Richard Rogers 2

Hi Guys noticed the comment on ground looping. I posted my experiences of this a while back. I built a Baronette, I think in the late 90s fitted with well used OS 48 fs. Great in the air but ground loops were horrendous. The first flight was like an "I've been framed" it literally did u turn and finished in ditch. I did consider fitted a single axis gyro on the rudder. The solution that worked for me was the wire in a tube method. Instead of allowing the wheels to rotate on the fixed piano wire axle, use a piece of brass tube that is a good but free rotating fit over the piano wire axle, solder the tube to the undercart, insert the axle and solidly FIX the wheels to the axle. This obviously stops them rotating independently. I used brass collets as normal then drilled through them into the wheel and inserted an epoxied pin. The wheels are now locked to the piano wire axle and the whole thing rotates inside the firmly soldered brass tube. I found the torque steer was about the same then as a "normal" model as long as you were gentle with the throttle. You must line it up accurately on landing as with little or no steering it tends to wander once on the ground, but this is a minor irritation. Hope his helps. Edited By Richard Rogers 2 on 10/08/2018 01:25:39

Hi Glyn I am looking to build the Sea Fury 77" from the same plan as you started with, RCME MAY1994. I notice that it shows a negative angle of attack on the tail pane which seems odd? May I ask if you changed to the 81" w/s JB plan for the availability of cowl and canopy or was there a problem with the 77" plan. BTW I've had my copy enlarged 5% to 81" w/s to get my dle 40 twin in the cowl and might try and obtain the JB canopy.

Hi I built the Baronette several years ago and fixed the u/c wing for the same reason as David. One thing I did find, whilst it was great to fly and land, take offs were always a bit scary. The throttle needed to be advanced very gently or a ground loop was guaranteed. Even so, ground steering on take off was very difficult. I carried out the fixed brass tube mod, with the wheels locked to the piano wire axle, which rotated in the tube. This reduced the ground loop to a minimum and improved steering to normal levels. You do need to align to the runway on landing as there is no steering on final run out, but this is a small price to pay. Best of Luck.