Howard Metcalfe F15

[Roger James 1]

I am about to balance this one out for the new season. Instructions give c/g at 300mm from leading edge from the front of the wing glove which puts it back to within 50mm of the trailing edge which seems a bit far back to me. Perhaps its me but does any one have one to tell me where you measure from ie leading edge (normal way that I do it). Would be interested to know when these kits were produced. Thanks

[Denis Watkins]

**LINK**

Try this, as a delta is always further back

[Andy Meade]

My F15 below balances in a fairly normal place - about 70mm back from the LE. These aren't deltas, though. I used the online C of G calculator and told it there is a stepped panel. Make sure you tell it you have a low efficiency tail, and static margin is OK at about 10%. See you on the slopes at a PSSA meet I hope?

A quick edit to add - my version is a HET kit with a very slightly stretched wing - please don't use my figures to balance yours with!

Edited By Andy Meade on 31/01/2018 09:07:55

[ken anderson.]

hello Roger, I remember the H Metcalfe models and would say they were around the early 90's.... one of my friends had the F15.have a look on google there are a few different groups, with reference to the model....you may get the info off one of them or be able to contact an owner.....

ken anderson.....ne....1...90's dept.

[Roger James 1]

Thanks for info guys. Very helpful and now good to go. Looking forward to the Pssa new season and elevator lift at the Orme. This one is going to need it!

[Andy Meade]

Hiya Roger - Matt reminded me who you were last night, sorry chap! Good to see you on the forum Any build pics to share?

[Gary Binnie]

On 29/01/2018 at 14:53, Roger James 1 said:

I am about to balance this one out for the new season. Instructions give c/g at 300mm from leading edge from the front of the wing glove which puts it back to within 50mm of the trailing edge which seems a bit far back to me. Perhaps its me but does any one have one to tell me where you measure from ie leading edge (normal way that I do it). Would be interested to know when these kits were produced. Thanks

 

Old thread alert! I managed to acquire a kit recently and have been going through the instructions and parts to get a picture of how it goes together. I might blog it in this thread. The important wording in the instructions for the CG is 'along the leading edge' which is a bit unusual. Glider is 300 mm, power version is 230 mm.

 

 

 

[Jesus Cardin]

I own a Metcalfe Ta-152 I bought -from Spain!- when I was 17-18 years old. I always had an interest on the F-15 so I am very interested in your exerience with this model.

[Gary Binnie]

I have been trimming plastic parts (lots of) and made a start on the sheet tail surfaces. Thought I would share an improvement to a parts making technique that I use.

 

1. I copied the parts from their A4 drawings to preserve the originals, I usually stick these to the wood with Pritt stick but it doesn't always let go cleanly on removal and leaves sticky residue so I had a brainwave to cover the wood in masking tape first (as that usually does give up nicely as long as it hasn't been left on for months/years/decades!

 

 

2. Paper stuck down and cuts made.

 

 

3. Peeling off cleanly.

 

 

4. Et voila! It was at this point that I noticed two mistakes, the wood is the wrong thickness, should be 6 mm not 4.5 (but the elevator is 4.5) and I ignored the very clear grain direction guidance on the paper!

 

[Andy Meade]

Ah well, I doubt it'll matter on such a small part. 

I use cheap art-shop mount spray to keep the paper templates on.  If it does stick to the balsa well, a quick touch with the perma grit block soon cleans them up.

 

[Gary Binnie]

I used spraymount for a while but the nozzle kept clogging, they give you a spare one in the lid but that clogs as well (even after turning upside down and clearing with propellant).

Tried all sorts of solvents and pins to clear them without success, I think it's a scheme to sell more tins of the stuff!

 

 

[Gary Binnie]

Spent a good few hours measuring and drawing lines on the wing before taking a scalpel to it. The trailing edge has a kink cut in then the ailerons (which are the flaps on a full-size F-15) were cut out.

 

 

 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Very nice. ?

[Gary Binnie]

Plodding along, today was spent hinging the ailerons (which are the flaps on a real F-15) and elevators.

 

When I first got a Dubro hinge slotting kit I thought it was a revelation but I've always noticed the mess it sometimes makes in balsa.

 

The problem is that the hooked tool (leftmost), designed to pull out the balsa crushed by the forked tool, often pulls good wood from either side of the hinge slot. This makes an untidy slot. I tried a different tack today, using the jig with holes instead of the slots I drilled the slots out which leaves a much tidier slot.

 

The other photos show the wing mount bolts and nuts, I've had the wing on and off many times so I resorted to my electric drill/screwdriver to wind the bolts in and out.

