Author Topic: Uh-Oh (Read 4188 times)

Matt Colan · « **on:** March 09, 2009, 02:08:51 PM »

Warning: a little venting going on here

Today, I found out that the wing on my Oriental Plus is waaaayyyy off. My grandfather called Bob Hunt and he is going to cut a foam wing for it. Since he is going to VSC, it won't be available for 3-4 weeks. Now I still have to build the Fuse on it. I am worried that I'm not going to get this done in time for the Nats. Here is how my schedule works. I have school from Monday to Friday, After school, I usually have something to do, like Baseball and a club called Model UN. I can only work on the plane on the weekends. By the time the foam wing shows up, it will take a while to get right, and put a finish on it, with the controls in it and everything. I don't know now if I can go to the Nats since that plane was going to fly in advanced and junior. I want it to be done by Mother's day the latest, which now I think that is way out of reach. If I have it done by June, school ends I think the 2-3 week, leaving only half a month to have it trimmed out, and have me comfortable enough flying it.

Any advice on what I should do??? I still have my Ares and my Smoothie.

catdaddy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 09, 2009, 02:30:06 PM »

Matt
First off don't neglect your school work, I'm sure you wouldn't do that, but no harm in a friendly reminder. I would dedicate my weekends to what I wanted to accomplish, but don't comprimise on anything. We've all seen what you are capable of and I think with a little Mountain Dew, (that was my drink of choice at your age) you might be able to streach the work hours a little bit more on the weekends. Any spare time at all during the week even if it's just an hour get something done. I'm pretty sure you can do it. You've got lots of drive and talent. Oh yeah stay away from girls...unless it's Gracie, I've seen her at Brodaks and she's way kewl.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #2 on:** March 09, 2009, 02:32:29 PM »

Quote from: catdaddy on March 09, 2009, 02:30:06 PM

Matt
First off don't neglect you school work, I'm sure you wouldn't do that, but no harm in a friendly reminder. I would dedicate my weekends to what I wanted to accomplish, but don't comprimise on anything. We've all seen what you are capable of and I think with a little Mountain Dew, (that's was my drink of choice at your age) you might be able to streach the work hours a little bit more on the weekends. Any spare time at all during the week even if it's just an hour get something done. I'm pretty sure you can do it. You've got lots of drive and talent. Oh yeah stay away from girls...unless it's Gracie, I've seen her at Brodaks and she's way kewl.

Grace and I have been emailing each other back and forth for a week.

Slacking off on my school work is a big NO-NO in my family. Maybe I will have to start to chug 2 liter Mountain Dews before building, and trying to stretch it.

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #3 on:** March 09, 2009, 02:41:24 PM »

Matt,
there is something to be said for flying ONE airplane for all events. There probably isnt any good reason that you couldnt fly the Ares for all of your events, classic, and PA. More time on the airplane and better trim not to mention getting to know the airplane better. Just a thought, now if I would take my own advice!!

catdaddy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 09, 2009, 02:42:24 PM »

Hey Matt
One other thought. What is wrong with the wing you have? Is it not fixable in the 2-3 week wait on Mr. Hunt?

Matt Colan · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2009, 02:44:50 PM »

Quote from: catdaddy on March 09, 2009, 02:42:24 PM

Hey Matt
One other thought. What is wrong with the wing you have? Is it not fixable in the 2-3 week wait on Mr. Hunt?

The planking has a gap in in it. All the capstrips are lined up to it, and every centerline is off by 1/8 inch. Also my grandfather already cut the wing to send the center rib and end rib for templates for the foam wing.

Quote from: Mark Scarborough on March 09, 2009, 02:41:24 PM

Matt,
there is something to be said for flying ONE airplane for all events. There probably isnt any good reason that you couldnt fly the Ares for all of your events, classic, and PA. More time on the airplane and better trim not to mention getting to know the airplane better. Just a thought, now if I would take my own advice!!

Mark, I was just thinking about flying that instead of the Oriental Plus

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2009, 03:25:55 PM »

Matt,

Why don't you get ahold of Crist Rigotti, he does really nice cores and he's pretty fast too.

Peter Ferguson · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2009, 03:41:26 PM »

I'm with Mark on this one . Spend the time trimming and practicing with your existing plane. Plan on using it.

