I don't know what to say about Rob other than he has been a member of our club about four years now and we all have been better for it. Rob, who is now the TAI Club Secretary, is the first one to help when someone needs help and he is always at the field when we have work to do. Rob has some really great planes too. Some he has had since the 1980's, packed in wardrobe moving boxes. Rob is like a lot of us in that he collects neglected or broken down planes and nurses them back to life. Especially a “Freewing 70mm BAe Hawk T1” and “Freewing 70mm Rebel EDF” you have got to see to believe.
Robs latest builds are his TAI RC Combat fighters. He is one of several club members who are all now part of the TAI RC Combat Group. You can check out all his build info by simply clicking on the “TAI RC Combat Fighter” link to the right.
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“1983 SIG King Kobra Kit”
And so my 1983 SIG King Kobra kit build begins. It will be a slow build as parts are printed on balsa, not die or laser cut, and I am modifying it for tricycle retracts and separate flaps. Maybe I'll be done by Spring!
Mark, I was thinking about making the King Cobra electric. But, that brand new YS 60 long stroke with the Ultra Thrust muffler I've had for a couple years now is too perfect for this plane. So that's it!
This will be the first time balsa skinning a foam core wing since I built my 2nd plane, the white SIG Kougar I crashed last year. That was in the early 80's like when this kit shipped from SIG!
As Rob sends me more build descriptions and pictures, I'll update his progress in this new section. Check back often because Rob works fast.
“Freewing 70mm Rebel EDF”
Some of you are aware that Rob left his Transmitter on when he was changing batteries and he didn't reset the timer after his first flight of the day (not maiden) with his Freewing 70mm Rebel EDF. Rob says it's a great flying little Sport Jet. Here is Robs inputs on what happened next. “First was the flame out, then complete loss of controls. The battery was at 0.1% when Gary helped me pick up the pieces. It nearly stopped in the air, wings level for what seemed like a small eternity before it tipped over and became a law dart.” Picture below shows the results. On the right is the original model.
Plane was like new. Past tense! It is an obsolete model with few parts still available. Rob was fortunate Motion RC had a nose gear retract available that's delivering early next week. The two pics below show NLG panel repairs.
Rob spent a day and a half of piecing together the nose puzzle, trying to get everything more or less straight. This is the first time Rob ever repaired a foamy using exclusively hot melt glue. A technique he garnered from making his TAI combat wing. It does have a lot of “foam finish” over the repairs. Rob said he wished there was something better out there but he has not found it yet. The good thing about foam finish, is it dries to a fairly hard shell, unlike spackle, or other fillers, and it's not too heavy. Rob says it's a pain in the ass to use and it doesn't sand worth a darn when hardened.
Rob then used filler and painting it. He just got the graphics on. The nose graphics are done with vinyl tape, same stuff most people use on the combat wings. Rob says the old girl doesn't look so bad for having her nose broke! She has character now. Here are Robs last inputs: “I gotta tell you, it's a really helpless feeling with a battery powered plane, compared to a nitro plane, that dead sticks not only losing your power, but losing your stick! I promise you, I will never make that same mistake again!”
“Quickie 500”
Pylon Racer and fun fly sport plane, it will go right as well as left. Rob put a second hand barely broken in Webra .32 in it, made in Austria probably 20-30 years ago. Same engine that's in my lighting fast Outlaw Delta wing.
Rob said he had made some progress on the Quickie 500. That it actually looks like an airplane now and it is very light weight. Lots of lightening holes in all the components.
Rob can not wait to fly his Q-500 with the Webra .32 that has his DYI Mousse can pipe/muffler on it. 17,000 peak RPMs! Tomorrow he thinks it’ll be warm enough to bench test his Webra 40 with two larger MCP’s he made for it. He is holding them in his hand in the picture on the right.
