It is a good day to fly.

Saturday's are always busy, and one with perfect weather, very. I was there for almost 4 hrs and got maybe 4-5 flights. I took the Pulse XT60 and the Ultrastick out. I just flew and didn't bother with pics or video.

As I was getting ready for the first flight of the Pulse XT60 I warmed up the engine and thought the cowl was really shaking (I think I saw the muffler jiggly too). Had a nice flight. As I was setting up for a second flight I realized I didn't have two US 4-40 screws (I think that's the size) and that's why the cowl was loose. I taped the loose side and taxied out to the runway. As I turned to take off I saw the muffler was really dancing so taxied back and saw it had come lose. I taxied back to the bench. A flying buddy, Larry, gave me two screws for the cowl (he has a small hardware store in the back of his car). I removed the cowl to fix the muffler and being rear mounted I would need to remove the engine. I really wasn't in the mood to do this at the field, I came to fly, so I set the Pulse aside for the day. 

Flew 2-3 flights on the Ultrastick over the next 2-1/2 hrs (a lot of waiting my turn). I had it dialed in. At the end of my last flight I realized I was getting tired and my vision unreliable (cataracts, need good lighting and cloud clover was moving in). I wisely called it a day.

You can see the muffler hanging loose. One bolt still attached. Thought the other lost but it fell out of the cowl when I removed it. Pulled the engine, reinstalled the bolts with a friction lock washer and some thread lock. This one always shakes loose. This is an real RCGF 20cc (which Joe Nelson told me is actually a 26cc). The muffler has come loose on this engine a few times 

One thing I later noticed as I worked on the firewall for the MX-Bach, is that the exhaust tube got bent back. It's straight back, no cracks. I forgot to look but I think this 35cc is a DLE. It doesn't need replacing, which is good as I can't afford one right now.

The firewall is coming along nicely. Had to Dremel and hack saw the notch flanges at the four sides. Tomorrow I will drill it for mounting the engine, the center hole for the fuel lines and a small hole for the throttle control rod. I had to cut the original one to get the engine free of the firewall, so I'll be making a new one. I noticed that the flange holes on the engine box to which the fire wall gets attached did not appear to have epoxy in them... I am not sure why, though I see this on landing gear hard points that are also installed using flanges so that it can break out clean. Is this what they had done with the firewall? I am not sure I will, I think I will epoxy all the way around. If this plane crashes again I don't expect it to survive, and I would just as soon the engine breaking free in flight not be the reason it crashes

I knew I had a large set of aluminum landing gear. They were not drilled so I was able to custom drill them. Here they are installed. They are curved, which I don't think I have ever had on a plane before. Terribly upset the carbon fiber ones were broken in the crash.  These I'll work great!

Tomorrow I will install the firewall and the engine. Then I will need to repair the under cowl and the canopy. I got some metal L brackets I may use to repair the cowl mounting tabs, but that's an idea still in the works. This hasn't been too difficult a repair so far.

The Good and the.... Not so good.

This morning I finished up the wiring on the Morane Saulnier Type N. It came out great and looks awesome! All it needs is the cowl (awaiting M2 blind (T) nuts, and I'd like to matte epoxy the cowl and plastic top, but that may come later.

Scotch taped the cowl for pics.

And then I went to fly. I had been delaying because storm clouds were moving in and while winds weren't bad there were some gusts. For the big planes, the 26cc Pulse XT60 and the 35cc MX-Bach these shouldn't be a problem, but something just felt off. I went anyway, because if it was good to fly there would likely be no one there and I could fly the whole time instead of standing around waiting (tomorrow is going to be excellent but crowded). So, I went.

The crash is, of course, at the end. This was the first time I had flown it in over a year, as I didn't fly last summer.

On approach It got wobbly in a tip stall, started to recover enough I crashed nose down wings level. Initial butchers bill looks like the landing gear are toast, the firewall and forward motor box, a hole in the plastic canopy, the under cowl. All fixable though I am not sure how I am going to fix the plastic canopy.... Maybe fiberglass it?  Wings and the rest of the fuse are fine. Prop, of course, is toothpicked. A deconstruction will follow and I will have a better idea. This was a save, could have been a lot worse. Crash clock is nevertheless reset.

PM UPDATE: I removed the under cowl and the engine. The under cowl will need to be repaired and re-fiberglassed. The cowl mounts will need replacing as 3 out of four are broken. The canopy hole (rather curious) will need fixing and I suspect that will be fiberglass work as well, though I am not so sure how that will work. The engine is fine as far as I can tell, the 20x8 prop will be replaced with a 19x8 I have on hand. I changed how the throttle servo was mounted as it was in a tray I had made that wrenched loose and I don't like it. The firewall got broke-out attached to the standoffs. The wood is old and frequently drilled from the conversion from electric, so I am rebuilding it. I don't have my jigsaw anymore so will need to hack saw the edge notches. It looks like the firewall sprung out pretty cleanly. I will very much reinforce it, it will be sturdy. The plywood I have is a bit thicker than the stock so it will be stronger. I haven't looked into what I have for landing gear. Nothing as nice as those sweet carbon fiber ones. Such a shame. Glad they gave way and didn't rip out the landing gear hardpoint from the fuse. That would be a mess. All in all not so bad after all. 

