rubber powered

[Reg Ball]

Which books and magazines for my reading matter,for idiots and the nearly old, I'm 68 retired charge nurse.Ive just built Puss Moth, don't know how to cover, what dope strenghts to use .Help me to finish please.

Many thanks  Reg Ball. 

[Alex Hasell]

Reg have you thought about using a different covering maybe an iron on solarfilm for example i understand you are probably after vintage colours i think you will be surprised whats on offer these days.

Alex

[Reg Ball]

Hi Alex. Thanks for your reply,very king of you. I have been reading some articles regarding rubber powered, and, many of them suggest that they will never fly. Would please tell me if this true,and am wasting my time. I do enjoy making, but, I did'nt tell anyone that it is a kit. for free flight rubber powered plane, cut out of balsa. I would thankful for someone to tell me that the might fly, or, the alternative form of flying model to try

 Thankyou and anyone who will help me Reg Ball

[Alex Hasell]

Reg

 i cant see how somee one can say it willnever fly its a bit strong. To me if its been built right and doesnt disobey the laws of physics or the principles of flight then theres no reason "anything" wont fly. If you have oput time in then go for it then you will know for yourself..besides if its a kit then i would think the designer ment it to fly and it probably will.

Unfortunatelly i have no experience in rubber powered flying what so ever so i cant offer practicle advice im sorry. Can i ask why its rubber power flight you like?

If its due to the building aspect and you wanted to try "powered" flight i.c or electric there are still many kits availiable to build or plans to build from scratch you dont have to go the ARTF route. If your interested sue we will be able to help you.

Alex

[Reg Ball]

Dear Alex, Many thanks for your reply.It was just an advert. that led me to rubber. In my ignorance I thuoght lets start at the beginning. I will finish the Puss moth,  and the spitfire I have just started,then I start on electric planes , I hope. what is ARTF. Reg

[Rick Tee]

Almost Ready To Fly, these 'kits' are mostly built and covered, only needing some minor final assembly. Usually consisting of gluing the 2 wing halves together, fitting the tail feathers, undercarriage, control surfaces, engine/motor and installing the R/C equipment. Ask your local model shop to let you have a look in the box of any model marked as ARTF.

[Reg Ball]

Hello Rick Nice to know someone else gets up in the morning nice and early.Thanks for your idea, but I feel that I would life to contribute to thew building of a plane, thought it would teach me more of the basics that you people have already mastered.  At the moment I'm struggling to start a Spitfire, its like doing ajigsaw and not having a picture

many thanks  Reg

[Rick Tee]

Only meant you could take a look to see what ARTF's are like rather then buy one. For the money and those who don't have the time or inclination to build, most are very good value.

[Reg Ball]

Thankyou Rick, if this will help I'll consider it. These balsa kits are not very clear in their instructions. "glue this to this" the side top bottom, or where

thanks so much Rick, did 'nt mean to offend Reg

[Rick Tee]

No offence taken Reg, like you i prefer sticking the bits together mostly, though i build from plans rather then kits. There is an extra buzz from flying something you built that you don't get from an ARTF. I do own a couple of ARTF's it's a quick way to stock the hanger.

[Reg Ball]

I'm sure would enjoy working fron plan rather than kit, what would be agood aplane to start with. One of my hobbies is woodworking. No hurry for reply I've taken up a lot of your time already, Reg

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Reg Ball]

Hello Eric ,  Nice to hear from you. Yes I will contact them.  I've trouble with the instrutions the are very limited. I'm so  happy with the help people have offered. Many thanks Reg

[260 Flyer]

Reg

Back to your original query regarding covering the Puss Moth. Many rubber powered models are designed to be covered with tissue and dope as it adds great strength to the structure. Modern plastic film coverings add very little strength to the airframe and will result in a crumpled mess once you start to wind the motor.

A couple of coats of dope thinned 50/50 with a suitable thinner will suffice. If you want to add colour to the model try to use coloured tissue rather than coloured dope to avoid weight build-up.

How to do it.

