My First Estate Sale Find

[LitterBug]

After a month of looking at Craigslist and FB on a daily basis and not finding any bargains, I happened upon an estate sale 30 minutes away. Saw a pic in the ad of a Kadet Senior kit. So I made the trip and came back with this little lot for $126. I don't recognize anything, except the sailplane. Unfortunately, I got there just in time to see someone take the Kadet Senior.

I'm not sure what I've gotten myself in to here, so I'm hesitant to celebrate my victory. These kits look hard and it's taken me a month to complete my first build. Granted some of that is waiting for parts and tools to come in, plus I'm a father and all that. Also likely that's probably just going to be my build speed.

On a whim I threw in the orange plane with the Cox .049. I don't know what to do with that either. I played with those engines on control line toys as a kid. They were messy and fickle is what I remember. The build quality of the plane is exceptional.

Looking for suggestions. Can I convert these vintage planes to electric power? Am I in over my head?


View attachment 137319

Nice find!
I have the same orange plane that was given to me earlier this year. It is a Dallaire. Yours appears to be more complete and in better shape than mine. Here's a link to the post when I first got mine. https://forum.flitetest.com/index.p...ftopic-at-all-times.34729/page-67#post-475810 I'm working on an electric conversion using a 3D printed motor mount and a SunnySky x2206-14 kv1900 motor.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[johnnycarlos]

Nice find!
I have the same orange plane that was given to me earlier this year. It is a Dallaire. Yours appears to be more complete and in better shape than mine. Here's a link to the post when I first got mine. https://forum.flitetest.com/index.p...ftopic-at-all-times.34729/page-67#post-475810 I'm working on an electric conversion using a 3D printed motor mount and a SunnySky x2206-14 kv1900 motor.

That's it! Wow cool.

Yea, mine is not only complete, but looks like master craftsmanship too. Sadly, I've already poked a hole in it. I opened up one of the other boxes and a pushrod flew out like a dart and stuck right in to the stabilizer. Million to one shot.

Anyways, thanks for the insight, let me know how the conversion goes. It looks like you're missing the mounting posts. I don't know if I'll need mine or not, I'll have to measure it and see if I can attach to that somehow.

EDIT: Just noticed the plans say 1936. Makes me wonder how long ago this was built. Almost feel bad converting it to electric.

 

[LitterBug]

Yeah, I know mine was built way more recently than '36. That's just when the original design was made. The .049 on there is MUCH newer than that. That is a TEXACO variant. The short of it is the Texaco .049 was a "spec" motor that was used to see who could fly the longest on a tank of fuel. It is optimized for a long prop for efficiency. The guy that built mine said he tried to go electric once without much luck, but that was probably before the newer brushless setups with LiPo were available. He'd really like to see it go electric and get back in the air.

Cheers!
LitterBug

EDIT: What prop did yours come with? 8" x???

EDIT2: The COX .049 Texaco engines were built between '82 and '96. The 5 fin glowplug is '92 or later. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox_model_engine

 

[johnnycarlos]

EDIT: What prop did yours come with? 8" x???

It says: Thimble Drome 8D 4P

 

[rockyboy]

I think that's a great estate sale haul! If you need to recoup some funds and are interested in selling & shipping the 1940 Sailplane kit, hit me up - I just need to wait until next payday as I already blew my kit allowance this week on a pair of Clancy Aviation kits!

 

[johnnycarlos]

I think that's a great estate sale haul! If you need to recoup some funds and are interested in selling & shipping the 1940 Sailplane kit, hit me up - I just need to wait until next payday as I already blew my kit allowance this week on a pair of Clancy Aviation kits!

For the time being I'm just going to sit on them. Mostly because the hassle of packing and shipping, plus some risk that it breaks or a piece is missing or whatever, doesn't feel worth trying to recoup $12. Maybe I'll build them someday, who knows. But if I don't, I'll let you know!

 

[johnnycarlos]

After the loss of my first build, now turning my attention on converting this estate sale find, the Dallaire, to electric. Thanks Litterbug for the proper ID.

Here is the original mount for the Cox .049, and the X Mount I have at the moment. The holes almost, but don't quite match. The other side of the firewall is very difficult to access, I think all the work to adapt will need to be on the outside.

The only idea I have at the moment is a layer of bassword attached to the existing mount, and then the brushless X mount attached to the basswood.

Is there a better way?

 

[Piotrsko]

After the loss of my first build, now turning my attention on converting this estate sale find, the Dallaire, to electric. Thanks Litterbug for the proper ID.

Here is the original mount for the Cox .049, and the X Mount I have at the moment. The holes almost, but don't quite match. The other side of the firewall is very difficult to access, I think all the work to adapt will need to be on the outside.

