Author Topic: Manx Cat up for adoption (new ready-for-clear pics) (Read 8162 times)

wwwarbird · « **on:** June 27, 2011, 01:03:33 AM »

While at the Sig contest in Montezuma Iowa this past weekend, Bob Nelson from Sig offered me this scarred up old Manx Cat and said it needed a new home. Feeling sorry for the weary looking little critter, I just had to agree to the adoption. It was clearly suffering from some previous abuse followed by apparent neglect. After looking him over carefully, I think the bugger still has some heart left. I'm going to go take some time and give him a little TLC and see if he'll come around. Then maybe I'll turn him loose at Sig next year.

John Miller · « **Reply #1 on:** June 27, 2011, 08:12:55 AM »

Some of the best cats that shared life with me had been strays. This one looks promising, go for it.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #2 on:** June 27, 2011, 01:03:13 PM »

It is amazing how abusive some people are.

Now with it in your tender care I hope to can restore it's faith in us.

May start on my Umland kit between coats of dope on the projects.

Howard Rush · « **Reply #3 on:** June 27, 2011, 05:20:44 PM »

Spencer claims to be a Manx, but he has no documentation.

Ward Van Duzer · « **Reply #4 on:** June 28, 2011, 10:28:28 AM »

The only doc. he needs is what's NOT on his posterior!

W.

sleepy gomez · « **Reply #5 on:** July 01, 2011, 03:09:01 PM »

I have had an appreciation of the Manx Cat for years. I'm posting a photo of the Manx Cat "plans" from Workshop Manual for Model Builders by Flying Models. The publication does not have a date but at the bottom of the "plans" there is Feb. '57 F.M.

There is also a photo of Double Time generation 2, my 710 sq. in. 47 ounce biplane that owes much of its lineage to the original Manx Cat. Generation 1 was about the same size as the original Cat but stretched. A good flyer (I'm not) said Gen 1 with its Royal .25 was a good intermediate plane.

Gen. 2 at 710 sq.in. wing area and 47 ounces is powered with an LA 46. Again a very good pilot after doing most of the maneovers in the pattern only commented that some more tip weight might be in order.

Gen 3 is being built with a higher aspect ratio for a better glide. I wish I could fly as well!

sleepy gomez · « **Reply #6 on:** July 01, 2011, 03:10:49 PM »

Uh,OO the Plans didnt come out we will try again

john e. holliday · « **Reply #7 on:** July 02, 2011, 07:07:57 AM »

Well I have Walter's kit of the Manx Cat and was looking at it yesterday while waiting for he dope to cure. He even made jigs to get everything lined up. No I will not put my hot Super Tigre .35C on it on crankcase pressure.

wwwarbird · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2011, 10:12:36 PM »

Well folks, I've been chipping away on the Manx Cat as time allows. For the past week I've been chasing my, uh, tail(?) re-covering some open bay areas along with adding smaller patches here and there. There are a few areas in the covering that could definitely be nicer, but that would require a complete re-cover and I'm not going that nuts on it. I cheated though on a few spots and added some red putty to help out a little.

Tonight I made up a new balsa fin/light-ply rudder assembly. It's sanded and ready for installation and it will get silkspan after it's attached. I may even add a bit of carbon veil along the fin/rudder joint for added strength to help out during the anticipated landing tumbles.

I also worked on the motor mount area and bellcrank slot to clean them up cosmetically, they were both pretty butchered up. This thing has apparently had at least a couple of different engines on it. One set of holes just happens to match up perfectly with a McCoy .35 that I've got lying around.

I'm not going to bother with filling the "extra" motor mount holes since I plan to make aluminum plates for each side. That will end up covering them all up and also give the nose some added strength. Then its adding fillets, another coat of clear or so with a little sanding and it should be ready for paint.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #9 on:** July 06, 2011, 07:48:52 AM »

Looking a lot better. Hope it flies well for you.

Terrence Durrill · « **Reply #10 on:** July 06, 2011, 09:27:55 AM »

Hey Doc, ...... long ago and far away, 1959-60 in Green Ridge, MO (I was 19 years old), we flew the Manx Cat, (built from the FLYING MODELS magazine plan), with the K&B Torpedo .35 greenhead. The CAT seemed to like plenty of power and as the designer stated, "it will turn on a dime and give you 5 cents change"....it would!

wwwarbird · « **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:29:27 PM »

...attached the fin/rudder tonight and while it was setting up I made a new pushrod to replace the wimpy two piece version that came off the model.

I also started fixing up a fuel tank setup. There were two existing holes in the fuse for a rigid type tank mount. I found a couple of old brass tank mounts in my junk box from an old kit. Holding them up with a Perfect wedge tank I that also had, everything lined up perfectly so there we have it. I'm just JB welding the mounts to the tank, I hope it's strong enough. I also attached a 90 degree neck to the tank fill tube to allow easier tank fills underneath the top wing, it gets pretty tight under there...

wwwarbird · « **Reply #12 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:33:37 PM »

...while looking around the shop, I had another idea...

