Scottish Aviation Pioneer

[Garry Hallam]

Hi Carlos
Maybe Somebody Knows another way ... but Perhaps you could contact the Guys at RCME and get them to post it out to you?

Garry
PS. You could Fly over for any future Plans in your 10' Pioneer- hehe

[Il-Pe]

Dear Carlos,
I'm Patrick From Malta.
Were you live carlos?
It is better send an e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected].
I'm Build a pioneer 71inc.

[Peter Wood]

Garry.
Solved the cowl problem! After struggling yesterday with a bench drill and permagrit files I called into our local tool emporium to see if they had anything to keep the work piece centralised. I came away with a beautiful Mini Wood Lathe ( it was reduced). Result - a perfect cowl in a couple of hours. Only problem now is hiding the new lump of machinery in the garage from the wife!!!

[carlos rangel]

Dear Folks,

Thanks so much for your reply!!
The Pionner is one of the most amazing STOL aircraft ever built. Mine will be aluminum color. I have obtain an older color picture of the Prototype after being reengined with the Leonides powerplant..
I live in Florida, in the US, I flew a simuilar full size airplane called the Helio Courier, it is also a great aircraft

I am wondering if anyone of you guys have pictures of completed pioneers for my Pioneer album.
I am also wondering if I could get that back issue from the UK where ths plans are published, I will try to email the subscription departament..

Again, Thanks so much

Carlos

[Garry Hallam]

Peter

Glad you got the Cowl sorted out. I knew you would! Bet you are loving your new Lathe. You could make a nice Wooden fruit bowl for your wife now....

Many of the Tools in my collection are sneaked in one way or another, either that or I convince my wife it will save money in the long run. hehe

Keep up the good work

garry

[JJ]

I have started building this model and as i live in Australia, i have not yet received the next issue which completes the build yet (yes we are slow down here). I am a little stuck with the elevator and rudder detail with the sandwiched sections. Could someone be kind enough to describe this in more detail or even post a photo of this detail.

Thanks

JJ

[Chris Reid]

Hi JJ,

The sandwich rudder and elevator sections are simply 1/16" sheet balsa with strips of 3/32" balsa on each side to give fake rib outlines when covered with fabric, and to build up the whole thickness to 1/4". Start by cutting out the 1/16" sheet outlines and laying on the strips on top, and then turn the item over and repeat the process on the other side.

Hope that helps.

Chris Reid

[Garry Hallam]

Hope the Photo of My Rudder did not throw you JJ. I used the Sandwich method reversed with 3/32" inside and 1/16" balsa each side for a thickness of 7/32". I will be putting the pattern in with 1/64" sheet each side and cut out accordingly. I cannot see there being too much of a weight Penalty. (Sorry Chris, but I don't always follow the Rules)

good luck with your build JJ.

regards
garry

[JJ]

Thankyou Chris and Garry,

Its a pain being a month behind and building blind so to speak.

I was actually thrown of by your picture Garry. I was picturing it like Chris explained when looking at the plan, but when looking at your build photo at the same time I was getting confused.

But all is clear now, thanks again.

[Peter Wood]

JJ
Not sure how far you have progressed with the build of the fuz but I would make one suggestion. I found that F4 & F5 tended to twist slightly making the critical alignment of the wing mount difficult. I filled the space above the upper longeron with a piece of 1/8 balsa which keeps everything square whilst the wings joiners are positioned. The balsa will also provide a support for the cabin doors ( once the windows have been cut out. Hope that is of use.

[Garry Hallam]

Just an update of where I'm at with my Pioneer.

Except for adding the Rib detail on the Rudder & Elevator, owing to the Mistake I made, I am now ready to start covering. I really wanted to glass the Fusalage & Wings but I don't have the confidence to do it. Instead, I'm thinking about using Natural Solartex followed by Spray Paint.

Any Pro's & Con's of doing it this way? apart from having to fill the weave. Should I use Balsaloc? despite the covering being self adhesive with the heat applied.

Here a couple of Photo's with Most of the Parts assembled.

[Garry Hallam]

[Peter Wood]

Garry
Your Pioneer is looking great.
I think you are wise not to go for glassing. I have glassed my fuz and I have spent days filling and sanding all the imperfections where the glass cloth overlapped or went around compound curves. I will not be glassing the wings!!! I plan to cover the main wing panels in Solarspan because it is only 60-75gsm compared with 85-95gsm for Solartex before filling and painting. The control surfaces will be covered in Solartex as the originals were fabric covered. The slats and struts will be covered in Litespan and painted.

[Garry Hallam]

Hi Peter

Thanks for the reply!

I bet your fuzz will look great once you have finished sanding & filling, plus you will have a very tough finish. Bet you'll be glad in the long run!

As a beginner at this, Glassing was definately not for me! I Think the Solarspan will definately be better for weight saving as you say, but... in my case, as I am unable to fly very well anyway, I am Really not planning on flying this Model, The thought of picking the peices up afterwards would probably have me in tears.

Also I have been advised that Solarspan can look very toy-like compared to Tex.

Good luck with your sanding....Phew

regards
Garry

[Chris Reid]

Hi Pioneer Coverers,

Solarspan 2000 or Polyester or a similar heavier film works well on all the wooden sheeted surfaces. Remember that Pioneer was a metal skinned aircraft with fabric used on the control surfaces only. If you are unfamiliar with the application techniques, follow the instructions in the film leaflets: they are spot on. The only thing to remember is that the wood surface has to be very good as all minor imperfections will show through. However, I recommend that you don't use too much filler or sanding sealer etc because if you reduce the natural porosity of the balsa too much, it's much harder to avoid bubbles under the film as the air can't get away. Use progressively fine abrasive papers (garnet paper or wet and dry used dry are both good)until you have a very smooth, almost polished, finish. I use a hot iron held just above the surface to heat the film and a pad made of a ball of cotton wool wrapped in some cotton cloth as a smoothing aid. Any minor bubbles can be heated, and pierced with a sharp pin.

