Help with Airplane Identity...Double Star .61

[Shug Emery]

Does anyone recognize this airplane???
I recently bought this plane from a club member who got it from a man in Boise, ID.
It has a Double Star .61 on the front. Real slick plane.
Eventually will pull the rainbow tape off and paint something. Or not.
Hope to get it up soon. Bench ran it a bit.
This would be my first time flying a beast this large. I get a bit exhilarated just thinking about it.
Shug

[Mark Scarborough]

Shug,
PLEASE send me pictures, via email
that airplane was built by my dear true friend Pat Johnston.
I am positive he would love to see it is still alive.
can I ask whom owned this airplane that you got it from?
the clue is the "17 " on the wingtip, its his trademark if you will

[Shug Emery]

Shug,
PLEASE send me pictures, via email
that airplane was built by my dear true friend Pat Johnston.
I am positive he would love to see it is still alive.
can I ask whom owned this airplane that you got it from?
the clue is the "17 " on the wingtip, its his trademark if you will

That sound familiar. Does he live in Boise? That is where my fellow club member got them from.
If you click on the photos you can download them. On the way!

[Mark Scarborough]

That sound familiar. Does he live in Boise? That is where my fellow club member got them from.
If you click on the photos you can download them. On the way!

Yes Pat lives in Boise,,
I might do that when I get home, but uh,, well I really should not be on here while at work LOL
Did he have any other planes from Boise?

[Randy Powell]

That is definitely Pat's Spectrum. Based on the Jimmy Cassel plane. Plane was built in the late 80s. Pat flew the Spectrum and I flew the Dragonslayer. Cool plane. I'm sure Pat will be thrilled it still survives. Pat flew it with an ST60 and a big, honkin' prop.

[Pat Johnston]

Mark and Randy are correctomundo!  It was built in the mid 80's.  The first motor was an ST60 swinging a Rev-Up 14-6 that was well cleaned up.  Years later when I got a real pitch guage it turned out to be a 7" pitch.  The ST60 just chugged along without a care in the world.  The muffler is from Dubro muffler stock and was made for a Bearcat angled to get out of the cowl semigracefully.  The Spectrum was a good flying plane.  Still, now I realize that 60 sized planes are too much for my 142 pound frame.  My current electric Bearcat is 617 squares and 55 ounces.  Much more comfortable to fly.
Congratulations on this addition to your arsenal.  It should prove to be a fun plane to fly.
Pat Johnston
Memory Division
Skunk Works

[Shug Emery]

Yes Pat lives in Boise,,
I might do that when I get home, but uh,, well I really should not be on here while at work LOL
Did he have any other planes from Boise?

He did....I think 3 or 4. I'll try to get him to send pictures.

That is definitely Pat's Spectrum. Based on the Jimmy Cassel plane. Plane was built in the late 80s. Pat flew the Spectrum and I flew the Dragonslayer. Cool plane. I'm sure Pat will be thrilled it still survives. Pat flew it with an ST60 and a big, honkin' prop.

That is so cool to hear!

Mark and Randy are correctomundo!  It was built in the mid 80's.  The first motor was an ST60 swinging a Rev-Up 14-6 that was well cleaned up.  Years later when I got a real pitch guage it turned out to be a 7" pitch.  The ST60 just chugged along without a care in the world.  The muffler is from Dubro muffler stock and was made for a Bearcat angled to get out of the cowl semigracefully.  The Spectrum was a good flying plane.  Still, now I realize that 60 sized planes are too much for my 142 pound frame.  My current electric Bearcat is 617 squares and 55 ounces.  Much more comfortable to fly.
Congratulations on this addition to your arsenal.  It should prove to be a fun plane to fly.
Pat Johnston
Memory Division
Skunk Works

Hello Pat,
I do hope to fly it with dignaty. May put up a test flight tomorrow and see how the Double Star .61 does. Nothing fancy....unless I feel the spirit.
Nice to now be the owner of a wonderful plane with some history.
Shug

[Shug Emery]

Yes Pat lives in Boise,,
I might do that when I get home, but uh,, well I really should not be on here while at work LOL
Did he have any other planes from Boise?

Here is a picture of Tom our club member and his brother who is a trucker and picked them up in Boise and delivered them to him here in Minnesota.
Shug

[Shug Emery]

Mark and Randy are correctomundo!  It was built in the mid 80's.  The first motor was an ST60 swinging a Rev-Up 14-6 that was well cleaned up.  Years later when I got a real pitch guage it turned out to be a 7" pitch.  The ST60 just chugged along without a care in the world.  The muffler is from Dubro muffler stock and was made for a Bearcat angled to get out of the cowl semigracefully.  The Spectrum was a good flying plane.  Still, now I realize that 60 sized planes are too much for my 142 pound frame.  My current electric Bearcat is 617 squares and 55 ounces.  Much more comfortable to fly.
Congratulations on this addition to your arsenal.  It should prove to be a fun plane to fly.
Pat Johnston
Memory Division
Skunk Works

Pat...here is a story Tom our club member wrote about the journey of your planes. I bought the Spectrum from him.

