Who Else Wants a 63" Lavochkin La7 kit?

[Ron Gray]

Well as it's my birthday in a few weeks time I've made my wish list and sent it up the chimney. I know that's what we do for Christmas and I know that I've got a wood burning stove, nevertheless I thought it was worth a try.

[Graham R]

Posted by RICHARD WILLS on 11/05/2017 17:27:32:

Graham ,

I think you would be better off with the smaller La7 as it works so well in electric form . Might have to deal with that separately at a later date.

Anyone out there that wants a big La7 better put their hand up . The last batch was in 2011 !

Not likely to get a second go on that basis . Dont want any "grizzlers" on the phone after the boat (aircraft carrier) has sailed.

Guess I won't see one now

[Ron Gray]

Big or small works for me!

[jrman]

Ron, I have pm'd you. Give me a call. Where in the country are you ?

[Ron Gray]

Well, thanks to jrman I will soon be in possession of an LA-7. So my winter project will soon be queued up in the workshop, just got to sort out a new motor for it now. Jon, are you listening?

[Graham R]

Richard

[RICHARD WILLS]

not listening

[Ron Gray]

@Richard - retracts to suit incl oleos and any other bits for the build?

Trying to keep you listening, Jon isn't!

[RICHARD WILLS]

The retracts will be the same as the 110 , as will the oleos . The machine shop is on shut down at the moment but when they come back I will order some more units . The only other item we will produce is the decals .

So far , nobody seems to be posting any pictures , so I can only assume we are a long way from retracts and decals .

[Jon H]

im here im here!

*walks out*

[peter harvey 1]

Hi Richard, for a change started backwards with the wings first, adding a 1/32 ply strip to the bottom trailing edge as I found that with my usual hamfisted approach to loading the car the trailing edge of my small la7 got damaged, hope that this may help. however am now stopped waiting for retracts, don't need the oleos yet , when I have finished the wing will publish photos

cheers

Peter

[peter harvey 1]

Just read what I published, this could be the first canard Russian fighter Doh

Peter

[Ace]

A big thanks to Graham & Dennis for carefully packing up my LA7 and bits which arrived today.

Must show great restraint and not drool on the veneer as the BF110 has to come first.

Ace

[Graham R]

Posted by RICHARD WILLS on 15/08/2017 15:38:47:

not listening

I'm going to have to cry louder. I might even throw all my toys out of the pram.

Ps A hurricane would be rather nice instead.

Edited By Graham Russell on 15/08/2017 19:48:00

[RICHARD WILLS]

Graham , isn't there some proverb about the bolts and horses ?

There was a long list of chaps in the La7 waiting room . Preceded by a long list of people in the Hurricane waiting room .

I believe that all those in both waiting rooms, got their kits .

Did you not see to sign to the waiting room ?

Did you only buy a platform ticket ?

Were you buying a coffee and a doughnut for eight weeks ? Stuck in the Lav ? Struck down with disentery by a National Express pork pie ?

Or am I thinking of the one about the crying wolf? Or is the boy that's crying ?

Anyway , a worm's involved and probably a bird with or without a bush .

[Graham R]

Hi Richard

In defence of my case, I did put my name on the 63" but you put me off suggesting that the smaller version would be better for electric.

I'm sorry I missed the bird with the worn that went after the horse without the bush. See how distraught I am. Now full of gobbledygook.

Just thought I'd try

Kind regards

[RICHARD WILLS]

Well Graham ,

Patience is a virtue .

Although I dont think she was when I went out with her , Or am I thinking of Olive oil ?

Anyway ,

lets carry on with this 110 and see what transpires.

As my Mum always said , "You never Know what's round the corner "

( she had tunnel vision )

Terrible business , but it kept her focussed .

On the horizon, mostly .

[Dwain Dibley.]

I knew a Bloke who was blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other one, so they fitted him with a glass eye. He couldn't see thru that either so he drilled a hole in it.......it was OK then.

All's well that ends well I say

D.D.

[Bob Cotsford]

I've had a closer look through the kit and I'm listing some first thoughts/queries:

The ply doublers are about 1/2" deeper than the fuselage sides in front of the wing, I'm guessing that this is a cutting error?

I think I'll be using my fuselage jig to attach the sides to the crutch, and using some ammonia solution to get the sharp bend in the sides over the wing cutout. Otherwise I can see some vertical bow developing.

Control runs need to be planned before anything else is started so that snake/closed loop runs can be cut where needed. It looks to me as though they will have to pass through the crutch so it might be easiest to cut holes for outers to pass though with the wood in the flat. It's a long run for plastic snakes so I might go for wire in tube to reduce slop. It all depends what I can find in the recycling box.

Aileron and retract wiring, I think some 15mm copper tube should do to bore conduits.

Wing bolts - set compression blocks into the wings or ply load spreader and tubes through to stop the foam compressing?

Wing traing edge - how hangar rash resistant is the brown paper on such a fine edge?

