Saint 1 Posted September 21, 2023 Author Share Posted September 21, 2023 The sun shone this morning, need I say any more 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted September 26, 2023 Author Share Posted September 26, 2023 The glossing of the fuselage went as well as I could’ve hoped other than having to dash out and get another spray can part way through so it took three cans in total. The finish is more sheen than gloss but I’m pleased with it nonetheless and I was soon able to assemble everything properly for the first time, fitting the elevators and rudder along with their servos and linkages and installing the radio gear up front. I have been on the final page 22 of the build guide for quite some time. ‘covering and final finishing’ – Just four words but they took 5 weeks to complete! All that remained after final finishing was to set the CG and control surface throws. The CG point as specified on the plans is 40mm forward of the stage 7 former which on my build equated to being 82mm rearward of my wing joint leading edge – marked on my joint face by the pencil line in the photo below. I have used another couple of those soft close cupboard door buffer pads to make for easy location of the CG point on the underside. The CG point looked quite a way forward to me on first inspection but having subsequently used the rcplanes online CG calculator for a 2 panel wing (taking into account the faired sections) it equates to about 12% static margin so probably not a bad starting point for a maiden. (10% margin would move it back by around ¼”). As a check I got in contact with John Woodfield to ask if he could confirm whether or not he had subsequently altered his CG away from the plan figure. Unfortunately he had recently sold his Sea Hawk so couldn’t check for certain but from memory thought he’d started as per the plan and then gradually moved it rearwards so I will likely have to do similar with mine. Achieving the plan CG point meant I needed to add a further 185g of nose ballast over and above the 240g I had previously built into the balsa nose giving me an AUW figure of 3.188kg or just over 7lb, remarkably similar in both size and weight to my Correx Super Corsair. I have programmed in 3 rates settings on my ailerons and elevator with the medium setting matching the specified control throws so for the maiden I’ll have the option of either increasing or decreasing the throws in flight if necessary. So that’s it, all I need now are some favourable conditions on the Orme next month, the nerve to let someone throw it off and hopefully sufficient ability to be able to land it safely again. Thanks to all those who have provided help and advice along the way, especially to Phil Cooke and Harry Twist – sorry for bombarding you both with so many questions. Here’s a few photos of the finished plane along with both my Super Corsair and me for size comparison. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB1 Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 That's a stunning model to be proud of. Thank's for sharing the build blog it's inspiring me to pick up a previously stalled PSS project 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Cripps Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 Very well done! Excellent build thread resulting in a stunning model. Looking forward to seeing Phil's in-flight photos over the Orme. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh McCaber Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 A very instructive exercise Phil- Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 Thanks everyone for the kind comments, hopefully the weather will be good for us at the Orme and we'll get some good aerial shots. I have to share a few photos of the super bespoke protective bags my wife has made to keep it safe in storage and transportation. Now that'll just leave the unsafe bits when I'm at the controls to worry about 😁 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Well done wife they were not a 5 minute knock up 👏 Great team work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extra slim Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Is your wife interested in building my planes for me?, looks like she would do a neater job than I 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Crikey, those bags are something else. Would she be open to orders at all? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh McCaber Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Agree with Andy- she should start a business!- What's the material for the bags? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted October 5, 2023 Author Share Posted October 5, 2023 Thanks everyone, Jan is flattered by your comments. You are right Ace in that it wasn't a 5 minute job, more like a week on and off with much head scratching along the way so producing more is not something she would wish to pursue on a regular basis plus there would be a couple of challenges going forward. Firstly there would be the logistics of her needing access to any aircraft model for the duration and then secondly we haven't been able to source any more of the fabric we have used. I bought it from a place selling roll ends, it has a waterproof outer, foam middle and mesh inner all fused together, I presume, being lumo that it must normally be used for some kind of work wear. It is really durable. Despite us asking on a number of occasions up to now they have never had any more come back in stock. Here's a photo of the material so you can see the construction... