Magician #3

[Jim Kraft]

This is my new Magician # 3. I covered this one totally, fuse and all, with Silk from Dharma Trading. From bare wood to finished plane it only gained 4 ounces. Went from 18oz. to 22oz. Finish is all Sig butyrate dope, and all brushed. Completed plane weighs 37.5oz. Not bad for a 490 sq." plane with flaps. It has one of my McCoy Red Head 40's on it. Not a super finish, but pretty nice for an old profile. Just goes to show that silk is not much if any heavier than silkspan.

[Joe Gilbert]

Outstanding Jim it looks great, don't you just love that silk.

[Jim Kraft]

Yes I do Joe. Thanks for turning me on to it. At $2.05 a yard I don't even mind when I waste a little. I do think it takes less dope for a comparable finish than medium silkspan. I do not use any filler in my finishes other than clear dope, and the silk makes a great base for a nice finish.

[Dennis Adamisin]

NICE job Jim!

A 37.5 oz Magician with a McCoy 40 ought to be a GREAT flyer.  You said you brushed the colors?  How many coats of yellow and red did you need? Normally those are two of the worst colors for coverage...

[Lee Thiel]

Looks good Jim!  Hope to see you and your new plane at Tulsa next month.  I'm sure it will look good taking off on one of our new circles.
Lee TGD

[Dalton Hammett]

*****

    Great looking Plane,  The Magician is my all time favorite !!

     Dalton H.

[Jim Kraft]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Dennis; I put on 3 thin coats of red, and I think 3 coats of yellow mixed with about 1/4th of clear. The yellow is semi translucent, and the whole plane was painted with the yellow before the red was put on. That seems to make a nice red color that covers very well. I thin all of the colors and clear 60 to 70 % with Dupont 3608S thinner. The red is Waco Red, and I really like it, but Sig does not list it any more. Guess I will have to choose another red. After the colors were put on I put on one coat of clear, wet sanded with 1200 wet, and then 2 more coats of clear. I will probably fly it for the rest of the season, and then rub it out in the fall.   
Dalton: It is one of my favorites also as you can tell this is my third one. They fly way better than they should and are just a lot of fun. All three that I have built were scratched off of Midwest Plans. A really fun build also. I run 12-6 props cut down to 11-6 on the McCoy40 as it seems to like to be loaded. Works great. Now, if we could just get some days below 100 deg., I could get out and get some flying done.

[Dalton Hammett]

I have maby 10 or 12 planes ready to fly and I hear it from my wife all the time that
with all those planes how come I am always flying the old profiles.   I have one powered
by an ASP .32 that has been out almost everytime I've flown this year.

By the way,  stop by the Erie, Pa. area some time around February and I'll get you some
cooler weather flying time.

Dalton H.

[proparc]

My Magicians were THEE absolute best aerobatic trainers I ever had. Jim Silhavy knew what he was doing.

[john e. holliday]

Great looking plane as usual.  Don't it get boring flying such a dependable design as that Magician?  Hope it flies as well as the others. DOC Holliday

[Jim Kraft]

Thanks Doc; Back in my early years flying C/L, I used to look at the pictures of the Magician in the magazine adds, and really liked the design. I never got around to actually building one until about eight years ago. It is just one of those planes, for me at least, that I just never get enough of. It is a lot of fun to build and to fly. Besides, I just like the looks of the things. All three that I have built have all had movable flaps, and I may build one someday with fixed flaps, but the flapped ones seem to fly just fine. This one has lost a little weight since I started flying it. It was a little nose heavy for a flapped one, so I took off the heavy spinner nut I had on it and now it weighs about 36&1/2 oz.. Funny thing about the flapped ones is they fly better with the CG about 1/2 to 3/4" behind where the plans show.