Eliza One More Time 

And Eliza Again 

Eliza Power Train 

Eliza Again 

Eliza 

Eliza

This is a C/L trainer that I designed myself. I never drew any plans. I just thought about it a lot. Then I built it. It is called the Eliza after my granddaughter. Hopefully someday she can learn to fly on it.
The wing is mounted high so the fuel tank can be mounted behind the leading edge of the wing. And the tail moment is long to decrease sensitivity on the controls.
The wing has a 1/8 in. plywood spar inserted at about 1/3 chord to increase stiffness of the wing. The wing is 3/16 in. balsa.
The last time I flew this thing was about two years ago at the club field. Everyone else left because it was too windy to fly. I got out my stooge and kept on flying. I got in eight flights that day. It was fun! It was so windy the wings were flapping. I am amazed that the plane held together.
The engine is an MVVS Junior .12 c.i.(2.0 cc). It is a classic European beginners engine.Amazing power for an engine of it's size. And it is great on hot restarts.

Fox 35 Replacements

Forgot to mention that this is another engine that fits the same motor mount bolt pattern as the Fox 35. And the muffler mount bolt pattern is the same as the Fox 35. Ain't that a hoot! And this engine does not stall out on outside loops! That is a real advantage if one likes to stunt while sport flying.

Sidewinder Special Power Train

The engine is a Thunder Tiger GP 25 control line. It comes from the Thunder Tiger factory with a sprinkler venturi. Otherwise it is basically a clone of the O.S. 25 FP. The Thunder Tiger GP 25 C/L is an ABC, plain bearing, and Schnuerle ported engine. When run on a rich two cycle setting, it puts out plenty of power for a ship this size. It is a light engine. It weighs about 6.5 oz. without a muffler. It does seem to burn fuel at a faster rate than the O.S. Lucky for me I have room on this plane for a 4.75 oz. GRW Chicken Hopper fuel tank. As you can probably guess, I like nice long flights when I am out sport flying.
As far as flying goes, this plane turns tight and stays out on the lines well for all the standard manuevers. The unusual thing about it is that when it is flying level it seems to be stuck on a rail. I wonder if that feeling is the result of the huge elevator.
My Sidewinder Special has about 15 flights on it now. And I like to fly it. But I am still tinkering with it.
I can't wait until spring to fly it some more.

Sidewinder Special Power Train 

Building the Sidewinder Special

The quality of the Bear Enterprises kits is terrific. The parts fit very well as received. And the wood was well selected. An easy kit to build straight.
The nose moment was chosen to allow for a large fuel tank and aluminum two-wheel landing gear.
The stabilizer and elevator are stock. This kit marks the first time I have sewn the elevator on with fishing line. I just wanted to try it. That elevator is also the largest one I have ever had on a plane this size.
The finish on this plane is a successful experiment. I read on a control line forum on the web one day that Stewart-McDonald water based Guitar Lacquer is chemically very similar to our clear dope. But it cleans up with water and is odorless. Fantastic! My family goes nuts every time I open a can of dope in the house because it stinks so much.
The wing of the Sidewinder Special is covered with Sig Coverall. The finish consists of three coats of Stewart-McDonald Guitar Lacquer, and two coats of Red Devil Polyurethane Enamel. The plane has about 15 flights on it now. And the finish still looks like new. So I guess I will not have to buy clear dope any more!

Sidewinder Special-Other Side 

Sidewinder Special-Top View 

Sidewinder Special

I don't fly fast combat. I bought this kit on eBay thinking it was a slow combat kit that I could build as a sport flyer. I even examined the kit when I received and still thought it was a slow combat kit. Bear enterprises used to srell both slow and fast combat versions of the Sidewinder. And the sidewinder plans showed both versions on one sheet. But at that time I didn't know that.
So when I started building the plane, I finally realized I had the fast combat version.
So what could I do? Just had to rummage through my old balsa stash and convert it to a sport flyer.
Basically, everything behind the wing leading edge except the rudder, the canopy, and the tailwheel is from the Sidewinder fast kit. And everything in front of the wing leading edge is cobbled together from my mind and my control line stuff stash.

