2017/2018 Balsa Build Along!

[roversgonemad]

It will be a week or two before I start, but I am going to build my Dare/Brodak Cessna 195. I should have everything I need to buy some 4.5 gram servos for ailerons and flaps. Need to jump on to altitude hobby's site and order some servos. Altitude because I need an ESC for a Decathlon ARF as well.

Edit: correction, 6g servos.

Fixed a typo - 12/29/17

 

[CheapSunglasses]

I AM LOVING IT! I have already learned so much from the other builders and have also tried to share my limited and new found knowledge. Building is so addicting and relaxing...and sometimes expensive...but cheaper than a drug habit, I think?

I'm spending more on RC than beer...and I drink a lot of beer. My wife was just complaining about me not having any time but still buying "toys" to just sit in the closet. I just told her the "toys" in the closet are part of my "retirement plan".

Y'all are a bad influence...I'm going to hit a swap meet Saturday morning.

 

[nhk750]

How's everyone doing? I know a few guys are done and one after maiden crash so far. I'm almost reaching the 50% done point on my Hog Bipe build.

 

[rockyboy]

I'm all done with the SA Pacemaker - just waiting for the next indoor flying event in a couple weeks for the maiden flight. It's 29 degrees Fahrenheit here for the daytime high, and there is no way I'm trucking out to the field early in the morning for calm air and frozen toes.

 

[TexMechsRobot]

...and one after maiden crash so far.

Too soon, man. Too soon.

 

[N4RF]

Have the skeleton done and sanded. Will probably wait until mid January and all our birthdays (4 in the first week of January) are done and behind us to test out my covering skills. Can't/Won't fly anyway in this damn cold.

N4RF

 

[nhk750]

Progress?

I didn't make much progress this weekend on the Hog Bipe, but I did on my bathroom fall build. I had to engineer a removable front panel system using magnets to hold the panels in and also used some plastic trim product to build most of it. It will never fly, but came out great! I can hardly wait until I'm finished so I can focus more on building airplanes...

Just need paint and caulk and finishing and...my first attempt at tile on wall and floor and everything...

 

[rockyboy]

Very nicely done!!

It's a great feeling to finish up a project like that and then get to use it daily for years to come.

 

[roversgonemad]

Does a balsa ARF. Count:black_eyed:?? I never should have publicly announced my intent. Death knell every time....

 

[nhk750]

Thought I would comment on our thread as it's been a while. It looks like most of us are completing our projects, or have completed them, in time for the flying season! My progress was abruptly halted by a trip to the ocean for my birthday (West coast of Washington State), but progress will continue today and looking to maiden in about two weeks. Of course my job gets in the way of progress too.

We finally got sunshine in Washington State!

 

[willsonman]

Hope to have a maiden report by the end of the week but I still have a few things left to do before FF.

 

[Joker 53150]

Hopefully weather is decent this weekend so my Extra 300S can get it's maiden as well. The engine has been ran twice now and seems to be dialed in pretty well - fingers are crossed!

 

[nhk750]

I forgot to update here. My project, The Hog Bipe, is completed, maidened and super successful! It flys great and has unlimited (too much) power.
Maiden flight

 

[roversgonemad]

I also did not update here.... The Dare/Brodak Tritle designed Cessna 195 is done! The maiden went reasonably well, and a couple of rare calm weather flights have confirmed that it is a good flying plane! I've got a foam project to get out of the way, but after that, probably another Tritle kit. I'm torn between the Just Aircraft Highlander and the Grumman AgCat.......

 

[nhk750]

I'm just finishing a cheap ARF EDF foam jet from Hobby King, then I'm starting another balsa build for the summer and appropriately a float plane. Sig (Alien Aircraft) Super Dragon 60 electric.

 

[Joker 53150]

My last update on the wood-finish Extra 300S I built... It had the maiden flight three weeks ago and handled very nicely considering the throws were all estimates. It would have been more spirited with a .90 size glow engine instead of the .60, but the design called for the .60 so that's what it got. All in all, it was a sporty plane.

Note the use of past-tense above...

Flight #2 was two weeks ago when I went out to my dad's place to fly and take my mind off my son's health issues. She started right up and the engine was running well. Take-off was uneventful even on the rough grass field and I was having some fun throwing it around in the sky. Then I lost control of it and it went straight down into the ground. The entire nose was crushed to the point it wouldn't have even been good to use as patterns to re-build it. Surprisingly the wing had minimal damage and everything from the wing saddle back was still solid. The engine needs to be taken apart and cleaned up and it'll be re-used elsewhere.

Could it be repaired? Sure, it's balsa, although it'd be the most difficult repair for me to date. However, the crash happened at an extremely low-point in my life with my son's health and I was flying that day to help me take a mental break from it all. Now simply looking at that plane reminds me over and over about how sad I was at that time and I want it gone. The electronics will be salvaged and the remains are going away. Eventually I'll build another Extra as it was fun to fly.

As I write this, my son is on day #2 of his first round of chemo and is finally getting some rest. It's gut-wrenching seeing your child go through this kind of hell, knowing it'll have to continue it for months in order for him to hopefully be free of the cancer.

Sorry for the bummer flight report. Assuming we've got another build-along for late this year I'm in.

 

[nhk750]

I am really sorry to hear about your son, lets hope that his youth and strength will carry him through the challenges ahead. As far as the plane goes, TexMechsRobot crashed his fall build project too and I crashed and totaled my T-craft build from last summer. So, it happens, but it is fun to build and as long as we get a few flights and enjoyment from the project it is all good. After all, we can just build more...

 

[willsonman]

I'm calling my Corsair build done. She has flown and I've done everything on it I set out to do. There may be additional details to come but I'm calling it done.

 

[Joker 53150]

I think it's a safe bet that there will be another Balsa Build Along for 2018/2019 so I'm stocking up on a couple potential candidates. There were a couple guys somewhat local who were thinning their fleets and I couldn't pass up the opportunities.

First is a plane I know won't be part of the build along, a short kit for the Ziroli designed Stuka dive bomber (German WWII). This would be too ambitious to attempt in a short time span, as it's a fairly big plane. A balsa ARF of the P-40 Warhawk came from the same seller. It appears to have been made (or sold?) by a company called Jamara and I could find no good info on it. Much of the box is in German, and instructions in English. Quality of the kit looks better than any other I've built as an ARF, but this one wouldn't fit the theme of the build-along.

Today I met another guy and picked up 4 kits. Turns out one of them was garbage as it wasn't complete (my fault for not checking more closely). It's a Sig Riser glider and was extra cheap with the other gear I got, so I'm not upset. The seller told me he wasn't sure if it was all there or not and recommended I look, but I was in a hurry. A second glider purchased is the Top Flite Metrick, a 2 meter size bird. This could be fun to try my hand at using a high-start launch.

Then we get into the more obscure kits... First is by Mile High Models, an .049-ish size plane called the Joy Stick. This would be a cool little plane to do some kit-bashing with, and instructions show how to do it as a trike or tail-dragger, and the entire fuselage can be flipped upside down to go from low-wing to a "stick" style plane. The last plane is the Scat Cat 500 by Flite Line. This is a pylon-racer style plane designed for a .40 glow engine.

There are a few other kits in my stash that may get picked, and a few other planes that could get the "restoration" treatment. Right now I'm leaning towards either the Scat Cat 500 or the Joy Stick, but that's subject to change 30 more times before the build along begins!

 

[jsknockoff]

If you are interested in parting with the Metrick I’d be happy to buy it from you assuming it’s in good shape. I’ve been on the hunt for one of these for a while.