Balance your time. If you get time to finish the new plane great, but if pushing to finish your new plane sucks up all of your spare time, your practice and your other activities will suffer.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #8 on:** March 09, 2009, 04:08:37 PM »

Matt, I agree with several who have posted on here already. Stay with one plane and practice. When the weather does not permit flying then work on the new plane. I too have a tendency to fly too meny different airplanes during the year instead of staying with one. When I had the "Doctor" a Fancher design, it was the only plane I flew that year. I wound up taking a first in Topeka with it that year. No matter how good a builder you are each plane flies different. You stated you have two planes ready to go, so I suggest you stay with them. DOC Holliday

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #9 on:** March 09, 2009, 04:28:08 PM »

Matt,
I can cut the cores you need for the Oriental Plus without a 3 week delay.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #10 on:** March 09, 2009, 07:01:08 PM »

Quote from: Crist Rigotti on March 09, 2009, 04:28:08 PM

Matt,
I can cut the cores you need for the Oriental Plus without a 3 week delay.

Thanks for the offer Crist, but my grandfather already sent the ribs and plans out to Bob Hunt.

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #11 on:** March 09, 2009, 07:06:38 PM »

Matt,
I don't need the ribs. I already have the templates and dimensions to cut cores. I have cut these cores before. Check out my website. The link is just below my name.

Bob Hunt · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2009, 08:08:29 PM »

Hi Matt:

If I get the plans and the templates by Wednesday I can have the wing cores cut and out to you before I leave for Tucson on Friday. In any case it won't be a three week delay; I'll be home from Tucson a week from Monday and can get right on it then - if I don't get it done before I leave for VSC.

To the others who have posted on this: Don ordered the cores cut with rounded leading edges to prevent the inaccuracies that very, very often result from trying to carve and sand a balsa block type leading edge to a perfect shape. He also ordered a set of leading edge mold bucks to allow him to produce perfect fitting leading edge caps. To my knowledge I'm the only custom foam wing cutter who is offering these particular items.

My heartiest thanks go out to all those who tried to lighten my workload...

Bob Hunt

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2009, 09:26:56 PM »

I owe Bob an apology. I didn't mean to steer any of his customers away. I was just offering Matt a solution to his quandary of having to wait for his cores from Bob. Glad to see that Bob can get them to Matt sooner and thus help him out with his project. Again, I'm sorry Bob I didn't mean to steer a customer from you.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #14 on:** March 10, 2009, 10:00:00 AM »

Quote from: Bob Hunt on March 09, 2009, 08:08:29 PM

Hi Matt:

If I get the plans and the templates by Wednesday I can have the wing cores cut and out to you before I leave for Tucson on Friday. In any case it won't be a three week delay; I'll be home from Tucson a week from Monday and can get right on it then - if I don't get it done before I leave for VSC.

To the others who have posted on this: Don ordered the cores cut with rounded leading edges to prevent the inaccuracies that very, very often result from trying to carve and sand a balsa block type leading edge to a perfect shape. He also ordered a set of leading edge mold bucks to allow him to produce perfect fitting leading edge caps. To my knowledge I'm the only custom foam wing cutter who is offering these particular items.

My heartiest thanks go out to all those who tried to lighten my workload...

Bob Hunt

Bob, as I said when I sent you the PM, thanks. Grandpa sent the ribs out today, and should be there by Thursday. Without a 3-4 week delay, I firmly believe I can have the plane done in time for the Nats, and it is all trimmed out, and I will feel comfortable with it.

Bob Hunt · « **Reply #15 on:** March 10, 2009, 10:47:23 AM »

10-4 on this, Matt. I'm pretty sure I can ship that wing core before I leave for Tucson.

As for having it done in time, well, at your age you should have both the energy and the time to get it done well in advance of the Nats and still not neglect your studies. I remember when I would stay up almost all weekend working on planes at your age. Heck, I still do that sometimes these days... Only it takes me more days to recover after one of those marathon sessions.

Billy Werwage used to come in a stay for a week or two at a time and we'd work literally until we dropped. Whenever we woke up (sometimes in the middle of the night) we'd go at it again until we dropped. We got lots accomplished in a short amount of time, and we kept each other going. Not sure I could maintain that particular schedule these days...

I find it useful to make a daily list of things to do and I try to make it realistic. I push myself to get everything on the list accomplished before going to bed. However, if I'm just fried, I'll reschedule tasks for the next day when I'm fresh instead of doing a bad job when I'm tired. You can make this sort of list of attainable daily goals for your new ship and you will be surprised how quickly it will go together.

I find that what often holds up modelers for days is indecision about how to accomplish a certain task on a new plane. They simply stop building and anguish over how to do something. That's where the value of these forums really comes to light; ask a question here and you will receive a lot of answers! Pick the ones that make the most sense to you and get busy building.

If you have a few "mentors" whom you really trust, call them and ask questions as you go. They won't mind; they did the same thing with their mentors years ago and it is a chance for them to "Pay it Forward!" Ask and ye shall receive...

