Black Horse Percival Provost - any experiences?

[Scott Lawson]

Nice to know it flies well, bit of a shame about the U/C though. Seems to be a common issue across all ARTF's, you'd think the manufacturers would have learned by now? Especially as its not exactly a cheap model.You haven't put me off though, might still get one for myself.

Scott.

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Martin Harris on 29/04/2017 17:26:53:

A clubmate has had similar problems - the u/c does seem to be a weak point on this model.

Thanks Martin, nice to know it's not just my lousy landings

[Bob Cotsford]

Scott, it is a very expensive model for what it is. In my opinion the Macchi 200 at the same price was far and away better value and about what I'd expect for £350. As for the Provost, I couldn't bring myself to use the shiny sticky plastic toy like transfers provided and got some decent cut vinyl marking decals made up. One great feature is that the huge top access hatch is retained by a sprung latch so the switches can be fitted internally in a nice clean environment yet are still easy to get at.

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 30/04/2017 09:54:51:

Posted by Martin Harris on 29/04/2017 17:26:53:

A clubmate has had similar problems - the u/c does seem to be a weak point on this model.

Thanks Martin, nice to know it's not just my lousy landings

Thinking about this last night, I think some surgery may be called for. 5mm torsion sprung wire legs/stubs supported by 1 1/4" wide by 1/2" thick (2 *1/4" layers) ply set into the first few ribs with some ply doublers if/where need on the existing structure. The leg fairings could be amputated below the landing lights with the bottoms glued to the legs, free to move without ripping everything apart.

It might be possible to do it without disturbing too much of the lower sheeting, I guess it's a case of cutting in and seeing what's in there (gulp ).

[Tim Flyer]

Looks good bob. I have the Blackhorse Chippy that is very similar and I can report the fibreglass control horns hold well even after nearly 3 yrs flying. The biggest mod I had to make was using thicker gauge wire for the internal tail wheel assembly. I'm guessing but this plane may be similar. The supplied wire on the Chipmunk was too thin and twisted easily giving poor rudder function, so I upgraded that . The laser 100 will be nice in that. My Chippie uses OS FS95v

[Bob Cotsford]

This design uses separate wire in tube pushrods for the tailwheel and the rudder, each having their own servo. I put some HK oleos on it but the two tiny locking grub screws weren't man enough between them so it went all pigeon toed on landing and tripped itself up. I'll drill and tap the legs for an extra locating screw and swap the grubs for normal machine screws using a larger allen key so that I can give them some welly. If that doesn't work it'll get torsion bars and the leg fairings will have to be modded to suit.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 19/05/2017 15:04:38

[Tim Flyer]

Aha sorry . That's good regarding the tail. It is a great looking model . The pigeon toe happens on my Chipmunk too as the oleos are a bit slack. Should be good when beefed up a bit. One very important thing for landing I have found is having the wheels forward enough to prevent nose overs on landing. It also means you can keep the elevator rates lower as it won't nose over quite so easily on taxiing. The wheels on these seem to very easily get bent back on rough strips. Looking from above they should be near the front of the wing. Happy Flying😊

Edited By Timothy Harris 1 on 22/05/2017 08:54:15

[Denis Watkins]

The tyre is just ahead of the leading edge lads

[Bob Cotsford]

Well spotted Dennis, the Provost is pretty good on the ground right up until it lands, then the oleos twist (or in the case of the supplied units - bend) giving massive toe-in and over she goes.

That's quite a colourful scheme, one to bear in mind if I ever need to recover it. There's also one done in camo that would be quite nice.

[Ant Sisley]

Hi all. Long shot, but does anyone know if a DLE 20 will fit in the cowl?

Ant

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Ant Sisley on 26/12/2018 08:10:24:
Hi all. Long shot, but does anyone know if a DLE 20 will fit in the cowl?

Ant

If you can compare the height of the DLE to a Laser 100, the Laser fits in completely if mounted inverted with the rocker cover in the scoop. I no longer have the Laser but I can tell you that a 5055-430 leccy motor fits in with ease

ps - I did the u/c mods listed above and the torsion bar setup is MUCH better than the supplied tinplate mount.  I don't use the oleo covers so they don't restrict the u/c from springing back.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 26/12/2018 10:37:30

[Jon H]

Posted by Percy Verance on 26/12/2018 09:53:40:

A DLE 20? Jeez.......... A Laser 80 would pull this with power to spare.

