Stevens Aeromodel Cap 232
- Thread starter rockyboy
- Start date
Ready for flight!! Balanced with a 1/4 lead in the nose and a 3s1300 battery installed.
Ready for her close up! As planned I installed the canopy with little screws instead of glue so I can get at the servos.
No spinner or wheel pants yet - I want to fly her a bit before I decide to spend any time on those.
It'd nice to finally have a plane where the gray APC prop fits right into the color scheme!
Ready for her close up! As planned I installed the canopy with little screws instead of glue so I can get at the servos.
No spinner or wheel pants yet - I want to fly her a bit before I decide to spend any time on those.
It'd nice to finally have a plane where the gray APC prop fits right into the color scheme!
OliverW
Legendary member
She is beautiful!!!!!! Amazing jobReady for flight!! Balanced with a 1/4 lead in the nose and a 3s1300 battery installed.
View attachment 153482
Ready for her close up! As planned I installed the canopy with little screws instead of glue so I can get at the servos.
View attachment 153481
No spinner or wheel pants yet - I want to fly her a bit before I decide to spend any time on those.
View attachment 153480
It'd nice to finally have a plane where the gray APC prop fits right into the color scheme!
TooJung2Die
Master member
Great job! That won't be easy to lose in the sky. The first time I went to the RC airfield in Las Vegas was back in the early 1980's. One older guy stood out because he wore a pink satin jacket and hat. His pattern airplanes all had pink livery. Someone told me that's Bill Bennett, he owns Circus Circus casino and he built this field. I went from wonder to admiration.
Thanks guys! The reason the "blackberry" labeled covering shows up as pink is cause it's almost pepto-bismol pink - I think the color might have faded on the roll over the years
I am secure enough that flying a pink plane doesn't bother me at all - and it gives me a chance to put one of my wife's favorite childhood cartoon characters (Penelope Pitstop from the Wacky Races) in the air - got to take every marketing opportunity for the hobby at home I can
Plus, one of the ace pilots at our field put a Dick Dastardly pilot from the Wacky Races in one of his planes, and now he'll have someone to chase around the sky I just need to get a sound clip of the "Halp! Halp!" she would make every time she got caught!
I am secure enough that flying a pink plane doesn't bother me at all - and it gives me a chance to put one of my wife's favorite childhood cartoon characters (Penelope Pitstop from the Wacky Races) in the air - got to take every marketing opportunity for the hobby at home I can
Plus, one of the ace pilots at our field put a Dick Dastardly pilot from the Wacky Races in one of his planes, and now he'll have someone to chase around the sky
I just need to get a sound clip of the "Halp! Halp!" she would make every time she got caught!
OliverW
Legendary member
Has she flown yet?Thanks guys! The reason the "blackberry" labeled covering shows up as pink is cause it's almost pepto-bismol pink - I think the color might have faded on the roll over the years
I am secure enough that flying a pink plane doesn't bother me at all - and it gives me a chance to put one of my wife's favorite childhood cartoon characters (Penelope Pitstop from the Wacky Races) in the air - got to take every marketing opportunity for the hobby at home I can
Plus, one of the ace pilots at our field put a Dick Dastardly pilot from the Wacky Races in one of his planes, and now he'll have someone to chase around the sky
Turbojoe
Elite member
I too share your manly color security..... The Pepto Bismol color actually looks pretty cool I just found TWO unopened "blackberry" Solarfilm rolls in my stash. I'm building mostly smaller stuff now but when I unleash something bigger soon it'll likely use what I have left of Solarfilm...
Joe
Sadly no - I've had to put all hobby fun on hold while dealing with my father's failing health and finances in the last couple weeks. I hope to get back to the field in a couple weeks though.
Turbojoe
Elite member
OliverW
Legendary member
Sorry to hear that. I hope he gets better!!
She's in my "ready to maiden" pile, but waiting for a safe time to do so. Sadly the only flying options within a couple hours of my house are club fields, which are mostly open but rather busy now. So any maiden flights for me are still going to be quite a while out.
OliverW
Legendary member
I get that. I hope that she has a successful maiden!
She made it into the air finally!
And the %!#% Runcam didn't record the video
First flight she was really tail heavy - was lucky to put her down into some 6 foot tall weeds at the end of the runway.
Second flight with 3/4 ounces of lead on the cowl, she was less tail heavy, but now I could tell the control surfaces were moving too much, and again she went down into the tall weeds. Looked like a little bit of buckling happening on the leading edge in two spots, but I put her back in the air one more time after cutting the control throws in half.
Third flight she was great! Very directionally stable after a just a couple clicks of trim this time. Did a few loops, some rolls, and generally just cruised around the pattern enjoying her for a bit, and getting a feel for the cross wind. A mock landing pass about 10 feet over the field looked good, so I brought her in for a final pass and ended up dropping down too hard at the last minute and the left side landing gear folded under. Oops!
At home a close look over found there were two section of the leading edge that broke in the second crash in addition to the landing gear damage. 30 minutes with some CA, epoxy, and balsa scraps, and she's all back and ready to go again!
Next time, with video I hope!
And the %!#% Runcam didn't record the video
First flight she was really tail heavy - was lucky to put her down into some 6 foot tall weeds at the end of the runway.
Second flight with 3/4 ounces of lead on the cowl, she was less tail heavy, but now I could tell the control surfaces were moving too much, and again she went down into the tall weeds. Looked like a little bit of buckling happening on the leading edge in two spots, but I put her back in the air one more time after cutting the control throws in half.
Third flight she was great! Very directionally stable after a just a couple clicks of trim this time. Did a few loops, some rolls, and generally just cruised around the pattern enjoying her for a bit, and getting a feel for the cross wind. A mock landing pass about 10 feet over the field looked good, so I brought her in for a final pass and ended up dropping down too hard at the last minute and the left side landing gear folded under. Oops!
At home a close look over found there were two section of the leading edge that broke in the second crash in addition to the landing gear damage. 30 minutes with some CA, epoxy, and balsa scraps, and she's all back and ready to go again!
Next time, with video I hope!
Thanks!
One of my friends put a Dick Dastardly pilot in his Edge 540, so I figured let's do some of the other Wacky Races pilots too!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wacky_Races_(1968_TV_series)
I did find a picture I snapped while repairing some leading edge damage. For anyone who is curious, here's how I did it.
Peeled back the covering, straightened out the "crack" in the leading edge, and clamp/CA glue a thin new support piece of basswood across the broken balsa joint (almost all the way to the ribs actually). Then just reattach the covering, and pull out the new wrinkles with a heat gun - all set to fly again!
Peeled back the covering, straightened out the "crack" in the leading edge, and clamp/CA glue a thin new support piece of basswood across the broken balsa joint (almost all the way to the ribs actually). Then just reattach the covering, and pull out the new wrinkles with a heat gun - all set to fly again!
chris398mx
Master member
how do you pull the covering back without cutting into it? and still have enough material to reach back to the wood to re-adhere it? Looks like a good repair.
Thanks! I used a razor blade and scraped across where the two pieces of covering overlapped. Once I got a little bit of an edge peeling up, it's just a matter of slow pressure to get them to separate, and again to separate the bottom covering layer from the balsa. Since I had about 3/8" overlap on the covering it was plenty to get it to adhere back in place. I'll post up a picture of the finished repair later tonight.