I used to fly free-flight until the 90's. The loss of Mile Square Park in CA to a golf course was the death knell for gas and rubber. Losing a plane OOS in a thermal was an exhilarating experience. Terrific video!
I am ASTOUNDED at the performance of these planes! I’ve seen these large balsa kits for years, like the Guillows ones but had no idea they performed so spectacularly! I had one as a kid but was way in over my head in the build and never completed it. I always thought there were just models and the rubber power was just an afterthought that didn’t actually work. Wow. The epitome of grace. Just beautiful to watch. When trimmed you’d swear they were piloted.
Thx, I'll post some photos when time allows. The rudder and elevator have small soda can hinges (1/4" x 1/2"). Make a slice on each side and slip them in. Hit with CA. 2 or 3 hinges will do, securing each adjustment. With clay, I don't add much...maybe the size of a pea each time, or less. I'll post the thrust plate for the nose block, which is very helpful for field thrust adjustments.
Well, nerds and insiders may know such, but I believe that most people don't have the slightest idea of all efforts and demands, a model flier have to suffer to reach your level. Also real amounts of of transpiration must be added. :)
This thing flies better all by itself than my R/C Cessna. Certainly more relaxing. I think I am going to kit bash a PT-19 just because I love this plane so much. Rubber Power /Free Flight here I come!
So. That's where all that long grass went to that I heard so much about when I was a young 'n' flying rubber powered planes. And you must have a monopoly on that calm evening weather too!!
Very interesting. I never liked to make 2 adjustments (say, thrust & ballast) at the same time .. too easy to get a bad outcome. It sure has a tight right pattern, which seems to have gotten rid of the power-off scallop noticed in later test flights. At one point, when you said you were adding a tad more tail weight, I found myself saying NOOOOOO! But, it all worked out in the end. It's really a beautiful Ryan. Reminded me of one of my 1st control line planes, the famous Cox Thimble Drome PT-19 Flight Trainer (but that was open cockpit). Thanks for the nice video. Cheers.
I said the same thing...nooooo! In flight 13, the glide was as close to perfection as I think I've ever seen - if anything, it was just about on the verge of a slight stall in the glide - but then you moved the CG back (clay on the tail), which really confused me. I figured that if you wanted more climb at that point, I thought you'd go with a thrust angle adjustment. In any case, that's a gorgeous model, and a good flyer. Beautiful job!
Haha...I too felt the same when I was reviewing the films!! Surprised me. I suspect it was only a very small pea sized bead of clay I'm sure part of it, at the time, was my strong resistance to changing the thrust setting...which would take up more time in the fading light. Much easier to simply add clay. Still, in the end, thrust was indeed one of the keys to dialing her in.
What's all the dancing about at approx 5.07? Happiness after another great flight. You deserve a clap or two after those wonderful flights even tho they are "trimmers".
That Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flyvevaaben) PT-26 is beautiful. I love the Norwegian colours. They really needed that canopy up there. PT-19/26 is a classic design with perfect proportions and areas. I have thought that if there was some lightweight mechanical way to slightly increase the turn the initial climb out which, of course, tends to counteract a right turn because of lefthand torque, and then relax it as the motor depletes, it would make a big difference. Something like a DT for the rudder might work. What do you consider to be your best-flying, most satisfying model? Great build and flying, as always.
Following your example of rebuilding your Caudron, I have completely stripped my Me109, removed all unnecessary weight and treated it to new flying surfaces and tissue, so avidly watching your trimming videos in anticipation of its re-maiden flights. I'm just wondering what your thinking was behind your decision to change the prop? Currently, the 109 has a small fast prop... Many thanks for taking the time to post another wonderful video.
The first prop was a yellow Czech prop, which I heard from some pals was quite good. It did ok, but I just wasn't feeling it, so I switched to a 9.5" blue prop...don't know the name of it...but it felt better to me. I've since broken it after a rough landing in the wind, and have put a 10" white EB prop on her. Thx for the kind words.
I really like your videos. Very helpful for someone who is just starting out. I'm curious about where you fly. There is a large sod farm about 35 miles south of me. The surrounding hills look very familiar and it's also near an airport. You wouldn't be in central Missouri would you?
Thx, glad ur enjoying the channel. I fly near Goshen & Middletown, NY...in a township called Wawayanda. The film above was a friend's farm in Pine Forge, PA, which was 20 miles away, but sadly no longer available. Wawayanda is about 100 miles away but worth the trip. I'd say if u can get permission to fly on any sod farm, ur in great shape for free-flight rubber flying. Good luck with it all.
