Kwik Fli III

 The Kwik Fli III is a vintage pattern plane designed and flown by Phil Kraft (founder /owner of the Kraft RC systems of yesteryear) to the National and World Championships back in 1967.  I bought this one off Cliff who got it in one of his lot buys.  I fixed it up substantially, modding from one center aileron servo to one in each wing half, fixed hinges and horns, repaired and fuel proofed the engine bay, added the OS 61SF, added all electronics, and repaired covering here and there.  This plane flies pretty fast for old school pattern aerobatics, and is pretty much on rails all the time.  A joy to own and fly!

Bird Dog L-19

 This is currently my fave plane due to the beauty of it, flying characteristics, and wonderful sound of the engine.  It is a Seagull Models airframe with 98.5” wingspan, powered with a Saito FG41TS, which is a four-stroke twin engine fueled with gasoline, not glow fuel.  Hitec servos throughout.  It’s a blast to fly low, slow or fast, with flaps deployed.  It will be my go-to plane for our annual Warbird Day.

Squadron Update 2025

 My squadron of RC planes has changed some since my last blog about them years ago.  Just off the top of my head, here’s what has departed the hangar:

Giles 202 - sold to Bob

Yak 54 - sold to Bob

Astro Hog - crashed due to elevator failure

Kavalier - crashed on takeoff due to xmitter being on wrong plane with ailerons reversed

Venus 60 - gave airframe to Bob

Imagine 50 - sold to a stranger.  Heard he crashed it soon after.

SBach - sold to a stranger.  Heard he crashed it soon after.

Additions to the hangar:

Kwik Fli 3 - got used airframe from Cliff via one of his lot buys.  Added my own OS61SF, made major changes for two aileron servos, rehinging, control rods, my own servos, etc.

Spitfire - Phoenix Models, VVRC 32cc, stock retracts

Bird Dog L-19 - Seagull Models, Saito FG41TS twin gas four stroke

Astrohog - Don built a kit I acquired on eBay.  Turned out it had been worked on so I got a good refund from the seller.  Ended up paying only $50 for the kit.  Don did a nice job.  Powered by OS91 Surpass II.

Kavalier - I am building this kit myself, and will complete kit shortly.  Powered by new OS46LA.

Still too lazy to post flight logs, lol!

Its been a month and a half since doing by flight log blog, terrible!  I have been flying albeit not as frequently due to wind, rain, cold. 

Today I flew my SNAFU.  Mainly I wanted to get it out to tune the engine better since I know it was not running well last time.  Before heading out, I fattened up the low speed idle screw on the OS52FS in the plane.  That helped but the engine faltered a little on the first flight, and also died after landing runout.  I fiddled with it out more, back in , and then finally found a sweet spot which I am sure is richer than what I started with.  Also had to richen the high speed needle.  The engine seems to be singing nicely now....stronger with more smoke trail.  Got in four flights today with many touch and gos to practice landings.  We'll see if it still runs as well next time out.  BTW it was light fog with a low ceiling at first, then burning off enough for regular flying.

Two days ago, I flew my Osiris in slightly less fog.  Got in four flights.  Nobody else there on both days....too cold or dreary looking for them.  It was above 40F both times, with very light winds.

Since last posting in mid October, I got the wheel pants installed on the Val with new mounting hardware that Alex designed and printed for me with his 3D machine.  They look awesome!

I have been flying the Giles 202 several times since putting the new OS160FX engine into it.  Runs well, still breaking in each flight with a slightly leaner setting each time.  It's good not to be running so rich that the power is questionable.  Now there is power to avoid trouble.

The RV-4 has been back up as well.  I installed the wheel pants and have not destroyed them yet, as almost any grass landings just wear FG wheel pants out.  The plane is a joy to fly, and so impressive in the air.  My fave view of the plane is a steady landing approach with flaps down...so pretty.

I have actually made a little progress on the Stinson Reliant!  The elevator is perfectly (so I say) squared up to the fuselage and wing, and now firmly glued in place.  I have also epoxied all hinges for the flight surfaces.  Note I replaced the stock CA hinges for the elevators with hardy Robart point hinges.  Phoenix used big point hinges everywhere else on the plane and it baffles me that they didnt do so on the elevators too.  it was tedious work to clear the hinge locations, test the hinges as located, put vaseline on the hinge lines to prevent epoxy intrusion, then epoxy one side, let dry, then epoxy the other side of each pair of mated surfaces.  I am going to move on to servo installation for the ailerons and flaps next.

