Bringing an acro wot out of retirement

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This is one of my old models i last flew 10 years ago

Its a Chris foss Acro Wot powered by an irvine 46 mk3

Plans are to bring it back to life as its looking abit tatty, this is my new winter project by the looks of things.

Im hoping the canopy and the cowl are the exact same as the ARTF kits are which you can buy now so i can get new ones.

But i will be keeping a progress thread on here on how it goes.

It is currently covered in solartex, but i think im wanting to smarten it up, last time i covered a plane it was in solarfilm, whats the best covering available now? any ideas as time has moved on since i last did one, im trying to keep my eye out for a cheap second hand iron on ebay

Wish me luck haha

Craig

[Bob Cotsford]

Nope, the ARTF is fatter. you can get a really nice cowl, canopy and turtledeck from CarbonCopy or you could try contacting Chris Foss direct for original parts

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Oooo i like the look of the carbon fibre, now just to pick a colour scheme,

Im suprised at the ARTF version being fatter as usually they lack quality and are not as "well built" as the kits.

[Tim Cheal]

Craig

My Acrowot was looking tired after last summer, so I did exactly the same and recovered it in Oracover. I was able to repaint the cowl and clean up my canopy so they remained the same. But, and to keep some originally I phoned Chris Foss and he was very helpful in supplying some "Acrowot" decals at a very reasonable price, but I also had some additional items supplied by Tim at model markings.

I found that since the recovering it is really slippy and will not come down in a clam wind (to be fair my OS46LA is inside the cowl and it leans off a lot during flight and I need to run it a little rich, which means I cant get the tickover down to optimum without it stopping at the bottom end!). So, I replaced my single aileron servo with 2 (side by side) and added some flapperons to add some drag for steeper approaches. Not everybody will think this is a good idea, but I have found it has helped immensely in calm winds. I have to admit, that due to limited movement of the down going aileron at full flap travel the roll control is less than when they are up. It has caused me some difficulty on one approach, but I leave them up when it is 'windy' and use them in calm winds. I am not sure if others have had the same problem, but it really is slick when covered with a nice shiny finish!

I too like the carbon undercarriage, but I would fix it with nylon bolts - I put something about this in another Acrowot thread. I also took the opportunity to fiberglass the inner fuselage by the undercarriage mounts to strengthen this area prior to recovering. So far the nylon bolts have done their job, breaking when they needed too!

Good luck with the refurbishment.

Tim

[stuey]

I was wondering if anyone had tried spoilerons rather than flaperons? My old kit version was slippery too and had the central servo. I thought if they tilt up say 5mm it adds a little washout and creates some drag to slow you down. Maybe less liable to tip stalling if that is an issue?

[.]

Thanks for the advice

i can't say I had any issues with approach speed,

Have you got any pics of the spoilerons?

Cheers

[John Privett]

Another vote for Oracover (or Profilm - different name, same stuff!)

[stuey]

What I mean is that both the standard ailerons rise at their trailing edges by a few mm. This adds some drag, and perhaps gives some wash out to help reduce tip stalling tendancies. I'm sure I have read this works somewhere!

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Haha neither of em were around last time I covered one, is it easy stuff to use?

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Posted by stuey on 11/09/2013 22:16:02:
What I mean is that both the standard ailerons rise at their trailing edges by a few mm. This adds some drag, and perhaps gives some wash out to help reduce tip stalling tendancies. I'm sure I have read this works somewhere!

Ah so raise both ailerons up slightly together, I see now, I did fancy switching to a servo each for each aileron

[Phil 9]

I was very impressed with solarspan. It is a little thicker than profilm and can help hide imperfections on a sheeted wing

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I will have a scan and see what i can find for covering

[David Davis]

Of the film finishes my preference is Profilm/Oracover. I find it easier to apply than Solarfilm and less sensitive to the temperature of the iron.

Acrowots are slippery models but like all Chris Foss designs they are capable of flying slowly, so you can really slow things down on the landing approach without the model stalling.

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I have never had a problem with it dropping a wing to be honest.

[FlyinBrian]

Profilm / Oracover for me everytime. It will go round wingtips beautifully using a heat gun and I have never melted a hole in it. Tack all round with an iron then use a heatgun to shrink while rubbing with a paper towel to ensure it sticks to the surface below.

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Sounds good, i will probably go with that, first things first i have to strip it back, what would you guys do as far as control surfaces go, i.e remove them and break hinges and refit new hinges?

[Stephen Grigg]

Hi Craig just acquired an ARTF Acrowot from a club member who has run out of time,I absolutely love the model Brilliant

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Nice one Stephen, mine used to fly like it was on rails, the winter project is getting her back to former glory,

Did abit of work tonight, removed the cowl, but unfortunatly i had to destroy it taken it off, the silencer bolts had seized good and proper, of the only way i could get to them to remove them was to split the cowel.

Not to worry though as i order a new one. took the canopy off too, then onto the next step stripping the old solartex,

Still havent decided what to do about the hinges and control surfaces yet.

heres a few more pics ..

Will keep you posted

Craig

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What the best way to remove solartex? is it a good idea to warm the glue up then pull off?

[Bob Cotsford]

yes, a heat gun should make it quite easy to peel off.

Re hinges - if they're pin hinges, can you wiggle the pins out? For mylar hinges, just cut through them. Install new hinges. The hardest part might be separating the elevators from the joiner, and ailerons from the torque rods, You may end up making new ones if they were well glued.

If the tex is still well attached have you thought about cleaning it and slapping on a coat of paint to tart it up? That way you only need to tidy up any loose edges and you can make some quite complex schemes with a bit of simple masking.

[Stephen Grigg]

Or give it a good scrub and just fly it haha

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Bob,

Painting sounds a good idea, how much weight would that be likely to add?

Where do i start with the paint i need etc, and i presume it would be an airbrush job? or could i used spray paints in tins?

It would be the easier option rather than re covering, im just worried about the weight, and Solar tex is abit tatty,

If has the mylar hinges i think.

i was going to re cover it in oracover of profilm

Cheers

[.]

Posted by Stephen Grigg on 13/09/2013 09:08:51:

Or give it a good scrub and just fly it haha

Nah thats the easy way out haha

[Bob Cotsford]

It all depends on the finish you want. If you just want to tart it up then use Balsaloc to secure any loose corners, scrub with detergent then wipe down with thinners to clear old oil. Blast on a couple of coats of Flair Spektrum paint from an aerosol or brush it on, it brushes quite nicely, or use my current favourite - Solarlac. If you stick to a similar base colour you will get away with just a couple of light coats.

If you want to go to town for good minimum weight finish then you really need to strip it to bare wood, fill, sand and recover.

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I think im going to do it right, it deserves a good refurb, its what i learned to fly with

I and considering, removing the old alieron control system and fitting a servo in the wing for each aileron tho,

Or i could keep the existing system and mount and 2 servos in the centre of the wing.