Cybertom

Scale of Flair Stearman Kit
Flair notes in the builders instructions and on their website that the scale of their aircraft is 1:4.3. It doesn't divide easily but the exact scale is:
Upper wingspan of a full scale Stearman is 32' and 2" for a total of 386". The Flair Stearman wing span is 89"...So

32' / 12 = 384"
384+2=386" total wingspan

Exact scale of the Flair Stearman is 386/89=4.3370786516853932584269662921348

Why 1:4.33...Scale?
Why do you think that Flair chose such an odd scale? Could it be that 7 more inches in fuselage length would mean that it couldn't fit in most vehicles? Was it because they were sizing it to fit a range of reasonably priced and available power plants? I will send an email to ask them and post their response here.

Overwhelming Advantage to High Quality Mass Produced Kits
In my opinion, there is one overwhelming advantage the Flair kit has over the many designer specific plans that are available. If you examine the Flair kit you will find that they went to great lengths to reduce weight. The formers and ribs have material removed with intricate patterns to save the maximum amount of weight possible while retaining strength. They also combined and layered thin sections of different materials to create light but strong structures.

Typical Designers don't include that level of complexity in their kits because it would drive up the manufacturing costs. So what's a guy to do? Answer: Look for a really well designed kit that is mass produced which drives down the per unit cost. I give you the Flair Stearman!

As an example I am attaching two photos. The one on the top is a wing from a well known Designer; the one on the bottom is a wing from my Flair Stearman. Which do you think is lighter? Which do you think would be more expensive to manufacture? Which would you rather have in your airplane? The last picture speaks for itself.

Decision Point
I'll take a Flair Stearman over anyone elses Stearman kit even though its a tad smaller than 1/4th scale.

BE_BXL

Hey Tom,

I was considering buying a 1/4 stearman kit. So I was looking at the Bob Dively's kit. As this one is only available in the states (I live in Belgium), it would rather be an expensive plane to have it send overhere. it would need a 4.2 to 6.4 gas motor. A second option is the 1/3 balsa usa kit. But 1/3 would be far too big for me.
As I was gathering info on the internet, I stumbled onto your flair stearman.
Indeed, what you say about the construction methods, I have the same experience with my flair Ka8 glider (which I am still building). Only with my Ka8 the wood quality is poor, and the plans of the wings were not on exact (left wing was 1'' taller than the right one). What about your kit? was everything OK?

As you picked the navy colours sceme, with the white fuse (I like the colour sceme very much) : is this an original colour sceme? The 114 stearman is a replica. Do you have some info on this?

I was wondering how you did the stitching? I have a pair of scissors that cut with dents, but mine are much lareger. What did you use to cut the cloth?

I think you did an absolute fabulous job!!!

Cybertom

The drawing of the center section was not to scale. This did not cause any problems because all the pieces fit together like a puzzle.

The covering, finishing tape, and stitching method are all from F&M Products: http://www.stits.com/index.html

Their fabric is called Stits. It is used on full scale airplanes and they also make a smaller weave for models. You use the same paints and process on both. They have a full scale covering manual available for $10 dollars that shows you how to cover a real Piper cub.

To simulate stitching on a model you apply small blobs of glue on top of the fabric with a T-pin. When you apply Poly-Brush, Poly-Spray, and Poly-Tone over the wing it looks like stitching. It's a really slick method of simulating stitching.

I am 90% sure that the color scheme is authentic. I have been trying to find original war period pictures of NAVY Stearman to validate it. I have found many references that list Glacier White as a fuselage color for NAVY Stearman. The colors I used are Orange Yellow, Glacier White, Insignia Red, and Insignia Blue. These colors are also listed on the Stits website as correct for NAVY Stearman.

Photo #1 is of the finishing tape and stitching. The wing is sprayed with Poly-Brush at this point. F&M sells a good video that shows you how to do the whole wing from beginning to end. Photo #2 is of the wings sprayed with Poly-Spray. Its silver in color and UV protects the airplane and blocks the light from coming through the wing. Poly-Spray also sands really well. You have seen the color of my airplane and that's Poly-Tone which also sands really well. Photo #3 is of the full scale Stearman I copied the paint scheme from:

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tom: Haven't been communicating much lattly. I have to undergo surgery of a persistant tumor in my jaw for the third time and have been kind o bussy
Regards Argon

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tom: have almost finished the first lower wing and I'm thinking as you suggested to change the anchor brackets for the flying wires.
Have not heard from Nelson on the wire. Did hear from Robart my engine will ship next week.