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Rob Watson's "Rookie" My first of two winter plane projects is building a kit called a Rookie, designed and produced by Richard Bird of TX. It’s a .60 sized “stick” style plane suitable for pattern flying. It has a slightly swept balsa skinned foam core wing which makes it cool. I’m pretty sure I’m putting an old K&B .61 2-stroke in it. It is a light engine. I might put my Italian made Super Tigre .75 in it. Not sure yet. Richard sent me this picture of a completed "Rookie" in the “Envel Kneivel Patriotic Theme”. |
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Today my OCD kicked into high gear playing with my wire shock absorbing landing gear concept that is working so well on the Sonar. The Rookie is a tail dragger, with the main gear that is normally aluminum, instead being a plastic/fiberglass material. It has some cushioning built as it flexes under load, where the Sonar struts had none. So after duplicating what I did on the Sonar, I realized on the Rookie all the shock absorbing came from the plastic main gear piece flexing, not the “U” bend in the wire. The wire part was too stiff. Next I made another set using a larger “U”, still with 1/8” wire. Voila! The perfect cushiony affect… more so than without it, and hopefully still stiff enough. Jury is still out on durability using on this type of gear instead of on a strut design like the Sonar. Adding this does make the plane sit taller on its main gear, which maybe good on a grass field, and this particular gear appeared a bit wider and lower than some. I also fabricated a tail wheel using smaller diameter wire that also has the “U” bend. I made it the same increase taller as the mains. It will be interesting to see how well, or not perhaps, this works! |
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Three weeks before I get my magnetic jigs delivered. I couldn’t wait to start the “Rookie”… so what to do? Use every block, clamp, magnet that I currently have, and get her done! This is just a dry fit, tomorrow it gets glued up. |
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I’m finally done after about two months. The covering inspiration is from the Kit provider, Richard Byrd of Ft Worth TX. I’m trying my “torsion bar” landing gear suspension that worked so well on my Italian Sonar. The covering job took me a Looooong time! Engine is an ancient K&B .61 that is actually new and runs great. Its very light at 1 lb. 4.5 oz. with spinner and prop. I modified another engine mount with same firewall mounting bolt pattern to easily swap in my heavier Super Tigre .75 that weighs in closer to 1 lb. 13.5 oz. Wonder which will fly better? |
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Evel Kneivel patriotic on the top with a Flash Gordon on the bottom. |
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I have had good luck using a micro servo for the tail wheel on my Sig LT-40. This makes tail wheel repair or changes very easy compared to connecting it to the rudder. Wonder which will fly better? |
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Rob Watson's "Sonar" The “Sonar” is a rare plane at least 20 years old. The only articles on it on-line are in Italian. I translated one to get the CG! I got it as an airframe only. Balsa sheeted foam core wings. It took me nearly 2 days just to fit the engine and cowl. Tricky with plane and firewall already built for a different engine mount. I am putting a free, to me, O.S. .45 FSR that I resurrected. The engine is from late 70’s to early 80’s. Runs like a scalded cat! It’s a job and half completing other people’s builds, but I think it will be a stunner when finished. |
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I bought this uncovered sheeted foam core wing airframe from a very nice man along with a beautiful Sig LT-40 Kadet with a modified tail, that he had just recovered, but had no servos, engine, etc; it was a recovered air frame only. The plane came with a new in box O.S. .46FX, several Futaba 3004 servos and misc hardware. The LT-40 flies great! He had built the Sonar with his father over 20 years ago, and never finished it. The LT-40 is the same vintage. |
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The Sonar took me three weeks to finish as it came with typical challenges fitting a new engine mount and control rods to a completed airframe. lus I created a difficult (for me) Monokote design. I mounted a similar age engine I already had, an O.S. 45 FS with a Venturi muffler that spins at 14,000 rpm… it’s a screamer, and lightweight engine. As you can see I went with an Italian theme. I’m pretty happy how it turned out. It weights 6 lbs and the engine pulls 5.75 lbs static thrust. Can’t wait to maiden it! |
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The registration number is my son’s birthday. The Maiden went well, a great flier! CG was good! It flies beautifully. I do need to rework the landing gear. My cheap Chinese spring struts had WAY too much side to side play. |
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I made a different type of shock absorbing gear set using 3/8” solid round aluminum bar stock, drilling them out, drilling and tapping set screws, and using 1/8” wire formed to absorb bumps. Can’t believe it turns out so well! Hope it works better… it should! Main gear is next! More to come. |
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The landing gear is a big success! Greased 5 landings this afternoon.... and what a sweet plane. The gear definitely cushioned the grass field just right. |
     
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A Falcon Hopefully Rob will share a picture with us when it's finished. |
   
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Freewing 70mm BAe Hawk Rebuild after 6S Battery self ejected in flight, which was never found. First major foamy repair I ever did. Plane was perfect before the crash. The bottom nose part of the fuselage where the battery sat was MIA also. Taught myself to use an airbrush on this job, one I have had since 1978, but never used. Lowe’s matched the paint for me. Looks pretty good and flies great now! |
   
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Giles 202 I bought this plane partly built from a very nice guy that started it 15 years ago, then it sat in his garage where mice ate the wing balsa! This is the most complicated Monokote job I have ever done to that time. It was a large, excellent flier. Unfortunately after just a few flights I crashed it into a tree on the edge of Abbott’s Creek. Gary helped me retrieve the pieces. It was destroyed beyond repair. It was a very sad day. Actually I didn’t crash it into the tree; I flew it right into it. My perspective was off on an overcast day, flying a larger plane on final approach. They all have an expiration date. |