The only idea I have at the moment is a layer of bassword attached to the existing mount, and then the brushless X mount attached to the basswood.

Is there a better way?

How about a ft style piece of plywood motor mount mounted to the old mount with longer new screws. Bolt the outrunner to the new plywood

 

[rockyboy]

The only idea I have at the moment is a layer of bassword attached to the existing mount, and then the brushless X mount attached to the basswood.

That should work just fine!

 

[johnnycarlos]

How's this for a quick and dirty hack?

I noticed the screw holes of the 049 mount to the tank almost matched the placement of the brushless motor's threaded holes. Two diagonal holes were perfect, and the other two needed some carving towards the center.

What's really cool about this setup is that I still have the needle valve, so I can use that to adjust the current.

 

[Joker 53150]

I like it, it keeps the flavor of glow alive.

 

[rockyboy]

What's really cool about this setup is that I still have the needle value, so I can use that to adjust the current.

Love it!

 

[LitterBug]

Man, that looks like a HUGE motor to replace an .049. Power should not be a problem. What are the specs on it? I'm using a 2206 1900kv motor on mine with 3D printed adapters. Mine does not have the firewall mount like yours. Just the bare firewall.

 

[johnnycarlos]

I'm just getting re-started in the hobby and don't have any spare electronics, but a sudden opportunity opened up to test fit with a 2217. Yea, it's way overpowered. But it's all I had and it worked! It flew great and I kept the throttle at a minimum.

I've since ordered the 2208 version that I intend to keep in it.

 

[TooJung2Die]

How's this for a quick and dirty hack?

That seriously insane and totally cool.

 

[Joker 53150]

Keep watching those Craigslist ads, there are deals to be found! I ran across one last night and pulled the trigger on it immediately, sending the seller a deposit so I can pick it up tonight. He's selling a Rascal 110 with a 1.20 glow engine and servos installed for $250! He got it at an estate sale and it's too big to fit in his car, and said the engine has never been ran and the plane is new. I'm guessing this is worth around $800+ depending on the servos, and I can't wait to get it. I've always loved the Rascal design, and never figured I'd be able to afford one while staying married. Hopefully nothing tanks this deal between now and when I drive 2 hours to get it.

Funny thing is that when I called him and we started talking planes, he was familiar with my 1/3 scale Cessna 152, and he knew the guy who built it. He also knew it was sold at a swap meet, but hasn't seen it after the fuselage re-build.

 

[johnnycarlos]

Keep watching those Craigslist ads, there are deals to be found!

View attachment 138094

That's a beauty! What a great score. I would have jumped on that too, and it probably doesn't fit in my car either, lol.

Yea, I keep thinking the same thing, there are some great deals out there with just a little bit of patience. If you think about it, it's a niche market. Who is going to buy this stuff? There's so few people who are going to fly glow/gas or large scale. Even you and the seller have a connection, that's how few. And who would build from kits? Even less from a half built kit or a broken plane. New ARFs aren't that expensive. And the few would who would buy this stuff already have a house full of models that even they aren't gonna buy it. Then the buyer has to be actively online searching the ads and within range.

I've only spent $126 and already have a year's worth of build-time ahead of me. I most certainly will find a screaming deal in that period.

 

[Joker 53150]

Agreed, the big stuff especially appears to be a niche market, although I'm happy to report I got my flying buddy hooked on big birds. This past weekend he maidened a 50cc Yak and had a blast with it. Maybe the next generation will someday join in the fun.

It's sad to say, but it sure looks like the older generation of flyers are slowly dying off and their numbers are being replaced at a much slower pace. Seems like every other swap meet I go to I see a big group of planes being sold/auctioned off that belonged to a club member who recently passed. At 50, I'm 2nd youngest at one club I belong to and probably 3rd youngest at the other. I've ended up with enough "projects" to keep me busy for at least a couple years.

 

[rockyboy]

The big birds do seem to be the niche of the older club members - I think that has a lot to do with cash flow and storage space. Right now I've barely got room for one giant scale bird, but I'm pretty sure once my daughter is off to college (she's in high school now) there will be more room for the big planes

 

[Mad_Mechanic]

If someone hasn't already mentioned this, the Espirit is a power sailplane, and it's essentially a mass produced copy of the old Electra power sailplanes. I had one given to me many years ago, I tried to fly it once, didn't give it near enough power on launch and lawn darted it. Cracked the balsa wing and fuselage. I salvaged the guts (mine came with Hitec branded servos) and threw away the airframe.

If you plan on flying that one, you need to update the electronics. I believe these all came with old FM band radios. Also note that unless you update the motor, it runs on a brushed motor and ESC. VERY heavy stuff.