Help with gas planes please?

[SkyEye]

Hi all! There's no denying it, by Christmas I'll probably start building the 2 gas planes that my father's co-worker so graciously gave me. He gave me a Great Planes Piper Cub J-3, and some hobbico acrobatic plane that looks really scary to fly. He also gave me 2 nitro engines that I have no knowledge of. I have no clue about anything gas related at all. If anyone can help me with tips about building, flying and running gas planes, please help me out.

 

[BigSpud]

Starter questions:
Is this the .40 size GP J-3" 76 Wingspan?

What size engines do you have? Maybe post photos. Are they new or used?
You probably want to bench run them, and break them in if they are new.
If they are used you get whatever break-in the original owner gave them.
What size props do you have for the engines

Get some fuel, make sure you have good charged batteries in your glow /charger/igniter. It can be really frustrating if your charger/igniter isn't charged enough.

Let us know what you have for engines and what state they are in, we can offer more advice.

As far as building you will need a flat surface + Titebond, CA, and maybe epoxy adhesives. Sandpaper, sanding block. X-acto #11 blades knives. X-acto saw blades very helpful.
People use inexpensive Luan doors from HD, Lowes as building surfaces. Maybe use a sheet of pink foam from HD / Lowes on top of the door. Foam has to lay flat to get straight/flat wing and fuselage. Use T-pins to hold your balsa down on the plans - use plastic or wax paper over the plans so they don't get glued to the plane pieces.

Keep us posted -
Poughkeepsie Pete

 

[highdesert]

I have the great plains cub and love it, it's almost 20 years old and still a great flyer. I think the motor I have on it is an OS Max .60 As far as nitro specifics go make sure the receiver battery is charged get a few extra glow plug to keep on hand, and maybe an extra glow starter. I also highly recommend a motor starter to start the engine, especially a new one they can be a bit fickle some times.


As far as break in goes and all that, I usually just run them in when I am getting the maiden flight stuff ready. I usually don't go crazy with the nitro and just get the economy 10% it seems to work well for sport flying and motor longevity. Also tuning is very important for the motor as well. The first few flight you need to run them a fuzz on the rich side, say maybe 10 flights or so. I usually put the at a 45 angle with a helper and lean out the motor until the rpms come up high and back off just a bit 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn. A good place to start it is at 2 1/2 turns and usually leans out at 2 1/4.

 

[SkyEye]

One motor is a Satio 50 sized that looks like there's oil sticking to it and it looks kind of used. Prop is a 10x6. Other motor is Webra 61,fresh out of the box, never been touched. The Cub does have a 76" wing span. I was told the I should go for the Starfire because it's apparently a low wing trainer.

 

[BigSpud]

How are things progressing with your plans to enter the world of glow engines, Skyeye?

Saito - very nice engine.
Webra, probably also is very nice - you have to ascertain which engine it is.
Here's today's eBay listings of completed auctions for Webra 61's to start figuring out what you have and possibly what it is worth, at least on eBay.
http://tinyurl.com/oqrtndr

I think the Saito is going to be much tamer than the Webra as the Webra's are known as performance engines. I have a feeling you have a "Pattern" engine for pattern planes - usually are high-quality for reliability and performance.

Try to find the manuals for the engines online, get them mounted securely and get them running...
Take video and keep us posted...