...Cowls...

[Bootlegger]

   Guy's I am in the process of putting together a Nobler arf, and I want to go with an R/C engine mount, but would rather have a wooden cowl instead of fiberglass.
  What have ya'll used to make a substitute wooden cowl and how did you attach it and any other suggestions about this change that you can supply.
  I am thanking all ya'll in advance...

[Andrew Hathaway]

Well I put the description on your thread over on the other forum, I'll put the pics here. 
Basically, I tore everything out of the nose that looked like ARF, and replaced it with everything that looked like Nobler.

[Bootlegger]

  WOW, You sure do some nice work.. I didn't plan to go to those details, but what you did sure LOOKS good.
  Thanks for your help, and if you have other suggestions, please send them.
  I am planing to run a Fox 35 in mine, so I know that the cowl will be short. I don't want a shaft ext as I been told that they cause shaft breakage..
  Again thanks for your pictures....

[Andrew Hathaway]

On my first one, I epoxied a piece of 5-ply birch plywood over the top of the mounts, out to the end, to tie everything together.  I also epoxied strips of plywood over the engine mount side of the beams to drop the engine down and allow room for the crankcase.  With the Fox 35 as far forward as I could get it, the glass cowl fit OK.  The problem I ran into was that after trying two different tanks, after 2 different Fox 35's and the OS 25FP, I couldn't get a good engine run.  It should have worked fine.  The new one is setup for a OS Max-S 35, with all good wood and epoxy in the engine crutch.  But I've been trying to decide how I want to arrange the trim colors for two years, so I don't know if I fixed the problem or not.  Here's a shot of the mostly completed plane from April 2006. 

[Bill Little]

I did the same as Andy. Even recovered it. When I got done, it looked just like a 57 green label kit version. Even to the proper rudder. The only thing I kept was those ugly wheels.  The cowl still exists, but I gave it to a club member for his ARF Nobler.

What TY didn't tell us is that he had an argument with the judges over whether or not it was an ARF!  He kept saying it WAS AN ARF, they kept insisting it wasn't........ (and he even had a "ARF" decal on the fin!)

[Andrew Hathaway]

Part of the reason I haven't finished my bashed ARF is the BOM/Appearance points debate.  On one hand it started as an ARF, on the other hand I demilled and recreated the fuselage, removed all the covering, built a new rudder, built a new cowl, bent a new landing gear from music wire, removed the arf tip weight, installed a weight box, covered in silkspan, added fillets, applied a dope finish, and cockpit details, completely custom controls, built a fuel tank, etc.  About the only part that didn't get modified was the stab/elevator.  Do I have as much effort and time as someone buying a finished foam wing and stab/elevator and building the rest of their plane around it?  I'd say so.  Do I feel strongly enough about it to fly it in a contest and argue for BOM?  Who knows. 

[john e. holliday]

Well Andrew hate to break your bubble.  What started out as an ARF is still an ARF no matter what you have done.  I know from experience.  But, surely you can make up the appearence points in flying ability.  You always outscored me even when your bottoms were at 15+ feet and maneuvers all over the place.  I was told you were smooth for you getting better scores.  Hope to see you and your dad down the road.  DOC Holliday

[Andrew Hathaway]

Most of my dope finishes don't come out that well anyway, but that 10 points is more then I can afford to throw away.  There have been several times in the past that another few points would have been the difference between placing 5th, or placing 3rd, with an even smaller point spread between 3rd and 1st places.  There would have to be serious motivation to justify that instant loss of points.  The ARF would have to fly REALLY good, or be the only plane I had available that qualified for the requirements or the event, or I'd have to be competing solely to participate and have fun, with no concern about placement.