Best Retracts for Curare
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Hello all,
It's winter building time again! I have on order the Curare short kit from Eureka.
Question: what are the best retracts to use for this aircraft? I'm thinking the Spring Air 305 flat mount (trike gear), but that's based on zero experience with air retracts. I do have a set of mechanical retracts that I was using in a Calypso, but I would have to buy a nose gear unit. Any suggestions?
I'll be trying to get the engine situation figured out next. I have a Rossi side exhaust blackhead that would be perfect but needs work. I really don't want to deal with an unreliable engine so I may have to replace bearings and piston/liner. The OS .61 FX looks off-the-shelf ready for this aircraft, and might be cheaper than buying parts for the Rossi.
My plan is to use 8178's blue angel build as a cookbook for this bird. I only hope I can come close!
Thanks for any suggestions.
Mitch
It's winter building time again! I have on order the Curare short kit from Eureka.
Question: what are the best retracts to use for this aircraft? I'm thinking the Spring Air 305 flat mount (trike gear), but that's based on zero experience with air retracts. I do have a set of mechanical retracts that I was using in a Calypso, but I would have to buy a nose gear unit. Any suggestions?
I'll be trying to get the engine situation figured out next. I have a Rossi side exhaust blackhead that would be perfect but needs work. I really don't want to deal with an unreliable engine so I may have to replace bearings and piston/liner. The OS .61 FX looks off-the-shelf ready for this aircraft, and might be cheaper than buying parts for the Rossi.
My plan is to use 8178's blue angel build as a cookbook for this bird. I only hope I can come close!
Thanks for any suggestions.
Mitch
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And just because people love pictures, here's a shot stolen from another RCU thread that shows a fine example. Beyond my meager skills, but something to shoot for.
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That's what I'm trying to figure out, the plans seem to show that you could go either way. There is a firewall and a tank floor. Which one works best?
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Which ones works best? How long's a piece of string? Best ones are the ones you have the most experience with. I use Hobbico mechanicals on the tank floor in my Curare, because there's enough room in there to maintain and adjust the things, I understand how they work, I can get parts if I need them, and they are in my price range.
Guess that's all you really need.
Evan, WB #12.
Guess that's all you really need.
Evan, WB #12.
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didn't that curare in the photo expire (or rekit)? the retracts work the same but you may need to layout the various components on the plans in order to decide. do you need to borrow a tank floor mount nose gear to help you decide?
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I prefer air for 3-gear and mechanical for 2- gear set-ups. 3 gear mechanical requires either 2 retract servos or complex linkage for 1 servo. As for firewall vs tank floor (belly) mounting: the primary reason for flat mounted nose gears was to make space for inverted mounted engine set-ups (Aurora, Citation, Atlanta, etc.)
You might consider the OS 75AX, too. Plenty of power without a pipe. You can also look into a new Rossi - still a great engine.
-Will
You might consider the OS 75AX, too. Plenty of power without a pipe. You can also look into a new Rossi - still a great engine.
-Will
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Thanks gents, lots of good information. I'll ponder this for awhile longer.
Thanks very much for the offer dhal, but I'd prefer not to borrow anything. I do want to see how Eureka's plan differs from the one that I have (I ordered their plan with the short kit) before I make up my mind.
What would be great is if I had a scale drawing of the various retracts to overlay on the plan.
Thanks very much for the offer dhal, but I'd prefer not to borrow anything. I do want to see how Eureka's plan differs from the one that I have (I ordered their plan with the short kit) before I make up my mind.
What would be great is if I had a scale drawing of the various retracts to overlay on the plan.
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And yes, that Curare in the picture did die young. The blame was laid on the carbon pushrod/rod end glue joint. I learned something from reading that post. Maybe he saved my curare from meeting the same fate.
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i like the scale drawing of the retracts idea. i think my finished King Kobra kit plan has a scale drawing of a spring air retract on it. i need to throw that box away anyway, i'll take a look.
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Thanks David, that would be great.
While researching the various engine options I came across the K&B .61 ABC TWISTER W/TUNED MUFFLER at the following site:
https://shop.mecoa.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=22
The price and published performance of this engine is close to the OS .61 FX, but it has a very retro look. I have had a few K&B engines and they have always been reliable, but my impression is that this is not an engine that you would have found on a Curare back in the day. (but neither is the OS)
I do think that buying parts for the Rossi that I have would be much cheaper than a new one, assuming that the parts shown online are actually available. I would need the tuned pipe and bracket in addition to the bearings and piston/liner. The Rossi that I have has an aftermarket muffler. I obtained it in a trade a few years ago.
While researching the various engine options I came across the K&B .61 ABC TWISTER W/TUNED MUFFLER at the following site:
https://shop.mecoa.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=22
The price and published performance of this engine is close to the OS .61 FX, but it has a very retro look. I have had a few K&B engines and they have always been reliable, but my impression is that this is not an engine that you would have found on a Curare back in the day. (but neither is the OS)
I do think that buying parts for the Rossi that I have would be much cheaper than a new one, assuming that the parts shown online are actually available. I would need the tuned pipe and bracket in addition to the bearings and piston/liner. The Rossi that I have has an aftermarket muffler. I obtained it in a trade a few years ago.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">Mitch,
I had in my Curare back in 1976-1977 Carl Goldberg mechanical retracts, the nose gear need to be firewall mounted then but it will work fine. I had Goldberg retracts also in a Mach 1 prior to that and it worked great there also. I had not a single failure of the retracts and they where used on hundreds and hundrerds of flights, mostly on grass fields.