[Reg Ball]

Hi Rob. you're another chum I've made on this forum, how helpful you all are. I will heed this advice when I come to it. There is one job nobody can help me with. I cut the top off my index finger,when I was in my worshop using my electric planer, it healed well, but the top is now numb. Not good when one is picking up small pieces  Reg

[Michael Crawford]

You could also try this web site. I found it an excellent start. Look in 'building your first scale model', the covering chapter. I have included a link straight to it.

www.ffscale.co.uk 

www.ffscale.co.uk/comp7.htm

I completed one model using this method and am now using a glue stick instead for attaching the tissue to the frame. This method is a lot less messy and smelly. I have seen a finished model which was covered using glue stick to attach the tissue and it looked very tidy. Some additional advice is to make sure tissue joins are along stringers or on top of other balsa this means you can get a little pressure behind the join and it will create a better, more concealed join.

[Bruce Richards]

Reg,

I feel for you I did the same on my 150mm Jointer. That was several years ago and the index finger tip is still  misshapen but much of the feeling has returned. So hopefully yours will too.

Good luck

Bruce

[Reg Ball]

Hello Michael, thanks for your tip on glueing, although I'm not sure what you mean by glue stick. I'd like to know please      thakyou Reg

[260 Flyer]

Reg

Sorry to hear about you finger! While you are waiting for it to heal you might like to have a look around here for a few more tips.

Rob

[Reg Ball]

Hello Bruce, good to know  there is a fellow woodworker doing the same as me,

thankyou Reg

[Alex Hasell]

Reg

hi can i ask please the puss moth are you building it to a scale detailed level or are you not quite as ambitious as that please don' take that wrongly just not sure how else to say it.

If you are or even if not maybe have you any research done on the original puss's like colours they were produced in by De Havillands or any general referance to the aircraft if so could you tell me where you got your information from please i'm trying to help a friend with his project

Many thanks Alex

ps tottaly ignore my comments on iron on covering above info is right as i have said not much experience personally on the matter it was just a suggestion

[Simon Chaddock]

Hello Reg

I am nearly as old as you and I can tell you there is nothing wrong with a balsa/tissue rubber powered model. I have made countless and still have quite a few. If and when you get it to fly it will teach you a lot about what works well and what doesn't. I am sure most of us oldies started out by building rubber powered kits of one sort of another.

If you can get the right tissue (i.e. modelspan or equivalent) it is still the lightest form of covering but it does require some skill and technique to cover a model neatly. The dope makes the tissue rigid & water proof (ish), the more dope you put on the more waterproof but the heavier it gets.The modern "iron on" plastic films are not as rigid as doped tissue and are a bit heavier to start with but need no further treatment.

The thing to remember about rubber power is that you are going to store quite a bit of energy in the rubber which will be released quite quickly when you let the propeller go. The model will get an initial burst of thrust which will then decline quite rapidly as the rubber unwinds, so long flights are unlikely. These shorter flights mean you are not likely to loose the model but more landings mean more damage, particularly when you learning how to get it to fly satisfactorily.

The Pussmoth as a model should fly OK but remember the original had a big lump of a Gypsy Engine at the front whereas your rubber "motor" stretches right down the fuselage. You must get the balance point right or it will crash!

It sounds as if you have put in quite a bit of work making the model. Flying it will put it at risk so be prepared to see it broken, and that might only take a few seconds. Learn from your mishaps and carry on. Its what all aeromodellers do!

Happy landings   

[Reg Ball]

Hello Simon,I did write alongish niote to you and then lost it in the system somehow. Thank you for all help at the moment I am haappy  building them and hope one day thy will fly.If the don'nt i will still have achieved making something myself. I thing I'm hooked on model flying,tried watercolors but not much achieved

Reg

[Reg Ball]

Hello Alex, I made balsa kits from the outset. I learning a lot from you people out there. Alex I have'nt done research on thi matter. Sorry I 'm nit able to give anyone advice at the moment

Reg

[Reg Ball]

Hello Simon,all w/e i've been trying to build a Spitfire the fuselage is fiddly, the formers are arched,and small slots into which the stringers locate,and very fragile .I spent a long time patching them,I will finish it.One last ? is there a simple plan I can make from scratch please.

thankyou Simon Reg