RE: [RCSE] sophisticated lady/spirit 100 questions

2002-05-29 Thread Hart, Patrick

Hi Kurt

The Sophicated Lady was my pick for a first plane when I re-entered our
sport/hobby in '91. In answer to your question about the Electra Deluxe
being the same wing, yes, it is. And it's a very strong wing as is.

Fortunately I joined SULA, a predominately thermal club here in Southern
California at the same time as I was building the 'Lady. So the SULA guys
where able to give me a couple of building tips which would strengthen the
wing even further:

1. Add 1/4" medium hardness balsa shear webs (facing up) in between the top
and bottom spars all the way out to the first section past the outboard poly
break. These shear webs, in addition to the top planking already part of the
Sophisticated Lady/Electra design will give you a balsa wing strong enough
to withstand almost full pedal winch launches. (And you'll be able to loop
and dive the Electra version with no fear of the wing folding.)

2. Add the spoiler option! I already had my wing too far along before I had
my first talk with my SULA teachers so I missed out on one of the most
important aspects of a first plane>> learning how to land it with relative
precision in a small area.

As far as the T-tail, I chose to put the horizontal stab down on the fuse in
the more conventional position. Also, I split the elevator lengthwise and
added 1/4" spacers. This gave me about 30% more elevator area and allows a
more positive response. Inside the fuse I put 1/2"H x 4"L x 1/16" ply strips
on either side of the fuse's rear. The midpoint of the ply is where the LE
of the horizontal stab meets the fuse. 

Finally, I added 30% more area to the vertical stab/rudder.

My Sophisicated Lady has gone off very powerful (dumb-foot actually) winch
lauches and been blasted through trees (on non-spoilered landing attempts)
on numerous occasions. She's even been crashed on a pop-up winch lauch with
the radio turned off. And through it all she's always been rebuildable. For
me she's been a great trainer.

Patrick Hart

-Original Message-
From: gentledentalguy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 12:10 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [RCSE] sophisticated lady/spirit 100 questions


Hello,

I am new to soaring and have limited RC gas experience, but would 
like to get started and need some help.  I was in a hobby store that 
was going out of business and picked up a sophisticated lady and a 
spirit 100 sailplane at half price.  Now I'm wondering from what I've 
read if I've set myself up for some first time flier frustrations. 

I have an electra deluxe from carl goldberg and my first question is 
whether or not I can use this wing on a sophisticated lady (if it is 
the same wing or not) rather than building the one in the kit right 
off the bat.

My next question is about the tail of the sophisticated lady.  I've 
heard that it is rather flimsy...breaks easily and was wondering if 
anyone had built one and what they might recommend about reinforcing 
the tail.

Finally, I've heard pros and cons on the spirit 100 as a beginner 
plane and would like any advice as to if I should master the airways 
with the sophisticated lady first or even if I should hold off on 
either of these two kits purchase another one to start out with.

Thanks for your input.
Kurt



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RE: [RCSE] Re: what paint sticks to coroplast?

2001-08-23 Thread Hart, Patrick

James, I just lightly sprayed my JW's tail with run-of-the-mill spray enamel
from Home Depot. It sticks fine. When I bought my JW from Pat Bowman he
cautioned against Ultracoating the fin. Pat said that with the JW's short
nose moment (the CG is only ~1 7/8" back from the leading edge on the older
version) that any added weight to the tail resulted in a bunch of weight
having to be added up front for balance.

I didn't even Ultracoat the ailerons. Instead I sprayed a couple light coats
of clear lacquer and then just taped the ailerons with packing tape. My JW
came out, balanced with 3 ounces of lead, to 28 ounces total, 4 ounces short
of the 32 ounces that the specs say.

Patrick Hart

-Original Message-
From: James Osborn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 11:13 AM
To: Aerofoam
Cc: RCSE
Subject: Re: [RCSE] Re: what paint sticks to coroplast?



Hey,

How about Utracote, will that stick to coroplast?  I'm getting my JW kit
shortly
and I would like to cover the coroplast fin.

-- James

Aerofoam wrote:
> 
> >Well, since they use it for signs, I'd call up the local sign shop and
ask
> what >screen printing ink they use on the signs.
> 
> They don't print on the coroplast, they print on sign vinyl, then stick it
> on the coroplast, or they cut they letters out and stick them on.
> You can get spray paints to stick if you sand it aggresively, but nothing
> will stick well, you are better off covering it with sign vinyl.
> 
>  Mark Mech
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www.aerofoam.com
> 
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