Alan Gorham_ Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 Hi Roy No, not electric for me on this one. I had a Spatman back in the 1980's and 90's powered by an Enya 15. I wanted a bit of nostalgia and I still enjoy flying IC powered models, so it was just a case of waiting for a suitable engine to appear on Ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 Partly why I’ve saved a second one from eBay, nostalgia and a little unfinished IC business. The electric one amazes me every time I fly it, on how much enjoyment you can get from a simple model. Big hopes for the IC one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 I flew mine for over a decade until it became oil soaked and tatty. It got refurbed with new wood to replace the oily bits and flown again for many more years. I built a pair of skis for it which finally allowed me to do decent landings and even better touch-and-goes. Like you say, the fun I had with mine was out of all proportion to the cost and the building time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 All the major building is done now. Ready for a quick run over with sandpaper and then on with covering! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Hi Alan She’s coming along, the wing looks good, better than original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Thanks Roy. Am very pleased with the results I got with the foam wing. It was fun working with obechi veneer again, been many years. Am keen to make more foam wings but I think I'll do a Mini Skyman next as per plan. Covering tonight... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Looking forward to seeing the finished results. We should bring all these Spatmans together one day, a bit of a Bowman fest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 What a lovely afternoon to fly the Spatman with the SC15 for the first time. I can now confirm that a 15 is the motor to have 🙂 Few things still to sort, engine down thrust, tick over, and motor cut. But great fun had until the fuel ran out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Calling mine mostly done. Just need to glass and paint the spats. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 Me again! Maiden flight of my Spatman completed. In fact we managed three flights. I had set the throws as per the instructions and the model was much less responsive than I remembered. Over the next two flights I increased throws and by the third flight we had reached the fast, groovy model I used to fly back in the day. Just for nostalgia's sake, on the third flight I let the tank run dry and glided down to the strip dead stick. Total fun... Here is Spatman keeping company with my Limbo Dancer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 She looks fabulous Alan, congratulations on the maiden. They are just so much simple fun aren’t they, I love throwing mine around on high rates and full throttle. I had my new one out today with its third engine, an OS 10Max a SC 15 and now a dirty broken old OS 15LA I picked up cheap on eBay, I’ve spent an enjoyable week stripping, cleaning and doing a small repair to the RNV, not much else to go wrong with these motors. When I had it all back together it started on almost the first flick, and setup in no time. May fit the SC in to a new project. George and Colin were at our place today to maiden George’s new little Bellancer Skyrocket, looked lovely against the low evening sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 10 hours ago, Alan Gorham_ said: What throws did you end up with Alan. I don’t have any instructions. Nice scheme by the way 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Piers Bowlan said: 11 hours ago, Alan Gorham_ said: What throws did you end up with Alan. I don’t have any instructions. Nice scheme by the way 👍 Piers, the instructions are posted in this very thread! They advised 1/4“ each way on both rudder and elevator. I have probably doubled that, certainly for the rudder. And, yes, I did check that the dihedral is as per plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 9 hours ago, Roy Thompson said: She looks fabulous Alan, congratulations on the maiden. They are just so much simple fun aren’t they, I love throwing mine around on high rates and full throttle. I had my new one out today with its third engine, an OS 10Max a SC 15 and now a dirty broken old OS 15LA I picked up cheap on eBay, I’ve spent an enjoyable week stripping, cleaning and doing a small repair to the RNV, not much else to go wrong with these motors. When I had it all back together it started on almost the first flick, and setup in no time. May fit the SC in to a new project. George and Colin were at our place today to maiden George’s new little Bellancer Skyrocket, looked lovely against the low evening sun. Thanks Roy, am very pleased with the model, it certainly put a smile on my face. If you have a spare 15 now, then consider a Birdie Ten, plan available on Outerzone. It's a mini old school pattern ship. Flies nicely and is easy and cheap to build. George had a small Bellanca built from a Peter Rake plan, but all foam instead of balsa sticks. Has he made a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 2 hours ago, Alan Gorham_ said: Thanks Roy, am very pleased with the model, it certainly put a smile on my face. If you have a spare 15 now, then consider a Birdie Ten, plan available on Outerzone. It's a mini old school pattern ship. Flies nicely and is easy and cheap to build. George had a small Bellanca built from a Peter Rake plan, but all foam instead of balsa sticks. Has he made a new one? Don't know the Birdie Ten, I'll look it up, but I do have an MB3 plan of a 15 which would go nicely with the MB5's. Yes he's made a new one, this time in balsa, it's a lovely thing. If they post a picture from yesterday, I'll pop it on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Hi Alan, as promised from yesterday. Get George to tell you the story of this aircraft 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Thompson Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Anyone fancy an unstarted kit? A great little model as we all know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Selvey-WIllars Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 On 05/04/2023 at 08:54, Alan Gorham_ said: Thanks Roy. Am very pleased with the results I got with the foam wing. It was fun working with obechi veneer again, been many years. Am keen to make more foam wings but I think I'll do a Mini Skyman next as per plan. Covering tonight... Been thoroughly enjoying reading this thread from the start, couldn't afford a Spatman back in the day but did have the mini Skyman. It flew so well it flew away with my precious Futaba 2CH gear onboard. Built a couple of gliders, powered and unpowered using the wing plan and they were great. One day I'll get around to building another. Thanks for the read everyone. Fun times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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