Regards....ARGON

Cybertom

Argon,
My R780 quit during a landing Saturday causing significant internal damange.

A few weeks ago my Robart R780 radial engine ate a valve. As it was explained to me my Larry Sperling of Robart "This happens some times and it happened to you". The base of the valve detached from the stem and trashed the #7 cylinder head, cylinder and piston. I sent it in for repair which they covered at no expense to me.

I got it back Saturday and they replace all of cylinder #7 including the piston. They also replaced all of the connecting rods.

I put in back in Saturday morning and went flying. I was on my 5th flight when the engine quit during my preparation for landing. I didn't have the altitude to turn back towards the field and had to land in the rough. My Stearman landed and rolled into a small ditch which flipped it over.

Here is the damage:

The damage is as follows:

1. Fuselage firewall broke free of stringers around lower left landing gear mount. (Landing gear strut was pushed backwards)
2. Left landing gear torque link sheared off.
3. Left landing gear strut damaged.
4. Left wheel torn and detached from rim.
5. Cabane struts bent. Upper wing no longer parallel with lower wing.
6. Tip of rudder folded over when the airplane flipped over.
7. Flying wire attachment point yanked out of wing.
8. Lower wing anchors yanked out of wing breaking inner wing ribs.

I'm guessing that the engine quit at low RPM because it was still tight from the repair work. I should have run it on a test stand first. She can be repaired but I'm out of commission for a month or two.

If I were you, I would run an entire case of fuel through the engine on a test stand to ensure that it’s well broken in before you fly it in your Stearman. I should have done this when I got it back from repair. I'd rather have spent $44 on a case of fuel than the time and trouble I have to go through now to fixing my Stearman.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Ouch! Sorry to hear this [].

Cybertom

Ouch! Take care of yourself. Get well soon!

BE_BXL

Tom,

that's really bad news. Hopefully you can repair the stearman. It is a beautifull ship.

I just ordered mine from flair. I will start building it at the end of this season.
I contacted the stits company. They even have a reseller in Belgium!!! This is a good start.

I was wondering whether I could get a copy of your european DVD of the stearman?

You mentioned the seidel engine. What's difference between the seidel and the robart engine?

Cybertom

I can definitely fix it. It's not that bad, it's just frustrating and I'm going to loose a lot of good flying weather.

As far as the difference between a Robart and a Seidel, I don't really know. Seidel has a good reputation and his engines are far more scale than OS or Saito. The Robart R780 is probably your ultimate scale radial engine.

What Robart built into the R780 is no secret. I wish the Seidel site was up and running with technical information for people to read. From what I understand Seidel is a one man operation and he is probably really busy without the website. I don't know what technology he has in his engine. Robart, OS, and Saito all have an intake impeller of sorts in their engine. The Robart impeller can almost qualify as a blower. That makes a big difference in Horse Power and Robart claims 10.

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tomk: Sorry to hear about your mishap nothing you cannot fix but it is a pain...

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tom: By the way I'm going in on the 27th of July and if all goes well will take about 6 weeks to recoup, you are still going to fly before I do, as for the engine I was planning on runing it quite a bit since I cannot fly it yet.

Regards.......ARGON

Cybertom

Can you fly year round down there? Is it to hot to stand out in the sun right now and fly? When do guys typically build down there vs. fly or doesn't it matter?

November really starts getting cold and miserable up here. April usually has the first few really good days to fly. So for the 5-months of winter you are building or going to a frozen finger fun fly with ski's on your airplane. When it gets below 25 degrees the engines are really difficult to start.

Bill Yonescu

My Feedback: (44)

Tom,

Sorry to hear about the mishap. Good luck with the repair.

Bill

Cybertom

Thanks,

I know how to proceed with every repair except the left landing gear strut. When the landing gear the strut bent backwards it separated the former it was attached to from the stringers around the strut exit. I want to make sure that if I ever have a rough landing like this again, that the strut takes all the abuse instead of the fuselage. I would have been easy to just unbolt the strut and fix it or replace it instead of working on the fuselage. I'll figure something out.

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tom: I sent my struts to Larry at Robart for trhem to weld the torque links, while they have mine they may be able to make you a new pair.

