If the annual Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon numbers tell us anything, they say that Matt Kania's 1950's design is alive and well.  Several folks - like John Cralley have been electrifying their S-1's too.

This conversion was 50 years in the making!  OK that's too dramatic, its been 50 years since I built my first Ringmaster with a McCoy 35RH.  My new one is electric powered, using an Arrowind 2810 and a 4Sx2200 pack.  I designed a new Electric Conversion Kit (Brodak #BH-1937) so that others can also electrify their Ringmasters - for the next Fly-A-Thon?

This kit was designed for the Brodak S-1 Ringmaster kit.  It is believed - but not proven - that it can be adapted to other kit built or scratch buillt Ringmasters.  It is not retro-fitable to an existing IC powered Ringmaster, for that look at Universal Bolt on mount #BH-1940.

Dennis,
Never a dull moment for you is there?  One point of concern here related to keeping the wing strong, is there anything included in electrofying kit to beef up the center section of the wing?  Also what are you finding with respect to balance when using a battery of sufficient size to do the OTS pattern?

Keep up the good work and thank yoh in advance for your feedback.

John

Hi John!

The Ringmaster Coversion kit includes a new plywood center section brace that gets built into the LE.  The install is designed around a 4Sx2200 pack which is a wee bit oversize for thr modern pattern.  For OTS a 4Sx1800 would be plenty - but surprisingly you do not save a lot of weight between those two sizes.

So great to hear from you.  Hoping to see you this summer at the field.

Dennis,
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Just popped on this thread and was wondering if this conversion could work with the Sterling Mustang or Yak 9 profile kits? Seems these designs have a little more fuse to work with and not have to cut into the wing. Found it on the Brodak site, ordered one for an old Yak 9 that I could convert for a backup OTS.

Best,   Dennis Toth