Great video, Thomas! Is it just me, or were the Muncie flights faster than those seen on the farm (at 20:00 min). It was wondering less,and seemed faster. ... power increase?
So long ago, hard to remember. I might have been more fully wound at Muncie, as I recall being very cautious at what was a fishbowl in Pine Forge. Probably stayed with the same rubber. But I know that the air in Muncie can be wild, and thermals are lurking in wait, to grab an unsuspecting flyer. She's gone for many incredible flights at Muncie for sure. Probably her best field.
Thanks mate. I'm just returning to the game and am learning a lot from your videos. What sort of camera are you using? I'd like to make my own videos and can't see my GoPro matching your efforts.
I use there latest iPhones for my B roll footage, and an older Canon PowerShot SX20 for right zoom flight shots. It has much lower resolution, but combined with a 20X optical zoom, gets u close enough for the YT vids. I use this cam from 2009 because it was early on with image stabilization, which was mild, and perfect for tracking FF models. Anything newer or especially current has such a strong IS, that it nearly makes it impossible to frame the model as u would like throughout the flight. Plus, I found that the 20X is about the limit for zoom, while hand held. Once u get closer to 30X and above, it's not worth the effort. Using a tripod for capturing the moving flights isn't realistic, and leads to even more jerky captures. Good luck! U can find these Canons for around $60 on sites like Mercari. The only issue is dust on the censor, which can not be cleaned for less than the cost of the cam, so it's best to find one that's spotless. So I ask the seller to shoot a blank surface and send me the shot. Has worked well.
@@adelaideoldphart Yes, it quickly makes up for the 720p resolution. Of note, I always manually focus for infinity prior to each flight. Otherwise, auto focus likes to play tricks.
Trimming is a frustrating process,but you make it look easy. I had a question. When doing the final assembly, I'm aware that you're supposed to glue balsa to balsa,and not balsa to tissue. How you glue balsa to balsa on the tail?
Hi Adarsh! What we tend to do is to scrape or score lightly, removing a little tissue with an Xacto, the places where balsa can meet balsa. That way we can expose a little balsa to glue to make a solid, tissue-free bond.
@@adarshlakshman4715 Well you are very kind! You only remove enough tissue to see the bare wood, so no damage will be done. You can even carefully do it with a piece of sandpaper or fingernail file!
@@vancegilbert8466 that was going to be my next question precisely! Perhaps I can use one of those notching tools that they make for spar notches in wingribs? Or a tool similar to that.
This was made from my own design, but there is a kit at Easy Built Models for a 35" version of the PT-19 which is very similar. easybuiltmodels.com/ff06.htm#gsc.tab=0
A gurney flap is simply a 2" stick of 1/16" sq. balsa or even thinner. Just glue stick it to the top or bottom of the trailing edge near the tip, and it acts as a partial aileron on that side, to either lift or drop the wing. Cut it shorter or make it thinner if it's too much of an adjustment. A quick and easy field fix.
It's a trimming element named after the famous race car driver, Dan Gurney. For F/F, it's simply a thin, short balsa stick, usually attached to either to the top or bottom of the trailing edge of the wing. It helps to lift the wingtip, or push it down, as needed.
I used to fly free-flight until the 90's. The loss of Mile Square Park in CA to a golf course was the death knell for gas and rubber. Losing a plane OOS in a thermal was an exhilarating experience. Terrific video!
Watching your trim process is really enjoyable and just as instructive. Thanks a lot.
I am ASTOUNDED at the performance of these planes! I’ve seen these large balsa kits for years, like the Guillows ones but had no idea they performed so spectacularly!
I had one as a kid but was way in over my head in the build and never completed it. I always thought there were just models and the rubber power was just an afterthought that didn’t actually work. Wow. The epitome of grace. Just beautiful to watch. When trimmed you’d swear they were piloted.
Excellent as always. Could you someday maybe show how you adjust the rudder, change thrust angle, add weight, etc while at the flying field.
Thx, I'll post some photos when time allows. The rudder and elevator have small soda can hinges (1/4" x 1/2"). Make a slice on each side and slip them in. Hit with CA. 2 or 3 hinges will do, securing each adjustment. With clay, I don't add much...maybe the size of a pea each time, or less. I'll post the thrust plate for the nose block, which is very helpful for field thrust adjustments.
@@maxfliart any photos you could share on adding clay and gurney weights? Thanks!
