I will probably show up with my profile. I doubt anything else will be done or even near done.

Playing with the lettering sizes.  I realized that I can't do this right without getting the flaps, and their visual weight, on the plane.

Great thread! I've been talking about building one of these for over 6 months and this info is invaluable. I read the thread and opened the box this morning. I have the fuselage extended and the 1/2" nose "tripler" mostly roughed out. I'm using 4-40 inserts for the engine mounts and it's my first time not using blind nuts. Sure hope it works out! I have my choice of OS 35S, OS 40FP or OS 40LA (blue) to power it. Any thoughts?

Great thread! I've been talking about building one of these for over 6 months and this info is invaluable. I read the thread and opened the box this morning. I have the fuselage extended and the 1/2" nose "tripler" mostly roughed out. I'm using 4-40 inserts for the engine mounts and it's my first time not using blind nuts. Sure hope it works out! I have my choice of OS 35S, OS 40FP or OS 40LA (blue) to power it. Any thoughts?

Read this thread, it's all the answers to my question "what should I use in a Fancherized Twister": http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=26808.0.  The advise is contradictory, so you will have to decide on your own.  The OS 35S is a lot less powerful per cubic inch than either a 40FP or a 40LA (or a 25LA, for that matter, which is suggested in the thread I mention by people who I know to build light and fly well).

I have a Tower 40 and a Magnum 36, both seem to have more than enough power for that sized plane, without tending to run away too much.

At one point I naively thought that a 40LA was just a smaller 46LA.  When I expressed this thought here I heard Many Bad Things about the it tending to run away.  So -- no personal experience, but it seems that it's finicky to useless until it's rebuilt.  OTOH, I've heard that a 46LA just works.  I dunno about the 40FP -- maybe someone with experience will say?

I want to try an OS 25LA in a plane this size.  Maybe if I built faster...

There's a stab around here someplace, I just haven't glued it in yet.

(I suppose that if I wanted to go for maximum "ahh" factor I would have primed and painted the stab center section, then glued it in with the wing and fillited it and all that stuff.  I just couldn't see doing the work when I was already feeling under the gun, and it is just a cruddy old profile that I'm probably going to crash).

Tim, thanks so much for the referral to the engine post. Again, I learned a bunch.

Tim,

You're making me feel bad. 

"Sister Jenny" looks like a fine model and I'm sure it will fly well. Profiles are great! CL started with profiles, didn't it?

BTW. My offer still stands on that PM.

Sister Jenny looks really good!!

Charles

Charles,,
again a bit of research,,
Control line started with a full house full fuse cabin type airplane, it did not start with a profile,,

see Oba St Claire,, ( in Model aviation magazine commemorating his accomplishments)

Mark,

Thanks for that.

I actully asked it as a question, see the question "?"

"CL started with profiles, didn't it?"

Some of that stuff is important to know. Never know when one will have a conversation with an interested party.

Did you know Brodak is putting togher a model Museum?

Charles

Yes Charles I knew Brodak is putting TOGETHER a modeling museum,, its been an ongoing project for several years.
as to your phrasing,, yes of course I saw that it was a question,, THATS WHY I ANSWERED IT,,, odd I thought thats what you did with questions?

Tim,

Well there ya go!

Do you know how long I waited for that stab to get placed?

Hey! I have an idea.

About that area around the stab and fuse. How about I send you some white and red vinyl and you can make farrings.

Stuff could go out in Tomorrow's mail.

Let me know.

Charles

Tim,
looks pretty good there sir,, hope it survives till I get to see it this year,, 

Honestly,, you are where I was a few years back,, soon you will be at that point where breaking planes is in the back of your mind,,, instead of the front,, I promise

Man, I hope so.  The last unforced crash I had in 2012 was at the Tune Up, when I pulverized my Skyray.  I was feeling pretty cocky in early January, then I crashed twice in as many weeks.  So I'm a bit deflated.

Hinged!  I used the method that Steve Helmick outlines here http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=29880.0, except I was going on memory for the wings and forgot the part about how yes, with CA you still need to put Vaseline on the hinges.  Thankfully, I use one long pin per surface, between that and solvent I was able to de-goo the flap hinges.  Then I re-read Steve's post, smacked my forehead soundly, and the tail went as smooth as silk.

