Well I've been busy over the past 3 weeks or so and now have 3 new EL models set to go - now I have a fairly competitive squadron of 5 models - 4 of which are Firecrackers (or at least a Firecracker derivative!)
A close 'flying' friend offered me a complete wing, flaps, stab and elevators a few weeks ago. He had built it all as a copy of the 'Yatsenko Classic' model which he never finished. All I needed to do was build a fuselage to suit, put it all together, cover and finish and I had another model... The wing was a little shorter in span than the original Yatsenko so I extended the tips to bring it back to original sizing, the flaps, stab and elevators had been finished in fiberglass cloth so I only needed to 'refresh' the finish to make it all suitable for painting.. When building the fuselage I changed the thrust lines from what the original model was.. I didn't like the idea that everything was 'in-line' and had built one for an IC engine some time ago which didn't fly particularly well - so I changed a few things to suit my taste.. The wing is covered in 'Hobby King' shrink covering which went on very easily and the model painted with plain old "Kill Rust' epoxy enamel - out of a rattle can. I've made it so the complete wing drops out of the fuselage and the fin will also come away with the release of one screw so that it should fit into a reasonable size box if I choose to take it travelling with me! Looking as if it will weigh in the vicinity of 58 - 59 ounces (fueled!) which is in the ball park I was hoping for - hoping to get to fly this one in the next week..
While building this model I 'attacked' the first Firecracker I built about 5 - 6 years ago..(Yellow and blue in the photos) It flew quite well and was originally powered by a Saito .56 4 stroke. Since going 'Electric' 18 months ago I haven't touched any of my IC powered stunt models and thought "Why not?" - so away I went and chewed out most of the bearers, made a ramp for the battery (it fits diagonally in front of the wing - half above and half below the centre line) - motor is some non-descript Hobby King 900kv, 14 poled which cost a whole $29! (only bought it as a bit of an experiment) So far only had one very short flight with it but was so VERY IMPRESSED
with how it flew with the conversion... I was practicing for an up-coming event so didn't want to fly it too much as I was more used to my 'main' model..
So a few days later, on the back of how impressed I was with that conversion, I converted the last IC powered Firecracker - No. 4 in my line of this model (Mainly Red, White and blue in the photos) I had built about 2 years ago.. This one originally had a Stalker .61 in it and also flew very well - hasn't been in the air yet since the conversion but I'm hoping it will go just as well as the yellow and blue one mentioned above.. Currently it is powered by an 'Arrowind' 2832 motor ... both models will start off with the APC 13 x 4.5 'pusher' props..
- Now it's time for a rest from building!
Topic: 3 New Electric models (Read 625 times)