Sharing more bonehead moves

Stuka Stunt Main Forum · 26 of 26 known posts recovered

mcm · Oct 01, 2003 07:11 AM

1) Always vacuum out a fuselage before attaching canopy. Just did the best canopy work ever on a full-bodied plane. Really proud. Turned it over to work on the bottom the next day. When I turned it back rightside up, I was looking at a balsa-covered canopy!

2) two left-handed wheelpants. I'm sometimes surprised I remember to breathe.

Ion Brazil · Oct 01, 2003 07:26 AM

#1 source

No pictures???

(The pot calling the kettle black, I never posted one)

But I'd love to see your pride, must look good!

In Christ,

Ion

Ty Marcucci · Oct 01, 2003 12:21 PM

#2 source

LAST EDITED ON Oct-01-03 AT 12:22 PM (CDT)

My Ares and one Barnstormer look especially good with balsa stuck on the inside of their canopies. Absorbs any loose oil that might or has creeped back past the firewall.

I truly think this is why lots of guys end painting the canopy, to hide the balsa dust. Ha
Their is spelled th E ir. I'll get it right yet, or else get a new keyboard.

Bob Reeves · Oct 01, 2003 04:34 PM

#3 source

So now you know why all my planes have painted canopies

Tools · Oct 01, 2003 05:43 PM

#4 source

Hey, I have rudders for both a Black Tiger and a Chipmunk airfoiled in such a way as to work great for clockwise flying airplanes! Uh, I don't (and never have) fly clockwise...but I still got'em, just in case!

Tools

Mike

Ty Marcucci · Oct 01, 2003 08:16 PM

#5 source

Glue them on backwards. Yah, that'll woik!

Tools · Oct 02, 2003 07:17 PM

#17 source

Hey Ty!

Uh, thought about gluing them on the bottom too!

Tools

Mike

Iskandar Taib · Oct 01, 2003 09:03 PM

#6 source

LAST EDITED ON Oct-02-03 AT 01:10 AM (CDT)

>2) two left-handed wheelpants. I'm sometimes surprised I
>remember to breathe.

I guess you could always build a second plane...

Somewhat related - the second airplane with a built up wing I ever built I covered with transparent orange Solarfilm. I wasn't too pleased when some time later, there was a bunch of water droplets on the inside of the covering...

Larry Cunningham · Oct 01, 2003 09:17 PM

#7 source

LAST EDITED ON Oct-01-03 AT 09:35 PM (CDT)

I did 1) on my Shogun ship, it made me sick. Even though the wing was not installed, it seemed impossible to get the balsa dust out. It was sticking electrostatically to the inside surface of the canopy.

Shall I tell you how I got about 98% of the dust out?

Initially, I started rubbing the plastic canopy with a soft cloth (!) and I could see effects of static electricity on the balsa particles. But I really couldn't move them away.

So I started "plinking" the exterior surface of the canopy with my finger tip, and noticed that the particles would eventually fall off. About 1 million plinks later, I had most of it cleared away.

(The plinking method works by extracting a pennance..)

After that I used Windy's trick and glued a piece of coffee filter material over the bottom of the cockpit area. This lets it breathe to avoid humidity problems, but precludes dust.

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"It is the childlike mind that finds the kingdom." -Charles Fillmore

Currell · Oct 01, 2003 09:25 PM

#8 source

Two left hand fuselage sides. Or was it the right side?

Pesky doublers...

Currell

Currell · Oct 01, 2003 09:26 PM

#9 source

Decal fuel proofer too thick?

No problem; just put some thinner in it.

Hey, what's happening to the decals?

Currell

Randy · Oct 01, 2003 09:37 PM

#10 source

Decided to put some out thrust in the new fuselage. Yep, drilled it upside down and Voila! an inward pointing engine. Almost have the new motor mounts done (CF) for the next attempt. Sheesh that was a lot of work for nothing.

Randy Powell

Steve G · Oct 01, 2003 09:38 PM

#11 source

I flipped the control lines on my Twister. I don't have to worry about doing that bonehead move with that plane again.

STEPHEN GRENOT

Randy · Oct 02, 2003 10:35 AM

#14 source

Steve,

I have to admit I've done this exactly once. Since, I use heat shrink tubing on the leadout ends, line ends and handle. Blue for up, white for down. Done this for years now. and have never made the mistake again. In the heat of the moment when you have a thousand other things on your mind, this is one less thing to screw up.

Randy Powell

Giffy · Oct 01, 2003 10:03 PM

#12 source

Senior moment:
I was flying an elderly guys plane in a race. I came in real quick for a pit stop. He held out his hand to catch it and, the plane rolled right on by. He looked up at me and yelled "bifocals bifocals". What was I supposed to do with that information?

