48" w/s umland magician

[Bootlegger]

  How many of you fellow's have built an Umland version of the 48" Midwest Magician, and how did it fly and any other info that you care to share, engine size, line length, w/flaps or not and anything other info...     

             Thanks

[Terrence Durrill]

  I built the MIDWEST KIT version of the MAGICIAN 35 With a Fox 35 stunt for power, 10/6 Top Flite paddle prop, 5% nitro/29% castor fuel, 60 foot .015 lines, without flaps, standard suction metal tank from PERFECT ...... it flew just fine.              

[dennis lipsett]

  How many of you fellow's have built an Umland version of the 48" Midwest Magician, and how did it fly and any other info that you care to share, engine size, line length, w/flaps or not and anything other info...     

             Thanks

I built and still have an Umland Magician. Powered with an Enya 35BB built on a 25 case it makes for a really great flying combination. Flown on 62 foot lines and 3.5 oz for the pattern. No flaps as the model was not designed for them and really does not need them. I use an 11/4.5 prop and 5% fuel

Dennis

[Paul Smith]

I built & flew a Midwest kit Magician when they first came out.  The one major weak point was the small, thin stabilizer.  Mine almost broke several times

When I built a modern copy I beefed it up a lot.

[Dave_Trible]

If the Umland kit is the same as the Midwest kits it's a good one.  I learned most of the pattern on a Magician with both Fox and McCoy .35s.  I would suggest you DO use the moveable flaps for pattern-style corners.  All the many Magicians around these parts in the 60-70s used the flaps.  It was considered the profile Nobler of the time and was the natural progression into full fuse airplanes.  Have to say I sometimes wonder about any hesitation to put flaps on.  Not much of a building challenge but makes the airplane corner so much better.

Dave

[Target]

I have the Umland Magician kit new in box that I'm going to be building for a friend. But first my .15 size Magician from the same. ....

[Jim Kraft]

I have built four off of the Midwest plans all with flaps. I still have two that have McCoy 40 Red Heads. They have all flown about the same, weighed about the same at 36 to 38 ounces, and are great flying planes with no surprises. they can be flown in profile, classic, an PA. An all round good plane.

[Target]

The flaps/no flaps debate has me intrigued....People seem evenly divided.
The plane is so darned short coupled, and the tail not huge, that I would think the tail has to fight to overcome the pitching moment imparted by the flaps....

The truest test would be if someone took one with flaps, and flew it with both active flaps, then disconnected them and locked them in place, all on the same exact plane.
But then maybe the trim and control settings would have to be different anyway?

R,
Target

[Jim Kraft]

I have never flown one without flaps, but I imagine they could be flown about as well. The one thing I found is that mine with flaps needed the CG moved back nearly and inch. Mine all flew tight corners but came out nice and flat smoothly. It is a fairly easy airplane to fly which makes it all the better. Trim is not critical as on some planes, and with a good engine and tank set up it just flies great. It would probably fly better with less wing offset, but then it would not be a Magician any more. It flies way better than it should the way it is. I did go to 3/16" for the stab and elevator for stiffness.

My first one had a muffled Fox 35 and only weighed 35 ounces. It flew very well. The next three had McCoy 40 Red Heads and flew extremely well with 11x6 APC props. It is what I call an honest plane as it really has no surprises. Mine has many trophy's to prove its ability to put in a good flight, and I am just and average flyer. I guess I like them or I would not have built four of them.

[Dalton Hammett]

The 48" Magician is one of my favorite profiles.   I'm on my 5th Midwest model and have used engines from an ASP .32 to a DS .40.    They don't need flaps due to the set forward tail feathers and if kept light don't require a lot of power.  My current one has an LA 40 and it is overpowered.   The design seems to be able to fly very good  at any size, I.E., the OTS original (Brodak) is a great flyer,  one of my sons has one scaled up to 67" with an EVO .60 on it that is a strong flyer and I've seen it scaled up to 54" with equal wing panels
 which was a nice plane.

[Larry Renger]

IMHO, my baby version as published in Flying Models flew awfully well without flaps. It was scaled down from the 35 size model, not the 15, and had the original wing used by Jim Silhavy before it was kitted. I have his letter and photos to prove it!

If you do flaps, consider moving the hoeizontal tail to the rear of the fuselage. That will gain about 3" of tail moment on the Midwest size model.

BTW, RSM  can cut you a short kit for my version, hint, hint. 

[frank williams]

Hey Gil
I took mine to Dallas and Dale Gleason hollared across the field, "Hey Frank, Is that a Magician?"

[Mike Griffin]

A Magician will fly just fine without flaps.

Mike

[Dan McEntee]

IMHO, my baby version as published in Flying Models flew awfully well without flaps. It was scaled down from the 35 size model, not the 15, and had the original wing used by Jim Silhavy before it was kitted. I have his letter and photos to prove it!

If you do flaps, consider moving the hoeizontal tail to the rear of the fuselage. That will gain about 3" of tail moment on the Midwest size model.

BTW, RSM  can cut you a short kit for my version, hint, hint. 

    When I started flying stunt actively in the mid 1980s, this was one of the "hot set ups" at the time, moving the stab back to the back of the fuselage. It may or may not help some, but is then not classic legal. I think I have a set of plans for your baby version Larry and will do that one some day. One of each, .35, .15, and 1/2A size all finished the same colors!!??? That would be cool!
   Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Dennis Moritz]

I used an Umland Magician wing and cut the fuselage from a light half inch very straight rigid piece of stock. Stab was moved back to the end of what would have been a stock fues. Stab was lengthened 30%. I used moveable flaps 1/2 inch wider at the root. Power was a Tower 40 with three Tower head gaskets (equivalent to 2 OS gaskets), a .273 venturi, tongue muffler, 10.5x3.75 apc. Excellent flier. Very predictable. Good corner. Weighed 33 ounces.

[john e. holliday]

I still have my Umland Original Magician which the Brodak kit came out later and is the same kit.  I built the Brodak kit and covered or tried to cover with Brodak covering with Brodak .25 for power.   It is smaller than the Midwest kit.   I also had the Midwest kit back in the day and replaced stab with thicker material as we had seen a couple of kit stabs fold.   Both Magicians fly great or flew great.  If I run across my plans again, may have to build another Midwest kit version.