Wheeled, too!  The closeup shows my currently preferred wheel attach method.  You get some 5/32" tubing (which slips over the 1/8" music wire), drill a hole in the end, cut the wire a bit short of the end of the wheel, solder it all up with a washer, and now you can take wheels off if you want, with no unsightly wheel collars.

Yes, I can solder on washers -- I just don't like it.

And, finally, a pic of the almost-completed plane.  Alas, I have one Tower 40 and two airframes that accept it.  I'm probably going to just swap the engine around in the short term, and see if I stumble on one for cheap in the longer term.

Interesting approach. At least take offs and landing will be less exciting.

Tim that is one cool looking airplane!  And the axle/keepers is an idea that one sees then smacks their forehead and says "Now why didn't I think od that!" 

Tim,

WOW! Neat/clean soldering. Kudos!!

I like it and may possibly steal the idea.

Your model looks really good!

Thanks again.

Charles

Randy:  You mean the trike gear?  I hope so.  Dirty Dan thinks I'm going to be disappointed.  He may be right -- but if I'm gonna waste time on a trike gear plane, better now than when I'm flying Advanced or Expert, no?

    Hi Tim;
    Tricycle gear won't be a waste of time. Once you get used to the way the model flies and handles when the engine quits, you'll have a slight advantage to sticking the landing and eliminating bouncing. The mains just need to be in the correct location in relation to the balance point so lift off is predictable. The Jecto Shark .45 has been my main airplane for both PAMPA and classic for a lot of years and I kind of prefer three wheel gear now. The best compliment I ever got was from Bill Zimmer at VSC the year I first flew my first Shark ('92,94?).  I was about in the middle of the flight order,Bill was one of the judges, and I grooved a near text book take off, and completed the flight with an almost as good landing. I don't remember what the rest of the flight was like, but as I was carrying the airplane off the circle and walked by him, and he said, "way to go McEntee, we've been looking for a take off and landing like that all day."  If you don't know or have never met Bill Zimmer, he was a top judge for a lot of years, and pretty much held fast to the rule book. If you got a good score from Bill, that was what you flew that day and could take it to the bank, and the comment still means a lot to me. Three wheels might not get you 35 point or higher take offs and landings every time, but it can help you get some consistency while you are working on the rest of the pattern, and the rest of the details for take offs and landings.
    Nice looking model. The answer to the power plant question is simple. If the initial test flights go well, and the model is close to being in trim, put your best engine in it, what ever it is.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

I built a tank, uniflow, from a peach can (some fruit and juice cans are galvanized on the inside; with the tin on the outside it makes for very easy soldering).  It's a bit ugly because of the metal used -- real tin plate would have come out nicer, because the sheets would have started out flat.

This is my first metal tank in a while; I've been using Hayes tanks with my FP-20 and LA-25 after having trouble with my hand-built tanks flowing fuel correctly.  The Tower 40 that's on this plane speeds up toward the end of the run and it's not just heat, and I'd like to improve on that.  So I'll see if a uniflow tank will work, and hold out through a whole flight.

Looking good Tim. As an alternative to the epoxy in the hole method consider thin CA in the hole. Run the screw in and out a few times then remove. Drop some thin CA in the hole and let it sink in. It will harden the thread pattern you just made in the wood as well as fuel-proofing the hole. Just another way of doin' things. 

I have plenty of empty thinner cans. And they are lighter than soup cans.