ChrisSarnowski · « **Reply #13 on:** July 08, 2011, 03:33:57 PM »

You might need the McCoy on the back for tail weight.

-Chris

Tom Niebuhr · « **Reply #14 on:** July 08, 2011, 05:50:21 PM »

Wayne,
That's is definitely not a big enough engine. Might have trouble staying in the air!

jim ivey · « **Reply #15 on:** July 09, 2011, 09:32:43 AM »

No need for wheels, it rolls when it lands. be sure to build it tough. I seem to remember a few that ripped off the top wing landing. I liked mine, but was "mushy", like all bipes. jim

wwwarbird · « **Reply #16 on:** July 10, 2011, 12:06:32 AM »

Yeah, I'm certainly not expecting the 'Cat to be the next "World Beater", it's all just for fun. Toughening it up in all the right places is definitely something I'm keeping in mind as I go though because I know it will have to take some extra abuse, especially on landings etc. It's not a model I plan to fly a lot, just one for some good "yuks" on occasion. I find it really refreshing sometimes to just take on a "low pressure" build.

Thanks again to Bob for throwing this one at me.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #17 on:** July 11, 2011, 01:43:52 PM »

The most fragile part of that model is the leading edge of the bottom wing.It is small and should be hardwood.If I were building another one I'd do a slight redesign on that part of the model. My origional one on the 50's broke the bottom leading edge at least 3X. They are fun but they wern't a world beater and too much work for a combat job. Still kids like all of the neat stuff.
Dennis

wwwarbird · « **Reply #18 on:** July 13, 2011, 10:20:19 PM »

You're right on about the stock leading edge being too weak Dennis. If I were to build one of these I would make sure and use something stronger than what I have here on this "resto" job.

On this one I've patched a lot of small spots and also re-covered some of the open bay sections. The normal shrinking wants to pull back the L/E in some spots and this is resulting in some slight wrinkles in the covering along the L/E. I'm not especially pleased with that but the only true fix on this one would be to completely strip all the covering, replace the L/E with something stronger, and then re-cover the whole works. I did consider doing that a few times but it is just too much of a pain working between the wings since this plane was already assembled. There is only something like a 3-1/2" space between the two wings. It was quite a challenge just getting in there to do the fillet work.

Anyway, right now it's really close to being ready for some color and I've got an idea figured out for a paint scheme. Just a little more clear and sanding...

Dean Pappas · « **Reply #19 on:** July 14, 2011, 09:03:52 PM »

I've got a flying buddy who double-scaled a Manx Cat from the FM plan and made it RC. He flies it off an old CL Speed dolly.
It flies great! There is no end ...
Dean Pappas

wwwarbird · « **Reply #20 on:** July 14, 2011, 11:12:30 PM »

Quote from: Dean Pappas on July 14, 2011, 09:03:52 PM

I've got a flying buddy who double-scaled a Manx Cat from the FM plan and made it RC. He flies it off an old CL Speed dolly.
It flies great! There is no end ...
Dean Pappas

That guy must be a real sicko!

I just finished giving it another good coat of clear tonight. Hopefully tomorrow night I'll go over it all with another sanding and I think it should be ready for paint.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #21 on:** July 14, 2011, 11:57:09 PM »

keep the paint scheme simple. Besides, painting in between the wings of that model would be a real pita.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #22 on:** July 15, 2011, 08:03:03 AM »

Painting or sanding between the wings of any Bi-Plane is a night mare.

wwwarbird · « **Reply #23 on:** July 15, 2011, 07:58:27 PM »

...just gave the 'Cat a light base coat of Brodak Polar Grey to see what I've got. It's not real pretty, but it is what it is. I can see now that there are still a couple of little spots in the covering that I'll have to fix up some more, but then it'll get a solid coat of grey and we'll take it from there...

john e. holliday · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2011, 09:15:20 AM »

Almost all of my combat wings of the day had colored silk for covering and solid colored paint on the center sections. Made for lighter planes. Don't have the color on the fuse yet, but this is general idea.

bobsrc · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2011, 09:19:55 PM »

Looks like a first rate job, Wayne, but don't get carried away with the paint as it was a little porky to begin with. That covering is silkspun Coverite and is tough but a little heavy with just the clear dope on it. Have fun,
Bob Nelson

wwwarbird · « **Reply #26 on:** July 17, 2011, 10:11:12 PM »

Yeah I'm adding a slight bit of weight here Bob, but it'll be ok I think. In hindsight I really should have just stripped all of the covering off and it would have came out much better in the end. I knew that if I would have done that then I would have wanted to replace the L/E stock, fixed this, fixed that, and...I would have officially opened the can of worms at that point. It's really been a fun little project though, I'm anxious to get going with the other colors.