Regards.......ARGON

Cybertom

As long has your having them do some welding, you might consider having them open up the axle hole by drilling and taping the hole for a 1/4-28 thread. I have found that the 5mm x 40mm bolt used as a wheel axle is rather wimpy. I have replaced both of them twice in 22 flights. A good bounce will easily bend them and the inner wheel rim will gouge the landing gear strut cover.

Here is what I am doing:
I am buying Glennis Aircraft AT-6 Wheels and rims. The Glennis wheels use a 1/4" diameter axle shaft which I feel is far more appropriate for an aircraft of this size. I bough their AT-6 wheels with the smooth disk face and scale brake cover plate with a diamond tread tire.

Nothing against Robart but these wheels blow away everything they offer. These guys are so good that they have had their products in several popular movies and their stuff is used by Scale Masters champions. They aren't cheap but the quality and scale appearance are awesome:

[link=http://www.glennis.com/index.htm]Glennis Aircraft[/link]

Senfschneider55

Really sorry to hear about the stearman. I hope you can get it back in shape without too many hitches. Good luck

Irv

Cybertom

Thanks!

I have been thinking about how I am going to approach some of the repairs. I want it to be as strong if not stronger than it was originally without putting on a lot of weight. I'll get her back together again.

argon

My Feedback: (1)

Tom: Surgery has been delayed to Aug. 17. Did received the Robart Radial engine ...It is beautiful, They are also makin a pair of struts w/ the tork links and a 1/4" axle. Where did you get your new wheels from???
Regards....Argon

Cybertom

Click on the link that says Glennis Aircraft in post 117. It will take you right to their website.

PS,
I will be using 3D Solid Modeling to create my own 1/4th scale Gloster Gladiator plans. I'm going to see if I can knock out a dimensioned drawing of the motor mount for you soon.

Hope things go well for you with your surgery. We have something in common, I have an Acoustic Neuroma. I was diagnosed with it last year right before I first flew my Stearman. It's a benign inner ear tumor. I will be going in for my own surgery as soon as I get my butt in gear.

At first, inner ear didn't sound so bad to me, and then I saw my CAT scan. The reality is the tumor is a lot closer to my brain stem than my ear. They have to go in to get it out. What I have read about the potential side affects of the surgery scares me. I feel fine right now except for a little ringing in my left ear.

I can't let it go because they tell me that eventually over a long period of time it can become life threatening. What gives me perspective is that many other people are dealing with illnesses far more serious than mine. I admire their courage. I just need to suck it up.

Cybertom

Argon,
Here is a picture of what I have so far on the engine mount drawing. It's far from done. I still have a lot of holes to put in that will lighten it up. The mass properties say this motor mount should come in at 1.25lbs when I'm done. I'm sure that with some optimization I can get it under a pound. Currently this mount is so strong that if the airplane hit the ground at full speed it would be the only thing to survive.

I may try another idea completely which will take the weight way down. It won't be as strong as this one, but it should be more than strong enough to take some real abuse but weigh half as much. I'll post it up here when I'm done.

I'm still trying to get the hang of working with SolidWorks. You can do about anything with this software, I just have to learn it.

GPeemans

I am living in Vietnam which isn't always teh easiest country to fly model airplanes. No proper runways, no regulation, each for himself.
I quit IC a few years back to go for electric only, little exception turbine.
Flair kits are really great to assemble and their planes are flying so well.
Last year I finished the Tiger moth.
I converted it in electric which was a very easy thing to do. I put a Actro / Koehler 40 engine in 30 cells with a propeller 20 by 10.
It flies like a dream. Most of the flights are done between 1/3 and 1/2 throttle. I just use full power for loops and wing over.
Here it is usually pretty hot with plentiful of little lifts. A normal flight with 2 or 3 touch and goes last with good power management between 7 to 10mm.

I just ordered the PT17 and for this one I will put the new Acro 60 also in 30 cells but this time with Lippo and a 23X10. It should fly nicely too.

Problem with Lippo is to get the CG right especially with a very short nose.
I don't think I could get the balance right with lippo on the Tiger moth.

Cybertom

Here are some pictures of Argon's Stearman. Another beautiful bird is in the works!

Senfschneider55

Tom

Good to here from you again; I thought you and Argon had left the forum scene for good.

Whats the latest on your stearman?

I´m busy getting my basement ready for the stearman build.What´s the latest word on stearman build dvd?