In less than 30 days I have completed a beam airplane. Beam wings are by far the easyest construction in my opinion. First photo is the start date.

Following photo's are outside and in less than 30 days. Now I must be honest these have been long days but it shows you that with some determination and perseverance it can be accomplished., The plan is one more coat of clear today and glue flaps and elevators on and go fly. I can sand rub and buff as I fly it. All up weight is 58 OZ. that's three ounces off my goal but I think it has to do with the speed in which this was finished.

yes, but have you flown and trimmed it yet?   

Well done Sparky. Your work ethic is inspirational!

Hi Sparky,
It's bound to be killer at that weight.

later,
  Dean

Outstanding! 

Bob Hunt
aka: Crossfire 1

Just curious for comparison, what did your last P-47 weigh RTF?

If I remember right the last contest weight in Memphis it weighed 69 OZ Too heavy for that plane

All up weight after everything it hovering around 59.OZ 4 over goal. Has to be the paint. I am glad I didn't use urethane would be 2 OZ heavier.

59 oz. is AWESOME!!! At that weight for that size its going to fly great.  You wont be hampered by weight in any situation you come across.

The paint you used was butyrate dope?  If so it has gloss hardeners in it to make it fuel proof so it is not the lightest weight material if weight is one of the main concerns.  The automotive paint can be a little lighter as far as colors go.  BUT the auto clear weighs more so there is the trade off. 

I have used a comparable auto primer in spray can that you used, fills awesome, dries quick, layers nicely. Most of the rattle can primers out there DO NOT LAYER properly.  Its a pain!  Got mine at the auto paint store.  I was able to fill that plane with three cans.  BUT IT WEIGHS A TON!!!!  No matter how much you sand off there is weight gain.  I don't know why it is that way, but it IS.  A few coats of Sig nitrate dope and zinc sanded out prior to auto primer can help reduce the amount of autoprimer needed to fill it.  And if you want you can stay of the bottom with it and only fill the bottom with nitrate and zinc.  On my last plane I was coming in real light until a gun problem caused me to have to re-primer the plane and I got in hurry and I just sprayed it on until filled and then sanded it all back off. Bad move. Cost a couple of OZ right there!!  But in Muncie they can trend heavier and still perform.

On my new plane I will be using Zinc and nitrate first then auto primer I mix myself.  I will mix it about 60/40 thinner/primer.  I will have total control of the amount I use in the mix.  I am going to use the small gun to apply it. Bob G used to paint his whole plane with an airbrush to keep the amount of material applied to the plane very low.  He is a big proponent of not using more than you need, especially filler. I will spray and sand in small areas working slowly only putting on as much as need.  Instead of layer it up and sand it off.  My really light planes were done this way in the past.  It seems to work better.  I don't know why that is BUT it is.

At 59oz your plane is light and its going to fly great!!!!  You did a great job on it, and a dope finish that quick too!!! 

My total finish is 10 oz. Bare wood up

Robert,,
not trying to "compare" as it were,, Just trying to get a feel for weights comparatively

It is very easy to put on two, or even three to four ounces of urethane clear,, I weighed mine at each step just to know what the color part was,, I have lost my notes from when I build the airframe so I really do not know what the primer and dope added..

I was actually surprised that it added no more than it did with the clear.
Yours looks great! I tend to end up with my paint jobs being to busy, sometimes simpler is better, I just love the creative aspect of coming up with something different,,

and the 109,, well it looks good in pictures, but there are known issues,, ( known to me) the paint job is effective in masking some of them,, the next one will be better,,

I was a painter,, actually make a living on the computer now,, ( autocad and revit,, Project coordination) but yes I have a lot of years holding a spray gun,, thats why I react rather pointedly to some posts regarding painting and shortcuts,, been there done that,,

and if you get stunt news, you would see I quoted you in my first column( and again later I think)
its VERY true,, probably the single most overlooked aspect actually,, because without a good base, you cannot build a LIGHT quality finish on top of it,,

I have done custom cars, show cars, and everyday drivers,, each step up the quality ladder doubles the time involved in obtaining the results,,
typically a good finish takes as long as the building does,, at Least that long.
I am continually impressed, and surprised actually, by the quality of finish work I see by people who are NOT painters,, its cools to see,, and It brings me pleasure to share knowledge with those who want to learn...

More than one way to skin any cat,, however, like Phil says,, depend on the fact that something works to know it works,,
and what you do works,,

man I dont recall, it was after VSC last year, ( thats when Bob cornered me LOL)

I think it was march april? I will have to look back,

More than one way to skin any cat,, however, like Phil says,, depend on the fact that something works to know it works,,
and what you do works,,

Thanks for the reference Mark, kinda splitting hairs but it goes like this; "Rely on the fact that something is working to validate the fact that it does work' 

Ted Winterman and I went out this morning. I flew it around 7 flights. The wing was high for a temp fix I tweaked the flap. The wing is straight so the lateral center of gravity is too high. I got home and I am making a few battery holders to try next time out. Even with the 11.5 nose moment this airplane has a smoken corner. Turns and locks. I am extremely happy with the flight characteristics of this model. With some more trim sessions this plane should come around.

The only down side I have with electric so far is charging time. I have 8 batteries and it took almost 5 hrs to charge them. This should be fixed this weekend when I get my 24V power supply. I still have 2 New Hyperion 25C 4S 4000 batteries for sale in classifieds.

Ted post the pictures in this thread please.

I did have one issue I am working on. The motor surges sometimes. I was told to change the pmw to 16 instead of 12. I have no clue what that means but I did it?

pic at the field

Robert,
If you have time problems with charging batteries, you can parallel balance charge batteries depending on the capacity of your charger system.  I sometimes charge 3 5S 2700 mAh Thunder Power batteries in parallel at 15A, or about 1.8C, in about 25 minutes time.  Max output of my I-charger 208B is 20A, so I could charge 6 batteries at 18A in parallel.  I don't charges them that way ofter but when time is short it gets the job done in a hurry.  If you need info on parallel charging, Progressive RC has a short video on their website.
Alan Resinger

Hi Sparky,
Okay, you say it surges.
Where in the pattern, when, and if it sounds like an oscillation in RPM, how many cycles?
Changing the PWM or chopping rate sounds like a bit of a long shot to me, but I am curious to hear if it has an effect.

take care,
  Dean

I beleive I have figured it out. I had it set to new phoenix high and only 3.2 firmware. Its on phoenix high rpm now.

that works Robert,, Hope she trim s out fast for you

Those pants look nice...
Then again, the whole model looks amazing!!

Marcus