stunthanger.com
Speed,Combat,Scale,Racing => Combat => Topic started by: Douglas Ames on June 26, 2011, 07:48:07 PM
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I ordered a set of plans from B. Baxter's website for the Missourian. I plan on putting a series 21 .35 Mccoy on it.
I don't fly Combat (Sport flyer) but I've always thought this was a beautiful model!!
Anything I need to know from your past experiences with this design? Monokote or Silkspan?
I'll be using a metal tank.
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Those older, light weight, high performance models were designed with the assumption of the fibre strength of a silk or silkspan finish. Plastic covering would be a mistake.
The Missourian has a full elliptical wing which makes part-cutting and assembly a BIG chore. After investing that much labor, don't blow the deal with a plastic covering.
Incidentally, the author of the article claimed that the original was stolen off a work bench at The Nats (an all too common complaint). Is the person who took it still out there?
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That makes sense. I've read elsewhere the same holds true for older stunt designs. I can see where this would be excessively labor intensive for an "expendable" Combat model, but it's a beautiful design, I'd enjoy the effort.
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We built combat planes with silk & dope for years before Monokote, etc came on the market. Dope drys pretty fast. You can build up five coats in under three hours. It only take a couple minutes to brush on a coat, then you have 20 minutes or so to work on something else.
When we invested some personal effort in the planes, we weren't so casual about wrecking them.
Finally, the Missourian was designed in the days when The Nats ran by the old "points" system. You flew two matches and your final score simply the sum of those two matches. Riley Wooten won some of his championships under that system. While not exactly fair, it encouraged quality vs quantity, and it got a lot more entries because you only needed two models.
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Info...
I'll be kitting the Missourian in 2012
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Series 21 McCoy .35 is heavy compared to engines used back in the day for this model. A nose heavy combat plane will turn badly. I understand the sport part but a series 21 engine??
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If he gussies it up as some sport people like me do, he will need the nose weight. Also I remember people folding wings or having them break on a hard landing. I used spruce spars the plastic covering as you call it will do. It should not be flying at 100+ mph and turning on a dime. H^^
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We built combat planes with silk & dope for years before Monokote, etc came on the market. Dope drys pretty fast. You can build up five coats in under three hours. It only take a couple minutes to brush on a coat, then you have 20 minutes or so to work on something else.
When we invested some personal effort in the planes, we weren't so casual about wrecking them.
Finally, the Missourian was designed in the days when The Nats ran by the old "points" system. You flew two matches and your final score simply the sum of those two matches. Riley Wooten won some of his championships under that system. While not exactly fair, it encouraged quality vs quantity, and it got a lot more entries because you only needed two models.
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We built combat planes with silk & dope for years before Monokote, etc came on the market. Dope drys pretty fast. You can build up five coats in under three hours. It only take a couple minutes to brush on a coat, then you have 20 minutes or so to work on something else.
When we invested some personal effort in the planes, we weren't so casual about wrecking them.
Finally, the Missourian was designed in the days when The Nats ran by the old "points" system. You flew two matches and your final score simply the sum of those two matches. Riley Wooten won some of his championships under that system. While not exactly fair, it encouraged quality vs quantity, and it got a lot more entries because you only needed two models.
Paul, all my Nats wins were under the elimination system, ( single, no second chance) usually over 150 entries. Just for the record I built 6 Vampires which I flew in 66, 67 and 68 Nats. Still had 5 of them (other was repairable) when I quit flying competition.
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When did they fly "points" at The Nats for the last time?
That system was still in use at few contests when I got into the event.
For those who don't remember that far back, "points" was simply the sum of scores for two matches. So you only needed two airplanes to have as good a chance to win as anybody. That drew a lot of entries and minimized the time to run the event. The downside was the overwhelming luck of the draw.
The 1961 & '62 AMA Rule Books listed points as the basic standard and elimination as a possible alternative.
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I think the 55 Nats was last. Not sure but know it was not later. some local contest may not have used up to date rules. I flew in my first contest in 54 and it was elimination. The new stunt pattern was already in but some contest were still flying the 52 rules (OT) In 55 I flew in meet that used 52 rules but allowed "new" rules if you wanted. Of course I flew new rules as there are almost double the points available over OTS rules.
A lot of the old combat rules were bad and it took a while to get them right.
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I remember flying combat at the Chicago Nats in 70 or 71, when Murray Frank ran the event. Five minute matches, a kill, you win, 150 entries. Quit flying combat when they introduced gentlemen's rules (FAI). Liked the old style much better.