A quick project to knock out.

There’re a couple of projects that I’ve been wanting to do for a few years, but just never made time.  I can’t claim credit for the original idea.  I saw a sketch a few years ago on the idea and it stuck with me.  I don’t remember where, but I saw the sketch of an F8F Bearcat and a Zero both using a Baby Ringmaster wing.  Seemed a good idea, but neither plane looked quite right with the BRM wing.  The wing shape just didn’t match the planes.  But the more I looked at the BRM wing, the more I realized that its shape did work for an F4F Wildcat.  It wouldn’t be too much effort to do, but I just wasn’t in the mood to build a couple of BRM wings.  I know I could order a BRM kit from PDK or Brodak, but it seemed like too much money for just the wing.  Not saying the kits are not worth the money, just not what I want to invest in this idea.   So I put the project on the back burner until my plate cleared (yeah, right!) and I had time to scratch out a couple of BRM wings.

Back at the end of February, Doug Hart (WillyNillies) posted about their new BRM kit.  At $24.95, it was closer to being worth shelling out some dough, but not quite.  I asked Doug what it would cost for just the wing kit, and he eventually got back to me with a price of $16.95 for just the wing kit and hardware.  That was the sweet spot.  So, I ordered two wing kits and one BRM kit.  You can never have enough Baby Ringmasters.  Being the patriotic guy he is, Doug also gives a discount to active duty military and vets.  So that was another 5% off the total, before shipping.

The wing kits came a couple of weeks ago, but as usual, I was in the middle of a couple of other projects I needed to finish.  After pretty much getting done with the Snip, I cleared some space on the build table.  I really shouldn’t be starting a new project, but what the hell.  Looking through what came, I have everything but the leadout materials.  They got left out somehow.  No biggie, I have materials to make up a couple of leadouts, and it’s not worth calling them over.  The 5% discount more than makes up for the cost of the leadout wire and crimps.  The wing is laser cut, and well thought out.  It slides together in a few minutes and you just put a drop of CA, or whatever your preferred glue is, on the joints.  The wing builds in no time.  It’s not the standard BRM wing, so don’t expect it to be exactly like what you’d get from PDK, Brodak, Sterling, Estes, whoever.  But it’s a good wing.  Here it is built, but with only the top sheeting left to install:





I’ll close this out once I make a fuselage and know how long to make the elevator pushrod.  As you can see, the leading edge is a flat piece of 9/16”x1/8” balsa, as is the t.e, rather than a stick of square or rounded l.e. stock.  So what you get is a little different from your standard BRM wing.  But it’ll fly well.  I used thick CA to tack the ribs, as that’s what I had on hand without opening a new bottle of CA.  Next wing I’ll do everything I can with thin CA.

All the wing pieces, except the top sheeting and shear webs, are laser cut from one stick of 1/8”x3” balsa, so I’m not sure why he programmed the l.e. for 9/16” width.  Maybe to give the ribs plenty of mating surface.  He also cuts the wing ribs from the same 1/8” stock, so the ribs are very stout.  WillyNillies produces 13 plane kits, but only one of them is a CL plane, so I’m assuming Doug is mostly an RC guy and has little CL experience.  That’s probably why he designed this kit so stout.  Or maybe it just makes more economical sense for him to use the wood the way he does.  I’ll not second-guess him for making a good kit at a good price.

More to come…

The Copycat Mark