So I've been itching to do some balsa again for awhile. Some of the first models I built were balsa back in the early 80's, I specifically remember a Piper J3 Cub that was my first build with a lot of help from my dad, and a Fokker DR3 that was my last build after it met an untimely demise at the hands of a housecleaner just before I completed it (She claimed she thought the 3 complete wings and fuse awaiting covering and assembly were "scrap wood" and pitched them!)
There were a few others in between those two but they were all rubber or hand toss free flight as I couldn't afford motors and radios back then. After that I got into static plastic models for awhile but missed flying models. One of the last models I got as a child was a MRC Bellanca Citabria "Flying Foam Plane" it was free flight but had a small motor and some small nicads in it that were charged off a pack of C's you held to the bottom for a few minutes in exchange for a few seconds of powered boost. I flew the heck out of it until the batteries died and the prop was damaged. I couldn't find a new prop and couldn't bring myself to cut it open to replace the batteries, and it was pretty beat up by that time. After that I mainly got into model rocketry before getting out of modeling entirely through Middle School and High school. In college I got back into the rockets for awhile and then after graduating got into RC cars and trucks once I could finally afford radio gear. I still wanted a plane...but cars and trucks seemed easier and cheaper.
I always wanted to get back to model aviation though. And about 5 years ago in an issue dedicated to retro technology Make magazine featured the medicine man glider on the cover. I thought about building it from plans...but having been over 20 years since I had built anything from balsa and the kit being only about $25 delivered at the time (Now up to $30 plus shipping) I figured it was easier to just buy the kit. I had a blast building it but not much luck flying it. It did well on a few test hand launches...but a few weak points were revealed along with my lack of skill at piloting despite sim time. So I put it aside and figured I'd try flying it again someday when I had learned to fly better. Shortly after that I discovered FT and started building foamies - starting to feel like I'm ready to take the medicine man out and finish the power pod for it or build a hi-start....but...I've really been itching to build something else.
Since I built that first Piper Cub I've wanted to tackle building without a kit. Just from plans. But never felt that I had enough experience to tackle such a project. I'm still not sure if I have the experience but I figure there's only one way to get it
I've been a fan of Van's aircraft since I first learned about them about 10 years ago and would someday love to build myself a real one. I don't currently have a garage and can't afford flight lessons so the chances of that happening aren't great, and being just a few months shy of the point where a medical certificate goes from lasting 60 months to 2 years my chances are looking slimmer by the day. But awhile back I found some plans on outerzone for a RV-3 I saw a real RV-3 by a local builder on display at our airshow while I was in the midst of building the medicine man and I think the guy is still cleaning my drool stains off of it. If I ever do get to build a plane it will probably be an RV-7 since I really can't justify a "toy" like a 3...but looking at the kits and plans I was able to find I kept coming back to these Fred Reese RV-3 plans. When I got my large format plotter a little over a year ago I printed the plans as a test...they've been sitting rolled up since and I forgot I had them until I unrolled them a few days ago:
It's a 40" wingspan 38" long fuselage 360sqin wing and as originally designed with a 0.15 motor and 4ch control was listed as 48oz giving 19.2 Oz Sq Ft wing loading. I'd love to build it for glow...but what finally convinced me to start building this was Wilsonman's Scale contest - so I'm going to be doing an electric conversion. I'm hoping I can get some ideas/suggestions/help here with that. I have a few ideas on how to handle the mechanics but I'm not entirely sure all my ideas are sound or just what to choose for a motor. The original design spec'd a .15-.30 motor with 7x6 or 8x4 prop. All my other stuff flies 8x4 props so I'd like to stick with that. I'm thinking something in the 300w range for motor sounds about right - but I'd love confirmation and suggestions on the power system.
Upon seeing the plans rolled out my wife gasped and started worrying about where I'd store it, I was able to placate her by pointing out that it's actually smaller than my FT Spitfires and since it's balsa it can stay out in my non-airconditioned office. The Medicine man lives out there and hasn't experienced any warping or damage from the heat...the monokote did get nice and tighter than I've ever managed before though To give the plans some scale I grabbed the first foamie I could reach, my FT Scout.
