I went down to the local tip's 'revolve' store yesterday to have a look at bikes, when I saw a kid with an old balsa and ply fuselage and two wings. The covering film was tissue and dope, and it was in a terrible state. The kid abandoned the parts in the toy area and was promptly stood on by several other kids before I picked up the parts, took it to the front counter and asked the guy how much it was. $5.
Well, I couldn't resist. I'd also found the tail feathers for it and thought I might have a go at restoring an old model and converting it to electric. My wife pulled off all the covering for me. The bottom wing is in really good shape and only needs a few new pieces in there. The top wing however is a mess. This is going to take some serious balsa bashing to get it back up and running!
Sorry about the poor photos, but here are the photos as it was when I got it:
I pulled out the fuel tank, which was nice and clean, and it's an old 4Oz plastic job made in... Western Germany! Wow, there's my $5 back!
This old girl is about 52" wingspan and all up weight is likely to come out at around 2kg (scales are out of action).
Here are a couple of snaps after I've removed the broken sections of the wing frames...
I'm planning to cover it with this: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6703__Covering_Film_Solid_Amber_5mtr_106.html
Could be a long build, but hopefully worth it in the end. Plan is to use a high-ish kv motor (~900-1000kv) and a 14 or so inch wooden prop on 3s (likely motor a Hobbyking Easymatch or similar), aiming at about 1700g thrust to give nice, scale flight. Although we'll see how heavy we end up after the re-build.
Well, I couldn't resist. I'd also found the tail feathers for it and thought I might have a go at restoring an old model and converting it to electric. My wife pulled off all the covering for me. The bottom wing is in really good shape and only needs a few new pieces in there. The top wing however is a mess. This is going to take some serious balsa bashing to get it back up and running!
Sorry about the poor photos, but here are the photos as it was when I got it:
I pulled out the fuel tank, which was nice and clean, and it's an old 4Oz plastic job made in... Western Germany! Wow, there's my $5 back!
This old girl is about 52" wingspan and all up weight is likely to come out at around 2kg (scales are out of action).
Here are a couple of snaps after I've removed the broken sections of the wing frames...
I'm planning to cover it with this: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6703__Covering_Film_Solid_Amber_5mtr_106.html
Could be a long build, but hopefully worth it in the end. Plan is to use a high-ish kv motor (~900-1000kv) and a 14 or so inch wooden prop on 3s (likely motor a Hobbyking Easymatch or similar), aiming at about 1700g thrust to give nice, scale flight. Although we'll see how heavy we end up after the re-build.