I have seen NIB Goldberg retracts on ebay now and then.</span><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">
I had a Rossi 60 with side exhaust and pipe in my Cuarare - very reliable engine but I wore ut two of them and ball bearings, pistons etc was replaced as normal maintenance of course. I had needle valve control also with one servo for the Rossi carburator. You should be able to find replacement parts for Your Rossi 60 at (I assume you know)http://shop.vendio.com/RossiEnginesUSA/
PS. I have also a Curare short kit arriving soon from Eureka Aircraft (it has arrived at my country customs now so not many days left before it is delivered to my home).
/Bo</span></div>
I had in my Curare back in 1976-1977 Carl Goldberg mechanical retracts, the nose gear need to be firewall mounted then but it will work fine. I had Goldberg retracts also in a Mach 1 prior to that and it worked great there also. I had not a single failure of the retracts and they where used on hundreds and hundrerds of flights, mostly on grass fields.
I have seen NIB Goldberg retracts on ebay now and then.</span><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">
I had a Rossi 60 with side exhaust and pipe in my Cuarare - very reliable engine but I wore ut two of them and ball bearings, pistons etc was replaced as normal maintenance of course. I had needle valve control also with one servo for the Rossi carburator. You should be able to find replacement parts for Your Rossi 60 at (I assume you know)http://shop.vendio.com/RossiEnginesUSA/
PS. I have also a Curare short kit arriving soon from Eureka Aircraft (it has arrived at my country customs now so not many days left before it is delivered to my home).
/Bo</span></div>
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I had used Spring airs and they worked pretty well. Less issues than Rhom Air retracts. However once I tried mechanical (not Goldberg) I never went back to air. Even for trigear a single retract servo Futaba 36G or 136G is nore than enough to operate them. The linkage to the nose gear oftne means a pushrod coming off the front of the wing but it can be made removable. As the Dave Brown ad said. If your radio works the retracts work if your radio doesn't, it doesn't matter. I have used Dave Brown, MK, and Supra and they all work well. MK retracts seemed to be the best made.
Stuart C.
Stuart C.
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JMB, if you are going to get a K&B engine buy it direct from Clarence Lee. He designed the original engine and custom fits and ports the engines to your need, and installs his PDP mod. IIRC the C. F. Lee MFG custom mod engine costs $127 + $7.50, and it runs pretty strong on the smaller 11x7 or 11x8 props. In Mr Lee's opinion, his older-design engine (6550 Ring) is preferable to the Twister and being a ringed engine it will last longer than the ABC Twister (FYI ALL of the Twister engines are old-stock, manufactured from parts left over from before MECOA purchased the K&B line). Mr. Lee will custom fit any engine in the K&B line however.
Obviously the power is not on par with the piped Rossi, but the K&B engine will save you nearly 8-10 oz. if that is a concern.
Please do a build thread! I am very seriously considering building a Curare or Tiporare from Eureka and would love to see some pictures. Of course I plan to commit Classic Pattern Heresy and will install a .91 4-stroke in mine. As much as I love the SCREAM of the old 2-stoke engines, I don't want to risk losing my flying field
. I do have a basically brand-new OS .61VF with a pipe, but can't afford the noise footprint at any of the tight fields around here and should probably just try to sell it to somebody for an old-school BPA plane.
Obviously the power is not on par with the piped Rossi, but the K&B engine will save you nearly 8-10 oz. if that is a concern.
Please do a build thread! I am very seriously considering building a Curare or Tiporare from Eureka and would love to see some pictures. Of course I plan to commit Classic Pattern Heresy and will install a .91 4-stroke in mine. As much as I love the SCREAM of the old 2-stoke engines, I don't want to risk losing my flying field
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ORIGINAL: mchandrayan
How do you order direct from Mr Lee? Any website or phone numbers?
Thanks
How do you order direct from Mr Lee? Any website or phone numbers?
Thanks
Lee, Clarence F.
10112 Woodward Ave
Sunland, CA 91040-3342
(818) 352-3766
(818) 353-7356
[email protected]
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Thanks guys, I knew you would come through with some valuable information. So far, I'm leaning towards mechanical retracts and parts for the Rossi.
I would like to do a build thread (so I will). It keeps me motivated, and is of course, a source of valuable input to the project.
Like David (dhal), I'm going to learn to paint on this one. I plan to build a paint booth in the unfinished part of the basement with an exhaust out the daylight window. This way the winter weather will be no factor.
I just hope the kit comes soon...
I would like to do a build thread (so I will). It keeps me motivated, and is of course, a source of valuable input to the project.