Last news.  I ordered the Old School Model Works Robinhood 80 laser cut kit!  $200 plus $5 SH.  Crazy me....heres hoping I actually build it someday!

Last last news.  Tad has long promised me the DLE-35 he never used.  So I decided I want the Hangar 9 Ultrastick 30cc for that engine.  The boys are giving it to me for Christmas!

Just so dang lazy!

So it has been 2.5 months since last posting any flying updates.  Time flies when you are having fun and being lazy too.  I have been flying but am just not into this blog anymore.  I will summarize by saying I flew several times each week since the end of July.  Only in the last couple weeks has flying been less frequent than that because the rains and winds are starting to seep into the Fall weather pattern here.  It is after all what keeps Oregon green and mossy.  I can say I likely flew every plane in the fleet...Bravata, RV-4, Toledo Special, Giles 202, P-47, Val, Stinger II, RV-8, Sbach 342, Intruder, Dirty Birdy, Kaos, Aerostar 76, Aerostar 40F, Starstream, Yak 54, Shoestring 60, and lil Dragonfly.

The ones I have flown most are the big RV-4, Dirty Birdy, and Toledo Special.  I also fly the Dragonfly very often because it is the plane that takes so little space and can be packed into the truck even with the Bravata and RV-4...it fits in jump seat area of the cab.  That plane allows me to have something to fly when the others fail to start or they crash.  No fuss, no muss.

Regarding some maintenance issues.  The bearings on the Toledo Special made the plane sound like a tractor in the sky.  I asked Don to replace the bearings for me, which he gladly did.  I supplied new bearings I had for the engine.  He found a broken piston ring in the engine, bought a new one, and replaced it while doing the bearing job.  He also replaced the valve gaskets with some he had in stock, and did not charge me for them.  Cost was $28 for the ring.  Don is so generous, he even ran the engine in with the new ring, on his engine stand for me.  I have it ready to install in any plane when needed.  While Don did that work, I installed another Saito 82a into the plane, the one that was in the T-28 when it expired a couple years ago.  I had to replace a rod cover , the only part that bent in the crash.  Have since flown the plane a couple weeks ago, and it sounds great again, and the plane is as smooth as ever.

In another engine issue, the OS 160FX in the Giles failed to start about a month ago at the field.  I removed it later at home and did not find any scratches or scoring in the piston or ring, so I left it for future closer inspection and repair.  I have a NIB same engine that I got on RC Universe eons ago.  I installed that in the Giles and ran a couple tanks of glow through it at home for initial break in.  Also took one flight with a very rich setting at the field.  Next few flights I will lean it out slightly each time, but it sounds and seems fine. 

My Val is a nice flying plane but the last time out a few days ago, the engine quit at the top of the loop, and I had a forced landing in the back 40, way out.  Trying to make it to the runway, I stalled the plane, and she started her death spiral.  I did the right thing, let the controls go, kept the nose down, then leveled her out for a decent flat landing in the sparse but ugly field.  That tore both pants back into the wing.  I did some work at home to replace the ultra thin plymash that VQ used for LG mounting.  Cannot even call them blocks....only about 1/4' "thick" and made from plywood mash, not good grade dense plywood.  The work is done except the plastic wheel pant mounts shattered in the crash landing, so I am mailing the one recoverable one to Alex for 3D replication and printing.

Let's see....I added 4.5 oz of lead to the nose of the RV-4 to help make her more groovy.  It does help.  Now the plane will drop its nose a wee bit at the top of the loop, to continue the second half of the loop.  It used to just level out, and require up elevator to pull the nose down at the top.  While a lil more lead would help, I am gonna live with it this way.  Oh last time out, I thumped the left LG hard on a pancake landing, so I removed it and bent it back at home. 