Hope this helps. CR

[Il-Pe]

Hi All,
About the controls, It's true that the original Pioneer have the ailerons, Elevator coverd with textile?, I thing the rudder is coverd by metal. Now I'm preparing to cover my pioneer, I'm going for glazing with Deluxe matiral and solartex for ailerons.
Thanks
Patrick

[Garry Hallam]

Pionner People

I Have been thinking about building a smaller Pioneer, one that I could chance flying, and utilizing a .15 Engine I have. Any thoughts on how much to reduce the scale of the original plan?

Any help appreciated

garry

[Garry Hallam]

Peter

What Paint will you use on the Litespan?
I Intend using it. I once tried it on a Electric model and found that it crinkled up when in the Sum. The Paint I used was acrylic!

garry

[Peter Wood]

Garry

funny you should ask - I spent some time his afternoon experimenting with Litespan as I have not used it before. I used the u/c fairings as a test piece. I gave them a coat of Solarlac a couple of days ago and today applied the Litespan with a covering iron. The result was somewhat wrinkly but that may be due to the fact that the Solarlac was a bit old and lumpy! I then sprayed the film with grey primer followed bt yellow filler primer and when it wa dry lightly sanded the whole lot smooth. so far so good. I now plan to paint one leg with silver Humbrol and spray the other with silver Halfords acrylic. This will have to wait until tomorrow as I have to go out now. I will keep you informed!!!!

Peter

[Garry Hallam]

Peter

It just occured to me that the Acrylic Paint I was refering to was from a bottle of Tamiya Paint from the Model Shop.

I have Covered the Fusalage now, except for the Cabin. The Front upper Black Section was covered in Black Litespan and then Sprayed with the Automotive spray can I used on the Cowl.
It seems OK so far but time will tell. I also opted to cover the back upper Fusalage in Silver, as I wasn't keen on it being white. I originally thought it was silver when looking at the Magazine article. I then realised it was white after seeing the photo of your Fuz, but I had my heart set on it being silver so I went ahead.

Not sure now whether or not to just Paint the Cabin Detail in white, as there is not Much to really cover.

garry

[Peter Wood]

Garry

Glad to hear that the Litespan went on OK and that it took the automaotive spray.
My own exp[eriment on the u/c legs was inconclusive. My fuselage is now fully painted as is the cowl which has been fitted with all the cutouts. I have even turned a few cylinders on my new lathe. The wings were covered tonight so it is all beginning to come together. I have decided to use Solarspan on all surfaces as a roll of Solartex at £12.50 just for the ailerons and elevator seems a bit extravagant and I think I will have sufficient Solarspan from one roll.
Still have to sort out the rear hatch and the rudder and tailwheel linkages??? Any ideas. Also I am puzzling over the front glazing under the leading edge extensions. It looks as though it could be a tricky piece of shaping with little to glue the perspex onto.
I will post an update photo later in the week.
Peter

[Peter Wood]

Chris

Any chance of a close up photo of your cockpit detail. Thanks

Peter

[Jimbo565]

Fellow Pioneers,I completed my model two weeks ago along with a couple of cheats and a few mods.I am just waiting for the Northumberland gales to abate to do the test flight. My model comes in at 4lbs 8ozs all up weight with the battery above the tank. I think this is due to the lightweight balsa construction of the cowl.The model is covered with silver solartex apart from the upper fuselage which is covered with white profilm.I have been following the thread on the forum on the Pioneer with great interest. My mods include fully enclosed elevator connection, which helps to tidy up the rear end. I have never been keen on elastic bands so I have incorporated aluminium tabs attached to R1 which locate in a ply plate across the top of the cabin. This means the first cheat is the upper cabin glazing.The second cheat is the slots in the tailplane. My slots consist of black Solartrim applied with great care to simulate the slots.Are we getting too technical regarding the weights of covering materials etc? In my experience adding paint (which ultimately adds extra weight), is unnecessary with todays lightweight covering materials.The designer of this model (well done Chris)used minimal paint application. One other mod I have incorporated is a sprung Olio leg which allows the undercarriage to give a little. If anyone wishes to show me theirs I will show them mine ( hee hee).
Chris Reid, what have you done? This must be the model of the century!
I will be delighted to communicate with anyone regarding the model and discuss any problems.
Obviously the proof of the pudding is in the flying and I will report back as soon as I have completed my test flight.
I can be contacted on [email protected]

[Garry Hallam]

Peter

Hows your Pioneer going now.

Did you sort out the Hatch? I planked my lower rear fuz fully and then cut out the hatch from that and added end plates and sheeted the top after dimensioning to allow for the added thickness.

Looks like the assembly for steering and rudder should be fairly straightforward, but I havent done that part yet.

I am now just finishing covering the tail end set now. The Slots may be a bit tricky as I also found with the three 0.3mm strips on the stabiliser.

The covering I have used on everything except the nose top has been Solarfilm as I did'nt realise it was different from Solarspan! It went on OK, except that I found the iron leaves the Colour looking patchy. Was thinking that I might wire wool it all over, then fit the Decals followed by sparaying with Laquer all over.

Garry

[Barry Taylor]

Hi Jim,
I think I get your point! Remember that song: Like sister and Brother?
Let me know how it flies, you know my email.