ron evans

Fine effort.....could be the full size. Ron.

Well done Douglas, that colour scheme looks to be real HI- VIZ, just right for senior pilots.My eyes first saw the light of day the same year as the prototype Cutlass flew, '48 , so I need all the help I can get ! Look forward to the pics. Ron.   Edited By ron evans on 17/06/2015 18:09:22

Hey Mathew, plenty fast enough for me too! Flew my foamy one yesterday, I get most fun seeing how slow it can go......must be an age thing Ron Edited By ron evans on 15/06/2015 10:01:46

Hi Douglas Yes I would set the elevons up 2mm measured at the t.e.with the c.g. as plan. Hopefully it should climb from launch, to allow you to trim it out. I always launch power off to save me fingers, and I would suggest getting someone to launch for you for your first flights....good to have fingers on sticks just in case. How about a pic of your model? Good luck with the maiden Ron.

Chocks away Ron

Hi Mathew, in the 60s I remember lusting after a Fender Tele in the music shop, but as it cost £470, the same as a new car then, I could never afford one. Wish I still had my Vox ac30 though 120mph !! That's one hot ship you've got there Mathew, might give those fancy turbines a run for their money. I always launch power off, but it's a rush to get to the throttle ( r.h. stick ) before it sinks to the ground, so given its great low speed handling I now throw it up at about 30deg. and it gives me more time to get on the power. You say the locals all fly giant scale and turbines, I wonder how many have built their own models ? Don't get me wrong, I do admire some of these fabulous ready built models, but over the years I've had great satisfaction flying simple, all my own work aeroplanes. I know I don't have the same attachment to the couple of R,T,F models I own. A race league for cartoon e jets would be great cheap fun, although my old eyes couldn't keep up with 120 mph , perhaps with one slowest lap, with the time taken off total race time would promote good low speed performance. My model will descend nose high with full up held in power off, then adding a little power will fly the circuit safely with full up held in. The full size could do this trick too. I note you've been looking at old carrier takeoff film, well sadly the old cutlass had a high loss rate in service, due mainly to unreliable, underpowered engines, but this was cutting edge technology at the time, and I don't think the more modern F104 was any better in this respect. I've read a few accounts from pilots who flew the Cutlass in service, and they loved their time with it. It was unbreakable in the air and highly aerobatic but needed afterburner to get the best out of it which burned fuel very quickly. Dig a bit deeper into the Cutlasses past, and you'll find Whitey Feightner flying the F7U-1 prototype in the late 40s, his tales of the powered control system failures are amazing...it took some 11 secs for manual control to kick in, a long time if you're heading towards the ground ! He said he spent a long time as a passenger in that aeroplane. A little later in the 50s the navy put a team of pilots together to evaluate the new model F7U-3 for carrier service, and on this day pilots Floyd Nugent and Wally Schira ( later to become an astronaut ) were doing repeated take offs and landings from the carrier Hancock parked off the San Diego bay. On Nugents last launch the nose wheel feel into the sea, and he was ordered to fly inland, point the nose out to sea and eject. He made a safe arrival but on looking up he saw his Cutlass had made its way back inland, and without the weight of pilot and seat was trimmed perfectly and flying in big circles around the San Diego coast. Much concern all round but there was nothing to be done. Eventually the fuel ran out and on its final pass it just missed the roof of the Del Coronado hotel, headed down the beach and made a decent landing in the shallows with little damage to the airframe. The pilots rejected the aeroplane for carrier use, but the Navy went ahead and used it anyway. So the old Cutlass could do a bit free flight too. Sorry if I've rattled on a bit, but after seeing a pic of this aeroplane when I was a kid ( I still am ) it's been a favorite of mine, from a fascinating era in aviation history. I think you have one down there in the Pensacola museum Ron

Well done Rosco, it looks a treat Good luck with the maiden Ron.

Hi Douglas When I did the foamy one it had 3mm of reflex due to the slightly forward C.G. but would pitch on full power,so I added a couple of degrees of downthrust which helped a lot. I then gradually moved the C.G. back until there was no pitch up at all with power, and like this there was no reflex on the elevons. After a while I found the neutral pitch stability a bit tiring so moved the C.G. slightly forward and now it has a slight climb under power which suits me better. At either C.G. settings the stall was a non event. On the glide, feeding in full up the model comes down nose high almost vertically,( the full size could do this too ) then adding some power it will do a circuit with full up held in. It's the low speed bit I enjoy the most with this model. When Nigel did the balsa version he raised the thrustline and used downthrust, which all helps. Ron

Hi Douglas, my foamy version used 1mm / 3mm reflex depending on the C.G. Pitch set at +/- 9mm and roll set at +/- 9mm as a starting point, measured at the t.e. then adjust to suit your flying style. My foamy has done well over 100 flights, the wooden one about 15. Take a look at my photo album for the flying shots.  In the topic "Pics from your free RCM&E plan build" page 15 and 16, you'll find two more examples. Regards Ron       Edited By ron evans on 03/06/2015 23:51:23

Hi Giuseppe, If you can't find a suitable speed controller, you could try a series/ parallel switch arrangement, It would give you a 2 speed option - 12v to start and 24v to run, and it would give a lower start current as well. Ron

Hi Mathew and greetings from sunny Wales. Glad you like the Cartoon Cutlass, your finish really gives this simple model a flavor of the full size.. Mine uses a 5x5 and has no nasty torque reaction on launch - still need to keep fingers out of the way though ! I see from your profile you're a rock guitarist, me too back in the 60s - quite a few modelers in our club play instruments of one kind or another. Ron.

Good luck with maiden Paulo Ron

Looking good Paulo. Why not add your pics to your next post, then we can see when new ones are added

Hi Rosco, been away for a few days so missed the test but I would have spotted the slight annoyance.Who would see that in the air anyway. So it's almost finished, what's the flying weight looking like, and when is the big day Ron

Hi Rosco, yes it is annoying having a servo go down, but better now than on the maiden ! The spinner is such a prominent part of the Mustang, hope you can get a lighter one that suits. I've just found the RAAF Museum website, it seems the Mustang served with the Citizen's Air Force Squadrons until being withdrawn in 1959. Ron

Looking good Rosco, have you decided on a motor yet. Going to turn out v light, could have handled retracts...mmm. Your model has reminded me of a guy I met in work around 1990. We were using his electric motors in our circuit breakers, and he was over from OZ. to sort out some issues. We got chatting and he told me that he'd flown Mustangs back in OZ. when he was younger,and before returning home he'd arranged a flight in the Grace 2 seat Spitfire ! I often wondered if he was pulling my leg because judging by his age that would put him in a Mustang about 1958 / 60, were they still in use back then? Ron

Hi Steve, if you Google EE Lightning 3 views, you get line drawings of the full size, just put the c.g. in front of the rear wheels.It wasn't fly by wire so should be ok, unless the wing is larger than scale. Ron   Edited By ron evans on 12/05/2015 17:37:09

That's light Rosco, should finish up under 30oz. with batts.What size do you plan on using ? Ron

Hawk going down a Welsh valley. PSS 198?