Dang, after 5 years of mistreatment there are some scrapes and holes in the Ringmaster’s covering. I may strip it and redo, or put clear tape over the breaks.
The fuselage has been broken behind the wing courtesy of three different people stepping on then kicking my lines at VSC this year. (Hmmm, enemy action? Can’t believe I am good enough to warrant it.) Plus a couple of inverted landings. It ain’t a virgin no more.
My ABC Fox 35 gives a great 2/4 performance. 2 3/4 ounces of fuel for the OT pattern. 10x5 Brodak prop, 10/22 fuel. Currently flying 50x.012 lines, but may try longer lines with a higher pitch prop. Then pick up the nitro as needed to keep up the lap time.
Still weighs under 30 ounces even with an ounce of tail weight. Epoxy basecoat on the fuselage nose and Klasskote finish, so no oil soaking. Carbon fiber veil on the fuselage and horizontal tail. Pinned hinges aligned with a single wire. At rest the elevator just flops right down. No apparent friction in the system.
Sadly, my Ceramic Fox crankshaft broke the crankpin off, so it needs a rebuild. Ty Marcucci sent me a complete engine, but it is so cherry that I can’t bear to strip it for the crank! A good machine needs the respect it deserves!
Thanks to Andy Borgogna, I have an even lighter Ringmaster with an OS20 fp to fly. So I can strip mine and rework it at my leisure.
Sadly, Andy has Rotaror Cuff problems that will keep him from CL flying in the future. A sad state of affairs, but he will still be with us flying (gasp) RC. And he will still be a resource as the West Coast electric power guru. I still think he could fly 1/2A models without pain, but no luck so far.
The SkySport covering is still in great shape. This technique seems to be really durable.
Anyone done a painted finish on SLC over Polyspan and how did it come out and last?