Well, that's a pleasant surprise!

After breakfast (and some couch napping) this morning, I waddled up to my workshop and this happened...

The new fuse had arrived over a week ago, I think, and I had repaired the minor damage to the wing. I started with recoting the wing section, and before I realized what was happening, Cornell #4 appeared over a couple of hours! The tail feathers are from Cornell #1, the cowl from Cornells #2 and 3, the wing from Cornell #3, the motor and ESC from Cornell #1, as is one of the servos, the rudder one. I changed the elevator servo to an EXI D213f metal gear servo, as the rudder servo is. The TP SG90 that was on the elevator was fine, but I still don't know what happened to Cornell #3. I found that the elevator rubbed hard on the new fuse and had to grind out some clearance, and there is a little more friction in the control rod tube than I would like, but I slipped some silicone lube down both tubes and loosened things up a bit. I did what I could to straighten out the control rod to control horn geometry a bit. For all intents and purposes, she is essentially a new Cornell! All in all I think she'll be okay this time. In these pics I have an APC 10x6e prop. I decided to change it to one of the stock 10x7e props. I moved the pilot to the front cockpit, to take some of the bad karma off her. You should know I did all this while in my boxers!

The new batteries come today too! 3000 mAh 3S 30C Sky Lipo's from Hobbypartz. This brings me back up to 3 for the Stearman and the Cornell!

Pirate Squadron on a Piratey day!

MUWAHAHAHAHA!

Getting more comfortable with the Cornell and the Stearman. Flew them both several times today and landed sweet every time. I realized I have been flying 3S 3300 mAh batteries in the Cornell, when the stock setup calls for around 2200 mAh. I have had no problem with the 3300s, but flying 2200s would free up the 3 (soon to be 5) 3300s for the Stearman, and I have 5 of the 2200s (one is actually a 2650) batteries for the Cornell. So I flew the Cornell exclusively on the 2200's today with no issues! Great! Time tested today; on landing after 10 minutes of flight, she ran another 7 minutes on the ground at a bit more than half throttle, where I fly her, on the 2200s. So I bumped her timer to 15 minutes. Later flights that worked just fine, coming in with plenty of bingo amps. I remain amazed at how beautifully the Eflte PT-19 flies, from graceful liftoff, through flight, to landing on rails... why did they ever discontinue her?

Almost lost the Cornell today. Doing touch and goes, when taking off a strong crosswind gust lifted her right wing. I compensated, but she started a hard left turn and was flying right at me. Stayed cool, she passed to my right by a good margin and struggled in what was now a strong tailwind. Structures coming up, stayed with her, got her up past them, waffling, and powered through over the trees. Regained full control (was just trying to keep up at this point) and she flew the rest of the pack fine! Damn near pissed myself... but proud my skills stayed with me and I remembered to fly the plane through this pucker.

Everything flew well today, though I lost my mind flying the Trojan and busted the wing. I was screwing around right over the runway when she was flying weird to begin with. Controllable, but I had full left trim in because of that already thrice repaired wing. When I got in this evening I put the new one on. In that crash I cremated the last of the 3 blade stock props, so I have to wait for the Master Airscrew ones I ordered last week to come in,.

Flew the Piratey flag over the field today to give the curmudgeons something to complain about. It actually looks pretty rad!

UPDATE 8/29/11 @ 2200hrs: Hoping its not a stock mistake! I found a new Elite PT-19 Cornell at SRI Hobbies in Louisville at the $70 closeout price. They charged me $31 oversize fee an $11 for Priority shipping, but hey, if I have it coming for real its a bargain!!!
UPDATE UPDATE 9/1/11@1612hrs: Crap... of course it was an inventory error...no joy.

Cornell Sorta #3

Well there was the original Cornell. Flew wonderfully, one of Eflite's best aircraft. She was a thing of beauty until I dumb thumbed her into the ground when I opened a loop too low.

I rebuilt her after a long wait. Greg Reed had started the rebuild. I finished her, with a slightly twisted wing, sent her up, and she came briskly back down. That was Cornell #2.

Cornell # 2 after her maiden flight crash.