 

 

 

 

[Gary Binnie]

Have most of the airframe built now, lots of trimming and adjusting fits etc to do. The long plastic parts outboard of the intake are called 'wing gloves' the slot for the tailplane controls their position fore and aft (the tailplanes are notched for a ply cross member/spar), which also controls the position of the fins (another slot cut in the plastic and keyed to the tailplane). The wing gloves are not quite touching the intakes which is related to the same fore and aft positioning, all good head scratching fun!!

 

 

 

The top hatch (with the two engine bulges) is keyed by tabs at the front and held closed at the rear by the two exhaust nozzles which will be under rubber band tension towards the front. 

Elevators are controlled by torque rods that will pass out of a slot in the exhaust nozzles.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Gary Binnie

[Gary Binnie]

I put it away for a while but have pushed on over the last couple of days, all covered apart from the ailerons which need trimming in span when the wing gloves are fixed. Weight at the moment (minus aileron servos, paint and any nose ballast) is 1,630 g (3 lb 10 oz), instructions say 1.8 kg (4 lb) for the PSS version so I've got 170 g (6 oz) to play with.

 

[MattyB]

I wouldn't worry too much about the weight. PSS models of this shape and era were all exceptionally inefficient (they generally had sections drawn from round the designers shoe...;)), so it will need a big hill (ideally coastal) and plenty of wind to fly well whatever the weight. In big air a bit of heft will really help penetrate off the venturi, so I would finish it for strength rather than lightness.

[Gary Binnie]

It feels on the light side for its size to me, I might add a ballast box, even if I don't it would be very easy to add later.

 

The IC version flies at 6 lb.

[Gary Binnie]

Plodding along.

 

I'm filling and sanding the ABS fuselage shell join lines, there are plenty!

 

A small detail that had to be worked out is fixing of the jetpipe nozzles, they are used to secure the rear end of the top hatch.

 

The instructions say to use a rubber band and hook arrangement, no hooks are provided. Went out to the shed (as it's warmed up today) and had a rummage through a massive box of bits and pieces for inspiration. I found a plastic swing keeper, cutting the 'keeper' bit off makes a perfect hook.

 

Found three more and CA'd them in to the nozzles, job done. They could probably be used like this for other jobs like holding canopy hatches closed, it's a feature of my builds that I never finish the canopy securing off properly!

 

 

 

[Andy Meade]

Once you get her flying, if you want a set of slightly better looking printed exhausts, send me a message!  Good progress so far ?

[Gary Binnie]

Cheers.

 

I have aileron servos now, more filling to do around the intakes then final assembly and paint.

 

[Gary Binnie]

I did post yesterday but lost the text due to abandoning the post because of image uploading problems (which I think are fixed now).

 

Have mounted the aileron servos using a ply and hardwood box, no instructions or sketch are provided. It occurred to me later that I automatically used two servos where only one would have been the original idea, sign of the times!

 

The link rods foul the wing mount cross member, this is mentioned in the instructions and a sketch of it is shown, after cutting out this area I added a doubler to restore the strength.

 

Have just fitted the intakes, lots of filling and sanding to do.

 

 

[leccyflyer]

Looking good Gary. I'll be watching with interest and see how you get on with flying the model.

I took on the challenge of my pal's HMM F-15 at our club swapmeet yesterday, as he needed the space -it certainly builds into an imposing model, finished in a USAF bi-centennial scheme, but he hadn't had much success with it off the slope.

[Gary Binnie]

Cheers, I'm waiting for warmer and less windy weather so I can spray it in the garden.

 

It might need a little more filling and sanding at the join lines but not much. I'm trying to get away with not cutting the wing gloves at the forward hatch line. I had two left hand gloves in the kit which caused some despair but I found and contacted Howard and he had a spare one that he cut out from the vacform sheet and sent to me, bless. He's enjoying building and flying Rapier powered models.

 

Your canopy looks a good fit, mine seems to be too thick and I will have to pare it back to fit in the recess.

 

This will be third in the queue to test fly behind a Multiplex Akro and Twist that I finished over a year ago.

 

I'm currently working on getting my T140 Bonneville back on the road, just having a little break from sanding the Fw 190!

[Gary Binnie]

It's been a couple of months since I worked on this due to concentrating on getting an old motorbike back on the road.

 

Felt warm enough today to spray in the garden, I bought the paint quite a while ago.

 

The model is either film covered or plastic so I went for Halfords plastic primer which also happens to be the right colour!

 

The HobbyKing film was keyed with 600 grit wet and dry paper and degreased with Isopropyl alcohol.

 

Two coats with 15 minutes drying between each was enough. I built a Middle Phase in the lockdown and used tissue, dope, sanding sealer and paint and wasn't happy with it, this method is quicker, uses less paint and is lighter.

 

I'll have to review the instructions but I think the next step is to glue the tailplanes (without elevators) in to position and then fit the wing gloves followed by the fins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was trying to get away without cutting the wing glove across the pencil line but looks like I will have to, very difficult to remove the wing without.