Martin Fraser

Hi Jon, On the ground runs I was getting 9500 RPM on a 14x6 prop which is pretty much what Saito quotes in the manual. Anyway, after quite a few hours in surgery with new ply frames, sheeting, covering and a new cowling it's all fixed up - apart from a power plant. I shouldn't say 'plant' really! Fortunately the Saito came to no harm as did its prop probably due to soft ground and the crumple zone of the cowling so Paul I'll bear you kind offer in mind 😂 Cheers, Martin

Oh dear, how sad never mind. 🙄 Despite my best efforts to get my Saito to drag the Yak about at a decent lick, I think I'll convert it to electric. Prior to this sudden arrival, it flew ok ish but needed full throttle most of the time and wouldn't go anywhere near vertical. It seemed very slippery on previous landings so on this flight I chopped the throttle earlier as I was just coming out of a banked turn and lining it up for the strip. Yep, the engine cut out and a classic tip stall resulted, made all the more embarrassing having just attended a talk given by a senior club member and pilot of full size aircraft on - Banked turns! So I'm looking for recommendations for an electric motor. If possible to take a 7s lipo (I have 5 x 5800 doing nothing) that will give me good aero performance. Cheers, Martin

Hi Ken, Some very useful and interesting info in Peter's findings regarding dihedral and flying characteristics. His Saito 125a is quoted as 2.2hp and it 'hops off the ground' so I'm beginning to wonder if my Saito 120 R3 is going to have enough oomph. Anyway, many thanks to you and Peter for posting. Cheers, Martin

What about the BMFA national centre? Camping on site or there's a very nice hotel in the village of Buckminster a few miles away. The Tollemache Arms (tollemache-arms.co.uk) And - it's always calm and sunny.🙂

I've been tinkering on with the build and because of the Saito's architecture, I've decided to mould the nose section and the engine cowling in GF. Maybe it's the camera but it looks too big but it's as per plan. These are just the plugs to make the moulds. I will provide some hard points for their attachment.

e Martin Fraser 38 Replied: 5 minutes ago Hi Ken, Yes the plan is a bit sketchy here. I've made up some brass L shaped plates that I've silver soldered to the ends of piano wire. As you can see they form the attachment points to the T nuts in the wings and the diagonal bracing wires. These struts will be clad in beech and given a streamline section - they should be strong enough me thinks. I think I've resolved my fuel tank access problem, through the firewall via a removable panel that I'll seal with silicon. It will entail an engine out job if I need to get to it but hopefully no surgery!

Wow, that looks great. Does Peter have a build blog anywhere? I wonder if he will maiden it this year. Thanks for sharing the photos Ken.

Hi Ken, Unusual paint scheme, NZ navy maybe? I wonder if he's hinging the wings? Cheers, Martin

Hi Ken, Yeah, that's what I did as it saves the plans a bit. Cliff's model looks great - nice scheme! I wonder how many Swordfish have been built from his plans? I was down at the Navy Wings hangar at Yeovilton a few years ago to look at the full size and spotted a model of one up on top of a container but I could get to it unfortunately. I served there as a young air mechanic in the early 70s and the historic flight's hangar was just a 100mts from ours and I didn't pay that much attention to the old 'String Bag' but when they wheeled the Sea Fury out everyone downed tools for the start up and subsequent flying display. Now 50 years on I can appreciate what an amazing aircraft the Swordfish is and what it achieved in the hands of true heroes. Enjoy the Tempest build but save some balsa for the Swordfish. The sun is out so I'm off flying now. Cheer. Martin.

Good morning Ken, Well done on getting the plan. I know what you mean, a template wound have been most helpful. However, there is a straight line showing its top edge and I identified it by measuring the slots for it in the fire wall and F8. Similarly, its bottom edge can be checked by cross referencing with the other frames. As plans go, it does need a bit of deciphering and there is some confusing labelling of things. The side view of the fuselage shows the frame numbers logically but the top view has them going from F5 to F10 and F11 then back to F8 ??? Knowing what I know now, I would cut out the frame bulkheads 1 to 8 and dry fit them onto the two plywood sides. Once happy notch F1 and F8 to accept the upper and lower square longerons and then notch the other frames to suit. Same with the stringers as the cut outs for them on the plans are a bit out of whack. Also, there's very little detail on where to place servos so think about their locations and their control runs now and make provision for them in the frames. I'm going a bit scale and using closed loops for the elevator and rudder - yes it's a right fiddle! Please fire away with any queries and I'll do my best to shed a light. Regards, Martin

Welcome to the forum Dave, All good advice above there. If your budget will stretch - I've been buddy-box flying with a learner at our club and have been quite impressed with his Xfly Glastar. It flies well on a 3s 2200mHa lipo and will take a 4s pack for sport flying. Nice big wheels and there seems to be a good spares backup. Have fun with whatever you decide on. Cheers, Marty P.S. No connection with MSL. Xfly Glastar V2 Bush/Trainer 1233mm Wingspan PNP XF105PV2, Model Shop Leeds

That confirms my experience with Prosynth Jon. My LHS ran out of the Opti juice so I tried their 12% in the wee Saito 60 twin and it just didn't perform or sound the same despite retuning. I think that's why I've still got half a gallon of it left over. Cheers, Marty P.S. Snowing in Denbighshire today!

Hi Paul, The only time I've had a prop throw its self was with my OS91 4c when I back flicked it with a chicken stick, probably prop nuts not torqued up quite enough. But point taken and I would never let anyone else in front of it while starting or running. Cheers, Marty

Hi John, Yeah I'm sure there is a bit more room for improvement with both low and main jet tuning and also fuel choice. At the moment I'm running it on the same juice (Opti 4st 15% nitro) I run my Saito FA -60T on but I've got some Prosynth 12% that I might try it on once I get it to the field. Thanks for your input, Marty

Hi folks, I've been doing a few ground runs on the Yak and trying to get a feel for the Saito radial. I've bit the bullet and installed a 3 pot onboard glow driver powered with a 1s 6000 mAh hard case lipo. My starting technique is to block the exhaust, cold crank with the starter until it sounds juicy and then heat the plugs. A few blips with the starter and it normally fires and ticks over. As others have found, number 2 pot is a bit slow to join in from cold but once warmed up by 1 & 3 it runs well. See FLIR images at the end of the video. I've installed a temp probe on No1 cylinder head and have had a reading of 117*c after a good full bore 30second run. I've no idea if this is good, bad or ugly but as a precaution I've opened up the moulded in louvers on the cowling to provide a bit of through flow. If it pulls this well once in the air I'll be very pleased but that isn't going to happen until the weather improves. Cheers, Marty P.S. I don't make a habit of standing in front of a revving engine. Ground run.mp4