.61 Engine, what do I do with it?

[SSgt Duramax]

I have a .61 glow motor I had bought a while back, like 15 years ago a while back. I had originally had it on a giant corospad that was built out of election signs and aluminum angle stock from Lowes that I never even bothered to weigh. The thing flew ok, but I joined the military, had kids, and I got back into this hobby through foamies a few years ago, then really got back into it again here recently. So I opened my old RC box looking for some wheels, and next to a Honeybee king was this huge glow motor I had all but forgot about. Now I am getting some terrible, awful, no good ideas.

I know typically foam and fuel don't mix, but I also saw how some folks are doing fiberglass over the foam. I know that this engine has some cajones to haul some serious plane around. I was thinking of trying to incorporate it with foam. I was thinking maybe a giant pusher fiberglass wing? Or should I keep it simple. I know the vibrations will be pretty rough, and the fuselage needs to be beefed up. Or should I build another spad? There is this which calls for a .61 engine.

https://www.spadtothebone.net/SPAD/Spadstang/

I wouldn't be opposed to finding a balsa kit either, if it was reasonably priced and easy enough to fly. I am not sure I trust myself a whole lot with balsa. I've build with it when I was younger (I made a super awesome balsa/tissue paper chipmunk when I was 8) but I wouldn't even know what I am looking at and I've never flown a balsa plane before.

 

[Matthewdupreez]

I have a .61 glow motor I had bought a while back, like 15 years ago a while back. I had originally had it on a giant corospad that was built out of election signs and aluminum angle stock from Lowes that I never even bothered to weigh. The thing flew ok, but I joined the military, had kids, and I got back into this hobby through foamies a few years ago, then really got back into it again here recently. So I opened my old RC box looking for some wheels, and next to a Honeybee king was this huge glow motor I had all but forgot about. Now I am getting some terrible, awful, no good ideas.

I know typically foam and fuel don't mix, but I also saw how some folks are doing fiberglass over the foam. I know that this engine has some cajones to haul some serious plane around. I was thinking of trying to incorporate it with foam. I was thinking maybe a giant pusher fiberglass wing? Or should I keep it simple. I know the vibrations will be pretty rough, and the fuselage needs to be beefed up. Or should I build another spad? There is this which calls for a .61 engine.

https://www.spadtothebone.net/SPAD/Spadstang/

I wouldn't be opposed to finding a balsa kit either, if it was reasonably priced and easy enough to fly. I am not sure I trust myself a whole lot with balsa. I've build with it when I was younger (I made a super awesome balsa/tissue paper chipmunk when I was 8) but I wouldn't even know what I am looking at and I've never flown a balsa plane before.

Coroplast plane would probably be more durable.....

 

[PsyBorg]

My Vote would be another Spad of your own design. When I was a kid I was enrolled in the Revel model of the month club and one of my most favorite kits was the Spad XIII. It was the first model I had done with the wire rigging. I learned how to heat the part stringers and stretch them to make the cables instead of using thread or string that would sag over time.

EDIT: just read this again and realized half the comment didnt posted.

 

[Chuppster]

It really depends on what your goals are. If you are insistent on building I highly recommend picking up a kit, often you can find kits like an Ultra Stick or a Four Star 60 for a reasonable deal. These are great balsa kits that aren't too difficult to put together. If your goal is to get in the air as cheap as possible, go to swap meets. There you will probably find an already-built airframe for your .61 and that will save you the time and construction. It'll also probably cost you less than half of what a new kit will cost.

Happy flying!

 

[Bricks]

Swap meet as mentioned would be a cheap and easy way to go. If you can fly foam balsa will not be a problem as they fly so much better, just at first they make the knees shake harder for the first couple of flights..

 

[Merv]

....while back, like 15 years ago ....

Sounds like you have not flown for a day or two.
The Spadet may be a better choice, once you get you flying chops back, go for the Spadstang.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Sounds like you have not flown for a day or two.
The Spadet may be a better choice, once you get you flying chops back, go for the Spadstang.

I think I may have another nitro motor too. I had a scaled up Hell on Rails back in the day. I put some dihedral on it too. It was a cool plane! I threw a bigger motor on it because all I had was 4mm coro. That is how the .61 came to be.

It has been a while. I hopefully will have my chops back by the time I get around to doing something with it. I know that corostang will probably zoom. Heck, any plane I put that motor on will be a handful compared to what I have been flying. I plan on being into foam warbirds pretty seriously and being able to handle myself respectably before venturing back into the nitro world. That spadet does look nice, and might be just what I am looking for. I love that site, the fact they haven't changed it since I saw it 15 years ago, you kind of remember how the internet used to be, makes you feel nostalgic.