Laser Continental

[Steve Thomas]

Here's my latest model, a Continental built from one of the late Bill Sawyer's kits.  The kit itself was a lovely bit of work and a real pleasure to build.  The engine is an Enya .45 (model 6001) with a lightweight Aeroproducts muffler and MA 10x7 3-blade; for fuel I'm using 5% nitro, 11.5/11.5 castor synthetic.  The model ended up at about 48 oz ready to fly, which seems fairly light for the engine. Unsurprisingly it's come out a bit nose-heavy, and I've ended up adding about 1.25 oz of lead to the tail to improve the balance of the thing.  I've only flown it 3 or 4 times, but after a bit of tweaking and trimming I'm really happy with it.  The engine is great - plenty of power and a really nice 4/2 run.

Steve

[Randy Powell]

Very nice, Steve. I like the color combination.

[Bill Little]

Sweet looking bird!  Sounds like the Enya is a good fit.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

[Dennis Adamisin]

GREAT JOB!  I like that you used the Enya too, one of those engines that should have gotten more appreciation back in its prime...

[Wynn Robins]

very nicely done !!!! 

[SteveMoon]

Looks great, nice paint scheme.

Steve

[john e. holliday]

That is so nice looking.    I love it.   One of these days I may start mine.

[Clint Ormosen]

I absolutely love it! Beautiful Job. You did a real nice and clean "classic" paint scheme too.

Interesting to see the needle valve and tank tubes on the outboard side, though.

[Larry Cunningham]

Absolutely gorgeous. It makes me feel very good to see the kit that Bill Sawyer and I "laserized" represented by such a beautiful example. We worked hard to accurately preserve the original airfoils and perimeter shapes, with a few liberties taken.

I have one of these kits also and need to build one. I was just looking at the plans on PDF files and remembering Bill and work on this beautiful design.

Great job, Steve.

L.

"My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income." -Errol Flynn

[Matt Colan]

It looks great Steve! Hope it's a winner for you!

[Steve Thomas]

Thanks for the kind comments. Larry, I knew that you had a big part in the kit, and I should've mentioned what a great job you did.  There were some really nice touches, and it was all so accurately cut that it just about built itself.

Interesting to see the needle valve and tank tubes on the outboard side, though.

I didn't have much room between the tank and engine to run the tubes from the tank; given that they had to bend through a large angle, it was actually easier to cross them over.  It works fine, and I wish I'd thought to do it on previous models.  An added benefit is that the needle valve is nowhere near the hot muffler!