come loose.


Charles

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #9 on: August 30, 2018, 08:45:46 PM »
Finally lookede at the Camera/ phone . The Instructions Didnt Help . They dont even mention ' movies ' .

ANYWAY .

Strega ? Dago red - Canopy mold I have ended up a fair match . Just a quick rough test screen their .

Replacement Airfoiled Stab. Flaps & Horns .

The 40 FSR-S sitting init . gotta FSR 45 Magnum/OS conglomeration , intended ' to see ow it goes ' ere .




Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #10 on: August 30, 2018, 08:48:09 PM »
WHOOPS .


Offline john e. holliday

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #11 on: September 02, 2018, 06:04:02 PM »
Bet that was a scary ride. D>K
John E. "DOC" Holliday
10421 West 56th Terrace
Shawnee, KANSAS  66203
AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2018, 08:05:44 PM »
Bit of an update :  :P

hovering near 70 Oz.  >:( was hoping for maybe 66 Oz . Will do 1/8 " gear wire , its 4 mm now , so will save 50 % & hopefully itll bend rather than trash the wing , on bumps .
The Stab. is ' as per plan ' more or less , almost . It seems a bit thicker at the tips , but I used templates ' as drawn ' . So there you are .
Another shot showing the Pattern Master / Strega PLAN Airfoilded Stab set up . Did a new rudder & fin too , added the strake ,
Will pull the canopy in down flush st the top line runs straight through .Flaps were way to soft ; These are Patternmaster chords , 3 9/16 - - 1 1/2 ,
Which I figure will work better . For Me Anyway .  S?P :o Less wash at tips , more grunt at center , 1/8 Horns & C F pushrod , a big one .

Surendered on the cowl , didnt work stock , so a timber one to generate Fwd Side Area for good O/Head & vertical , I believe is the B.J. design theory ,
which is what I want to hit , so im leang toward / following the patternmaster philosophy , so I know where to direct any complaints .  LL~ ;) :)


Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2018, 07:51:26 PM »
Repeat from ' in yr shop ' but , here'n' now,s where its at .40 fsr S OS or 45 Magnum , gotta Gardner FP40 P/L for the 40 Magnum , so well see .


Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #14 on: October 05, 2018, 09:34:45 PM »
finally bleedy almost done .

Paints G M purple metalic over toyota or mazda ?? Burgandy / red . Far Out . Multi hued .

Offline Shug Emery

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #15 on: October 05, 2018, 10:03:17 PM »
Have fun flying the purple Strega. I know I really like flying mine.
Shug
Whoooooo Buddy)))))))

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2018, 07:29:41 PM »
RIGHT , the BIG flight Report .

Down the city / K M F C Saturday . Two Flights .

First with the Std Muffler - for noseweight . First a rev. wingover , from & to 20 ft . As everything felt ok .

General clown round , loops & consequtive . Inside & out . Leaning off on outsides - Squares - Tension slacking

to abandon point . With fixed offset rudder ( packed & taped ) . 12 x 4 3 blade bolly on the FSR 45 bitza .
No indication of overaft CG , bespite rear of plan indication , so . . . .

Fitted the C S C Rep. Tounge Muffler . V much better run .

Clover , half a O H 8 ( Just the inside- my neck was sore / stiff ) V Good tension up there , with the motor on .
Triangles Squares a general clown around . Outside triangles , 8s & so on .

V steady when engine steady ( in tension ) . Gusty or more ' varying ' wind speeds . Grose speed increase in below 45 deg.
Tendancy to tighten . Checked C G with tounge is 7 in ish to hinge . So this may explain it . Convergant tho , and keeps it away from the deck
in gusts , so ' fits ' the ' windy weather ship ' philosophy of NOT blowing into the ground .
Dont like the necesary adrenilin trip with the windup , at times , though .

In general - smooth easy to fly , turns tight . stable - exits corners well - clean - no bounce .

