Great Planes Cherokee, Horse-Trading and Repairs
- Thread starter Joker 53150
- Start date
Oh I wish! Not on my budget, unfortunately. Their multi-cylinder engines sounds fantastic!
Ouch! The electric comment is cruel!
A little, perhaps.
Other than glow being a PITA to start & tune at the field (gas being a few degrees better) it's hard to beat the look and sound of an IC engine powered plane cruising by.
Thanks for the offer, I was able to find all the info and build manual online so I'm good. Their manual is what ALL companies should strive for - thorough, informative, and lots of pictures.
It's been a while since I posted anything about this plane. Mainly, because it's simply been an uneventful and easy flying plane that handles very well, no updates were needed. However, the last time I had it out to fly the covering on the wing bottom was starting to come off. Looking at pictures of the new plane it was obvious that a previous owner had re-covered the wing bottom in red instead of the original white. Maybe for orientation, or maybe because he had red on-hand but no white. Either way, it was peeling off so the plane went to the back-burner to await repairs to the covering.
Aaaaaaand, that started last night. The first job was to remove the remainder of the red covering and other hardware on the wing. Off came the flap servos and servo covers, along with the right landing gear leg. The left is epoxied in place and would probably result in lots of damage if I force it, so I'll work around it. The plane isn't perfect so having an extra seam in the covering isn't going to bother me. While I'm at it I'm also removing all the extra stickers installed by a previous owner. Two JR stickers, 4 American flag stickers made from inexpensive paper which were delaminating, and the original decals for the Cherokee which were starting to peel.
But before going to far, something doesn't look quite right...
Peeling back more of the covering shows some patch-work on the balsa around the landing gear. Nothing major, it still feels like solid construction although the edges aren't trimmed evenly and there are some gaps. Quite honestly I won't bother fixing this up, the covering will hide it and I'm not concerned with a perfect finish on the wing bottom.
More confusion, notice this wing has the rib bay sheeted over, while the other side has an open bay. Not sure what's hiding under this panel, but it's not "factory original". Like the other wing, it feels solid even though the finish work on the balsa is a little rough. This is a flyer, so it's not getting changed.
Moving to the outside you can still see some remaining outlines from the decals that were removed. A little cleanup should take care of these areas, and I'll probably make a couple new N-number decals for the fuselage just to dress it up a little.
On the inside I also modified the battery harness a bit. It had an XT-60 connector for connecting to a battery, but the 5 cell 5,000mAh packs I use have these HXT style plugs, so I installed one on the main power harness so I could stop using an adapter plug. Also note that this plane has an arming plug on the outside of the fuselage, which allows me to install a battery and get the canopy re-installed without actually powering the motor. When I'm ready to fly I just plug in the arming plug, turn on the receiver power (this plane has a separate battery for the receiver), and it's ready to go.
The covering of the wing and fuselage cleaning should take a couple hours total and the plane will be back in flying condition.
Aaaaaaand, that started last night. The first job was to remove the remainder of the red covering and other hardware on the wing. Off came the flap servos and servo covers, along with the right landing gear leg. The left is epoxied in place and would probably result in lots of damage if I force it, so I'll work around it. The plane isn't perfect so having an extra seam in the covering isn't going to bother me. While I'm at it I'm also removing all the extra stickers installed by a previous owner. Two JR stickers, 4 American flag stickers made from inexpensive paper which were delaminating, and the original decals for the Cherokee which were starting to peel.
But before going to far, something doesn't look quite right...
Peeling back more of the covering shows some patch-work on the balsa around the landing gear. Nothing major, it still feels like solid construction although the edges aren't trimmed evenly and there are some gaps. Quite honestly I won't bother fixing this up, the covering will hide it and I'm not concerned with a perfect finish on the wing bottom.
More confusion, notice this wing has the rib bay sheeted over, while the other side has an open bay. Not sure what's hiding under this panel, but it's not "factory original". Like the other wing, it feels solid even though the finish work on the balsa is a little rough. This is a flyer, so it's not getting changed.
Moving to the outside you can still see some remaining outlines from the decals that were removed. A little cleanup should take care of these areas, and I'll probably make a couple new N-number decals for the fuselage just to dress it up a little.
On the inside I also modified the battery harness a bit. It had an XT-60 connector for connecting to a battery, but the 5 cell 5,000mAh packs I use have these HXT style plugs, so I installed one on the main power harness so I could stop using an adapter plug. Also note that this plane has an arming plug on the outside of the fuselage, which allows me to install a battery and get the canopy re-installed without actually powering the motor. When I'm ready to fly I just plug in the arming plug, turn on the receiver power (this plane has a separate battery for the receiver), and it's ready to go.
The covering of the wing and fuselage cleaning should take a couple hours total and the plane will be back in flying condition.
Good for you, keeping this old girl in the air. These classic birds sure are fun to fly.
Thanks. I specifically mentioned the "not so good" work which will be simply covered up in an attempt to make you cry a little.
A couple hours of not-so-difficult work later and she's all done and ready for the sky again. The bottom of the wing is now back to the original white color, and I also covered over the seam between the wing panels for a little cleaner look (plus it was easier doing it this way). The leading edge of the wing is a little different now, as I don't have the same color red that was used on the plane. Instead I went with a black strip, common enough on various aircraft that it'll be invisible in plain sight. I does look a little bare without the graphics, but in my opinion it looks better than it did before. As mentioned previously I'll add a couple small vinyl identification numbers in the future, but for now, it'll wait for good weather!
TooJung2Die
Master member
I wouldn't say it looks bare without the graphics. It looks clean. An N number on the rear fuselage and it's done. Looks good.
I really enjoyed reading all of this article. I recently came into possession of an old Great Planes kit of this plane. Members in my club have been suggesting that I attempt a balsa build. This will be my first and I will have to admit when I opened the box and saw all that wood it was a little intimidating. I have been reading and rereading the manual making sure I understand what I need to do. I have been gifted a gas motor so I am going all in on this one I guess. First balsa kit and first gas plane, LOL. I have a couple of questions:
* Is it easy to put orientation lights as a mod to this kit?
* An option for this plane are wheel skirts. I think they look good but are they worth it as far as ease of adding and maintaining?
* Is it easy to put orientation lights as a mod to this kit?
* An option for this plane are wheel skirts. I think they look good but are they worth it as far as ease of adding and maintaining?
I wouldn’t rely on lights for orientation, they aren’t always easy to see. The big stripes on my wing are the factory design which work well.
The wheel skirts look great, but if your field has a grass runway they’ll likely get destroyed. A good compromise is making them for display only, so you can remove them before flight without the use of tools.
The wheel skirts look great, but if your field has a grass runway they’ll likely get destroyed. A good compromise is making them for display only, so you can remove them before flight without the use of tools.
Weather was nice so I took the Cherokee out for a few flights at my local field/sod farm. She flew beautifully again, although the grass and field were watered a few hours earlier and the grass was really slowing the plane down. There was so much rolling resistance I almost couldn't get it airborne, and take-offs were well over 100' long! On a dry field it's about 1/3 of that distance. You can see in the picture that the grass is about as tall as the wheels, not quite ideal, but when I've got dozens of acres of turf to fly off of I can't complain too much. Notice the leading edge of the left wing and the bottom of the cowl. This is after one flight! By the end of the 3rd flight the plane looked green and red in flight.
Notice the leading edge of the left wing and the bottom of the cowl. This is after one flight! By the end of the 3rd flight the plane looked green and red in flight.
