Joe,
Nice Thread!!
Glad to see you back into CL after 25 years. I went back after 40 plus years. I actually started in the late 50's, when CL was really great!!
I was excited to see Joe start this thread - as just last year I pulled my Forerunner kit out of many years of storage and paired it with my old EZ-Just handle...
I see Doug did great job with his Forerunner. Kudos!
Thank you, but must give the building credit to my flying buddy Dave Denison. I did not have the time, so commissioned him to apply his magic.
Doug, I noticed you drilled holes in the doublers. Interesting. Did it pay off?
Yes. It looks cool when the light hits it right! LOL. Seriously - this project was to serve as an electric test bed for us, so the front beam structure was modified for motor/battery mounting. In the end, the stiffness from the doubler was not needed, so it was a natural thought make the holes for cooling and a perceived need for weight reduction. After later testing we found that the extra cooling was not required and the holes in the covering were never completed.
Doug, back lit you can see the how neat your holes were drilled, and what is your Forerunner covered with?
Ultracote
Good moments, nice looking model!!
The mods were suggested during my research right after receiving the kit from Custom Models. A full inch added to the tail moment (wow!), larger flaps (no specifics were suggested) and unanimous voting for "46 not 40 power".
In the end:
- Added 1 inch to tail moment.
- Larger stiffer flaps (Kit stock too flimsy. Scratch built Denison-stiff version, full span stopping at tip).
- Redesigned and scratch-built tail targeted at Fancher tail volume numbers.
- Re-shaped fuse because I couldn't help it.
- Redesigned wing-tips.
Doug, nice handles also!!
That's a Denison handle that I haven't completed yet. The foam bicycle grip will be replaced with shaped wood, then covered with replaceable gauze tape. The next one will be based on this same Denison design, but in a nonadjustable one-piece version.