It was Wilsonman's contest that convinced me to finally start a balsa build and choose this one. And his rules say it can be an already started build...so I'm going to surf my excitement and start building even though the contest hasn't officially started yet If you're going to follow my build though watch out as the subject will be changing when the contest starts!
There were a few others in between those two but they were all rubber or hand toss free flight as I couldn't afford motors and radios back then. After that I got into static plastic models for awhile but missed flying models. One of the last models I got as a child was a MRC Bellanca Citabria "Flying Foam Plane" it was free flight but had a small motor and some small nicads in it that were charged off a pack of C's you held to the bottom for a few minutes in exchange for a few seconds of powered boost. I flew the heck out of it until the batteries died and the prop was damaged. I couldn't find a new prop and couldn't bring myself to cut it open to replace the batteries, and it was pretty beat up by that time. After that I mainly got into model rocketry before getting out of modeling entirely through Middle School and High school. In college I got back into the rockets for awhile and then after graduating got into RC cars and trucks once I could finally afford radio gear. I still wanted a plane...but cars and trucks seemed easier and cheaper.
I always wanted to get back to model aviation though. And about 5 years ago in an issue dedicated to retro technology Make magazine featured the medicine man glider on the cover. I thought about building it from plans...but having been over 20 years since I had built anything from balsa and the kit being only about $25 delivered at the time (Now up to $30 plus shipping) I figured it was easier to just buy the kit. I had a blast building it but not much luck flying it. It did well on a few test hand launches...but a few weak points were revealed along with my lack of skill at piloting despite sim time. So I put it aside and figured I'd try flying it again someday when I had learned to fly better. Shortly after that I discovered FT and started building foamies - starting to feel like I'm ready to take the medicine man out and finish the power pod for it or build a hi-start....but...I've really been itching to build something else.
Since I built that first Piper Cub I've wanted to tackle building without a kit. Just from plans. But never felt that I had enough experience to tackle such a project. I'm still not sure if I have the experience but I figure there's only one way to get it
I've been a fan of Van's aircraft since I first learned about them about 10 years ago and would someday love to build myself a real one. I don't currently have a garage and can't afford flight lessons so the chances of that happening aren't great, and being just a few months shy of the point where a medical certificate goes from lasting 60 months to 2 years my chances are looking slimmer by the day. But awhile back I found some plans on outerzone for a RV-3 I saw a real RV-3 by a local builder on display at our airshow while I was in the midst of building the medicine man and I think the guy is still cleaning my drool stains off of it. If I ever do get to build a plane it will probably be an RV-7 since I really can't justify a "toy" like a 3...but looking at the kits and plans I was able to find I kept coming back to these Fred Reese RV-3 plans. When I got my large format plotter a little over a year ago I printed the plans as a test...they've been sitting rolled up since and I forgot I had them until I unrolled them a few days ago:
It's a 40" wingspan 38" long fuselage 360sqin wing and as originally designed with a 0.15 motor and 4ch control was listed as 48oz giving 19.2 Oz Sq Ft wing loading. I'd love to build it for glow...but what finally convinced me to start building this was Wilsonman's Scale contest - so I'm going to be doing an electric conversion. I'm hoping I can get some ideas/suggestions/help here with that. I have a few ideas on how to handle the mechanics but I'm not entirely sure all my ideas are sound or just what to choose for a motor. The original design spec'd a .15-.30 motor with 7x6 or 8x4 prop. All my other stuff flies 8x4 props so I'd like to stick with that. I'm thinking something in the 300w range for motor sounds about right - but I'd love confirmation and suggestions on the power system.
Upon seeing the plans rolled out my wife gasped and started worrying about where I'd store it, I was able to placate her by pointing out that it's actually smaller than my FT Spitfires and since it's balsa it can stay out in my non-airconditioned office. The Medicine man lives out there and hasn't experienced any warping or damage from the heat...the monokote did get nice and tighter than I've ever managed before though
To give the plans some scale I grabbed the first foamie I could reach, my FT Scout.
It was Wilsonman's contest that convinced me to finally start a balsa build and choose this one. And his rules say it can be an already started build...so I'm going to surf my excitement and start building even though the contest hasn't officially started yet
If you're going to follow my build though watch out as the subject will be changing when the contest starts!
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