Like David (dhal), I'm going to learn to paint on this one. I plan to build a paint booth in the unfinished part of the basement with an exhaust out the daylight window. This way the winter weather will be no factor.
I just hope the kit comes soon...
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">Mitch,</span><div><font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial"><span style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;">
</span></font></div><div><font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial"><span style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;">Guess what was deliverd to my doorstep today?</span></font></div><div><font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial"><span style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;">A big box from Eureka Aircraft containing Curare foam wing+stab with wood kit and copy of MK Curare 60 plan.
Beautifully cut foam wing, stab and nice wood pack. Well worth the wait. I have also 2 NIB Curare canopies I got on ebay Germany that seems to be orginal MK Curare replacement canopy.
In the box was also a Mach 1 short kit with foam wing+stab, copy of MAN Mach 1 planand absolutely beautiful Mach 1 canopy (I actually ordered 3 of them and all 3 was delivered, just so I have some spares also).
I have planned for extra long holiday (3 weeks) before and afterChristmasand then these will be on building board.
/Bo</span></font></div>
</span></font></div><div><font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial"><span style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;">Guess what was deliverd to my doorstep today?</span></font></div><div><font size="3" face="Verdana, Arial"><span style="font-size: 13px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;">A big box from Eureka Aircraft containing Curare foam wing+stab with wood kit and copy of MK Curare 60 plan.
Beautifully cut foam wing, stab and nice wood pack. Well worth the wait. I have also 2 NIB Curare canopies I got on ebay Germany that seems to be orginal MK Curare replacement canopy.
In the box was also a Mach 1 short kit with foam wing+stab, copy of MAN Mach 1 planand absolutely beautiful Mach 1 canopy (I actually ordered 3 of them and all 3 was delivered, just so I have some spares also).
I have planned for extra long holiday (3 weeks) before and afterChristmasand then these will be on building board.
/Bo</span></font></div>
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Bo,
That is fantastic, I hope that I have such good luck. I have not been notified of shipment yet.
I was waiting to see the short kit and plan before ordering the wood kit. What do you think about the quality and price of the wood? Is if worth it versus ordering the wood from one of the wood suppliers?
I will also be looking for a canopy. If I can't find one, then it's easy to just build it solid, like in the picture above. Maybe I'll make a form and mold.
Mitch
That is fantastic, I hope that I have such good luck. I have not been notified of shipment yet.
I was waiting to see the short kit and plan before ordering the wood kit. What do you think about the quality and price of the wood? Is if worth it versus ordering the wood from one of the wood suppliers?
I will also be looking for a canopy. If I can't find one, then it's easy to just build it solid, like in the picture above. Maybe I'll make a form and mold.
Mitch
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; background-position: initial initial; ">Hi,<div></div><div>Eureka has the "Curare Sheets and Sticks wood pack" listed as US $70. The sheets for covering the foam wing+stab seems fine and not hard nor too soft. Sticks seems fine also. I think the wood for the ailerons is to large but other then that all is excellent. I ordered this pack so I do not need to hunt for all this later and get shipping cost on that from another company. I have not compared prices with ordinary balsa wood suppliers, I just assumed it would not differ that much from buying from Eureka instead of a wood supplier. Anyway I'm pleased with quality of theSheets and Sticks wood pack delivered from Eureka, the price seems reasonable also.
</div><div>If I happen to see any Curare canopy on ebay or elsewhere I can e-mail You if you want. The two canopies I got from ebay Germany was slightly blue tan color and very good quality. If I get some time tomorrow I will take some pictures of the Eureka Curare short kit, foam wing+stab, sheet+stick pack so You can see it. Picture of the Curare canopy I have is below.
</div></div>/Bo
</div><div>If I happen to see any Curare canopy on ebay or elsewhere I can e-mail You if you want. The two canopies I got from ebay Germany was slightly blue tan color and very good quality. If I get some time tomorrow I will take some pictures of the Eureka Curare short kit, foam wing+stab, sheet+stick pack so You can see it. Picture of the Curare canopy I have is below.
</div></div>/Bo
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If you’re looking for canopies try this source , Cosmos, Aurora 45, Aurora 60, Banshee, Curare, Taurus, Gator Flea and more.
http://parkflyerplastics.com/cart/in...index&cPath=46
http://parkflyerplastics.com/cart/in...index&cPath=46
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Thanks Paul, that looks like it will do the trick.
Bo, thanks for the recommendation, I think I'll order the wood from Eureka as well.
Bo, thanks for the recommendation, I think I'll order the wood from Eureka as well.
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Mitch, no problem. Glad I was able to help. That’s what this forum is all about.
I look forward to your new build thread; you won’t be disappointed with the Rossi and retracts.
I personally prefer air for ease of installation in a trike install and use the 300 series by Spring Air due to the lower profile. They are easier to fit in thinner wings, not that it is in issue with the Curare.
I look forward to your new build thread; you won’t be disappointed with the Rossi and retracts.
I personally prefer air for ease of installation in a trike install and use the 300 series by Spring Air due to the lower profile. They are easier to fit in thinner wings, not that it is in issue with the Curare.