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Andy, did BB give any idea whether this is just a very temporary situation?

Various sizes of Playboy Senior plans here on Outerzone. I noticed that SLEC and Balsa Cabin had balsa stripwood available recently even though they did not have balsa sheet.

There was quite a lot of discussion recently about The Answer and similar design Super Scorpion, more complex building but the Scorpion or Super Scorpion appealed a lot to me. Again the plans are free on Outerzone

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Posted by kc on 26/11/2020 19:58:52:

Andy, did BB give any idea whether this is just a very temporary situation?

Various sizes of Playboy Senior plans here on Outerzone. I noticed that SLEC and Balsa Cabin had balsa stripwood available recently even though they did not have balsa sheet.

There was quite a lot of discussion recently about The Answer and similar design Super Scorpion, more complex building but the Scorpion or Super Scorpion appealed a lot to me. Again the plans are free on Outerzone

Re BB; Afraid I was not given a date, but the lady who looks after the admin did say she would contact me when manufacture of their products re-starts.

Do like the look of some of the larger wing span designs on the Belair site such as the Scram 1.3, but concerned I would not be able to get a 107" wing into my car.

Hope by the time I get my new workshop up and running allowing me to build a vintage design this shortage of balsa will not be an issue.

Had a ground breaking ceremony yesterday with the shuttering for the workshop base being installed, so now waiting for the workmen to return with several large buckets of concrete. Wife is not impressed as the garden is a complete mess!

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Posted by David Davis on 19/07/2020 12:21:33:

"... Also covering in doped nylon or Solartex is NOT building light. ..."

Agreed, but they are both very tough coverings and and ideal for the treatment which I meeted out to it when I was a novice or indeed the treatment it received at the hands of my current crop of trainees. They were all amazed at how slowly it flew and how easy it was to fly once they'd stopped putting in inputs which were too coarse.

I will have the opportunity to report on a Ben Buckle kit in September. My partner is coming over and she is keen to be involved in the building of a Super 60. I expect that we'll cover it in Solartex. She's learning to fly too. She's already a whizz on the simulator!

Used to build and fly Super 60's in the early 70's. Construction was never aimed at being lite as all the open structure on the fuselage was covered in 1/16 balsa and a considerable amount of ply went into the wing as this was a second weak point of the original design. Engine used was a second hand Merco 61 which still runs, but now leaks more fuel from the front bearing than it burns. Last Super 60 I had went into the bin in 1991 as thought the years of storage would have dried out the balsa and at that time I had other interests only coming back to the hobby in the last 10 years. Shame as sure it would still be a good flyer.

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I have just about finished building a Super 60 with my partner Trish, also known as Miss Blue Eyes.

miss blue eyes gets on with it.jpg

 

This will be the third which I've owned. I was once given a fuselage so bought a plan from Colin Buckle at the Three Counties Showground and finished the build, then I bought a Penn Models Super 60 on eBay from a bloke in Wolverhampton, but this one will be for electric power. I am waiting for my transmitter to come back from the menders then I'll rig up the closed loop to the rudder.

nearly there.jpg

It's not the best model I've ever built. I'm not 100% happy with the windscreen and I wish I'd rigged the elevator pushrod to come out centrally at the fuselage. It would have been more efficacious and it would have looked neater. I suppose I could change those in the future if I wanted to.

Edited By David Davis 2 on 27/11/2020 10:18:56

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Nice to see the old designs still in manufacture. All my constructions of the Super 60 used nylon and shrinking dope then lots of humbrol enamel to act as a fuel proofer.

One trick I recall was to fiberglass the engine bay and underneath the fuel tank as the Merco 61 used to leak a lot of castor oil.

Lights were also installed on the wings for night flying which was very popular in our club in the 70's.

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Posted by Jim Carss on 26/11/2020 19:06:38:

AJ

hows about these two,both scaled down to 60" span by Derick Scott.

Eros and KK Falcon,iam busy with the Eros at present,both for SC30 FS power.

eros.jpg

Nice looking model Jim

I built a scaled down Eros a few years ago ,pic below, from a kit produced by one of our club members .All laser cut and perfect fits . He did the design and Slec did the cutting etc. Brilliant . A clever so and so.

The Eros is a beautiful looking model and mine a 50 inch version was designed to take an ED Hornet 1.46 cc diesel. It flew OK but not as nicely as it looked possibly due to the tail plane being high up and out of the prop wash . Rudder authority was good but elevator was poor unless flying fast.

eros vintage model 001.jpg

eros vintage model 002.jpg

eros pics 001 (1).jpg

The eagle eyed will notice that the tail fin has a different profile made wider to increase effect for radio use . I did this after testing the model built by the kit maker as the rudder authority was poor.

It was covered in Lightspan and sprayed with a cream mixed SolarLac . Trim as brushed Humbrol . Its flying weight was under 2lbs , 29 ozs comes to mind .

Just started a Luscombe Silvair Kit from same friend . This was intended for FF and Frog 80 power but will now have 2ch radio fitted .