Long and Winding Road

Sometimes, the stars align, fuel is fresh, trim tabs are unnecessary, and the long and winding road gets airplanes homeward to new doors they cannot easily reach.
Mr. Fred Mondin is a control line flier in Boise, ID.  For many years he flew with the local model airplane club and with Pat Johnston, a nationally known builder and flier of competition airplanes. Dennis Leonhardi tells me there are a few laser cut kits and designs with Pat’s name on them.
Over the years, Fred’s good fortune developed a hangar of airplanes, including the classic Combat Streak, a nicely balanced profile Mustang from Brodak, of course a Ringmaster or two, and three of Pat’s competition airplanes.
Life changes, as we all have experienced, and Fred unfortunately found himself no longer able to fly control line as he wanted, so he put his collection of kits, engines and airplanes up for sale. You may have seen his list of remaining engines.
Sadly for the kids and young at heart in Boise, the demand for control line airplanes in his area has dwindled. Combined with a lack of affordable ways to ship individual airplanes to buyers across country, Fred was afraid his collection would never fly again.
When I heard about Fred’s collection and contacted him, the biggest question was “how do we get those planes from Boise to Fridley?”
That is when the stars aligned and fresh fuel arrived, this time in the form of diesel and a big rig.
My brother Mike is a long haul truck driver and I learned he occasionally passes through Boise. On the second try, Fred met Mike at the T/A Truck stop off I-84 and Highway 26 Broadway. They exchanged pleasantries and then loaded three ready to fly airplanes into the cab.
Mike is an excellent driver, and in no way was safety compromised in any fashion, nor would he allow it to be compromised. Fred had six airplanes in his Suburban, of which Mike felt three were a reasonable maximum load. Mike and his adopted children soon headed down the freeway, reaching Minnesota with only minor road rash and irritation.
Fred was delighted to meet Mike and to know that part of his squadron would fly again with one or more members of the Piston Poppers.
Tom, for his part, eagerly picked up his new kids, patched their scrapes and prepared them to fly, starting with two of Pat’s competition planes. He also soon discovered that large competition airplanes (60” plus) require more room than his micro shop can handle.
The entire episode has confirmed his wife’s belief that her poor husband is deranged.
By Tom

[Steve Helmick]

Shug, is that DS .61 a BB or PB version? I have one of each, but only have run the BB version, which is an early ABC...and it is a wonderful 4-2-4 engine. Apparently, the PB version is ringed, and was developed by request of Bob Baron (?) because the ringed engine will restart hot, for multiple back2back practice flights.

I have an old Randy Powell designed "Barracuda" which was made for a ST .60bb. It rather resembles the critter you have. I got it from Dave Gardner, but I'm not sure if I had to pay for it or not. Dave broke a tap off in the aluminum engine mount. I should see if I can work around that, somehow. Maybe converting it to electrons would be easy?    He!! no!     Steve 

[Astropuppy]

Pat's Spectrum is one of my favorite all time Pat airplanes. And believe me I've seen a lot of Pat's airplanes. Congrats, you'll like it even better on the end of lines. Enjoy! Great Dr. Fred story.

[Tim Wescott]

Dave broke a tap off in the aluminum engine mount. I should see if I can work around that, somehow. Maybe converting it to electrons would be easy?    He!! no!     Steve 

[Steve Helmick]

Neat idea, Tim. Only problem I see is that the aluminum engine mount looks like it's permanently attached to the airframe, and even the nose of the airframe won't fit in that beaker. Just what is "Alum"? I'll 'oogle it.    Steve

[Steve Helmick]

I 'oogled it, but still don't know what to get. There are many chemical compounds in the "Alum" grouping. Some are available in the supermarket. Who knew? Which would work on a steel tap?  Steve

[wwwarbird]

 
 Coming from the shop of Pat Johnston that should be a really good airplane Shug, let's focus on keepin'er in one piece. 

[Shug Emery]

Coming from the shop of Pat Johnston that should be a really good airplane Shug, let's focus on keepin'er in one piece.  

I fly with reckless abandon. But maybe this plane will fly me.
But I make no promises.

[Mark Scarborough]

Pats planes are known locally for being straight, and uber light, That beast should serve you well SHug, just get comfrotable and let her fly,,
might want to talk to someone about the DS as it may need its own blend of fuel to be happy.... I am not a DS guy so I cant help ya there,

Glad Pat weighed in here, I called him to let him know one of his creations had surfaced some sdeveral thousand miles away from home,, he was tickled,,

[Shug Emery]

Pats planes are known locally for being straight, and uber light, That beast should serve you well SHug, just get comfrotable and let her fly,,
might want to talk to someone about the DS as it may need its own blend of fuel to be happy.... I am not a DS guy so I cant help ya there,

Glad Pat weighed in here, I called him to let him know one of his creations had surfaced some sdeveral thousand miles away from home,, he was tickled,,