Only Gripe is slight lean off on hard Squares at times - .312 venturie .
The Toungue muffler surpriseingly eliminated ALL the assymetric run from the Std Muffler . But its rowdy .
As the tanks packed full low , that was a decided relief . Generally you run the FSRs 1/8 down in the tank .
Its on the floor here at that , exact .

Not sure if controls harden in gusts , it sure pulls harder . the more tapered P M 60 Flaps on it, as noted above .

Generally well pleased . bettern any of the hand me downs . No Soft Control System problems , so steers well .

And only weighs 76 Ounces , though a few less with the tounge . Bob Lampiones weighed 81 ! ( P M 60 )
untill I saw that I was not entirely conviced it would turn .

First flight was at 70 ft on the .018s , was a bit outer tip high .
Second was at 65 - ditto . Only slightly - so the spare 1/2 Oz is going in . & maybe the stiffer supplied 5/32 landing gear .

Tip Weight & tension go together , so that & the wiggly rudder mech . Hopefuly she'll be done . Bar a good polish .
Id better get onto that ! . ;D H^^
« Last Edit: April 28, 2019, 10:02:49 PM by Matt Spencer »

Offline Air Ministry .

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Re: STREGA A.R.C. Build .
« Reply #17 on: June 09, 2019, 10:13:15 AM »
Justta Bitoffa update ,


Tried the G-51 in it , with a bit of mangling on the cowl & a new differant  cowl . Didnt seem at home with my favourtite 10 x 6 three blade . Not a lot of prop disc Vs frontal area
Id assume. Not to mention the weight .
Seen a thing on the Swedish ' SLIS ' magazine with Big Jim refering to 76 Ounce as being ' middle weight ' regarding a Patternmaster .
Also seen ' My Original ' rear turtledeck / canopy set up , on a few windy tapes , on a red P.M. & Jose's LJ ( in the Jims N 30  designs ) .

seems its ' authentic ' at least . If not original .  LL~

Conbobultateing my FP intake size , 7.5 mm , %age wise to a Royal 45 FS OS clone , I get 8.8 mm , as Ive a Enya venturie that size ,
its in that 45 in the plane , with a wood master airscrew 12 x 6 , to see if I can emulate the superb FSR 25 run .
Might have to put in a rattly leaky needle valve to get it . Sealing that ( Old Taipan N V A ) on the 25 ruined the ' 4-2 ' bit .
Tho thats side mounted With outside of tank leavel / inside the spraybar . ! anyway we'll find out next time I take it flying .
And if it dont , I figure the engine side mounted in something , as above ( spraybar thru extended intake for offset ,
might do it for that , and the G0-51 as back up if that fails too . LL~ >:(

PLUS
our experimental weight saving 1/8 wire undercarrage was hoppity hoppity hop . unfailingly , so the Kit 4 mm ( 5/32 wire ) gear is on , with bigger wheels
ands performed as one would hope - smoothly .

A few touch ups around the nose ( blue scallops ? ) and enlargeing the breather hole might happen the next time the engines out , or next engine ??
A Merco 61 on the shelf , a old dog ive not yet run - threw a used ST 60 ring in to get Comp. looks like it'd be ideal - but the butchery to fit would
invalidate the ' engine test bed ' role . Dissapointed the Irvine 40 wont drop in . Narrower across the bolt holes , not gunna buther the mounting plates
at this stage .

Hauls on your arm like blazes in a gust , & the G-51 ' whipped up ' or the plane did , on that prop . The FSR 45 bitza's been the most satisfactory .
Took the cap off the Brodak Tank . Resoldered vent pipe maybe 1/32  to centre , seeing cap was off . But all fine in there , so ive wedged it 1/4
canted , as when it was stomping along it was getting lousy shut downs with the G-51 .Thinking 2 kilos enough for that injun , from running it in this ship .

So , 12 x 4 three blade on the FSR 45 is good - and a 12 x 6 now with the FS clone fitted for trying , as it seems its better with a bit of prop on it . *
 the ' Rabe Rudder ' has been operating now for a while . First impression was whips thry Sq 8s with the tension noticably even in comparison too rudder set offset .
where the od tug here and there gets your attention  .



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