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 Once again we had a good time at The Orme last weekend for the last PSSA meeting of the season but I decided against trying to maiden my Sea Hawk so no aerial photos now probably until we return in the Spring I'm afraid. There were good 20+mph winds on the Saturday but being from a North Westerly direction it meant either a tricky landing amongst the rocks and gorse to our left or a lengthy walk up to the top where there is a substantial and flat grass area. I flew my Correx BAe Hawk a couple of times and landed that to the left ok and then later on flew my 1/8 Super Corsair. This time I decided to land up top which was great, once I got there! Thanks to Harry Twist for navigating me around the rocks and getting me there safely whilst still flying. As the afternoon moved on the low sun on the landing circuit became another problem and so I decided not to risk the Sea Hawk. More accomplished pilots than me would and did fly their larger planes and land them without incident but equally there were others that weren't quite so lucky so for better or worse I decided to call it a day. Lack of wind on the Sunday made it virtually impossible to fly any PSS planes so that was it for the weekend. So all I can offer you for now are photos of my BAe Hawk and Super Corsair in action and another of me and my Sea Hawk very much on terra firma. All photos courtesy of Phil Cooke. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H. Rood Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 On 19/09/2023 at 11:33, Saint 1 said: "...Suitably pleased with the result we went on holiday for a week and whilst we were away I did a bit more researching and realised my gun ports weren’t spaced correctly..." 😄 My favourite moment in Phil's amazing build story! The man goes on holiday with his wife and he's researching Sea Hawk gun port spacing!!! 🤣 Beautiful! This is why I love PSS !!! 🤓😸 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 On 05/11/2023 at 19:31, John H. Rood said: 😄 My favourite moment in Phil's amazing build story! The man goes on holiday with his wife and he's researching Sea Hawk gun port spacing!!! 🤣 Beautiful! This is why I love PSS !!! 🤓😸 😄 Thanks John. PSS... it's quite an addiction isn't it, there's rarely a day, or night even when my mind isn't given over to some random thought relating to it. Even my wife won't throw anything away without first asking "might this be any use to you for one of your planes?". Some have it far worse than others mind, as yet I've not crossed the Atlantic 'on holiday' just for a tube of glue 😁 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 It's taken quite a while but finally I was able to maiden my Sea Hawk at last weekend's PSSA meet at the Great Orme. The launch went well (thanks to Harry Twist) and she was soon climbing away, in fact I had to feed in a considerable amount of down trim in order to maintain level flight but much of that may have been attributable to the strong winds we had over the course of the weekend. I did find it to be quite sensitive in both pitch and roll for my liking but managed to limit that with my rate switches. I didn't get to attempt a proper landing because I had a moment of complete disorientation and ended up making an enforced belly flop landing into some gorse. Amazingly no damage was incurred other than a broken pitot tube! I was VERY lucky! Since returning home I revisited my CG calcs and found an error meaning my CG was further back than I thought at around 7% static margin so I have now added another 50g in the nose to bring it forward by 10mm and giving a 10% margin. Hopefully that will make it a little less twitchy in pitch for next time. I have also upped the expo on the ailerons and elevator too for good measure. Hopefully we'll have favourable conditions for our return to the Orme next month and I'll get to fly her again Here's a couple of photos for the record: Launch photo courtesy of Phil Cooke:- In-flight photo courtesy of Dave Gilder 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Cooke Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Congrats again on your successful maiden flight Phil, it looked excellent from what I saw through the camera lens, glad you got it home safe despite the orientation moment. Look forward to seeing the model trimmed and balanced again in May! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extra slim Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 IMG_2113.mov 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lipo Man Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 28 minutes ago, extra slim said: IMG_2113.mov 25.21 MB · 0 downloads And to think I get nervous hand launching over a flat field! Chucking your new pride and joy off a cliff over the sea must be an additional level of scary! Beautiful looking model - congrats! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 She looked the part Phil, great work. I'll try and get one of my Sea Hawks sorted for the next even so we can fly some formations 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint 1 Posted April 19 Author Share Posted April 19 2 hours ago, Andy Meade said: She looked the part Phil, great work. I'll try and get one of my Sea Hawks sorted for the next even so we can fly some formations 🙂 Not sure my skills are quite up to formation flying but that would be good Andy thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan p Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Quintessential Hawker looks right will fly right😍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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