Author Topic: New Plane (Read 7436 times)

Steve Fitton · « **on:** October 11, 2010, 01:49:15 PM »

Finally finished! My Randy Smith Dreadnought. Sheeted foam wing and stab, PA-61 on a quiet pipe turning a 12.1x4.5 mejlik three blade, 64 ounces, finish all Sig dope. The stencils for the letters and numbers, etc came from Derek Barry, and I freely ripped off from his '96 Worlds Dreadnought for major elements of the paint scheme.

This was my first pipe ship, first fully sheeted foam wing job, first Randy plane, first full sprayed dope finish, etc etc. I made alot of goofs, but learned tons along the way for future projects.

Tons of thanks to Eric Viglione, Derek, Kent Tysor, Randy, Gene Martine and a whole host of others who dealt with hundreds of dumb questions and late night phone calls to keep me on track for this build!

Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach · « **Reply #1 on:** October 11, 2010, 01:54:17 PM »

She really looks beautiful. I really like your choice of colours.

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #2 on:** October 11, 2010, 01:57:10 PM »

Very Clean looking Steve!

SteveMoon · « **Reply #3 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:23:16 PM »

Looks great Steve!

Matt Colan · « **Reply #4 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:24:51 PM »

Looks really nice Steve!!!

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #5 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:37:10 PM »

Very nice.

James Mills · « **Reply #6 on:** October 11, 2010, 04:17:12 PM »

Steve,

Looks good, now if you can get the bumble bees to leave you alone during officals at Muncie

.

James

Jimmy R. Jacobs · « **Reply #7 on:** October 11, 2010, 04:24:51 PM »

Very nice, I realy like the color's.

Jimmy

Bryan Higgins · « **Reply #8 on:** October 12, 2010, 11:58:16 AM »

Steve

What a beauty. Nice work.

Larry Cunningham · « **Reply #9 on:** October 12, 2010, 12:42:06 PM »

Beautiful work! I love the paint scheme, may I steal it?

Best regards,

L.

"You can lead a horse to water, but if you can get him to float on his back, you've got
something." -Hartley's First Law

Derek Barry · « **Reply #10 on:** October 12, 2010, 01:05:18 PM »

Awesome job Steve!!!! Like that paint scheme

Howard Rush · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2010, 01:13:32 PM »

Good-looking airplane, Steve.

tom_weedman · « **Reply #12 on:** October 12, 2010, 01:52:51 PM »

Great job Steve hope to see you at Huntersville in two weeks
Tom Weedman ama 63672

Bill Gruby · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2010, 03:54:19 PM »

Beautiful Steve. The paint is awesome.

"Billy G"

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2010, 04:30:41 PM »

SWEEEEE............EEEEEEEEEEE...............EEEEEEEEEEEET!

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #15 on:** October 12, 2010, 05:55:17 PM »

Nice job Steve, like the paint job and Wow!, a for-real canopy....very cool.

Eric Viglione · « **Reply #16 on:** October 12, 2010, 08:22:17 PM »

Looks great Steve, can't wait to see it in person!
Anxiously awaiting flight reports, I think you are gonna like this one!

EricV

BYU · « **Reply #17 on:** October 12, 2010, 08:39:34 PM »

Looks great for so many firsts, way to go Steve.

John Lindberg · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2010, 08:11:19 AM »

Flying reports? Looks real nice, good weight for foam wing, I believe.

Steve Fitton · « **Reply #19 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:31:08 PM »

Thanks for the kind comments all. On close inspection the plane will get laughed to the back rows of the appearance judging at the 180 building, but, thats where I have been anyway and there isn't anything I can't improve in subsequent efforts. No flight reports yet, just one static engine run where the header came off after a minute and the run was shut down. The header is back on and another static test or two will be made before the model takes flight.
Its just as well it didn't fly, as this past Sunday I think the entire club didn't have their mojo working. Poor Artie lost a profile Cardinal on its maiden flight, Phil tripped out on the circle and did a massive faceplant whilst his P-40 ARF went straight in, Jimmy had his Enya 61 suffer a nuclear meltdown lean run that incinerated the head, John tried a 6 pitch on his ST 51 and got screwed into the ground for 8 minutes, and my header bolts and gasket vanished like an episode of the X-Files. Even though it was a gorgeous day, we probably all should have gone to a bar and watched football instead...!

George Grossardt · « **Reply #20 on:** October 14, 2010, 06:53:46 PM »

That really looks great. I love the simple paint job. I have always thought the basic paint schemes work better than the elaborate ones. Hope it does well for you.

Norm Faith Jr. · « **Reply #21 on:** October 14, 2010, 09:21:24 PM »

Your finished product looks well worth all of the "work and grief" you put into it. Your color choices are excellent.
Norm

Bill Little · « **Reply #22 on:** October 15, 2010, 01:25:51 AM »

Great looking plane, Steve! Looking forward to seeing it next weekend.