Lots More Progress on the Morane Saulnier Type N

Had some time to work on the Morane as I wasn't feeling well and took the day off. I painted the dowel ends, applied the rondels, and bound the Morane to my iX12 using the Spektrum AR620. and programmed it. 

The rondels went on easy! I learned a lot along the way and was able to reduce air trapping after the first one. There was none in the side rondels 

Starboard rondel and my Pirate Guy (by RadDezigns). The port side is identical.

The first one applied to top of wing. 

Completed top wing. Front is at the top.

Really like how the bottom came out! Wanted the stripes to break up the gray.

I think the rondels came out great!

After a long nap, I came back and set up the throttle and the transmitter. the engine started up pretty briskly but the low needle was too lean. Enriched it and ran it a second time for quite a while, checking the idle and throttle cut. I did not touch the high needle and given the power with a Master Airscrew Scimitar 11x6, I don't think I need to. The pressure line off the exhaust kept kinking. It has to run this way to pass the cowl, and there is a bit of a sharp turn. As the engine warmed a kink formed as the viton line softened, killing the engine as it starved for fuel. I changed the end of the line to a thicker Tygon line, joining it to a shortened end of the Viton line off the tank. To change the whole line would necessitate removing the engine, and this was a simpler solution. Very happy! Thank you John Hayes, for this nice gift!

The wing attached. I went with hardpoints instead of rubber ands.

The plastic top in place.

I installed the long aft wing wires. Here's what they look like at the wire tower. The brass turnbuckles are from a Hangar 9 Sopwith Camel I murdered several years ago ... There will be three wires on top, two on the bottom.

Here you can see the outer end. A brass plate with holes at each end is attached to a M2 bolt that goes thru the wing, and on the underside also attached to the bolt is a metal loop for the aft bottom wire. Note there is little tension, just from the rubber band as these are cosmetic and not functional. The real MSTN has no ailerons and uses wing warping for roll; I believe the wires support and warp the wing. You can also see the black dots marking where the other two shorter wires will go. I will be using short servo screws unless I find I have something better to attach the brass plates to the wing. 

Front top view.

Back view 

I stopped there. It was a fruitful day of rest.

Oh, don't forget to check CG.

Nearing completion of the Morane Saulnier Type N

Quiet day today, had it off for an appointment. Spent some time in the garage this morning. My eyes were dilated so no hobby time after that 

As I noted the hole in the right main wheel was drilled by the maker off-center and slightly angled so it wobbles. Improved it by making the hole a smidge bigger closer to center and straight. this is before the repair.

Installed the wire bridle to secondarily secure the front of the wing. It's seen here between the front deck and the front of the wing. That ain't going anywhere. Will paint the dowel ends olive drab.

The mounting of the plastic top has been addressed. The front wedges nicely under the front deck requiring no changes. I have installed a hatch latch to secure the back. The piece is smooth rounded while the fuse is "chined"and the bottom of the plastic top wings out from it a bit. I may have to put very small tabs on the wing to cage the back edge to align it with the fuse.

Epoxied the latch. Three times, as it dried, it drifted too deep, but in the end it is perfectly positioned. No idea how that happened, it wasn't slippery as it set.

I fuel proofed the deck. I will probably end up getting an epoxy spray paint of clear matte, but wanted to protect the deck while I test the engine, as I won't get the paint for a bit.

The cowl will hang down below the fuse, so to support it I added a post. I will attach a hardpoint for the cowl mount when some M2 blind (T) nuts come in and I can make and install all the hard points for the cowl. I fuel proofed this today as well 

Using the cutting compass I got on Amazon, I did the three concentric circles for the rondels. It was easy, up until the side ones, not shown. The small 1" center red dot of the fuselage rondels was really hard to make cleanly. Took several attempts, as it's is hard to spina 1/2" radius with the compass. They look great!

This is a 7" blue rondel with the ratioed concentric circles (I let Gemini AI calculate the radii for me, for these. The small ones were a simple 3"-2"-1"). Holding them down as they are curling. Next time I work on the plane I will install them, blue, white, red. I am off Friday which looks stormy, so no flying or sailing, so likely then.