The last Junior 60 I had was a very used second third or fourth hand model when I acquired it and was heavy , brick like heavy ! Covered in Solar Tex and had a clapped out old OS 25 max . It flew beautifully .

I still have a Ben Buckle 54 inch Taylor Craft with a Frog 150 . A decent kit that flies well and have the bigger 74 inch kit for later with a Frog 3.49 RC

ben buckle taylor craft.jpg

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Cheer ED

Eros in the above post was built from the original plan at 84" span in 2001 and grossly overpowered with OS48 fs,would fly all day on tick over,open throttle and it reached for the stars,no problems with elevator or rudder controls.

Busy now with a 60" version for SC30 power,making two of them at the same time,one for a friend in Stoke,we have just gone into T3 so hopefully I have enough to keep me occupied

Jim

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Re the Junior 60 being used as a trainer. Years ago a gent in his sixties asked if he could fly on our site during a few days holidays. He turned up with a Junior 60 really looking worst for wear. His flying was good, but his take offs and landings were interesting. Apparently he had taught himself to fly with this model. Model on ground, throttle wide open t/o in a few feet. Landing in to wind was just throttle off, and model would land itself lol. Says a lot for this venerable old model.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone have a Ben Buckle plan for the Lanzo Record Breaker? I would like to compare the BB plan with the original 1939 plan, which I think is included with the Belair parts kit.
I was going to buy a kit but would like to see a plan first. BB do not seem to be trading at the moment.
Are there any other large old timers that use a cabane, rather than a pylon, for mounting the wing?

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I don't think you'll find any significant difference. Ben's plans are always simply the original plan, with minimum RC mods. If an original full-size plan was available, he just photocopied it and, if there was no full size plan, Ben redrew it exactly as per the original.

Also, from memory, I think there are a couple of LRB drawings on Outerzone, including the "Uncle Willie's" plan, which is probably the best drawing.

AFAIK, all the available drawings remain faithful to the original, I don't think anyone has "redesigned" anything.

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Thanks Brian.
As you say "Uncle Willie's" seems to be the best drawn plan. Tried to print it on my inkjet printer, 34 pages which have to be accurately sellotaped together. Gave up after three and I'm usually very patient. Will get it printed in a print shop, unless someone comes up with a copy.

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Posted by Andy Joyce on 26/11/2020 18:36:59:

Well had a Playboy Senior on order from BB but just had the money refunded as the site owner has health problems at the moment.

Looking on other kit sites the KK Southerner looks very nice and I assume it would accommodate the SC 30FS I had purchased for the Playboy.

Would welcome any other suggestions for a vintage design around a wing span of 70 inches and upward.

My Southerner is powered by an Irvine 20 or OS 20. So a 30FS is plenty. I was going to put a 30FS in mine but would need a lot of mods to get it in place of the 2 strokes.southerner f2.jpeg

Instead I built a Quaker Flash specifically for an SC30FS and that is still plenty of power for it.

q6`.jpg

Currently considering a Carl Goldberg "Sailplane" for my other SC30FS. Sold as a kit from Belair who also do other vintage kits.

http://belairdigital.co.uk

 

Edited By John Wagg on 09/12/2020 16:56:04

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A few decades ago we had a club talk from Ben himself about his range of kits. One thing I particularly remember him saying was that even though model 4 stroke engines were a modern invention, they were the perfect accompaniment to a vintage model.

I bought a BB Galahad at a club sale with the intention of building it as a nostalgia model. We had them in the 1970s as club display models covered them in tissue and were sprayed in club colours by a member who was a car body repairer. I'm not sure if I will ever build this one though as I would be too tempted to modify for flight performance which would destroy it's essential vintageness. It remains in kit form and I might sell it if someone wants to build and fly it as originally intended.

A.

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Posted by Andy Stephenson on 10/12/2020 11:35:15:

A few decades ago we had a club talk from Ben himself about his range of kits. One thing I particularly remember him saying was that even though model 4 stroke engines were a modern invention, they were the perfect accompaniment to a vintage model.

I bought a BB Galahad at a club sale with the intention of building it as a nostalgia model. We had them in the 1970s as club display models covered them in tissue and were sprayed in club colours by a member who was a car body repairer. I'm not sure if I will ever build this one though as I would be too tempted to modify for flight performance which would destroy it's essential vintageness. It remains in kit form and I might sell it if someone wants to build and fly it as originally intended.

A.

Andy, the Galahad was originally intended as a high wing design but Frank Knowles, the designer, decided to use the already made wings in low wing layout instead. The first Galahad models were modified by Frank Knowles and his clubmates depending on the radio gear to be used and in pursuit of more aerobatic performance.
Ref the first chapter off this book.

I quite fancy building the aileron version described but for electric power.

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Posted by DaveyP on 10/12/2020 18:24:02:

Hi Andy, if you really are thinking of selling it I would definitely be interested. How much do you want for it ?

Davey,

I'm not sure yet but I have other projects on the list so I may never get around to building the Galahad.

If I do decide to part with it I will give you first refusal.

Andy.

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