Balsa Forum Fall Build Along

Turbojoe

Elite member
I'm definitely in for the next build. I like the idea of a theme as opposed to a single design build. The water plane would interest me, I've been wanting to do a Herr J3 on floats for the spring.

Another idea I had was to do a stick and tissue rubber power build and see if we could get a 15 minute time slot at FF17 for a mass launch like they started doing at Top Gun down in Lakeland.

Too bad you're on the far side of the continent or I'd fix you up. I have a Herr J-3 AND a NIB set of Herr floats for it. I bought the plane 3/4 built POORLY and spent considerable time fixing everything. I later decided I had enough J-3 Cubs and wanted to convert this to a Tri-Pacer. Haven't finished that mod but it's an easy one. I may even build it as a J-3 with the floats as display only.

If you want the ultimate J-3 then it has to be the Mountain Models J-3. Twice the price of the Herr but less than half the weight and 5 times the scale appearance. With floats you'd need a little more power than specified but not much more. I live in the Phoenix area so not a lot of LOCAL water that they will let us use for recreation. You almost have to drive for hours to the Colorado river. That's NOT gonna happen! Never flown from water before but I'd love to try. My MM J-3 on floats would be my only consideration.

Joe
 
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jsknockoff

Active member
Mentor
Both of those ideas interest me. I think it should be FF18 though since we're talking about next fall.

I've tried to get into rubber power but I have nobody near me to help out and no place that I feel is big enough to fly at while I'm still learning.

Yeah my mistake FF18, getting ahead of myself.

I'm still learning on the stick and tissue stuff too. I've tried building a bunch of them but I've only just recently totally finished some. My main priority at this point is building them without warping and getting a clean finish out of the tissue. Haven't quite gotten to the long flight stage.
 

jsknockoff

Active member
Mentor
Too bad you're on the far side of the continent or I'd fix you up. I have a Herr J-3 AND a NIB set of Herr floats for it. I bought the plane 3/4 built POORLY and spent considerable time fixing everything. I later decided I had enough J-3 Cubs and wanted to convert this to a Tri-Pacer. Haven't finished that mod but it's an easy one. I may even build it as a J-3 with the floats as display only.

If you want the ultimate J-3 then it has to be the Mountain Models J-3. Twice the price of the Herr but less than half the weight and 5 times the scale appearance. With floats you'd need a little more power than specified but not much more. I live in the Phoenix area so not a lot of LOCAL water that they will let us use for recreation. You almost have to drive for hours to the Colorado river. That's NOT gonna happen! Never flown from water before but I'd love to try. My MM J-3 on floats would be my only consideration.

Joe

I haven't ever flown off of water either but I do just happen to have a nice spring fed pond in the front yard so I feel like I have to try. It's big enough to handle something in the 36-48" span range. Cosmo our swan may not like it a whole lot though.The neighbors across the street have a really nice pond that I could fly bigger stuff off of it I end up liking it. I'll have to look at the MM J-3. After building the EVA I dont think I'd mind a little extra weight to help handle the wind.
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Two things on that topic:

1. Flying off water is a BLAST! Until you need to go in after your plane. :( But foam and balsa both float, so that helps. I've only flown off water a handful of times and enjoy the heck out of it. On a calm day it's best, while on gusty days it'll test the nerves.

2. Check the main welcome screen of Mountain Models and read what Brian posted recently. I don't want to read too much into it, but he hints that the future of MM is uncertain. If there are kits or parts you want, it may be a good time to purchase. It would be unfortunate if his designs were not available, they really fill a need in the balsa community.

Carry on.
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Aw crap! That isn't good news. I just put another Tyro 150 wing kit in the cart. I have two flight ready Tyro and Tyro 150 and one NIB Tyro 150 kit but the Tyro 150 wing is perfect for another scratch build. I have a couple of SwitchBack kits, an EVA kit, a few EZ series wing kits, a J-3 Cub kit etc, etc, etc. Now I have to decide what other kits I want to stock up on. I REALLY wish Brian had gotten around to the twin that was supposed to have been released years ago......

Joe
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
I have Brian's personal e-mail. Just sent him a message. He's never fast with replies but hope to hear only good news back from him.

Joe
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Agreed. *IF* he pulls the plug I certainly hope he gives plenty of notice for people to make their last orders. It'd be kind of silly NOT to, as it could easily be a lot of business to go out with a bang.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Selfishly, I hope he can continue to make Mountain Models designs/kits available (maybe through Manzano), but I understand people's lives change and he needs to do what's best for him.

On the next balsa build-along topic, the float plane theme seems to resonate a bit. I can definitely recommend the Zeke's Park Scale Models Mini-Drake - it was my first balsa kit after a 25 year break from the hobby, and the kit built and flies beautifully! I've flown it off grass more than water (hand launched) but it's a sweet handling plane.

I'd probably be looking to build something different for the build-along (always loved the PBY) but would also be open to leading a detailed build thread of another Mini-Drake too and just plan to sell it (or my current one) at the club swap meet.
 
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SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Just landed in Cancun, and my Mountain Models box appears to be damage free. BTW, it feels a little weird ending a vacation in Cancun.




Edited: Verified! No damage. The bipe kit is in pristine condition :)
 
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SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Pretty late, but I started my EVA Bipe.

eva.jpg


15 Aug. 2019 Used up all the wood bits on the fuse. Time for the wings kit.

Edited continuously.
 
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