I love it. The plane seems to fly best with piano music in the background. :)
Yes, but it's a real struggle to wheel that piano to the field each time... :-D
Well, nerds and insiders may know such, but I believe that most people don't have the slightest idea of all efforts and demands, a model flier have to suffer to reach your level. Also real amounts of of transpiration must be added. :)
@@maxfliart Hahaha i bet
The Pilot Trainer 26 is a very elegant and forgiving aircraft, once again well done.
What a lovely tranquil trimming session in that delightful meadow of long grass.
This thing flies better all by itself than my R/C Cessna. Certainly more relaxing. I think I am going to kit bash a PT-19 just because I love this plane so much. Rubber Power /Free Flight here I come!
What a great place to fly.
The model looks super good.
Like the way you fine tune the model.
Cheers
Such a great video. I learned so much about trimming. Thank you!!!!
Very beautiful plane and you have it flying so nice! Thanks for sharing your trimming details.
What a beautiful build
So helpful and as always, nice relaxing video. Thank you.
Quite a pleasant free flight video! Also, a beautiful scale model.
So. That's where all that long grass went to that I heard so much about when I was a young 'n' flying rubber powered planes. And you must have a monopoly on that calm evening weather too!!
Very interesting. I never liked to make 2 adjustments (say, thrust & ballast) at the same time .. too easy to get a bad outcome. It sure has a tight right pattern, which seems to have gotten rid of the power-off scallop noticed in later test flights. At one point, when you said you were adding a tad more tail weight, I found myself saying NOOOOOO! But, it all worked out in the end. It's really a beautiful Ryan. Reminded me of one of my 1st control line planes, the famous Cox Thimble Drome PT-19 Flight Trainer (but that was open cockpit). Thanks for the nice video. Cheers.
I said the same thing...nooooo! In flight 13, the glide was as close to perfection as I think I've ever seen - if anything, it was just about on the verge of a slight stall in the glide - but then you moved the CG back (clay on the tail), which really confused me. I figured that if you wanted more climb at that point, I thought you'd go with a thrust angle adjustment. In any case, that's a gorgeous model, and a good flyer. Beautiful job!
By the way, I had one of those Cox PT-19's also.....man, that was a long time ago!
Haha...I too felt the same when I was reviewing the films!! Surprised me. I suspect it was only a very small pea sized bead of clay I'm sure part of it, at the time, was my strong resistance to changing the thrust setting...which would take up more time in the fading light. Much easier to simply add clay. Still, in the end, thrust was indeed one of the keys to dialing her in.
Really impressive landing gear!
Another beauty Tom!
Noel
Thx, Noel. She's been a good flyer over the years. Love those Norwegian colors!
Paradise flying field 😍
Beautiful plane... Beautiful work!
I wish You many many happy flights Sir 👍👍👍
Excelente trabajo, muy bonito, me gusta mucho el aeromodelismo puro
Impecable el acabado, y por el vuelo y el planeo es una obra de arte.
A dream field for rubber jobs
Don’t know how you manage to always find
it in that long grass!
Your models are beautiful!!
Just when i thought how much it looks like a fullsize aeroplane, the sound of one appeared. :)
What's all the dancing about at approx 5.07? Happiness after another great flight. You deserve a clap or two after those wonderful flights even tho they are "trimmers".
Brilliant and beautiful !
Excelente como sempre. Parabéns!
Exquisite sir! Congratulations!
That Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flyvevaaben) PT-26 is beautiful. I love the Norwegian colours. They really needed that canopy up there. PT-19/26 is a classic design with perfect proportions and areas.
I have thought that if there was some lightweight mechanical way to slightly increase the turn the initial climb out which, of course, tends to counteract a right turn because of lefthand torque, and then relax it as the motor depletes, it would make a big difference. Something like a DT for the rudder might work.
What do you consider to be your best-flying, most satisfying model?
Great build and flying, as always.
Following your example of rebuilding your Caudron, I have completely stripped my Me109, removed all unnecessary weight and treated it to new flying surfaces and tissue, so avidly watching your trimming videos in anticipation of its re-maiden flights. I'm just wondering what your thinking was behind your decision to change the prop? Currently, the 109 has a small fast prop... Many thanks for taking the time to post another wonderful video.
The first prop was a yellow Czech prop, which I heard from some pals was quite good. It did ok, but I just wasn't feeling it, so I switched to a 9.5" blue prop...don't know the name of it...but it felt better to me. I've since broken it after a rough landing in the wind, and have put a 10" white EB prop on her. Thx for the kind words.
Your videos are brilliant! Just saying.