Big Bear

Alan Buck · « **Reply #23 on:** October 16, 2010, 05:58:53 AM »

Looks real good Steve are you test flying at Huntersville? Ken and I will be there on friday to fly

John Tate · « **Reply #24 on:** October 16, 2010, 05:59:53 PM »

Here is the BOM. Plus a shot of the cockpit details.

John Tate

Steve Fitton · « **Reply #25 on:** October 18, 2010, 10:53:13 AM »

Guess what guys....

It flies AWESOME!

John Tate · « **Reply #26 on:** October 18, 2010, 03:38:42 PM »

A shot of the Dreadnought on the end of the lines.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #27 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:20:04 PM »

That is great news. Now don't go putting divits in the pavement or if over grass, no grass stains.

That front flying shot looks great.

Aaron Little · « **Reply #28 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:31:54 PM »

Quote from: Steve Fitton on October 18, 2010, 10:53:13 AM

Guess what guys....

It flies AWESOME!

What was the problem with the header?

Garf · « **Reply #29 on:** October 18, 2010, 09:49:43 PM »

I would have thought you would have installed a Dreadnaught 60 in this thing.

Derek Barry · « **Reply #30 on:** October 19, 2010, 04:42:53 AM »

Quote from: Aaron Little on October 18, 2010, 04:31:54 PM

What was the problem with the header?

Hey Aaron, I talked to Steve about this a couple times after it happened. Nothing was wrong with the header, I think that he was just being cautious with a new motor and did not tighten the bolts enough. I spoke with him after the first flight and he was very pleased. The only problem is that we are all in trouble now!!!!!!!!!

Aaron Little · « **Reply #31 on:** October 19, 2010, 05:29:00 AM »

Quote from: Derek Barry on October 19, 2010, 04:42:53 AM

Hey Aaron, I talked to Steve about this a couple times after it happened. Nothing was wrong with the header, I think that he was just being cautious with a new motor and did not tighten the bolts enough. I spoke with him after the first flight and he was very pleased. The only problem is that we are all in trouble now!!!!!!!!!

Man I told Steve back in Atlanta in like '03 (when I was flying the GeoStar so it had to be like '03 or '04) to build a SV with a PA and he would be in heaven

I look forward to seeing it this weekend

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #32 on:** October 19, 2010, 10:50:38 AM »

These days, if you're serious about winning, a very elaborate paint job is essential. I often think the judges count the number of different colors and award 2 points for each color.

Is this a political statement, or what?

Floyd

Steve Fitton · « **Reply #33 on:** October 19, 2010, 02:28:24 PM »

Quote from: FLOYD CARTER on October 19, 2010, 10:50:38 AM

These days, if you're serious about winning, a very elaborate paint job is essential. I often think the judges count the number of different colors and award 2 points for each color.

Is this a political statement, or what?

Floyd

Not true. Howard Rush has sat on the front row with a plane that is essentially orange and Yellow. It is however, constructed superbly and is exceedingly shiny. Nor was Derek Barry's Concours winning Evolution painted with zillions of different colours. Once again, though, the execution was perfect and the finish very shiny.

Alan Buck · « **Reply #34 on:** October 19, 2010, 06:43:42 PM »

Steve bad motor if header bolts come loose sell to me asap if not sooner . p/s happy brithday a beer on me at huntersville

Bill Little · « **Reply #35 on:** October 19, 2010, 06:50:38 PM »

Quote from: Alan Buck on October 19, 2010, 06:43:42 PM

Steve bad motor if header bolts come loose sell to me asap if not sooner . p/s happy brithday a beer on me at huntersville

Too late, Alan........... when we sold Steve the engine, it was with a clause that it must come back to us.........

BTW: no beer for me, diabetes, but you can buy me a Diet!

Big Bear

Ward Van Duzer · « **Reply #36 on:** October 22, 2010, 01:50:11 PM »

Steve,

Beautiful!

But how did you get that Sig yellow so bright? I'm assuming you didn't put 45 coats on it.....

Ward-O

<--------- Me painting yellow Nobler

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #37 on:** October 22, 2010, 02:19:29 PM »

Quote from: Ward Van Duzer on October 22, 2010, 01:50:11 PM

But how did you get that Sig yellow so bright? I'm assuming you didn't put 45 coats on it.....

Ward: you did paint it white or silver under the yellow -- yes?

Bill Little · « **Reply #38 on:** October 22, 2010, 04:11:41 PM »

Quote from: Tim Wescott on October 22, 2010, 02:19:29 PM

Ward: you did paint it white or silver under the yellow -- yes?

Hi Tim,

Using Silver under yellow dope makes a very nasty color........ the yellow dope is semi translucent and the silver turns it a grayish greenish ugly mess. White is the way to go.

We used to get yellow pigment from the car paint suppliers and add it in. Windy used that a lot with yellow.

Mongo

Scott Hartford · « **Reply #39 on:** October 22, 2010, 04:27:55 PM »

Outstanding plane!!!