Junior 60 Rebuild

[Edgeflyer]

This is an old and slightly abused Junior 60. It has seen lots of action. It must have originally been glow, as the front e d oozes oil!

It has had repairs to a broken wing and been recovered in lots of heavy Solartex so all in all a bit of a challenge.

The nose has been modified to mount an electric motor with speed controller and battery in the cabin, not far in front of the cg.

I have removed all the covering, a total of 200 g and there was 300 g of lead under the motor to get the cg right.

I did a test fly before deciding whether it would be worthwhile and I was so struck by its flight characteristics, even with all the extra weight that I felt motivated. So...

All the covering has been removed. I'm planning to cover in laminating film followed by either tissue or lightweight polyester with minimal dope.

I'm pondering changing the nose so that a 3 cell Lipo goes right behind the motor with top access. I'm wondering whether to add an inch to the nose to help with balance without adding weight.

[Broken Prop]

Hi Phil

I did a similar mod to my J60 a couple of years back. Well worth doing as the flights are more controllable now; before it would float on and on when trying to land with the engine on tickover.

Also I can now turn off the motor and glide for long periods. Fifteen to twenty minute flights are possible using five minutes of motor burn in increments.

As your proposed setup will be lighter in weight than the IC version, you may have to move the battery well forward. Mine (2200Ah 3 cell) is mounted immediately under the motor with access from the front via a removable lower nose panel. In that position very secure fixings are recommended but hardly any extra weight is needed.

If you do not already have the leccy bits, 4Max do a recommended setup for the J60 which works well.

Good luck and welcome to the dark side!

Pete

[Edgeflyer]

Ah thanks for that which confirms I'm on the right track. I was wondering about sliding in the battery under the motor.

[Edgeflyer]

Before cutting out oil soaked nose and 10 oz of lead.

Uncovered fuse with nose remodelling started.

[PatMc]

Here's a link to the electric conversion & refurb of mine 7 years ago.
IMO unless you only intend to fly it in light wind conditions keeping the weight down is pointless. Mine weighs around 1700 gm can be flown very slowly & will cope well with gusty conditions when the need arises. Also I've proved that the cg position isn't at all critical - mine has a cg 33 mm rearwards of the plan's position & is still a pussycat
Since the refurb I've been flying it most of the time using an 11x6 Topflite ic wood prop on the 1000 kv Keda motor which gives well over the max power necessary. Recently I decided to change the motor for a lower kv one of similar weight in order to use a bigger prop & hopefully have a more tractable throttle control. It now has a 600kv Turnigy motor waiting to be tried out with 13x6 & 13x8 Turnigy wood props.

[Edgeflyer]

The remodelled nose. Partly carved.

[Edgeflyer]

Wing covered in silk,with dope. Now needs 2 or 3 coats of shrinking dope. Also pictured a KK Falcon tail beingcovered.

[Skippers Walker]

The attached Album may be of interest, shows my idea of a Lipo compartment on my new build J60e?

[Edgeflyer]

Thanks, yes that is interesting. So the Lipo slided in below the motor? I need the battery full forward as the original had 8 oz of lead under the motor.

[Skippers Walker]

This slightly better picture shows the battery access door just forward of the CG position. The finished model appears to balance on CG with no extra weight in the nose (yet)! Still to be test flown.

Stay well SW

[Edgeflyer]

The nose shaping and cowl / hatch design

New glazing cut from acetate sheet, after making paper patterns by trial and error. The glue is Loctite 401.