Prop / engine on our first real Trainer?

First let me say I do appreciate everyone taking the time to answer my simple questions.

I have an old McCoy .19 that has an 8x6T prop. I am wanting to put this engine on my son’s Flight Streak Trainer. My question is this the right size prop for the engine / plane?

I do not want him to crash on his maiden flight with the plane.

Thanks
Paul

I have a McCoy 19 on a Gullow #2 trainer. I'm running a 9 x 4 which will fly the trainer OK with the engine fairly rich. I think your 8 x 6 may fly the airplane faster than you wish. With a trainer you want the airplane to FLY (not bumble around!) as slow as possible. By FLY, I mean good line tension, wind penitration, and reasonable response to control.

Agree. The classic setup with a McCoy 19 is either a 9-4 or 8-6. Usually, the lower pitched option is the way to go on a trainer.

Worrying about your son not crashing on his first flight is not the best approach to this, root (this is not a criticism). The all wood Streak Trainer is pretty stout, and crashes are part of the game, especially early in a CL career. You learn as much from them as the flights where everything goes jake.

Bring plenty of thick CA and Kicker! And enjoy.

Another point...it is better for a newbie, IMHO, to have a slightly "faster" lap time and even risk some dizziness, versus slowing it down a lot, and possibly compromising line tension, model responsiveness, etc. Don't run it too rich. And use a very small tank, that maybe takes you something like 10 laps. This will help on any vertigo/dizzy issues. The NVCL club does this, and with this very airplane. SSW's (and NVCL's) own Col McClain will recall this. You can rubber band a bigger tank on later.

Have him look at the plane, not the background blur. This usually helps a little.

I assume you are on 52 ft lines?

Best of luck! Currell

I agree, small tank to start, 4 pitch prop, engine on the verge of a 2 cycle (fast 4 cycle) not screaming.
Bill <><

Thanks guys,
All noted.... I have to place an order for props any way and might as everything I need the first time.
And Yes Currell you are correct. Crashing is what we do best. We have been going to our air field with 3 .049 trainers and always come home with 2 of them broken. We like fix'n~em up again. We alway get a good laugh out of who every dumps one. We have 3 of our 4 .049's in the repair hanger right now. The flight streak is still drying from the finish resien.

Thanks
Paul

Rootbeard,
You might be surprised at how much easier the bigger plane is to fly. I too like 1/2a for initial training, especially over tall grass in the spring when the ground is soggy (does that give you an idea about my flying ability! ). On the other hand, if you are bringing that 3rd 1/2a back unbroken, you may have no problem at all with the bigger plane.

The only thing to watch out for is the takeoff--this is where they can get away from you, especially if the lines snag on any wisp of grass or weeds in the circle. I suggest taking off downwind--at least that's what my Dad taught me back in the '60's. The wind tends to keep the lines tight during that first 1/2 circle. Others may have different perspectives here!

If you are beginning I’m a real fan of Foam wing planes. Easy to fix, no emotional attachment created by lots of time building, and relatively inexpensive. Also fly very well. Worth considering.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-05-04 AT 04:17 PM (CDT)
 
>
>And Yes Currell you are correct. Crashing is what we do
>best. We have been going to our air field with 3 .049
>trainers and always come home with 2 of them broken. We like
>fix'n~em up again. We alway get a good laugh out of who
>every dumps one. We have 3 of our 4 .049's in the repair
>hanger right now. The flight streak is still drying from the
>finish resien.

I am going to make two other recommendation that might not sit well with lots of folks, but are based on personal experience.

Firstly is to make sure that you are using the right fuel - e.g. 0-10% nitro max, minimum 25% all castor lube fuel. Don't use a mix of synthetic and castor in these old mills. Don't use more than 10% nitro.

Second is to use a wooden prop instead of a nylon or plastic based prop. Two reasons. One is that the heavier weight of the nylon or plastic based prop will accelerate wear on the conrod, and McCoy conrods are not all that beefy. Secondly, the plasitc/nylon props are far less prone to breaking than wooden props. That means if there is a greater risk of snapping the crank or conrod, as the plastic prop might not be the first part to fail. Now, if you have a good supply of McCoy Redhead spare parts and can stand this, then drive on. However, if you are in the same boat as the rest of us, you know that McCoy Redhead engines have not been made in 30 years and spare parts are getting tough to find.

This advice is not being dreamt up at the keyboard, but the result of some hard earned experience.

My best to you and your grandson. These are days he will never forget.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-06-04 AT 02:59 PM (CDT)
 
F4Fguy

Paul:

First let me say I reiterate all the the above,especially Bill's wood prop recommendation.Those old McCoy cranks and rods were fragile.I'd a lot rather break a prop than bend or break a crank.

Under the sponsorship of Cal Poly U.and my club,I do a modeling summer camp for 9-14 year olds for two weeks every summer.In the last 5 years,we've tought~150 kids to fly U.C.

We use almost all the "tricks" mentioned above.I would also add some advice.

Some have had sucess with a "dual"handle,we found it to be awkward and also to allow too much input by the instructor.The only "mechanical aid"we sometimes use is a ruler from the palm to the lower arm held by an elastic bandage to restrict wrist movement.
ALWAYS USE THE SAFETY THONG!!We had one student get "tired of flying"and just let go of the handle!
Good "ground school"is better than yelling instructions while they're flying.After going over the principles,do some"dry flying"to establish a feel for hand/arm position and motion,then..... Let them crash and then analyze what went awry and what they have to do to fix it.Give them every chance to figure it out themselves,don't just tell them "what they did wrong".
Go slowly;master take off before worrying about level flight;master level flight before climbing and descending;LEARN TO LAND,one of the big lessons is that "up and down" is the speed control and landing is about controlling airspeed until touchdown.When the engine stops,PUT the nose down to maintain speed.
Loops are easy if you learn to climb and dive first.Concentrate on putting the plane where you want it,not on correcting is meanderings.Progress to wingovers,which are simply extended climbs and dives,and then to loops which are wingovers all on one side of the circle.Approached this way,the tendency to pull too tight a loop (and the subsequent stall)is avoided.
If you're not already doing it,buy a heavy glove and teach them to start their own engine.The more they know about the equipment the more respect they have for it.
Back to props,etc.,instill the idea of NOT needling for screaming lean runs.Not only is it terrible for engine life(especially the McCoys or Foxes),but it produces LESS power than just into the two stroke + 1 or 2 clicks.For training,leave out even the 1 or 2 clicks.Now is a good time to work on the idea of the lean 4 stroke/rich 2 stroke setting.Use the prop that makes the engine happy,you can control lap times by line length(up to a point)The McCoy on a Streak trainer should handle up to 60-62ft of .015,and shouldn't be too fast at a 4 stroke with 52ft .015s.If you're flying off grass,comb the first 1/4 lap for clover,dandelion,etc.,anything that can snag lines,especially with longer lengths.
For initial flights you can shim the tank so it tilts down to the outside and"short load"it for two or three lap flights.This is also good training for measuring fuel into the airplane.

Praise them!Praise them!Praise them!Nothing works better than a positive outlook.

Good luck!You're going to have a lot fun along with a great experience.