Playboy senior

[Andy J]

Has anyone built the Benbuckle Playboy senior kit? Interested to know the quality of the kit.

[paul d]

Hi Andy, no experience of the playboy kit but I am currently building the BB 50"slicker, wood selection and the plan is ok but a lot of the parts need a lot of fettling in order to fit particularly stringer  slots in formers (mines a printwood kit btw).

Edited By paul d on 05/10/2020 09:04:13

[Andy J]

Thanks Paul

Note there is a thread on RCGroups about the Playboy Senior with some using the BB kit. No posters have mentioned the quality being poor, so will proceed with an order given the item is an early Christmas present.

Apparently the airframe needs beefing up in several points, so will need to read the RCGroups thread again to ensure the build goes well.

Not sure of a suitable motor though as don't like electric. An old classic petrol motor would be nice but thinking a small 4 stroke would be nice so any suitable recommendations by others that have built this model would be appreciated.

[SIMON CRAGG]

Yes, I've had one for many years. Great model. What do you need to know?.

[Andy J]

Simon, what engine would you suggest for the model?

[Djay]

I built one from a plan downloaded from the internet a couple of years ago.

Power is an OS 26 four stroke and it flies around on tick over all day.

On take off give it full power and it goes up 90 degrees just like the original free flight version.

If it is windy it will hover and even fly backwards.

I flew it last weekend and one person walking along the runway was moving faster than my plane.

I fly it on an old 35mhz set and it is mostly free flight, make turns just using the trim and let it fly by itself.

A most enjoyable model.

Some build pics in my albums,

Darryl

[Dai Fledermaus]

The Old Timer R/C Facebook pages would also be a good source of help and support.

Link

[Broken Prop]

I built one to the original Cleveland Model Co plans (via Outerzone) and it flies well on a Saito 30. As Djay says, you do not need to open up the throttle once the thing is in the air. It flies for ages on a 4 ounce tank.

The fuselage is a little thin at the rear end in my opinion. This does allow the tail to twist and I added some internal diagonal bracing, using carbon fibre tow to stop that from happening. The wing joiners on the Cleveland model are too short but are easily extended (can't speak for the BB kit on that point).

The only other item is that the table on the pylon is small in area and the wing can move about on it. This does not seem to affect the handling but I have thought that a couple of locating dowels would help.

All minor points really, none of which detract from a great flier! Just try landing it though with the engine running. It will float on and on into the next county.

A lovely model and one of my favourites.

[Andy J]

Was thinking of using a OS26 4 stroke rather than say a Saito 30 given second hand OS engines seem to sell for a lot lower price than Saito. Mind you the Saito 30 looks externally a far nicer engine. Have not compared weight of the two options as aware the short nose is a problem with the design, so a heavy engine would be a benefit.

Rather than using elastic bands to hold the wing on was wondering if anybody tried reversing the pylon and attaching it to the wing and having a matching sleeve in the fuselage. Probably a bad idea but have not used rubber bands to hold on wings for 50 years. Rubber bands like most things today are not what they use to be and seem to disintegrate in less than 12 months of use.

Was aware that the fuselage is prone to twisting, so that will be one mod that I will included.

[Broken Prop]

Ah yes I forgot about the short nose. I lengthened mine by 25mm but still had to visit the local church one dark night.....

12 oz IIRC.

[SIMON CRAGG]

I have flown mine on 26FS, .53 Irvine, 40fs,

The small FS was the most fun. Would stay up for 45 minutes.

The nose does need lengthening by at least a couple of inches to get the cg correct.

I beefed up the rear of the fuz, which is very slim and prone to twisting.

Lots of bands on the wing, as there is a lot of leverage.

Great model!

[Andy J]

Well kit has been ordered from Ben Buckle for some time now and second hand SC30 FS procured from ebay. unfortunately now informed that Mr Buckle has been taken ill so it remains unclear if I will ever see the kit being delivered.

Now looking for options. Could cut the parts myself using my laser cutter but tracing the parts out is just a pain. Aware Belair do a short set of parts, but don't think there is any other potential suppliers of a full kit unless anyone can advise.

[Andy J]

Well given up on ever seeing the kit from ben Buckle & Co so have spent a couple of hours tracing out the ribs on Inkscape for subsequent output to my laser cutter.

The next issue is how much strip wood to purchase. Does anyone have an educated guess as to the quantities required against each of the sizes shown on the Outerzone plan.

[PatMc]

Andy, the extra material required for this Hangerone short kit might be helpful.

[Andy J]

Thanks Pat. Sizes once converted to imperial at least match my cutting list of the sizes required.

Confused about the fuselage construction as to how the 1/8 sheeting is suppose to blend in but will cover that in a separate post once I started building and have the 3/16 square balsa frame constructed.

 

Edited By Andy Joyce on 13/11/2020 15:58:46

[kc]

Studying the RCM plan on Outerzone ( for i/c ) suggests the 1/8 balsa comes flush with the central1/8 by 3/16 longeron, and that the top and bottom piece of 1/8 by 3/16 only starts aft of the sheeting. So the whole fuselage is slightly lozenge shape like the engine bulkhead. It would seem that there is a 1/16 gap behind the sheeting at centre longeron. Weird!  Or maybe the sheeting fits onto the framework and the central longeron projects slightly.   Perhaps I am wrong I haven't built this model.

However the electric plan also on Outerzone shows 1/16 sheeting  INSIDE the framework with spruce longerons. so it depends which plan you build from.

Edited By kc on 13/11/2020 17:49:25