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Tough day at the field! This is my Hanger 9 Blue Nosed P-51 Mustang. It is the only plane I destroyed on its maiden flight. Not enough take-off speed caused an unrecoverable stall. I did rebuild it. It took me a couple months over the winter. It flew great for 3.75 flights until a still undiscovered failure caused an immediate right turn into the trees behind the windsock. I did not rebuild it a second time. by Rob Watson |
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On the same day as the P-51's maiden crash, my Falcon had a mid-air with my son’s Valient when formation flying. That was a tough day at the field. The Valient was also re-built. |
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My OSHA certified LiPo storage box! Holes in the top are for flames to vent straight up. It’s in the middle of my shop where the ceiling is the highest. Hopefully it’s high enough so the entire building won’t light up in case of a LiPo fire. |
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LT-40 I bought this plane and engine, pff the plane, from the same nice man I got the Sonar from. He had never flown the Sonar, that he partly built with his dad 20 years ago, which I thought was pretty cool. The LT-40 he had flown a lot back in that same time frame. He put it away after breaking the front slanted part of the vertical stabilizer off. Then he decided to rebuild the tail and recover it with a military motif a year later. It was his first Monokote job… and better than my frist time! But, like many used planes I’ve resurrected, he never finished it and it sat in his garage since then. The engine is a venerable O.S. .46 FX, that was new in the box, never saw fuel. It started immediately and runs like a top! |
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The Maiden Flight was uneventful, proving SIG makes some great planes! It stalls without tipping, and is a joy in the air. It did have some flutter from the rudder modification the prior owner made though. Since he broke off some of the width of the vertical stab, he made the rudder taller, reaching forward over the vertical stab, so it turned over as well as behind the vertical stabilizer. This looked very cool, but vibrated as did the long unsupported control rod. So I added a brace for that, cut off the top of the rudder and glued it to the vertical stabilizer. Now it looks kind of funky with a taller than normal tail, which gives it gives it character and gives me a story to tell. |
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I also converted it from a rubber band held on wing to bolts. This turned out to be way more challenging than expected. Hope it works! I’ll find out Tuesday. |
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Old School Comet This Old School Modelworks Comet is a very well done kit that took me 6 weeks working most mornings in my shop before it got to hot, recovering from triple cervical fusion surgery. I loaded it with a vintage Thunder Tiger .42 I got for free from a club member. It was caked with the worst thick black coating of something or other, that I have ever seen. It cleaned and tuned up nicely. It’s light for its displacement being a bushed engine. The plans call for a .19-30 size, so she should scoot. It only came in a couple of oz. heavier than the spec’d 3.5 lbs, even with a 6 oz. tank instead of of 4 oz., and an added separate servo for the nose gear. Squeezing all that in there required some ingenuity and hatches not called for in the plans, for future access. CG is right on with no added weight. |
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In case you’re wondering about the color scheme, the model is completely covered in either free to me, or less than $5 a roll Monokote Ultracote I got in an RC inventory buy-out and also from swap meets. I have never used blue metallic, chrome or hot pink on a plane before! I know from my Outlaw to differentiate the top and bottom for in flight orientation that can be tough with Deltas. Finally got my throttle servo woes straightened out and my freebie, very old Thunder Tiger .42 tuned with a drilled out hand-me-down O.S. muffler from a smaller engine so the combo is nice and light. It idles all day at 2700 RPM with WOT RPM at a conservative 13,400 RPM’s. Easy to get 13,800, just don’t want the old girl too lean. With its APC 9x7 prop top speed calculates to approx. 90 mph, just 10 mph or so slower than the Outlaw calculated top speed. Flying these two deltas should be fun... The Comet is billed by Old School Model Works as an excellent slow flier. The Outlaw is not, but actually it is too. |
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SIG Wonder "Speedster" This my old school SIG Wonder build. It’s a Nitro designed plane, that I converted to electric. It is my first electric build. For a little plane it proved challenging, adding a battery tray and hatch, realizing the nose had to be extended 2” inches to balance, and making a custom cowl to fit the huge 500 Heli motor in it. It will use either a 4S or 5S 2200mah battery. Calculated propeller pitch speed is 152 mph with a 4S! Probably won’t go quite that fast with aerodynamic drag, but maybe with the 5S. For such a small plane it will be out of sight before you know it! |
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The beginning using Mag building board |
I like having my DNA identification on my planes! |
Old school custom cowl… no plans or die cut pieces for this. |
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I had issues with over-heating the motor and 100amp ESC bench testing, so I made custom sit scoops by cutting the ends off plastic spoons and painting them. Doc’s Vanessa Rig for very accurate CG in action. Because the Wonder is so short coupled, the CG range is only 1/16 |
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Extreme Flight Outlaw Rebuild This is my Extreme Flight Outlaw. Webra .32 with Mac tune muffler. Easy 120+mph. A very fast, small, and very easy to lose orientation plane. Have quite a few flights on it. One evening at dusk, cloudy day, completely lost orientation and spun it into the ground from about 30 or 40 feet. I’ll use whatever covering I can find a match. Fortunately, it’s just going to be a bit of a patch job I think. Cutting off a firewall was a major amputation! The impact actually broke the Rx in half. Sad times. But the Outlaw will Rip the skies again… with a brand new firewall! I think Rob had this rebuilt before I could get the pictures posted.
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