Flair Cub Kit.

[Colin Anderson]

I put a brass tube each side of the fuselage and two brass tubes into each wing half; I then fixed piano wire to the three mounting points of the struts. Once the wing is banded on it holds the struts in place. I made the profile of the struts a squashed ellipse.

[Harry Pickles]

Hi Colin. Thanks for reply. I have put a tube across the fuselage for the bottom attachment point and a chum in the aerospace industry has given me something that looks like micro velcro made from rigid nylon - 1 square cm will hold up to 10 Kgs so I have put a small piece on the wing ends of the struts and it holds really well. they are non functional anyway - just for fancy ! I have made the struts from 1/8inch birch ply with balsa laminations on each side, cos it makes it easier to sand. I have sorted out all the mess from the previous builder and its looking well. I have covered it in nylon from a yellow sari length I bought in India and are giving it a couple or so coats of dope and thinners to cover up any dings which have accumulated over the years plus some two part proofer.

One last query - Where do you have the CG on yours? I reckon about 75 to 80 mm from leading edge - is thios about right.

happy flying - when the weather improves. Off to India again for a couple of months in january and taking my eglider -Thermals are so big they will suck yer cap orf..... See Ya. Harry.

[David Davis]

I used to have two of these. They are nice fliers but I crashed them both. I crashed the yellow one through flying it in a wind which was too strong for my abilities at the time. I'd probably be alright with them now. Such is the learning curve when you are inexperienced! .

Incidentally, the green model on the right and below is a Flair Piper Cub with a different fuselage and a cut -down wing. The wing was cut down because, yes you've guessed it, it was involved in a crash!

[Colin Anderson]

Hi Harry,

As you say, the struts are non functional. On the instruction sheet the struts are referred to as being optional. The instructions, as I remember, were pretty vague about how they ought to be fitted. I made mine out of hard balsa.

CG I've got set on the main wing spar/rear of D-box, 75 mm ~ 80 mm sounds about right, from memory. If I can find the instructions I'll confirm that or I'll measure it off my Cub. I apologise if I'm teaching my grandmother to such eggs, but I balanced the plane with an empty fuel tank, slightly nose down. This makes it slightly nose heavy with a full tank, but this didn't present any problems. My plane is covered in Cub yellow Solartex; it was the first time I had used an iron on covering, so I was surprised how easy it was. In use its every bit as durable as silk and dope, which I'm more used to, but does seem to pick up dirt very easily.

The plane flies really well (although I'm not flying it presently, as my club will only allow me to fly electric at present). On an Irvine 40 I got around 20 minutes on a full tank; one of our club members also has one that he's converted to electric. The plane is pretty sedate in the air; it can be rolled and looped, but not inverted (but you probably wouldn't want to do that with a Cub, anyway!). Take offs are really short, but landings are really long; at least they were in my hands - this plane is a real floater.

[Colin Anderson]

Okay, Harry , I couldn't find my original Flair instructions, so I did a quick search and found them online: 

 http://www.ef-uk.net/models/aircraft-electric/Flair_Cub/flair_cub_instructions.htm
    The instructions show the CG to be 85 mm. I hope this helps. 😊

Edited By Colin Anderson on 14/12/2016 20:06:55

Edited By Colin Anderson on 14/12/2016 20:14:21