March 17
Max Wiggins test flies Tim Sydes’ latest project a Bellanca Skyrocket. I contacted Tim and he emailed the details –
Hi George
I can help out there, it is from a plan in Model Aircraft magazine circa 1965, scaled upsize at Xerox by me to 61” span, powered by Enya .25 glow motor, original model was for free flight. It is a very gentle, stable flyer. However, struts increase parasitic drag, I overcame this by increasing power from original recommended .09 glow to .26 glow. It worked out to be a happy combination as aeroplane flies quite well but because of short nose engine requires a few degrees offset to right to counteract torque.
In addition, I fitted ailerons which on test flight was discovered ineffectual in rolling mode so now I am increasing throw to see if this will help.
I found similar problem with Sig Piper Cub 72” span several years ago which I fixed by increasing aileron throw.
If you like I can send you plans. The model is fairly simple to build.
Regards, Tim
(photos by Max Wiggins)
Club Day – March 5
A good turnout for the day. The predicted light winds were initially a bit stronger than anticipated. Merv C brought along his Vagabond for it’s maiden but some engine issues prevented any flying. Kevin brought along the big Pitts and put on his usually impressive display and the smoke effect is great, especially if there is no wind.
Andy deWater flew his trusty Scanner but sadly a radio problem saw the model take a nosedive at full speed with the predictable result. Andy also had his Piper Cub that is very impressive . The Cub flew well and shows the typical Cub traits on take off – keep control of the rudder. I had one and it too displayed the same characteristics.
A couple of Rainbows flew on the day but rumour has it one ended the day as a write-off. No pot of gold at the end of this rainbow! I took along the usual models but my trusty Magister wasn’t so trusty and failed to bind. This was despite having done nothing since the last flight. Best left to fix in the workshop I thought.
Dave J brought along his Piper Tomahawk and handed to Terry P to fly. It flew very nicely and Dave went home with a big smile on his face. Fred had a little drama with his Dragon Lady on an approach and a heavy landing meant a little homework to repair the undercarriage.
Kerry put on a great spread again with a barbecue of hamburgers, sausages and coleslaw with Fred adding some potato salad to the smorgasbord.
A few shots from the day….