Next up: bind the transmitter, test run the engine, apply the rondels and my Pirate Guy. I also want to put some contrast V stripes on the underside of the wing. I planned on black background with a white strip, but I am worried the black Monokote will bubble as it doesn't like to be applied over cote, a known problem with it (the Goldberg Falcon is exhibit A. I put a large square over the center of the top of the wing and it looks horrible with bubbling). I may go with that dark blue I used in the rondels, it's Ultracote. I also have a dark matte blue tat would look nice. Spray the epoxy matte clear coat on the painted plastic parts. Install the cowl. Apply AMA/FAA stickers. Set up the wing wires, and finally, maiden flight!

Getting along fine with the Morane Saulnier Type N

I had planned going flying today. The weather is a bit warm, but otherwise perfect. I figured it would be crowded what with the 4th of July weekend, and we can't fly gassers/nitro until noon. I didn't feel like driving 40 min to wait my turn and get 4 flights in 2 hrs, then a 40 min drive back ...   I am off Wednesday morning before an appointment, so I can go then. Conditions will be great, and I have a 3 day weekend next weekend. Hope to get a lot of flying in.

I decided to spend a few hours in the garage, stop at 3p and rest before work tomorrow (I walk outside 10-12 miles a day). I worked on the Morane and made a lot of headway. I had finished the cote work yesterday. Not perfect, fair. But it'll do as it is at the edge of my skill set 

Engine plumbed and mounted. Close fit... The cowl is open here between the muffler and the cylinder head, so that's not a problem. Accessing the fuel line attachment to the carb requires removing the engine. 

Pic is not centered. All that weight is on the starboard side, and the torque in the other direction. Should balance out.

Nice switch. Charge port and green power-on light.

Everything is in place and connected. I installed the control rods and connected the throttle wire. Didn't have my transmitter to center things and trim the throttle cable. You can see the deck forward of the wing dowel that cups the front of the plastic top and holds the wings front pegts. I epoxied it in place. The silver cap is the fuel dot.

Wheels on. Opted to put a tail wheel on instead of a skeg; enough problems steering with "ailerons" (remember this is 3 channel). Curiously the pre drilled hole on the right main wheel was lopsided so it wobbles... VERY annoying.. They were $10 at my hobby shop. Someday I may cover the wire gear with wood.

I made a bridle to double secure the front of the wing, here being primed. It will run from one end of the wing dowel athwart the fuse in front of the wing, over the pegs on the front of the wing  In addition to the front deck, the wire will secure the front wing pegs. The loops are closed with copper and solder. I think this is pretty clever. I likely will not remove the wing for transport. We'll have to see. It would require first removing the wires, then the plastic top. Not a big deal, but I am not a patient man.

Dry fit the wing. Fits snug under the deck.

It was time to stop. Not shown is the plastic top. I finally installed the top wing wire tower on it. I'll explain that more when I do the wing wires. Next on the to-do list is to install a prop, test run and tune the engine. It has a new glow plug, it's in good shape, so I don't expect any issues. Need to trim the throttle wire and put a copper cap on the end. Set up the throttle, rudder and elevator trims on the transmitter. Install the cowl. Install the plastic top and pilot. Set up the wing wires. Make and apply the rondels and FAA-AMA stickers, etc. Then maiden. Good day!

The Cote Gods Have Smiled Upon Me!

 I was taking a break from the Morane Saulnier Type N because I was struggling to get the cote to work properly. I am no fan of Ultracote.... I was unable to get it to shrink properly without suddenly melting and the edges wrinkling and retracting. It was incredibly frustrating.

I got some new Ultracote since I had started with it. I also decided that the conditions in the environmentally uncontrolled garage (temps in 90s, high humidity) were not helping. I brought my cote stuff into the air conditioned house.

The first couple of attempts didn't go great, but were better. Then on the third try the Cote Gods decided I had taken enough abuse and cut me some slack. It just started working! I was done with all of it in an hour. It's not perfect but actually looks really good! You may notice only the forward dowel is present. I am thinking of screwing the wing in place, and securing the front under the front deck with the pegs I installed in the front of the wing, and crossing them with rubber ands across the fuse. John was worried the front wasn't secure enough, but the rubber bands should secure it with the pegs.

I am very happy with it! The only cote challenge left is making the tricolor rondels. I would like one on each side and two on the top and bottom of the wing. That's 4 large and 2 small. Callie Graphics has them, and if I can find out what the sizes are I may just buy them.

According to the British rules, scaled to a 12" chord, the rondels on the wings should be 10"-6"-2".  By math, my Morane is 1/6th scale (26'9"scale wing span, 26*12=312"+9=317"/56" model wingspan = 5.7, so 1/60 scale 

I'm going flying tomorrow, should be near perfect conditions. Taking the 26cc Hangar 9 Pulse XT60 and the 30cc MX-Bach. Set them up for the season today. I changed the Pulse's receiver pack from LiPO to a 2400 mAh LiFe battery as the IRs in the original LiPO were poor. The MX-Bach IRs were fine so I am keeping it