PT-26 sport scale

[Gary Dowler]

My completed sport scale PT-26. Hasn’t flown yet. Had it out for 2 taxi tests. Throttle and landing flaps are RC, brakes work off up elevator.
Started as a Sterling kit. So much about that kit was wrong. Kit had fuselage sheeted and wing fabric covered, when real one was the opposite, etc.  Learned so much from this project! 

25FP for power. Weighs in at 64oz

[john e. holliday]

You guys that build scale planes make me jealous as I don't have the patience.   Looks like a winner to me.

[Phil Spillman]

Hi Garry, Really nice looking planes! I hope you like the OS FP.20's in them for power. I have been using them in several of my fun planes and am amazed at the power out put of these little gems! Please tell us how these two fly once you get them exercised!

Phil Spillman

[Tim Wescott]

Kit had fuselage sheeted and wing fabric covered, when real one was the opposite, etc.  Learned so much from this project!

This is why my last two scale projects were scratch-built from 3-views.  (Which is not as hard as it sounds!)

[Gary Dowler]

This is why my last two scale projects were scratch-built from 3-views.  (Which is not as hard as it sounds!)

Tim, boy if I had the chance to do this again knowing what I do now..... !!! One of the biggest things I learned was simply that dealing with a severely substandard starting point forces you to identify problems and then engineer ways around them.
Building from scratch could easily result in a superior outcome, but I would have missed a lot of the leaning curve that resulted from this.
I think I grew more from doing it this way than I would have from starting with a better starting point.

Gary

[Fred Cronenwett]

Take it to the NW Regionals for the scale contest! I miss that contest

Fred

[Gary Dowler]

Take it to the NW Regionals for the scale contest! I miss that contest

Fred

Fred, that’s the plan! That’s the plan.....

Now if we can keep from getting the contest shut down by the scary virus....

[wwwarbird]

 Looks GREAT!!! 

[John Rist]

Looks great!  I have done some scale.   A large part of the score is the flying.  This creates a conundrum.  Do I test fly a lot to get flying down pat.  This puts the hours of hard work at risk.  Or do very few test flights and put the flight score at risk.  I enjoyed the thrill of competition.  Scale is a fun sport!   PS the Eindecker  I used as my ID picture was lost on it's first test flight.  I crashed it right after my friend took the picture.   

[john e. holliday]

I believe it was Bob Underwood who flew RC scale stated he built a scale plane and then a beater that was trimmed to fly like the scale plane.   

[Don Chandler]

My dad was a pilot and as a family we owned a Taylorcraft and  a Cornell PT-26 A. I have many, many flights in the real thing. Was always going to build him a model of it but he died way to young and regretfully I never got it done.

I was going to use the Sterling kit also, got one years ago but he was gone before I did anything with it.

Yours looks good.

Don Chandler

[Fred Cronenwett]

this is how I do test flights

1) 3 or 4 slow taxi laps, checking the for line tension and basic ground handling
2) 2 or more fast taxi laps so that the tail starts to fly, looking for anything that would say throttle back and stop
3) faster laps just enough to hop off of the ground to see if the CG is correct, the model is starting to fly but just above the ground so if something is wrong you aren't going fast and high above the ground. You will also be able to tell if you have too much elevator throw.

My .35 powered spitfire has a handful to get trimmed out, I had to narrow the spacing on the handle and really limit the elevator throw because the model was pitch sensitive. If I moved the cg forward it would nose over, so takeoff is done with slowly advancing the throttle with full up elevator, then neutral elevator after you get to the right speed and let the tail come up, then climb out.

If the CG, line tension ground handing is good then throttle up and go high. It's very hard to have the model survive if the CG is too far aft when it's up high. I put the CG at the 25% of the avg chord.

[Gary Dowler]

Got the next test in yesterday. Taxied great, got upon the mains for about 2 laps, then advanced the throttle a little and it just gradually rose into the air! 

Flew great at about 1/2 throttle before a minor problem came up. Just past the upwind side the engine suddenly quit. Only at 3-4’ altitude, but the sudden transition to a tail wind caused it to settle fairly quickly.  Minor issue with the gear leg fairings, an issue that I thought I had corrected, Caused just some very minor damage to the underside of the wing. No big deal.

But it flew! It flew on purpose. It flew very well. May have only been 2 laps, but that counts as flight.

Gary

[Gary Dowler]

Looks great!  I have done some scale.   A large part of the score is the flying.  This creates a conundrum.  Do I test fly a lot to get flying down pat.  This puts the hours of hard work at risk.  Or do very few test flights and put the flight score at risk.  I enjoyed the thrill of competition.  Scale is a fun sport!   PS the Eindecker  I used as my ID picture was lost on it's first test flight.  I crashed it right after my friend took the picture.   

John, here is what happens when people don’t try flying at all before a contest. This was the 2018 NW regionals. I watched this happen right in front of me.
Al built this beautiful DeHaviland Rapide for 1/2A. It took off, came right in on him (leadout position was far too high), nosed up and came back down in a tight circle and nearly hit him in the head. “Flight” lasted 3 seconds. It was out of control from the moment his helper released it.

Picture is from the flying lines site.

[Larry Fernandez]

Hi Gary, nice job on your Fairchild. I have never competed in scale but your plane has inspired me. I know the
PT-19 inside and out, as my father and I built one. Not much scale action around these parts, but knowing all the details
of the plane should make for a fun build.
Can you explain/describe, how you made up the wing root fairings? They look great.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team