Edited By Percy Verance on 26/12/2018 09:57:19

Agreed. its only 10lbs and 64 inch. It would need to be 80 inch and 16lbs before a dle 20 would be needed.

[Rod Winton 1]

Hi Ant,

Not the question asked, but here's my experience of the BlackHorse Provost.

The Saito 82B is a perfect engine for the BH Provost giving just the right power to fly large gentle scale manoeuvres as per full size. It sounds good too. The inverted engine and exhaust system can be completely contained and hidden within the cowl with adequate cooling even for Australian summer temperatures. Slight internal mod required to install tank at correct level for carb, though this was achieved differently to another contributor.

The Provost is flown from various grass strips and so far has not encountered undercarriage issues. The model is an absolute delight to fly, demonstrate, and either roller or 3 point land. Virtually zero trim change with flaps, but surprisingly for its weight on light wind days can float a long way before wanting to land. I am lucky in being asked to test and fly many scale models of various sizes, the Provost is one of my favourites.

[Ant Sisley]

Ok, so the DLE20 looks to be overkill. The only reason I was asking was due to having one lying spare. I want to stay with petrol as glow fuel in Aus is extremely expensive (AU$30/l). The other option I was considering was the OS15GT.

[Rod Winton 1]

Hi Ant. unsure where you are located in Aus but was shocked by fuel quote of A$30 per Litre.

Try https://rcfuelsupplies.com.au/5-plane-mix-5-litres.html Good fuel and supplier to Aussie Nats.

5 Litres cost A$ 47.00 of 5% Nitro Glow Fuel (Perfect for most 2 & 4 Strokes) They can ship..

I also purchase base fuel items from this company and make standard and bespoke fuel mixes for friends and myself for even less. Hope this helps

[Ant Sisley]

Hi Rod. That's what one of our members was quoted from a hobby shop in Carrum, Vic. A few years back, when I was flying nitro heli's, I was paying over $60 for 5L of 30%. I've got petrol models, so that's the preferred route. I also have a load of 6S packs for my heli's so electric is also an option.

[Bob Cotsford]

Goes nicely on a 6S 5000, 430kv motor and 15*10 prop! Add a 2S A123 LiFe pack up front and it balances without any lead too.

[Ant Sisley]

If I decide on electric, I will go with the Eflite Power 60B, 470kV motor and probably a Castle Creations 80A speedy.

[onetenor]

https://www.minerals-water.co.uk/1l-Diethyl-Ether-Ethyl-Eter-99.9-high-quality-product-Ethoxyethane-Dether-Ethyl-ether-Ethyl-oxide-3-Oxapentane-Ethoxyethane-Diethyl-oxide-Solvent-ether-fuel-Spirit-of-ether?search=ether&description=true&category_id=6&sub_category=true This is the only source of Ether I can find but is a heck of a price. It's delivered by Royal Mail in very well packaged brown glass bottle. I bought some before the last price hike and is patiently waiting for me to get mobile . Most couriers won't touch it but a few will carry ready mixed fuels. As far as I can find the price hike is an attempt to limit the use of Ether in crimes against the person. It's a lot cheaper in some other countries. India for instance but I can't get them to ship to U.K.. Bugrit. Re the Chippie an ex RAF test pilot told me it was better harmonised than even the Spitfire.

[Ant Sisley]

I couldn't get definitive numbers on an electric setup, so went petrol. I noticed the cowl is open at the front. Did anyone install baffles to help with cooling?

[Bob Cotsford]

I fitted a liteply blanking disk in the cowl with a cutout for the Laser 100 cylinder when I first built it for glow power. It must have worked as I had zero problems with overheating

[Ant Sisley]

Finally got to maiden the provost on Sunday which happened to be my club warbird day.

Had a few issues with the spinner backplate rubbing and getting the engine tuned. The OS15GT seems to have ample power with a 14x8 wood prop and, once airborne, I can pull power back to mid stick. Flying wise, it needed some down elevator trim even though it needed 100g of nose weight to balance on the recommended cg and also some left aileron trim. No trim change with mid and full flap and the landing approach is steady.

I read about the problems with the strut plates and reinforced these with 2mm ply. So far not had any problems on the grass. The tail wheel is definitely naff and I will look at replacing it. In hindsight, I wished I had pursued the electric option further as I hated having to cut the cowling.

Overall I am pretty pleased with it and it did get some interest at the club where a lot of the members mistook it for the winjeel which was an Aus design that looks very similar.