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Author Topic: The PT-26 flew!!  (Read 1861 times)

Offline Gary Dowler

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The PT-26 flew!!
« on: September 13, 2020, 06:14:17 PM »
Despite the smoke in the air, I had to take a chance and get out today to try to get a flight on this.  It’s had one very brief accidental flight (was supposed to be a taxi test) and one tentative flight of just a couple laps.
Today it made a very smooth take off, then flew 12-13 or so laps, varying up to about 10-12’.   Then throttled back just until it naturally settled on the tarmac. Rolled out for about 2/3 lap and applied brakes to stop.   

Remounting of the gear leg fairings fixed the issue of damage to wing skin from landing gear flex.

Only issue I noted was trim. The 7deg dihedral , at lower speeds, allowed the outboard wing to be lifted a little in the roughly 7mph breeze I had. At higher speed this was overcome. Thinking of making my painted on ailerons functional, cutting them out and remounting them with a brass tubing hinge that would allow adjusting them for conditions.

Gary
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Offline john e. holliday

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2020, 06:34:05 PM »
One gorgeous scale plane.  Glad you got some flight in. H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
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AMA 23530  Have fun as I have and I am still breaking a record.

Offline Ted Fancher

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2020, 04:54:45 PM »
Gary,

that is one gorgeous airplane!  With that much dihedral I'm guessing it is strictly intended for scale events.  Right? 

Re the wing issue in winds:  When the winds are calm are the wings truly "level" i.e. you see the fuselage exactly as if it was sitting on a book case at eye level?  Or is it actually slightly up but tension is adequate so you don't think about it in such conditions?

If the latter the first thing I'd do is get some stick on weights (or even clay for testing purposes) and stick a half ounce or so on the outboard wing.  If possible, when you fly it, have another flier monitor the wings to determine how "level" they are.  Remember that the dihedral will make that assessment from the pilot's point view a little difficult to quantify.

If a modest amount of additional tip weight does the trick it might be an easier fix than making the ailerons "functional".

Again...just love that machine!  Great work.

Ted

p.s. Meant to let you know that the PT26 brings back personal memories for me.  Post WWII my dad and a friend of his  bought several (I was a tiny tot at the time and don't believe I ever knew how many) surplus ones still in the crates intending to assemble and sell them.  don't know how that plan worked out but he still had one of them when I was old enough (circa 1947-8 or so) to share the back seat with my older  brother Gary and fly around the Issaquah grass strip airport east of Lake Washington in the silver with red nose and fuselage stripe PT the whole fam damily knew as "Red Nose".

Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2020, 05:09:53 PM »
Gary,

that is one gorgeous airplane!  With that much dihedral I'm guessing it is strictly intended for scale events.  Right? 

Re the wing issue in winds:  When the winds are calm are the wings truly "level" i.e. you see the fuselage exactly as if it was sitting on a book case at eye level?  Or is it actually slightly up but tension is adequate so you don't think about it in such conditions?

If the latter the first thing I'd do is get some stick on weights (or even clay for testing purposes) and stick a half ounce or so on the outboard wing.  If possible, when you fly it, have another flier monitor the wings to determine how "level" they are.  Remember that the dihedral will make that assessment from the pilot's point view a little difficult to quantify.

If a modest amount of additional tip weight does the trick it might be an easier fix than making the ailerons "functional".

Again...just love that machine!  Great work.

Ted, it seemed as if the wing was pretty level without the upwind issue, as I could see the underside of the inboard wing most of the lap. But you’re right in that it is a little tough to judge from my angle.  I’ll try to get an observer to be certain next time out.  I can take some clay as well.

Either fix requires cutting into the wing, so it’s not a work saving thing either way.  One thing of cutting out the ailerons is that this would increase the level of visible detail.... but I don’t know how big of a deal that is in sport scale.

Gary
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Offline Will Hinton

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2020, 08:41:56 AM »
I've always thought that particular plane to be an excellent scale project and you just proved me right.  Super nice ship, Gary. y1
John 5:24   www.fcmodelers.com

Offline Ted Fancher

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2020, 05:51:54 PM »
"snip"

Either fix requires cutting into the wing, so it’s not a work saving thing either way.  One thing of cutting out the ailerons is that this would increase the level of visible detail.... but I don’t know how big of a deal that is in sport scale.

Gary

I can't argue with that Gary.  Making the left flap "look like" it is separate while you're at it seems worth doing once the knives are out of the scabard.  It would, however, take a pretty tiny tweak in opposite directions to solve the problem if you went that route.  I think I'd want to take a couple of trim flights with the clay tip weight just to see where you're at in regards to either the weight or the "scale" tweak.