The tailwheel - any suggestions? I'm tempted to make it spring centered castoring to save making fiddly linkages. The spring could be buried inside the fuselage easily enough.

[peter harvey 1]

quick notes, if you look on the laser listing you will see the add on pieces for the front of the fus and rear of the wing seat, the sheet of 1/8 is not quite deep enough to take the whole side so glue on the missing pieces, as a help I raided my scrap box and added some 1/4 square along the top of the side pieces, this gives a nice solid shoulder for the lightply to rest on rather than a butt joint, I also took 1/32 off the sides of F3 as with the ply doubler in place it wont sit flat.

I did have some problems with the wing trailing edge ( on the smaller model) so I have added some 1/32 x 3/8 ply along the underside of the trailing edge, gives it a bit more strength for no or very little weight. On the small model I I used Sullivan snakes, rudder under the crutch plate and elevator above, if you do that put them in place whilst the top and bottom are open, I used a fixed tailwheel and that worked ok.

Hope some of this may be of use to you

Cheers

Peter

[Bob Cotsford]

Thanks Peter, I've got the extensions glued on the tail ends of the crutch and sides so once they're dry I'll get the jig out of the garage and start putting bits together. I've found a long enough grey Sullivan snake for the elevator and a couple of mini snakes, the outers from which will be perfect for guiding the closed loops from the tail through F3. As it's supposed to be a quick'n'dirty build I'll probably just move the tailwheel back to where I can fit a standard bracket linked to the rudder. Again, it depends what I turn up in the recycling box.

[peter harvey 1]

Received the retracts yesterday after getting back from holiday, they are a work of art. As they are originally for the Me110 they are a different size from those shown on plan , do not under any circumstance fix the kit supplied mounting plates into position , they need modifying, which would be difficult in situ, also the connecting piece of 5mm rod wont fit , my setup needs 60mm per leg straight to fit which Richard is sending me as my stockist does not have 5mm in stock and the cost of having a 1 metre length and postage is astronomic ,all for 120mm as I doubt , and hope, that wont need any more. T build continues and I will post pictures shortly.

Cheers all

Peter

[Bob Cotsford]

Well spotted Peter, I've just checked mine having assumed that Richard had sent out a setup ready to bolt straight in. Luckily I have plenty of 5mm wire though I see oleos on the end of a piece of straight wire as being a recipe for bent legs. I'd prefer to see the oleo butting against the trunnion block. The other thing that surprised me is that the slot for the lower leg retention is about 20mm long but the spring is fully compressed after only 10mm of travel. I'm tempted to do away with the oleos and use 5mm wire legs with a traditional coil at the top. I think this would cope with our grass field & rabbit holes better than these oleos. Next up is the lack of a positive stop in the retracted position, I think it will need a foam pad in the wing for the wheel to bed against to stop the mechanism rattling in the up position. We only have 80dBa to play with so every rattle counts!

As for the u/c plate mods, it looks to need a mm or so off each side as the retract unit is wider than the slot. I'm not sure what the ply is and while I'm sure that the 1/4" 3-ply is up to the job, but just for piece of mind I've added 1/4" 5-ply birch strips for the retract mounting screws to bite into. I've also added a 1/8" birch ply doubler to the rear of the engine bulkhead to give a bit more depth for the captive nuts.

That's as far as I've got due to overdue decorating and modifying the Provost u/c mounts to a torsion bar system.

[peter harvey 1]

Hi Bob, like you I have added some reinforcement to the rear of the engine mounting as I have fitted a Laser 80, which should help getting the c of g in the right place, Whilst I agree about the oleos and a rough patch, ours is not to bad, . I intend to use the oleos as they are but with the straight 5 mm connector as a sacrificial connection by using my trusty Dremel and cutting a groove around the connector to reduce the dia to about 31/2 to 4mm as a failsafe , will try it first on the bench and simulate my normal landing by means of my trusty lump hammer.

If I don't hit my thumb and scream ,I'll let you know how it goes

Cheers Peter

[Piers Bowlan]

I haven't started mine yet as I am in the process of moving house but I have acquired a few bits and bobs. I may fit the landing gear and ailerons but not join the wings together yet so that they will still go in the box. I have an ASP 91 FS but fancy fitting a Laser 80 or perhaps a 100 if that was not too much for it. What do you think? The 100 has the same cylinder head height as my ASP 91. I don't have any Lasers at present so I don't know what the lead time would be like but, like I said, there is no hurry.

The kit is excellent but I will double up the engine bulkhead as you guys have. I had some Lander '120 size' electric retracts from HobbyKing in my spares box so I am planning to use those with some HK 140mm oleos.

The wheels are from SLEC (3.5in dia.). The mounting plate is only 4mm ply so will be reinforced.

Some of the more significant bits in the kit. Can't wait! The 3.5in spinner was from SLEC also. Do you think that will be OK or would a metal one be better?

The glass fibre cowl is a work of art, pity to have to make holes in it to accommodate this. Not too late to make it into a PSS model .