Engines back from rework.

Occasionally I get a card in the letterbox saying that I have a package to be collected at the Post Office. Normally I find this quite annoying, as I do enjoy getting parcels, and having to wait an extra day for them is no fun. This Monday such a card appeared and I had a reasonable idea that it was a couple of free-flight engines back from the attention of Bob Mattes. And so it was, slicing open the box revealed an nicely oily Cox TD .020 and OS .29 III.

The Tee Dee is destined for a 67.5% Dixielander for 1/4A Nos Gas. I had long been searching for an .020 is reasonable condition but the prices were more than I was willing to pay. Eventually I was able to find one online for a moderate amount, and shipped it to Bob to have him apply his magic. He does some internal work, and machines a new head to accommodate a GloBee-style drop-in plug. I'll be using Merlin-branded equivalents of these flat-coil plugs. Bob provides complete details of the rework and test running, by the time he got done with it the TD was turning an APC 4.2x2 prop at a little over 25K rpm on 65% fuel.

The OS came from the generous heart and home of Larry Davidson, though to be fair he did steal it out from under me at a swap shop. Hardly my fault that his experienced eye and treacherous nature snagged it before I could figure out what I was looking at. Nevertheless, it's mine now and will find a good home in a B Nos Dixielander. Perhaps one day the scales of justice shall tip a little in my direction and I will use it to beat the socks off him. Bob machined a Nelson-style head for it in addition to some internal cleanup. In the interest of longevity this is a relatively mild build, after rework it spins an APC 9x4 at 16,800 rpm and will probably be nearer 18K once fully broken in.

Keil Kraft Senator

In early 2010 I discovered online the Keil Kraft Senator, and eagerly read through the various threads on building and flying. Not being able to find the plans online, Jim Moseley was kind enough to send me a copy from Canada at his own expense. That was almost precisely five years ago. I'm not exactly sure what happened but little to no progress was made for several years. I had the plans out periodically but for various reasons never made a lot of progress.

Forward to late 2014 and a renewed plunge into Free Flight building with a goal to competing at the NATS in July of 2015. While not intended for that event in particular, I decided it was past time for the Senator to get built. I set all other projects aside and focused on accomplishing something each day, no matter how small. Ribs were cut, propeller blank assembled, and hardware gathered. Before too long the fuselage, wing, and tail sub assemblies came together and were prepared for covering with Esaki tissue. Thinned white glue (yellow actually) was used to adhere the tissue to the structure, which for the most part went well. The exception was the lower surface of the wing, being undercambered the tissue needs to be stuck to the length of each rib. This was a little frustrating until I got the hang of it and the last couple of panels were less of a struggle.

I'll post more build images in the future but the Senator is done and ready for test flights when time and weather permit. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the air.