Final news...I ordered the Phoenix Model Stinson Reliant a month ago and have yet to really start assembly.  At least I mocked it up to test fit the wing and stab alignment, which looks darn good.  I ordered six new Hitec D645MG servos, which arrived.  Now contemplating ordering the Saito FG-30B gas four-stroke engine, but am waiting to see if maybe I can get a better price around Black Friday sales.

See there....I have been busy but just too lazy to post about events!

Aichi Val completion

For all intents and purposes, this plane is completed and ready for a maiden.  Might add a few ounces of lead in the  nose to assure the plane is not tail heavy for the maiden, but it balances real close to the CG per the manual as is.  Actually I do have to break-in the engine.  Later in the day, I added 2.3 oz of lead to the nose by screwing two lead globs of about 1oz each to each side of the beam engine mounts.  This is the furthest forward point without using heavyweight hub spinners.

Aichi Val by VQ Models

I have been assembling this new plane for a couple months or more.  Not done but getting there in my slugs pace!  WS is 60”, power is a brand new OS70 Surpass II that I got from Jerry for $75 last year! Chose it for unique look, fixed gear to simplify, elliptical wing for plentiful area and typical good flying characteristics like the P-47, Sea Fury, Spitfire.  Wanted a larger warbird of 30cc size but couldn’t find a plane I loved, so settled for this to tide me over and keep amused.  I need a second warbird to my Jug after the T-28 expired about two years ago.

Dirty Birdy

I need to document completion of my first new ARF in a few years...drum roll...the Dirty Birdy by Great Planes, their rendition of the famous design from the 70's or 80's by Joe Bridi.  I bought this thing perhaps five years ago and finally got the desire back to keep it and actually finish it a few months ago.  In the interim period I lost interest in it because I had wanted to power it with a four stroke engine, but that would entail replacing the stock tank with a larger fuel tank to feed the thirst of a four stroke engine.  That hurdle turned off my interest and i actually even tried to sell the ARF as NIB!  Lucky I had no takers.  Then a few months or so ago, I traded Don for a beautiful Kaos that he had finished but decided not to fly.  That bird rekindled my interest in the DB, and so a few months ago I started assembly of the ARF.  Of course I am horribly slow, so it took me til just a few weeks ago to complete the DB.  It is powered with a brand new OS 65AX two stroke engine so that I would not need to replace the stock tank.  I kept the fixed LG for simplicity.  The servos came from my T-28 that died last year.  I had a new 617 Futaba receiver.  Pics follow.

I maidened the plane a couple weeks ago.  It only needed about three clicks right aileron for straight and level flight.  Balance is per the manual mid range with 1/2 oz lead weight on the tail.  Wings are balanced with 6 nails buried in the light wing tip.  AUW is 7.5 pounds dry.  Still running slightly rich as the engine has just 5 tanks of fuel through it.  Knifes like a dream right now with no obvious tuck to LG or canopy.  Just flies straight and true.  Does arc to nose down when I do KE on a slight climb, so might be nose heavy a tad.  While I can try to trim that more, right now I am just having fun with it.  For me it is just an excellent sport plane...I am not pattern contestant.

I quit flying RC!

Hahahahaha, no way Jose!  I have been flying lots since early June when i last blogged here.  I have just been too awful lazy to make entries. I have flown at least a couple times each week, and often 3 or 4 times.  Been flying the pants off my planes, very little on helis but enough to avoid completely rusting out!  I cannot be too rusty because Ron comes in a week formthe annual visit of ten days or so t fly, fly, fly.

So today i flew the CG Ultimate three times.  Love that old bird, now 26 years old!  A few weeks ago it would not take on fuel. The old Robart fueler was plugged.  This is the second one to go bad in that plane.  While i got the plug out, i decided the design is poor and just chucked it.  I ran the fuel filter externally on the bottom of the cowl, and it is now a simple matter to unplug the line, fuel up, and reartach the fuel line to the filter.  KISS METHOD WORKS BEST!  Also, the bearing replacement is working fine...the engine is hauling butt like it used to.

A couple weeks ago, i completed my first new ARF in years, the beautiful Joe Bridi design,the  Dirty Birdy!  I maidened it with two flights the first day.  Took it out yesterday and had three flights.  On maiden day it only needed a few clicks of right aileron.  With no changes yesterday, it flew great again.  Even knife edge is real satisfactory right now, with no obvious tuck to either the LG or the canopy.   It is very much a joy to fly.  Landings are cool with a nose high touchdown.


