finishing up old project

microflitedude wrote:

RknRusty wrote:
We should start an "Ugliest plane that still flies" thread.

I've got one.

I'll get some pictures and start a thread tomorrow. We all like to show off our masterpieces, but the truth is some of the funnest planes are tough old beaters.

Got some good news. I have been experimenting with Kavan tank extenders and have had some good luck. I used cotton thread in the grooves between the tank sections and have gotten the extensions to work without leaking. They can take a lot of fiddling around with to get set up but they are possible. Now I have two engines for this plane. The Norvel will run for bout one minute and 15 seconds but will spin a Cox yellow safety tip 5X3 prop over 23,000 RPM on the ground. My Black Widow will run for between four minutes and four minutes 15 seconds while spinning the same prop slightly over 16,000 RPM on the ground. Since both engines have the same mounting pattern I can take them both to the field and see which one I like better. I hope to be able to get out and try them out next weekend.

Bob

Just for kicks, try a 5x3 MA on that BW, it might be good for an additional 2 or nearly 3k. My BWs never get along with those yaller props. Glad you got the extender working. I haven't used mine yet.

Here is the first Kavan tank extender I got to work well. It is on a parts built Black Widow. It is an all plastic extender on a metal stunt tank with a plastic backplate.








Here is another extender I have had good luck with. This is the second engine for it. The first one started heating up and running badly. I found that the connecting rod was rubbing on the case from about 30 degrees before bottom dead center to about 30 degrees after bottom dead center. This is an all alumnum extender and I have not run the new engine on it yet.

Bob

andrew wrote:

fit90 wrote:The engine run time is a whopping 1:15 now.
Bob

Yeah, the standard NORVEL tank is a short runner, for sure. I've used it as a mount, but added an external tank for longer runtimes. NORVEL does make an extended tank mount, but it's pricey at $19.

I obviously had a little too much free time last night because I removed the standard Novel tank/mount and installed the one Andrew suggested. I still need to balance the plane and test run the engine but I am hoping for between two and three minutes of run time. If I get lucky I might get a chance to test fly it this weekend. If I do I will take some more videos.

Bob

I test ran two different Norvel Big Migs on this tank on the plane. Neither one had good fuel draw. I even tried them with a muffler and pressure from the muffler to the tank, but still didn't get good enough fuel draw. I was about to put the extended tank Black Widow on it when I thought to give a Tee Dee with a stock venturi a try and found something that finally worked. Run times are a little over three minutes and the stock Tee Dee turns a Cox yellow 5X3 about 19,800 RPM very steadily. The Tee Dee does have a fine thread needle valve on it, which may or may not help. I don't know.

By the way, both Big Migs ran very well on the bench and even on the smaller Norvel tank/mount on the plane. They would turn the same prop 23,000 RPM. When I ran them on the extended tank the fuel in the line started to bubble up pretty quickly. Richening the mixture helped only a little, not nearly enough, though.

I hope the Tee Dee does the trick. I will try to post some pics before the weekend. I will probably put them in the ugly plane thread as well as here.

Bob

fit90 wrote:I test ran two different Norvel Big Migs on this tank on the plane. Neither one had good fuel draw. I even tried them with a muffler and pressure from the muffler to the tank, but still didn't get good enough fuel draw. I was about to put the extended tank Black Widow on it when I thought to give a Tee Dee with a stock venturi a try and found something that finally worked. Run times are a little over three minutes and the stock Tee Dee turns a Cox yellow 5X3 about 19,800 RPM very steadily. The Tee Dee does have a fine thread needle valve on it, which may or may not help. I don't know.

By the way, both Big Migs ran very well on the bench and even on the smaller Norvel tank/mount on the plane. They would turn the same prop 23,000 RPM. When I ran them on the extended tank the fuel in the line started to bubble up pretty quickly. Richening the mixture helped only a little, not nearly enough, though.

I hope the Tee Dee does the trick. I will try to post some pics before the weekend. I will probably put them in the ugly plane thread as well as here.

Bob

That Norvel is some kinda screaming thing for a tank to be bolted straight to. Maybe the test stand absorbed the high freq vibrations and channeled them away from the tank more than the airframe does. Who knows, I'm just guessing. I look forward to seeing some action, hope it turns out to be a good combination. The Ugly Plane thread will be happy to get some action too.

Good news everybody,

I took Ken's advice and put a squirt of ArmorAll in my fuel and the two engines I flew on this plane today both ran well and emptied the tank. I ren the Tee Dee .049 first and then the Norvel .061 Big Mig. Both ran well but the Norvel had a lot more oomph then the Tee Dee, as expected. The plane is a lot more fun with a longer run time and more power.

finally

second flight



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third flight



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Man! That thing was cookin!

Cool stuff. Nice aerial video.