A few days later I started her rebuild in earnest. I ordered new wings, which was the largest component of the rebuild. I also received the midnight blue Ulracote and redid the areas I had coted before in insignia blue. I believe the twisted right wing was the cause of Cornell #2 crashing, but I cannot be sure. I had found that the cowl is on backorder, and I did not reorder the hatch yet. So here's the rebuild!

Rebuilt the firewall and remounted the motor. Old broken firewall to the right.

Put a fresh sheet of balsa across the bottom of the forward fuse. I ended up having to grind down the forward 1/2 inch to accommodate the cowl. I also rebuilt the battery/motor/ESC shelf.

Stripped the cote, built up the fuse where the cowl screws tore it out. Did this to all 4 screw sites, 2 each side. I ended up cutting off the forward part of the shelf just because. The cowl edge (the top curved thing) was toothpicks, put it back together piece by piece with CA. Lots and lots of CA.

Recoted with the proper midnight blue Ultracote.

The other side, recoted.

Picture of the cowl after sanding. Cracked, smushed, but nothing separated. In the background you can see the old insignia blue cote on the fuse. Removed it and recoted with the midnight blue.

Using the closest blue I could find, after sanding, epoxy to the weak areas,  I painted the cowl. Not perfect, not bad at all!

Managed to preserve the numbers.

The gloss black came out great.

Finished the wing today. Installed the servos (easier, kept them on their old plates), epoxied the halves with the center spar in place.

All done! CG was a tad aft, added a little lead to the nose. Thought I had pics of rebuilding the hatch. It cracked and lost spars. Had to refurbish the styrofoam. In time I will get a nice new one.

She really looks awesome!  Not bad for a novice builder, not bad. Now I am scared to maiden her... More on that as I expect to over the weekend!

Cornell Motor/Battery box rebuild

Continued work on rebuilding the Cornell's motor/battery box. I started with fuse work yesterday. You may recall that with Cornell 3 I replaced the box with a pedestaled motor mount and angled the battery. This worked fine, but changed the CG a bit. In this rebuild I wanted to preserve the original design of a firewall motor mount and battery box. It came out pretty good, but took a lot of time.

Building the box from popsicle stick wood.

Cut some gaps into the framework to lighten it up.

The remaining original box on the left had the corner sanded down, likely to fit under the cowl. I did the same to the right side, which is the rebuilt side.

Installed.

Under the battery shelf, the side supports sheared off.

I supported the battery shelf with popsicle stick wood cross bars.

I fit the hatch and realized I had placed the top of the firewall too far aft. Here its moved forward about 2 mm and fits nicely.

The box is done. I need to re-cover the bottom of the fuse with sheet balsa curved to fit, then do all the cote work, remount the motor and ESC, and rebuild the cowl (they are still out of stock expected Jan 2012). I won't touch the NIB Cornell as its for when they stop making replacement parts.

Cornell Sorta #3 Update

The little voice in my head is happy!

I took the refurbished Cornell out to BMF today, and after several flights on the Alpha and a couple Cubby flights, I took the Cornell out to the flightline. The little voice started up on me when I arrived at BMF (I actually think before that, like, last night). On the flightline, transmitter in hand, aircraft flight ready, I just couldn't shake it. I just didn't feel right.  She looked perfect, but if I flew her I wouldn't know if an ensuing crash was pilot error or porblems with the aircraft. Jerry Gollot had been coaching Joe, who had just sustained a hard landing. They were walking back across the field with his plane.. the voice was nagging me. Not in a wifey way, but in a way that kept my attention.

As he approached I asked Jerry if he'd maiden the Cornell for me, and with a laugh, he said yes, "I ain't got nothin' invested in her!"

Jerry had checked her balance earlier in the pits, and he was pleased with it. He checked out the controls and the rates I had set up. He spun the motor up... lots and lots of power. Her tail hopped right up. He hot taxied her then bumped her into the air keeping her in ground effect, then landed her. He was clicking away at the trims. He turned her around, and took off. She went nuts, tail heavy, rolling, heading for the flightline fence, over that, heading for the trees. He got her under control and took her to altitude where he went to work on the trims again like he was playing the piano! 