Giffy
------------------------------
I Fly

Ty Marcucci · Oct 02, 2003 10:32 AM

#13 source

Just laugh. If he had on trifocals, he would have stepped on the plane!!!!!

Chris Sterner · Oct 02, 2003 11:19 AM

#15 source

I once did too many consecutive inside loops (5-6)with a CG Lil Satan. The lines became so twisted the controls would not respond. I was left to watch the airplane continue to loop another 10-12 more times into the ground.

Chris

clflyer · Oct 02, 2003 12:53 PM

#16 source

I once built a Sig Skyray for Fox Racing. After epoxing in the wing, I realized the leadouts were coming out of the outboard side. Luckily I was able to rethread them around to the inboard side. The bellcrank worked even though it was backwards.
Bill

Interested in C/L? Check out my site:
http://www.clflyer.com
Bill Calkins

Broken Wings · Oct 02, 2003 07:42 PM

#18 source

I dropped an Edmund's Engineering aluminum propeller pitch gage. It didn't hurt the gage because the wing panel that it fell through slowed it down.......some.
I didn't have the words.

Regards,
John Jolley

Cary · Oct 03, 2003 08:44 AM

#19 source

How about coming home from a fine day with no damage to anything just to stuff the prop from one plane through the wing of another.

Very carefully gluing weight into the inside wing.

Gluing the plywood reinforcement on a BiSlob to the outside of the body.

Cary

kdheath · Oct 03, 2003 10:05 AM

#20 source

Just last night, I started assembling a wing and realized just in time that I had started with the wrong ribs and was building a clockwise flying wing.

Then there was the time that I CA'd both hands to a fuselage that was firmly nailed to the building board.....While home alone.

Currell · Oct 03, 2003 10:36 AM

#21 source

>I dropped an Edmund's Engineering aluminum propeller pitch
>gage. It didn't hurt the gage because the wing panel that it
>fell through slowed it down.......some.
>I didn't have the words.
>
>Regards,
> John Jolley
>

Back in the Smoking Days, you would occasionlly see a guy stick his Zippo in his shirt pocket, and he would lean over that new Nobler with a slick new silkspanned paint job, and...

Currell

Larry Cunningham · Oct 03, 2003 12:05 PM

#22 source

Or the pen or pencil in the pocket! Awwgg.

Then there's the story where the lady pokes her long fingernail through the wing and exclaims, "Is that PAPER?"..

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"Fungus is actually alive. Be afraid."

kdheath · Oct 03, 2003 12:20 PM

#23 source

Larry, I remember that in cartoon form in (I think) an AAM Annual about 1962. Modeler with back turned. Lady: Why, it's paper! Really enjoyed their cartoons. Esp the one of the cavemen. One has hacked a plane out of rocks and is swinging it around his head on ropes. The other says, "See? I told you if you puts lines on it, anything will fly."
Kelvin

Ty Marcucci · Oct 03, 2003 08:33 PM

#24 source

Larry, that happened, I witnessed it. It was at a contest held by the New Bedford, Mass "Raiders". Bob Hunt, then a young whipper snapper" had a beautiful candy apple red and green Nobler sitting on the ground. A sexy brunette in a tight red dress followed by a huge ugly "Goomba" sashays up, bends over and poked her middle finger through the next to last outboard panel. She stood up, and said to "Il Goomba", "baby its covered with paper"!!! I have a photo of it after Bob did a perfect repair job on it. His face was very red, but he didn't say a "woid". I started to, but one look from the huge paisan with "sex pot" stopped me in my tracks. This was in April 1967 at the New Bedford airport. I'll never forget it.

Pete Munroe · Oct 05, 2003 09:48 PM

#25 source

Guys,

Used epoxy to glue the hinges into the flaps of my ARF Nobler.

Being more concerned with a good joint than anything else, I DID NOT oil the hinges first as the directions stipulate.

So...when the epoxy gooped up into the hinges, duh, I used ethanol alcohol to "wash it out"...

er, ACTUALLY thin it out, wick and WASH IT IN to the hinge joints!

Next morning, despite working the hinges nice and loose the night before, all 8 are locked solid. OOOPs.

Spent Sunday afternoon cutting off the outer hinge, pulling the hinge pins, removing the outer half of the hinge, cleaning out the flap notches, and mumbling.

Cannibalized the remaing hinges for half a hinge and a straight hinge pin.

I am one hinge short, will have to cut out the last one and add a Dubro I have for another project.

The flaps look about like you would expect...butchered.

The SIg epoxy is very good!

Hey...it's an ARF to fly hard...without fear ! or much pride!!!

Pete