Junior 60 kits

[Hayden Brown]

Which is the better kitset if i have to choose between the Ben Buckle Electric Junior 60 and the Flair Kitset??

 

Either will be electric powered, but which is the higher quality kitset. It will be sent to New Zealand so I cannot return it if it is no good.

 

Hayden

 

 

 

 

[ken anderson.]

hello hayden..i built mine originally from the flair kit.....and it was good quality etc...long time ago......the hard parts are all done for you ... check out my photos for it....

 

ken anderson ne..1 JNR 60 dept..

[Myron Beaumont]

Hayden

All I can say is that I opened the Flair box in the LMS sometime ago (about 4 years)and took one look at the plan which was blurred and looked like a copy of a copy of a copy . Just my experience for what it's worth .Needless to say,I didn't purchase it and went for their Cub instead which was excellent.Maybe they've improved the plan now ?

Myron YO13 Kit advice dept.

[PatMc]

I built the Flair kit around 25 years ago powered it with an old type OS25. There was nothing wrong with the plan & the quality of the contents were fine. It was a surprisingly quick build despite me making a fair number of personal choice mods. Later made some floats & flew with them from a lake, snow & from wet grass.

 

The Ben Buckle one is an first version (1949?) the Flair is the later version (1956?). The earlier one has a narrower fuselage & I think later one has improved wings spar layout. There are a number of other less significant differences.

IMO the weak point in both is the wing retention method. It's fine for free flight or rudder only gentle flying but has caused a number of people to fold the wings when pulling too much G in loops etc.

 

Have you considered sourcing the plan & building from scratch ? I would have thought that the shipping costs to NZ would make it worthwhile as there are relatively few ready cut parts in either kit.

[Djay]

I recently built the ben buckle version and modded the front of the wings to have a dowel and the rear to have plastic bolts.

It is the 4 channel version with an ancient OS 48 surpass in it and flies superb, loops easily but anything else is not really worth doing. A gentle relaxing back to basic flyer that will put a grin on your face.

requires some building skills, as it is a box of wood, but well worth doing.

 

Darryl

 

Sorry, the Ben Buckle version i built  is the Super 60, not the junior 60 but very similar.

if you want a good Junior 60, try the enlarged BB majestic major version, a delight to build and fly. Mine has a 52 fs in it and floats around, even going backwards in the wind

Edited By Djay on 21/11/2011 13:38:02

[Braddock, VC]

After a KK version in the mid 50s I built the flair kit in 1982, the plan was a dyeline one so needs to be be kept covered. I subsequently flew through a tree and built new wings from the plan, then as the original engine was an irvine 20 diesel the fus rotted quite badly so I built a new fus from the plan then a new set of tail feathers. It landed in a tree and the subsequent descent onto the nearby road did for it so I built a new one from the plan. The plan is a bit glued up and cut but I could build another from it. The wings are sturdy enough to loop consecutively.

I advised one of my old club members to build one and he bought the BB one. In my opinion the Flair version is the better.

Whichever one you get to NZ you'll have great difficulty flying as I can never keep it inverted for more than a few seconds . Seriously though neither will disapoint you.

[Ernie]

Hi Guys, I built the flair version a few years ago, absolutely no problems. I have read about quality issues on BB kits, but maybe they dont apply to the junior 60. hope not.

Maybe there are others

 

ernie

[Braddock, VC]

As an afterthought, when you get round to building it, use 1/4" x1/16" strip about 1" long at 45 degrees across the uprights and horizontal spacers in the fuse and each end of the upright to the longerons. This will add significant strength for little weight. The wooden coffee stirrers from macdonalds are ideal for this purpose.

If you are determined to electrocute it do away with the engine bearers as you will gain significant room to house the battery. (If you use an engine, shift the bearers to the outside of the fus to give you room for a tank and use an alloy engine plate. If using this method do not secure it with wood screws, nuts and bolts are a must 3mm ones from a boat chandler are cheapest.)

The other change is the u/c fastening, introduce some 1/4" ply into the fus bottom and instead of stitching the undercarriage wire to the vertical former, bend it and clamp it to the ply you've put in and (hopefully) reinforced with triangle section wood.

Edited By John Gibbs on 21/11/2011 15:55:52

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Hi Hayden,

 

have you checked out the Mass Vintage Build area on here? A group of 30+ of us are all building various vintage models over the next 6 months or so and sharing our experiences. We hope to have the opportunity to fly them all together next summer. I know for a fact that some of the guys are building Junior 60's. Why not join in, that way you will get lots of good company for your build?

 

To start off have a look at the chat thread associated with the project here. If you want more details on how participate etc. just PM me.

 

BEB

[Hayden Brown]

Hi Junior 60'ers!

 

Thanks so much for all you input, it was a great read this morning when I cleared the mail. All busy writing while I slept!!

 

Maybe I try the Flair option this time as have a BB Challanger and an unbuilt Super Scorpion kitset. Fly a Simplex that has been through the wars and was someone else previous i.c model now electric.

 

Ok so it is to be a Flair kit but now where is the best place to buy it???? It is priced around 85 quid i think plus a little postage to Corby.

 

It is going to be sent to Corby. Northhants for shipping. to NZ.

 

Once again thanks to all.

 

Hayden

 

 

 

 

[David Davis]

The Flair Junior 60 was my first successful r/c model. I built the Flair version which, as others have said, is stronger than the BB alternative which is a replica of the original 1946 free flight design.

 

I powered mine with initially with an Irvine 20 two-stroke car racing engine. It was way over-powered and I did succeed in breaking the wing through flying too exuberantly but that was my own fault, no fault of the design. I repaired it and the model flew again. It was later fitted with an HP VT 21 fourstroke and had to be hand-launched as the engine did not produce sufficient power to lift it off the runway! I replaced the motor with the 25 cu.in version and all was well; I used to use it to teach nervous middle-aged beginners the rudiments of electric flight on calm days. In the end I sold it to my cousin. It was on its third tailplane and second fuselage by then.

 

One tip I would pass on is to reserve the lightest 1/4" strip in the box for the tail plane. I built mine out of heavy wood and it required one and a quarter POUNDS of lead in the nose.

 

It still flew well mind.