Finished weight of Ultra Lite Ringmaster

[Mike Griffin]

Without engine, tank and muffler , 14 ounces

With OS LA .25 engine, muffler and tank - 24 ounces total

I also have two applications of clear coat on it.

Mike

[Steve Berry]

Very nice.

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you Steve

Mike

[rich gorrill]

Looks good Mike. Question, how does the tank mount with the landing gear in the way? I was thinking of cutting the gear down to eliminate the top mounting hole. Not a lot of room for a tank.

[Kevin Muckleroy]

Nice!
What covering and type of paint?

[Mike Griffin]

Looks good Mike. Question, how does the tank mount with the landing gear in the way? I was thinking of cutting the gear down to eliminate the top mounting hole. Not a lot of room for a tank.

Rich I am dealing with that right now myself.  I was not smart enough to drill the holes for the landing gear before I glued the wing in so now I am having issues trying to use a hand drill to drill the holes.  I can fly off of grass so I am thinking about just leaving the gear off.  Models fly better IMHO without a gear anyway.  However that does not answer your question.  If I do decide to mount the gear I am going to cut it down like you were talking about .  There is not a lot of room for a flat duralloy gear on a Ringmaster.  I use the J hooks and rubber bands to hold the tank on so I am still trying to figure it out myself.

Mike

[Mike Griffin]

Nice!
What covering and type of paint?

Kevin that wing covering is a Yellow tissue I bought from SIG years ago and I do not know if they even still carry it.  I wet it just like silkspan and covered the wing and then doped it with Butyrate Dope.  The fuselage is just white Rustoleum out of a spray can.  It does have two coats of clear polyurethane on it.

Mike

[rich gorrill]

Motor Man, there is not enough room for front and back mount brackets. There is barely 3 1/4" for the tank. I will probably use hooks like  Mike is using or maybe top and bottom tank straps. I'm going to try a 3 oz. chicken hopper tank from RSM.
Mike I,ve been doing a lot of pre drilling lay out, that's how I found out the interference with the landing gear. Are you using a tongue muffler or the stock o.s. muffler?

[Mike Griffin]

Rich I am going to use the stock muffler that came with the engine.  Here is what I did.  The top part of the flat aluminum gear is up high enough that the heads of the 4-40 bolts holding it on are up under the back of the tank.  Since I am using the J hooks and rubber bands to hold the tank on, what I did was put about a half inch thick piece of foam under the tank and it formed a cushion over the heads of the bolts and the tank is held level from the pressure of the rubber bands.   I always put a piece of foam behind my tanks when using this kind of set up anyway so all I did was double the thickness of the foam and the tank just sinks down into the foam.  I hope that makes sense.


PS  I am using RSM  GRW300U  snub nose tank which is a 3 ounce tank and is 2 1/4" Long.  SInce I do not fly constests anymore I do not worry about run times and just fly until I run out of fuel.

[rich gorrill]

That makes a lot of sense Mike. I also use foam under the tank to reduce vibration. never thought fo doubling the foam. That is a good idea.

Rich

[Curt D Contrata]

This thread made me curious.
I knew I had a pretty light completely stock Ringmaster built from an original kit back in 1978. I still have it in my shop  and just weighed it.
No motor, no tank, no gear, it weighs 14 ounces.

Curt

[Mike Griffin]

This thread made me curious.
I knew I had a pretty light completely stock Ringmaster built from an original kit back in 1978. I still have it in my shop  and just weighed it.
No motor, no tank, no gear, it weighs 14 ounces.

Curt

That is excellent for a kit that old. 

Mike

[Gary Dowler]

Rich I am going to use the stock muffler that came with the engine.  Here is what I did.  The top part of the flat aluminum gear is up high enough that the heads of the 4-40 bolts holding it on are up under the back of the tank.  Since I am using the J hooks and rubber bands to hold the tank on, what I did was put about a half inch thick piece of foam under the tank and it formed a cushion over the heads of the bolts and the tank is held level from the pressure of the rubber bands.   I always put a piece of foam behind my tanks when using this kind of set up anyway so all I did was double the thickness of the foam and the tank just sinks down into the foam.  I hope that makes sense.


PS  I am using RSM  GRW300U  snub nose tank which is a 3 ounce tank and is 2 1/4" Long.  SInce I do not fly constests anymore I do not worry about run times and just fly until I run out of fuel.

Mike, I'd like to suggest that your 3 oz tank might be a bit much for that 25. I have a 3.3oz on my Shoestring Stunter with a Fox 35. Once just to see how long it would fly I think I got 106 laps out of it. If room is an issue perhaps a 2.5oz tank would help.

Gary

[jim gilmore]

Anyone know what an ultralite ringmaster converted for electric would weigh in at ?

[Steve Helmick]

IF one was to use countersunk flathead screws on the outboard LG strut, it would be a simple matter to shim the back of the tank outward. Since that's a good practice anyway, that would be my plan.

I wouldn't call 24 oz "Ultra Light". Emil Kovak built a bunch of Ringmasters for OTS comps quite a few years ago. His lightest were 15 oz with a .15FP, and they were said to fly the best in calm conditions. For more typical contest conditions, he liked 20 oz with a .25FP. I don't think the .21FP had been discovered at that time. This suggests that Mike's new plane should be a delightful flying plane (for a Ringmaster!).  Steve

[Mike Griffin]

IF one was to use countersunk flathead screws on the outboard LG strut, it would be a simple matter to shim the back of the tank outward. Since that's a good practice anyway, that would be my plan.

I wouldn't call 24 oz "Ultra Light". Emil Kovak built a bunch of Ringmasters for OTS comps quite a few years ago. His lightest were 15 oz with a .15FP, and they were said to fly the best in calm conditions. For more typical contest conditions, he liked 20 oz with a .25FP. I don't think the .21FP had been discovered at that time. This suggests that Mike's new plane should be a delightful flying plane (for a Ringmaster!).  Steve

Hi Steve

I will let you know after this weekend.  I plan to put it in the air for the fly a thon.

Mike

[Dan Berry]

If anyone needs to know how much a Ringmaster should weigh.........
well, they should ask Joe Gilbert how much his weighs.