He got her trimmed out and we learned a few things. The plane is flying tail heavy despite the CG being fine as designated. We also learned that she torques like crazy with power, so she needs right rudder trim when going fast. She glides like a rock with one heckuva sink rate. She is tricky to take off and land. In cruise properly trimmed she flies awesome! Version 1 was far more stable.

So we will be experimenting with adding some nose weight, and see if I can get her more centered without making her too heavy. I am pleased, but still nervous to fly her myself until this gets sorted out.

But the little voice in my head is happy, and that's what matters! Thanks, Jerry!

Cornell Tribute

The original Cornell wing above Phoenixcubby's. 

I took the wing off my Eflite PT19 Cornell in preparation for the new wing which should be here Tuesday. I examined it carefully. At first glance it looks really good, but closer inspection finds seemingly subtle bends that result in a wing that has a twist in it. It still strikes me as too subtle to cause the severe oscillations that resulted, but it is definitely a twisted wing. We'll know when the first flight with the new wing is undertaken. I removed the servo covers with the servos, though I think I will change them to metal gear digital servos.

Eflite PT-17 Stearman PIREP

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! This Stearman is a winner! And just like the Cornell, I suspect Eflite will cancel production some time soon since it is such a great plane (like they did with my favorite PT-19 Cornell...), so get them while you can!

CJ maidened her and we decided we needed even more weight in the front of the aircraft. She already has a boatload of Pinewood Derby lead plate in the nose, and we added a big hunk of lead that Ron gave me. That and setting her up with a little mechanical down elevator and she flies like a dream. She is quite heavy, and we didn't want to add anymore weight (I am flying her with a 3S 3000 mAh battery). If I can fly her she doesn't require any special skill, but I had to pay full attention to her. She is responsive to slight inputs and needs a kick of coordinated rudder in her turns. She rolls slowly and deliberately, but will loop tight over her own fuse. She is quick and agile, other than the tendency to roll slowly. She has some power, and is fast, but she is no speed demon. She glides well, and is a nice lander, but attention has to be paid to keeping her tail on the ground as she will flip over if you so much as burp. In two landings I had to walk out and turn her over both times.  I was psyched out a bit by how difficult the Phoenix version of this plane is to ground handle and how it glides like a rock, but the real Eflite Stearman had neither problem and was a pleasure to drive around on the ground and to fly! I taco'd the other 3S 3000 mAh battery when I stubbed the Cornell, so our flying was limited to 3 flights, but there is no doubt she is a winner! She is so much fun, and few planes look or sound as good flying by! She is definitely on my favorite plane list! Love her!

PT-19 Cornell Got a New Pair of Pants!

I love the Eflite PT-19 Cornell. The Cox 0.49 control line version depicted here with the Eflite model, was one of my first airplanes as a kid.

Eflite PT-19 Cornell and the Coc 0.49 U-control version.

Here is my current PT-19 Cornell! It's a pretty model, but I find the plain wire landing gear a distraction. I have always wanted to do something about them. The real plane has a wrap around fairing. I decided today would be a good day to make some.

I planned two halve wrapped around the wire gear. I shaped themmsomthat the back was angle slightly.

I sanded them down to make them a bit aerodynamic. I wasn't looking for perfection.

I CA'd them to the wires. I left a little space between the top and the wing to allow for movement of the wire on rolling on grass. Sanded them a bit smoot and filled gaps with CA.

I wrapped them in cote.

Sweet!

Baby got a new pair of pants! 

All I need to do now is bind her and program her into the iX12 and she's ready to fly again!

UPDATE: I put a new Spektrum AR620 in, replacing an old AR6100, and bound her to the iX12, programmed her in, set up her Orange Stabilization, and she is ready to go!

Cornell Cowl is FAB!

I described earlier how I lost control of the Cornell practicing spins, and crunched the front end. The motor/battery box turned into wood chips, literally, and the cowl was a shattered eggshell of its former self. today I completed the refurbishing of the cowl, installed it and now the Cornell is flight ready!

The eggshell...

CA and epoxied the unstable parts and breaks.

Bondo on...

Bondo off...

Sanded clean, ready for primer!

Primer gray.

First coat of dark blue, being warmed to fast dry in front of the fireplace.

Black top painted in, and a coat of clear acrylic enamel! I like shiny!

Installed, all done! She looks great again!