Ted

p.s. Still "love" that airplane!

p.p.s. Speaking of scale aspects...  It seems to me a recall Dad's PT utlizing a "hand cranked" inertia starter via an access hole on the left side of the cowling but don't see one in your pic.  My memory could be playing tricks, however, it could have been a different plane back in that point of my kid years.


Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2020, 08:03:50 PM »
Ted,
Might be a crank hole there, but I can’t see it if it’s there. 
Best comparison pictures I have.
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Offline Ted Fancher

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2020, 08:14:35 PM »
As I suggested, I might well be remembering "stuff" from another airplane.  My youthful exposure to airplanes of the era was wonderfully extensive.  I grue (ooops...grew) up spending much of my life at the Renton, WA airport where Boeing had/has one of it largest factories and there was a veritable parade of aviation history right in my lap from the early '50s until 1967 when I moved to the San Francisco area.

Ted
« Last Edit: September 16, 2020, 11:38:14 AM by Ted Fancher »

Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2020, 10:20:13 PM »
As I suggested, I might well be remembering "stuff" from another airplane.  My youthful exposure to airplanes of the era was wonderfully extensive.  I grue up spending much of my life at the Renton, WA airport where Boeing had/has one of it largest factories and there was a veritable parade of aviation history right in my lap from the early '50s until 1967 when I moved to the San Francisco area.

Ted
Ted, you just keep right on “”remembering stuff”. I’ll read anything you care to share.

Gary
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Offline Ted Fancher

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2020, 11:36:42 AM »
Ted, you just keep right on “”remembering stuff”. I’ll read anything you care to share.

Gary

Here's one for you Gary!

Several years after the PT26 era my father had purchased the Cessna dealership at the Renton airport (Renton Aviation, Inc.) and my big brother Gary and I spen countless hours there including starting at well before Government approved ages sweeping hangars, washing airplanes, eventually gassing them, etc.  Basic flunky duties.  At that time on the East side (across the single runway from "Renton Aviation" there was a lengthy string of out of service PB-Ys and PB-Ms just sitting there daring young persons such as ourselves to sneak over and check 'em out....which Gary and I did!  We spent numerous hours, sneaking across the north end of the runway and sitting in the cockpits of a few that allowed access, spitting on the windshields and "flying" them around the world...at least in our minds.  It was great stuff and memories.

Alas, the ultimate downside was that at some point in time...can't remember when... they disappeared and I later learned they had been hauled out onto Lake Washington (the airport was on the southernmost end of the lake) and were "sunk" for "terminal" storage.  AFAIK they still mostly continue to reside there.

More tails to come. Several even wilder than that!

Ted

p.s.  Just found this link: https://mynorthwest.com/1526776/boeing-aviation-history-renton-plant/?  that gives much of the war/Boeing etc. history at the Renton Airport.  Pretty much everything from about 1949 or until the early 1960s I was privy to and once in a while involved.  PBYs, PBM, B29s, B50s, KC97s, Strato Cruisers, 707s etc. etc.  Over a period of time I'll drop in a couple of memories of those years.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2020, 01:08:26 PM by Ted Fancher »

Offline David Hoover

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2020, 06:29:44 PM »
Here are a couple of pictures of the original plane that's resident at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.  There appears to be a round hole slightly ahead of the wing that might be access for a crank handle but I doubt it - the crank wouldn't have much throw before scraping your knuckles on the wing leading edge.  A bit of web research also seems to indicate that the PT-26 was equipped with an electric starter.

Life is simple. Eat. Sleep. Fly!
Best, Hoovie

Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2020, 06:58:40 PM »
Here are a couple of pictures of the original plane that's resident at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.  There appears to be a round hole slightly ahead of the wing that might be access for a crank handle but I doubt it - the crank wouldn't have much throw before scraping your knuckles on the wing leading edge.  A bit of web research also seems to indicate that the PT-26 was equipped with an electric starter.
Thank you much for the pictures!  Weren’t you the one who took some pictures there for me close to a year ago?

Gary
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Offline David Hoover

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2020, 06:05:57 AM »
Thank you much for the pictures!  Weren’t you the one who took some pictures there for me close to a year ago?

None other!
Life is simple. Eat. Sleep. Fly!
Best, Hoovie

Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #13 on: September 18, 2020, 11:31:07 AM »
None other!
David, you never did tell me what I owed you for that effort.

Gary
Profanity is the crutch of the illiterate mind

Offline David Hoover

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2020, 02:53:33 PM »
Not a thing.  Just glad to help out.
Life is simple. Eat. Sleep. Fly!
Best, Hoovie

Offline Gary Dowler

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Re: The PT-26 flew!!
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2020, 03:39:52 PM »
Not a thing.  Just glad to help out.
Well, I certainly thank you a lot!  Your pictures were very beneficial.  Hopefully the judges think it looks close enough to the prototype, if we ever have another contest to go to.

Gary
Profanity is the crutch of the illiterate mind


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