Thanks again.

wwwarbird · « **Reply #27 on:** July 20, 2011, 10:35:54 PM »

Can you tell where I'm going with this?

dave siegler · « **Reply #28 on:** July 21, 2011, 05:07:07 AM »

Quote from: wwwarbird on July 20, 2011, 10:35:54 PM

Can you tell where I'm going with this?

Green bay packer colors?

No ?

wwwarbird · « **Reply #29 on:** July 21, 2011, 08:00:01 AM »

Quote from: dave siegler on July 21, 2011, 05:07:07 AM

Green bay packer colors?

No ?

Um, no.

Bill Little · « **Reply #30 on:** July 21, 2011, 04:15:03 PM »

1920's fighter scheme, yellow wings, blue or OD fuselage. Big old blue circles with white stars and red dots in the middle.

Put a "kicking Mule" decal on the rudder!

Big Bear

wwwarbird · « **Reply #31 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:51:19 PM »

Pretty darn close Bill, but think NAVY and mid/late 1930's. Probably wasn't too hard to guess coming from this workshop.

I really wish I had some small VF-3 "Felix the Cat" logos, that's gotta be the coolest squadron logo of all time.

I do have kind of a fun plan for the markings on the bottom wing, but it's a high level government secret for now.

Bill Little · « **Reply #32 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:53:53 PM »

Quote from: wwwarbird on July 21, 2011, 09:51:19 PM

Pretty darn close Bill, but think NAVY and mid/late 1930's. Probably not too hard to guess coming from this workshop.

I really wish I had some small VF-3 "Felix the Cat" logos, that's gotta be the coolest squadron logo of all time.

Well, Wayne, I was close....... pretty much what I was thinking! LOL!! I think I saw some of the Felix decals on an old decal sheet once...... "Finishing Touch" brand?

Bill

wwwarbird · « **Reply #33 on:** August 01, 2011, 08:56:33 PM »

Hey folks,

I got sidetracked for a few days from working on the Manx Cat because I took off on a last minute trip to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh, WI last Monday and Tuesday. It was great to finally get back over there, my first time since '95. In what I consider an honor, I ran into Elwyn Aud one afternoon in the Warbird section. I spotted him mainly because he had his blue "Elwyn" T-shirt on that I've seen him wearing in photos. I'm glad he was wearing it because may have walked right by him without noticing otherwise. Finally meeting Elwyn was really cool, I've always been amazed and impressed with the way he's able to photograph our models in flight, great stuff, always.

Anyway, I just finished adding the last of the graphics on the 'Cat a few minutes ago, so here it is ready for clear. I won't be able to spray the clear in my own shop because this time of year because I just can't get the humidity low enough to avoid blushing. I'll either shoot it in Keith's shop or else just wait it out for better conditions...

John Miller · « **Reply #34 on:** August 01, 2011, 09:01:47 PM »

Out standingly wild. Looks great, you're gonna have fun.

wwwarbird · « **Reply #35 on:** August 01, 2011, 09:34:19 PM »

It should be good for some chuckles, but I'm betting that your bipe will be a better flier John.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #36 on:** August 02, 2011, 07:26:30 AM »

Wayne,
Nice job, but too nice for what the airplane is. Land gently. LOL
Dennis

wwwarbird · « **Reply #37 on:** August 02, 2011, 08:20:05 AM »

Quote from: dennis lipsett on August 02, 2011, 07:26:30 AM

Wayne,
Nice job, but too nice for what the airplane is. Land gently. LOL
Dennis

Agreed Dennis, I did'er up just for fun.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #38 on:** August 02, 2011, 09:28:11 AM »

That looks great. Makes me want to start on my Umland kit of the Manx Cat. Also ideas for my next carrier profile plane.

Steve Helmick · « **Reply #39 on:** August 02, 2011, 06:41:12 PM »

Looks like a "Manx Chief" to me! Nice job, have fun...

Steve

bill bischoff · « **Reply #40 on:** August 03, 2011, 05:56:23 PM »

I really wish I had some small VF-3 "Felix the Cat" logos, that's gotta be the coolest squadron logo of all time.

[/quote]
The current edition of the Squadron F4F Wildcat book (#1191)has an image of this logo. It's about the size of a quarter. I'll bet you could make use of it somehow.

Tom Niebuhr · « **Reply #41 on:** August 04, 2011, 01:57:57 PM »

Wayne,

"I really wish I had some small VF-3 "Felix the Cat" logos, that's gotta be the coolest squadron logo of all time."

I just made some decals for you. They are in the mail.

Randy Cuberly · « **Reply #42 on:** August 04, 2011, 02:13:31 PM »

Quote from: Howard Rush on June 27, 2011, 05:20:44 PM

Spencer claims to be a Manx, but he has no documentation.

I guess the tail (or lack thereof) is proof enough...unless of course He got it caught in a Prop!
Does he start engines for you?

Randy C.

Author Topic: Manx Cat up for adoption (new ready-for-clear pics) (Read 8162 times)

ChrisSarnowski