Sidewinder Special Again 

Sidewinder Special 

Sidewinder Special

Another unique one. The basis for this one is a Bear Enterprises kit called the Sidewinder for fast combat. But it morphed into a sportflyer in my basement.

Kamikaze Details

The landing gear setup is for a single drop- off wheel. The landing gear wire inserts into a hole on the bottom of the fuselage. Gravity holds it in place when the plane is on the ground. When the plane is released for takeoff the gear drops off as the plane leaves the ground. This system allows ground launching and also reduces weight and drag in flight.
The finish is one coat of waterbased clear gloss polyurethane and two coats of Red Devil Polyurethane Oil Enamel.
The engine is an antique Thunder Tiger 15. The fuel tank is a 3 ounce uniflow.
Dig that crazy upright engine mount!

Power Train 

Kamikaze Trainer 

Kamikaze

I call it the Kamikaze. It is built from a Blackhawk Models A-B Trainer Kit that I picked up on eBay. Of course I modified the kit. I guess I bought because I liked the idea of another model with an upright mounted engine. Or maybe I am just nuts.

More Clowniac 

Clowniac Again 

Clowniac-With Canopy 

Clowniac

Remember this one. The Clowniac. I just want to post a few pictures to show off the new canopy that is now painted on.

Ukie 35-One More Time 

Power Train

This engine is an Enya 35 BB Model 5224. The twin ball bearing Enyas are fairly rare. It is the square venturi model from the 1960's. I bought it on eBay a couple of years ago at a pretty reasonable price. It was unused when I bought it. But the previous owner had drilled and tapped the exhaust stack to hold a tongue muffler. I think that is so cool. That is the main reason I bought the engine. Last summer I mounted the engine on this plane with a Brodak offset engine mounting plate. Then I carefully broke in the engine with 5% nitro 25% castor oil fuel. It puts out plenty of power. Does a nice 4-2-4 break type of run. Picking up one of these old Enyas unused is a real find. They make great Ukie sport engines. The quality is very high. And they are easy starting. And parts for them are even available from Enya dealers.
The tank is a Brodak 3 oz. tank with standard vents. The prop is a Grish Black Magnum 9x6. A great wide-blade stunt prop.

Power Train 

Ukie 35

ARF? Sort of. This is the Ukie 35 from J&J Sales. A friend gave it to me to settle a debt. I decided to build it to try a foamy for a change. The wings do come pre covered. And the controls are all hooked up. The wings do have to be epoxied to the fuselage. I was able to do that, but they are not quite straight with each other. In retrospect, I should have spent more time refitting them to make sure they were straight before I epoxied them. However, the plane seems to fly alright. So I guess the fact that they are not quite lined up right doesn't matter much. I reinforced the wing-fuselage joint with carbon fiber veil for strength. I also built up the wingtip leadout guide for added strength. The red paint is a Sig Dope finish. The landing gear is a Brodak large profile landing gear kit because I wanted two wheel gear on this one. I also had to add an ounce of outboard wingtip weight. All in all it seemed like quite a bit of work to me. Not really ARF. One of these days I am going to have to build a Phil Cartier foamy kit for comparison purposes. In any case, I am very pleased with the flying characteristics of this plane. It turns tight and stays out on the lines well. It is very light. The large wing area means that it glides in for very gentle landings after the engine quits. In fact this plane has the best glide of any of my planes. It would make a good trainer or sport flyer for just about anyone.

Ukie 35 Again 

Ukie 35 

Last comment on the Champ

This thing is extremely light! I don't know how Keil Kraft supplied the parts for a solid balsa sheet model of this size so that it turned out so light. I am impressed by it's lightness. I am used to having models of this size be quite heavy.

Champ "Chomping at the Bit" 

Cox Tee Dee 09 Power 

Keil Kraft Champ Again 

Keil Kraft Champ 

Finish on the Champ

It is another classic dope finish. Except that the wings are covered with yellow Japanese tissue. There is no cplor dope on the wings. The yellow Japanese tissue is covered with several coats of clear dope.

Keil Kraft Champ

This one is also still a display model. But it is a British classic. The Keil Kraft Champ.

Brodak Trainer 049-Side View 

Top View