  Hi Justin;
    Yes, that Brodak tank and engine will work just fine to get you started. If the needle settings get to be finicky with the LA.40, try changing out the O-ring on the needle. They tend to leak air. The typical up grade is to replace the plastic back plate (if it has one) with a metal back plate, and install a through the venturi needle valve assembly in place of the rear needle set up. To me, there is nothing wrong with the rear needle concept, and the needle valve assembly they used on the FP series when that first started worked quite well, but OS keeps going back to that O-ring sealed needle for some reason. Just keep changing them until you find one that seals better. Search around the vender corner for Randy Smith, Jim Lee, and several other venders that sell after market needle valves and venturis. Pick up an extra head shim or two, Glow devil R/C Long or Thunderbolt or other known hot glow plug, some 11-4 props ( I like the APC 11.5-4) and some fuel that is 5 to 10% nitro and at least 18% total oil that you can add castor oil to to get to around 22% total oil. Types of fuel and availability varies in different parts of the country, and if you can only get typical R/C fuel like Morgen's Omega, get that and some castor oil to add to it. Around 4 ounces to a gallon of fuel gets you in the ball park. You'll probably going to use muffler pressure also. Do a search on the list here and in the engine section on the LA.40 and you'll find lots of variations on the set up, but for beginner, this should get you going with some consistency. Since you are what I like to call a "retread" you'll find out through research and experience that some things haven't changed much, but some things have. Tanks are one of those things that you can stay up late into the night and drink a lot of beer talking and arguing about, but experience is the best teacher. Once you get a good foot hold back into the hobby, making your own tanks can be a quite beneficial skill to have. Fred Krueger, up in the Chicago area, has a design for a profile tank that is easy to make, and I think works better and more consistent than off the shelf tanks. it's a taller, but lower profile uniflow/chicken hopper style tank, and a search here may turn up a drawing, or maybe some one can send you a file for one. The Twister will serve you well, and I advise sticking with it and refining your building and trimming techniques with one type of airplane. If this number one airplane comes out nice and flies well, start in on number two as soon as possible and try to duplicate it, and add any other little changes you might decide on. You can make a Twister look different each time you build one, but by keeping the same basic design will make each new model fly like the last one did.
   Well, that's more than the short answer you were probably looking for, but I tend to do that at this hour of the night! Just watch the little details, and the big details tend to take care of themselves.
   Good Luck and Have Fun,
    Dan McEntee
  (I'm 57 years old also, just never quit since I was 12 years old!)

OK, maybe I'm a little slow, but aren't the tanks I get from Brodak good enough?

Justin, I just like building my own tanks.  A Brodak tank should be plenty good enough, and better looking to boot.

Do make sure that you have enough room between the wing LE and the engine -- the Brodak tank that pops up first in their search is four inches long, which is almost exactly the measurement between the rear of the cylinder and the wing LE.  The tank I made was 3-1/2 inches long, and when I actually set it in place and thought about feet I wished it were 3-1/4.  Brodak has tanks that should fit, if you dig a bit.

While you're thinking about fit, make sure that the tubes coming out of the tank will fit, too.

And finally, the motor run I get from that Tower 40 with a Hayes 4 ounce plastic tank is acceptable, I just want to try a uniflow to see if I can do better.

Tim, your tank looks great and I think the corogations give it character.    Setting up uni-flo tanks is not that big of a black art.  You have to really set the needle by how the engine behaves in the air.   Also setting up the tubes on a hard tank you have to remember to have the vent ahead of the pick up in the tank.   I set mine at about 1/4 to 3/8 inch.   When set up right the tank will tell you when to level off as the last three or four laps on mine the engine leans out.

Hope I got this clear enough as my brain runs faster than my fingers and the key board.

Tim
also keep in mind that the oil content will affect the run potentially towards the end,, on my FP 40s,, I ended up adding a splash of castor , a couple ounces, to a gallon of 10/22 to get it to be happy after mid point in the pattern,,

Graphics on!  These are from a member of my local RC club who has a vinyl cutter.  I emailed him a drawing, then I went over today and we made labels.

So, it's all done but the trimming.  Hopefully that won't take too long, although with spring weather it's hard to know for sure.

I had planned on the maiden flight for today, but we got rained out -- maybe Monday.

Tim, the graphics look great and really sets that plane apart from the rest.

On the question of OTS legal profiles, there are not very many.  The Sterling Mustang and Yak, the Flying Clown and a similar one that I can't recall the name of.  The Frank Ehling Easy has a built up fuselage, too thick for modern definition.  There was the Schulman Invader, and perhaps a Navion. There was a British airplane called the Panther.  Both the Invader and the Panther have cheek cowls and outboard faring which doesn't look right for a profile.  The Trixy profiles just came to mind.  Actually more profiles that I had thought there were.

And don't forget the Ringmaster.

So, what thread did you think you were responding to?