Beautiful.
Beautiful nice flying Plane
I really like your videos. Very helpful for someone who is just starting out. I'm curious about where you fly. There is a large sod farm about 35 miles south of me. The surrounding hills look very familiar and it's also near an airport. You wouldn't be in central Missouri would you?
Thx, glad ur enjoying the channel. I fly near Goshen & Middletown, NY...in a township called Wawayanda. The film above was a friend's farm in Pine Forge, PA, which was 20 miles away, but sadly no longer available. Wawayanda is about 100 miles away but worth the trip. I'd say if u can get permission to fly
on any sod farm, ur in great shape for free-flight rubber flying. Good luck with it all.
Graceful
Mesmerizing. This type of aero modeling is for connoisseurs.
Great video, Thomas! Is it just me, or were the Muncie flights faster than those seen on the farm (at 20:00 min). It was wondering less,and seemed faster. ... power increase?
So long ago, hard to remember. I might have been more fully wound at Muncie, as I recall being very cautious at what was a fishbowl in Pine Forge. Probably stayed with the same rubber. But I know that the air in Muncie can be wild, and thermals are lurking in wait, to grab an unsuspecting flyer. She's gone for many incredible flights at Muncie for sure. Probably her best field.
Dette er bare vakkert!
Awesome keep it up
Thanks mate. I'm just returning to the game and am learning a lot from your videos. What sort of camera are you using? I'd like to make my own videos and can't see my GoPro matching your efforts.
I use there latest iPhones for my B roll footage, and an older Canon PowerShot SX20 for right zoom flight shots. It has much lower resolution, but combined with a 20X optical zoom, gets u close enough for the YT vids. I use this cam from 2009 because it was early on with image stabilization, which was mild, and perfect for tracking FF models. Anything newer or especially current has such a strong IS, that it nearly makes it impossible to frame the model as u would like throughout the flight. Plus, I found that the 20X is about the limit for zoom, while hand held. Once u get closer to 30X and above, it's not worth the effort. Using a tripod for capturing the moving flights isn't realistic, and leads to even more jerky captures. Good luck! U can find these Canons for around $60 on sites like Mercari. The only issue is dust on the censor, which can not be cleaned for less than the cost of the cam, so it's best to find one that's spotless. So I ask the seller to shoot a blank surface and send me the shot. Has worked well.
@@maxfliart Thanks. The zoom was what really impressed me. It's a shopping I shall go.
@@adelaideoldphart Yes, it quickly makes up for the 720p resolution. Of note, I always manually focus for infinity prior to each flight. Otherwise, auto focus likes to play tricks.
Tom.. if my airplane only glides like in the starting of the video then I will be happy 😁
Trimming is a frustrating process,but you make it look easy. I had a question. When doing the final assembly, I'm aware that you're supposed to glue balsa to balsa,and not balsa to tissue. How you glue balsa to balsa on the tail?
Hi Adarsh!
What we tend to do is to scrape or score lightly, removing a little tissue with an Xacto, the places where balsa can meet balsa. That way we can expose a little balsa to glue to make a solid, tissue-free bond.
@@vancegilbert8466 wow. My comment got a reply from one of the masters! When one is scoring to remove the tissue,won't the balsa also get damaged?
@@adarshlakshman4715 Well you are very kind!
You only remove enough tissue to see the bare wood, so no damage will be done. You can even carefully do it with a piece of sandpaper or fingernail file!
@@vancegilbert8466 that was going to be my next question precisely! Perhaps I can use one of those notching tools that they make for spar notches in wingribs? Or a tool similar to that.
If is a kit could you say who the manufacture is please?
This was made from my own design, but there is a kit at Easy Built Models for a 35" version of the PT-19 which is very similar. easybuiltmodels.com/ff06.htm#gsc.tab=0
Awesome...! How do you make gurney flap?
A gurney flap is simply a 2" stick of 1/16" sq. balsa or even thinner. Just glue stick it to the top or bottom of the trailing edge near the tip, and it acts as a partial aileron on that side, to either lift or drop the wing. Cut it shorter or make it thinner if it's too much of an adjustment. A quick and easy field fix.
@@maxfliart Great. Thanks
Look mommy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky.
😊😊
👍🏼
What is a giverny flap?
It's a trimming element named after the famous race car driver, Dan Gurney. For F/F, it's simply a thin, short balsa stick, usually attached to either to the top or bottom of the trailing edge of the wing. It helps to lift the wingtip, or push it down, as needed.
Dont walk with the camera on
Jack Benny