I found this info on Double Star but looking into more:
Tom Dixon provides excellent service you will hear from him promptly. Pay attention to what he says on how
to run his engines. They work very well if used as he says. They have specific applications and rpm range.
They are not PA or RO Jett engines. They are lower rpm engines and extremely reliable. Learn how to prop them and
what fuel to use. They do not like lots to Castor! The Double Star has different metallurgy and does not need
a lot of Castor. If you use them correctly you will find Tom gives excellent service and that you have very reliable
engine runs. They have there limitations. They may not be as powerful as some but if you put them in the
correct airplane they are very good. An example is a Double Star .60 in a KA -10 . 55 oz. and 640 sq inches.
Works great. A Double Star .60 in a 80 oz Patternmaster NO. One good example is Cleon Lingwood ,
Sacramento ,Ca with a  Quasar  I  believe with a Double Star .60 Re . Great combo. He has that engine down pat.

[Randy Cuberly]

Shug,

My KA10 of many years ago with a DS 60 Lite.  Good combination.

As was stated above the DS engines don't like a lot of castor.  15% Nitro, 15% Klotz and 7% castor is what I found worked well.

Randy Cuberly

[Steve Fitton]

I've put about 1100 flights on my DS-60 lite.  Almost all of them were using Powermaster 10/18 RC fuel.  Later I switched to the Powermaster "RoJett" blend which worked great too.  You can probably use plain old Sig champion 10% nitro 20% half and half fuel as well-I use that frequently in the DS-50 in my classic ship and it runs fine.

[wwwarbird]

  You can probably use plain old Sig champion 10% nitro 20% half and half fuel as well-I use that frequently in the DS-50 in my classic ship and it runs fine.

 Yup. 

[Shug Emery]

Shug,

My KA10 of many years ago with a DS 60 Lite.  Good combination.

As was stated above the DS engines don't like a lot of castor.  15% Nitro, 15% Klotz and 7% castor is what I found worked well.

Randy Cuberly

Good to know that Randy...thankee.

I've put about 1100 flights on my DS-60 lite.  Almost all of them were using Powermaster 10/18 RC fuel.  Later I switched to the Powermaster "RoJett" blend which worked great too.  You can probably use plain old Sig champion 10% nitro 20% half and half fuel as well-I use that frequently in the DS-50 in my classic ship and it runs fine.

Hey....I have some of that Powermaster fuel! Appreciate it Steve.

Yup. 

 

[Pat Johnston]

Shug, what other planes did you get from Fred?  He had an Oriental and a Brodak P-40 profile I had modified.  That was the first Oriental flown in the Northwest as I recall.  Then they started really cropping up in a lot of hands.  Not because of me as much as it was just their time.  The Brodak P-40 was fully RTF and Fred insisted that the motor (LA46) and hand tuned prop go with it.  Whoever has it, it will be a good one.  I installed about 5/8" dihedral, which is what the design called for.  It was my design, so I might know a thing or two about it.  With the dihedral, the wing flew very level.  I decompressed the head with my poor man's lathe and ran a .275" venturi and a ST NVA.  Used about 3 3/4 ounces of fuel.  The prop was a 12 X 4.75 (plus or minus) I modified from a Zinger prop kit.  Zinger's are not all that great but have really good wood.  Well, that's enough for now.
Pat Johnston
Memory Division
Skunk Works

[Shug Emery]

Shug, what other planes did you get from Fred?  He had an Oriental and a Brodak P-40 profile I had modified.  That was the first Oriental flown in the Northwest as I recall.  Then they started really cropping up in a lot of hands.  Not because of me as much as it was just their time.  The Brodak P-40 was fully RTF and Fred insisted that the motor (LA46) and hand tuned prop go with it.  Whoever has it, it will be a good one.  I installed about 5/8" dihedral, which is what the design called for.  It was my design, so I might know a thing or two about it.  With the dihedral, the wing flew very level.  I decompressed the head with my poor man's lathe and ran a .275" venturi and a ST NVA.  Used about 3 3/4 ounces of fuel.  The prop was a 12 X 4.75 (plus or minus) I modified from a Zinger prop kit.  Zinger's are not all that great but have really good wood.  Well, that's enough for now.
Pat Johnston
Memory Division
Skunk Works

Hey Pat....I did not recieve the planes from Fred. Another club member did and offered me the Spectrum. Can't wait to fly it when the time is right. It weighs about 66 ounces. Is it fiberglass? It is so smooth and the finish is hard.
Thank you.
Shug

[Pat Johnston]

The wings are Monokote, where the fuselage is 3/4 ounce glass with epoxy and Superpoxy for the paint.  Very tough.  No fuel soakage that way.  Good flying!

[Shug Emery]

The wings are Monokote, where the fuselage is 3/4 ounce glass with epoxy and Superpoxy for the paint.  Very tough.  No fuel soakage that way.  Good flying!

I appreciate knowing that Pat. Thankee.
Shug