Oriental ?'s

Hello Gents.
I just recieved plans for the Oriental. Now, here's where the questions start. Does anyone have a list for the amount and sizes of balsa needed? If anyone has a copy of building instructions, please send them this way. I can figure most of it out, but there is a few places where it is making me scracth my head and wounder how they are doing that? Help would be really nice. Thanks, Steve D.

Hi Steve,

I emailed you the Parts List for the Oriental. It has all the wood sizes on it. I think that will answer your questions. Any other questions, just email me.

Cheers,

Steve --

You might want to reconsider your plans. Brodak has both a profile and full version of the Oriental, which would solve all your problems. The Brodak kits are quite good. More importantly for your question is that the instructions are a little better than excellent. Not only are the words clear, they have pictures. As an old guy with bifocals, I can testify from other Brodak kits that it would be near impossible to buy a kit and not come out with a good airplane with very little thinking or planning.

You didn't say which set of plans that you had. I'm not sure how identical the Brodak kit is with respect to the original MAN plans.

If you got the MAN plans, you should have received a copy of the original article. Of course it is nothing like a Brodak instruction book, but it did sound reasonable.

Just a comment. I counted seven Orientals at last year's VSC. The most popular airplane there I think.

The plans are from Here (SSW plans). the only other thing I can add is they are designed and drawn by Dee Rice. If that helps. Thanks Steve D.

If the plans are drawn to exact scale - and they of course should be, I would use a ruler to determine wood thicknesses. If unsure, I would look up Mr Rice in the PAMPA registry and give him a call - he should know what he drew shouldn't he? I can't imagine plans that don't give the wood thicknesses as well as deminsions! I guess you just never know about plans though.

Steve --

You may never see this message. Leonard might zap it, and if he did I wouldn't blame him too much. I am being a little rude because I think you need it.

Let me explain this to you in a way you won't misunderstand. You are in way over your head. If you need instructions you should be building kits, not trying to build from plans. The good guys don't even have good plans all the time. They can just take some balsa, some plywood, some hardware, and two decent ideas and build a competitive airplane. That is a world with which I am not familiar, but that I admire.

Listen to me child. If you need more instructions, buy kits for a while. Then try to build from plans.

This is not a "know it all" response. The sad thing is that I have been humbled even by kits. This is not an easy sport. Personally, I would not take on an Oriental from plans, and I have been to several county fairs and other types of contests. Go easy and don't push too hard.

>Larry F said:
>Personally, I would not take on an Oriental from plans,
>and I have been to several county fairs and other types
>of contests. Go easy and don't push too hard.
>
Since it's possible that Larry has attributed less experience to Steve than is the actual case, I thought I would comment that in my own beginning days, after only building seven or eight rather simple C-L kits, preceded by a dozen stick and tissue rubber power crates, I took on a couple of designs from plans. I was then 14, perhaps just 13. One of the planes was Palmer's big (compared to my Circus Kings and Tomahawks) "Mars" stunter that I never finished before trading it off, but all that was incomplete was paint and mounting the engine.

The other was a B Team Racer that I did finish and had to borrow an engine to fly it. Also traded that one off fairly soon when I needed a second Torp 35. I did have the magazine articles that went with each one, and there were a few points I needed to make a phone call to a more exerienced modeller about, but mostly I just went by what I saw on the plans.

Each person brings to his hobby(ies) an individual set of his own talents. I had an excellent memory and a large collection of model magazines. After reading dozens of construction articles, I had an advantage over most relatively young and inexperienced modellers. I could interpolate from the stored descriptions I would be able to recall, and apply bits and pieces from various authors to answer my questions as I went.

Steve, if you cannot say the same, as what I described, or haven't already built a few kits similar to an Oriental, such as a Fancy Pants as a good lead-in, maybe building this plane from these plans will be beyond you. So, Steve, tell us how many kits you've built, and how many planes just from plans, and shoot down all of this second- guessing!

Kiwi and Steve --

Yes, I most certainly jumped the gun here. Kiwi is right, and Steve you take a look at where you are now and see if you wish to proceed or put this project back a month. I don't know where you are, and only you know if you are ready for this project.

First of all, this kid has some gray hair. Last year was the first full flying season of c/l flying since 15 years ago. Right now, there is a Ringmaster with adjustable leadouts and a wingtip weight box. Also, a .15 size Magician built from SSW plans with assorted 1/2a jobs. Why I'm asking this, is that it is going to be the first full fuselage job I build. Oh, by the way, my 75' grass flying circle is about 100' out my door. Steve D.

Steve --

You know what I love about this forum? People like you jump in, and people like me jump in, and we are mosty Half-Fast (great plane, by the way.) I don't mind being wrong.

Consider this a completion of my previous Half-Fast apology.

:) How are you to know. If I was short with you I appoligise. We are all in this forum to ask questions and get answers. And thanks to Warren for sending the parts list. Hope every one has a good day. Steve D.

Steve,
Let me try to scan the MAN article into my computer, and then I could send it to you.

The MAN plans are Dee's plans (at least it accompanied his construction article.

The only difficulty I had was to figure the fuse side width (there was no top view of the fuse in my plans. I measured it in one location and it appeared to be 1/8" thick.I caught Dee posting on RCONLINE and asked him, just to be sure. He told me it was 1/8".

Of course with Warren's list, you may not need much more.

Let me agree with the guy telling you to go get the Brodak kit. I am building one now. So far it is great. It is my first built up fuse type. Everything about the instructions shouts You Can Do This. Compared to the other kits I have built it is far and away the best. In my limited experience, it is the best I have found yet. Good Luck and pay attention to these guys, sometimes they argue and sound like a bunch of cranks, but I think they have your best interest at heart.

John Brodak understands modellers, you know. He will sell his kit's instruction booklet separately from the kit, if you want it. Sig has been offering the same sort of opportunities for some while, and they apparently sell enough copies to keep that sort of thing on a page in their catalog.

It seems to me that the instruction books and the like are available more for those who lose them. The hard core scratch builder normally does not need an instruction book, and they do come with the kit. But...

For those who want the instruction book and feel it is of value (and they are well done and VERY helpful in putting together the kit as designed) it really doesn't make a lot of sense to buy all of this stuff separately. It would cost you more to purchase the plans and the instruction book and all the stuff that goes into the kit than it would to purchase the kit in the first place.