One last update!  I sold my AeroWorks 50cc Ultimate to Joe a few weeks ago for $900!  He had fun with it a couple days then during a low roll the plane just failed to respond and it demolished on impact.  It always flew fine for me.  Joe thinks the battery packs may have slipped and disconnected.  I do not think so as he said he used servo safety clips like i did, and what are the chances of both unplugging at the same instant?!  I would investigate his receiver.  That is the only component inside the plane that changed with the change in ownwership.  I kept my Airtronics receiver and he installed a Futaba.  Of course the other diffs are the transmitter and operator.  C’est la vie.  I am sad it is no more.

Cool trade for a Kaos!

The other day at the Dallas field, Don approached me about making a trade we once discussed in the Summer of 2017.  At that time, I offered a lightly used Saito 82a for the Kaos plane complete with servos and Enya 60 two stroke engine, and mechanical retracts.  We didn't know each other much then, as I had just joined the Dallas club.  It was a no go then because Don had recently finished the plane and still was attached to it.  So I forgot all about it.  So the other day, he refreshed my memory and asked if I still wanted to make the trade, to which I pretty readily agreed.  We made the trade a couple days ago at his beautiful home.  Since that time, I have installed my receiver and battery, then made some mechanical trim adjustments such as changing one aileron servo horn to match the other in length, and remounting one elevator control horn closer to the hinge line to match the other elevator half.  I also programmed my Futaba xmitter with some expo on ailerons and elevator similar to my other planes.  This is gonna be a fun flyer!

Maintaining the Ultimate

I did some necessary maintenance on the CG Ultimate 10-300 today in preparation for flying it again this season.  I tested it over the Fall last year and discovered the flight battery is dead, so I wanted to get that changed.  That was pretty easy but necessitates taking the bottom wing off, which is a slight hassle.  I put in a never used (but at least a couple years old) 6V 2000mAh NimH pack after removing the old 4.8V pack.  Testing the controls out with that new pack, I found the rudder servo spinning but not turning so it must have some stripped gears in it.  Luckily it is a Futaba 3152 servo, and I have some new ones, so it was easy to switch out.  And while testing the throttle control, the linkage to the servo broke, so I had to remove the old brass linkage and clevis, and solder in a new one.  Since the new linkage is longer, that required removing an old ply brace and relocating and installing a new balsa one for adequate support of the flexible control rod.  I was just glad all the unanticipated repairs showed up while I already had the wing off for the battery replacement.  Should be good to fly now, and I just hope the engine runs after a couple years in the hangar.

Gaui Wowee!

On Christmas Day 2013 there was a sale on a heli that I have been admiring greatly, ok lusting after!  It is the Gaui X5, similar size to the Goblin 500 and it uses the same battery packs.  That was a huge attraction.  Well, the darn thing came on sale, so I ordered on Dec 25, received it about a week later, and just built it over the last 10 days.  I learned lots on this build due to the different brand of the airframe, and the different electronics from anything I have already.  This uses the Gaui mini Vbar FBL controller, Gaui ESC, and Scorpion motor.  I added a Futaba 6303 SBus receiver and CC Pro BEC, both of which I also have in the Goblin 500.  No sense in going through the many details of setting up the mini Vbar and the ESC since I probably forget many of them already anyhow.  Suffice to say, I got things worked out so far on those elements, as well as programming my Futaba 7ch FASST transmitter for this heli.

It's a beautiful heli due to that sleek so-called "formula" canopy.   I am looking forward to maidening it soon, as everyone who has it on Heli Freak only has positive things to say about it.  Here come the pics!

Dry fitting the frame together.

Frame screwed together with threadlocker.  Motor and servos installed.

Starting on head assembly.

Tail assembly, boom, supports added.

Futaba SBus receiver, mini Vbar, and ESC mounted.

Left side of completed heli.

Antenna support behind frame.

BEC on left side of frame.

Finished beauty!

The fleet of Trex 450's, Goblin 500, and X5.