Try to multitask. While one thing is drying, work on another. Organization is key to building quickly. Try to foresee what materials and supplies you will need for the next several days of work and get them into the shop so they are waiting and ready when you need them. Hobby shops are scarce these days and rarely open late at night in the midst of a frenzied building session.

Later - Bob

Matt Colan · « **Reply #16 on:** March 10, 2009, 06:36:59 PM »

When I'm building, I do try to multi task, everything goes by faster when you do. When I was waiting for the lowsy planking job to dry, I made the rudder, and the elevator.

What did you and Billy build that made you drop??? Grandpa has told me that sometimes if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he will go downstairs and build to relax himself and go back to bed.

Thanks again Bob

Bob Hunt · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2009, 09:42:44 PM »

Hi Matt:

Billy and I did a lot of R&D and a lot of actual building of competition airplane parts here. We also shot several video programs that are available now on DVD. We built the wings for the Geo-XL and two of his P-47 Thunderbolts (Including the one with which he won the 2004 World Championships in CL Stunt) in my shop.

Working with Billy on a project is like working with a tar baby. One you get stuck to it, you can't get loose and it seemingly goes on forever - but in a good way! We also hammered out several magazine construction feature articles here. Billy is not too keen on the keyboard, so he would relate a story or a procedure and I would write it on the computer. We would then read it together and massage it until it said exactly what Billy wanted it to. We slugged through each paragraph this way until the article was finished. Using this technique we turned out the Ares article, the Geo-XL article, the P-47 article and the Vulcan article. Lots of work, but very fun stuff.

Working with Billy and Dean Pappas on R&D projects is by far the most fun I've had in the hobby.

Later - Bob

Matt Colan · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2009, 11:43:49 AM »

I read his USA-1 article, his P-47 article and his Vulcan article. I haven't read his GeoXL article or his Ares article, because I wasn't a member of AMA then.

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2009, 12:04:17 PM »

Matt: Give yourself and "Atta-Boy" for identifying and dealing with the Oriental wing issues prior to assembling, covering painting and finishing the model and then having a whole bunch of trim issues that are never entirely resolved...been there, done that, more than once. If you can finish the new plane before the Nats, go for it, if not, don't sweat it, the Ares will present real well, it looks great!

Matt Colan · « **Reply #20 on:** March 11, 2009, 02:31:02 PM »

Quote from: Pete Cunha on March 11, 2009, 12:04:17 PM

Matt: Give yourself and "Atta-Boy" for identifying and dealing with the Oriental wing issues prior to assembling, covering painting and finishing the model and then having a whole bunch of trim issues that are never entirely resolved...been there, done that, more than once. If you can finish the new plane before the Nats, go for it, if not, don't sweat it, the Ares will present real well, it looks great!

I was going to post pics of the Oriental, but now I guess I'll wait a little bit on it. I still have to start the fuse, but the stab, and the rudder is all done. I guess I could still post pics of it. The Ares should present well in the air. I like it's profile, even just sitting on the ground.

Bob Hunt · « **Reply #21 on:** March 12, 2009, 11:00:00 AM »

Hi Matt:

I received the package that contained the plans and the root and tip balsa ribs for the Oriental Plus this morning at 8:00 AM. I made the templates, cut the blanks, spurred the holes through the blanks to allow coring, cut the cores and sanded them and made and installed the full-depth Lite-Ply spars. When the glue cures (I used 45 minute epoxy...), I'll install the balsa caps on the top and bottom of the spars and sand them to match the core and then core out the three internal sections, leaving the two integral foam spars. While I'm waiting for the epoxy to cure I'll cut and sand the leading edge cap mold bucks. I should have this all done and to the shipper by 4:00p.m. today!

You should receive this package by Monday or Tuesday.

Now get building!

Bob Hunt

John Miller · « **Reply #22 on:** March 12, 2009, 12:57:36 PM »

Way ta go Bob.

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #23 on:** March 12, 2009, 01:03:40 PM »

Matt,
Looks like Bob just took all your excuses away now,,, lol

Matt Colan · « **Reply #24 on:** March 12, 2009, 02:14:32 PM »

Quote from: Mark Scarborough on March 12, 2009, 01:03:40 PM

Matt,
Looks like Bob just took all your excuses away now,,, lol

Oh yes he did!!!!!! I was worried today that it wasn't going to get to you today. But no excuses now, I gotta get building.

Thanks Bob

Bob Hunt · « **Reply #25 on:** March 12, 2009, 02:22:12 PM »

You are welcome Matt!

I just got back from the shipper and it is on its way.

I'll check in with you when I return from VSC. Build light and straight!

Later - Bob

Matt Colan · « **Reply #26 on:** March 12, 2009, 02:27:24 PM »

That's great.