Small Flying Arts

Finally getting around to building this Glider - started yesterday afternoon. I first saw it at the hobby shop that I passed twice a day (and visited quite often!) going to school in Mexico back in '59. Wanted, begged, tantrumed, to no avail - Pops said the Ramrod 650 and motor was on its way and must be built before anything else comes in the house and that the glider (imported) was much too expensive . Ramrod was built VERY quickly, flown and lost on the first trim flight ! I was SURE that the Jetstream would be forthcoming! The hobby shop had sold out the two kits it had and was not expecting more for the rest of the year, so I THOUGHT that the next trip to Laredo or McAllen would bring relief...

Sixty (60!) years later I scored this original Midwest kit up on the German 'Bay for a song, the owner stating that it had been sitting on his shelf since 1960 or 61 and he was now too old to do it justice.

The wood was still in very good shape, tho a bit on the heavy side, and the die-cut parts punched out with minimal use of the scalpel. The only major fly in the soup was with the symmetry of the fuselage bottom. Plan shows a very basic, fixed towhook that I'll swap for an adjustable one, and a fuse DT that is illegal over here - a mechanical one will be used (or maybe on of the modern electronic types). I've gotten the fuselage nearly framed up and will post photos as I go along.

Fuselage is built. Wood is nice quality "C" grain (some have suggested that I insure the kit wood for theft ), with density probably in the 7 lb range. Went together quite nicely.

Some detail of the ballast hatch, which is where I'll mount the electronic timer and battery. There is plenty of room for the extra lead (needed!).

In the previous photos, the timers shown are scroll clockwork types. I was originally hoping to use the Graupner one as it has never been used, but it is physically too large. The others would be OK except that they are OLD, used and 3-function. The weight difference between the clockwork timers and the electric one - with the servo and battery - is still lighter than the lightest clockwork one (even tho the extra weight is not an issue).

Getting the Stab done.

Wing center section framed up and a quick lash-up of the parts.

Wingtips have been framed out and sheeted. Started shaping the wing center section LE after getting the sheeting done.

The gizmo on the wing is the electronic timer that I'll be using - haven't unearthed the sub-micro servo out of my stash yet. Weight of the total DT system (timer, towline switch, LiPo battery and servo) is less than the lightest clockwork timer that I have, and the installation will leave the airframe MUCH cleaner.

I've gotten quite a bit done and posted on our sister sites, but somehow ran out of energy/time to update here .

Construction is complete and I'm nearly done with covering and getting the DT system sorted. As I've determined that the model will need approximately 30 grams in the schautze, I had originally planned to use a Graupner scroll type timer, but the physical size was too much and the cut-out would have compromised the fuselage integrity. I ended up ordering an electronic unit from Dens Model Supplies in England that uses a nano-servo for actuation - the complete set-up weighs less than 10 grams (depending on servo and battery choice).

The colors I've decided on follow the same scheme as my SENATOR and I'll be using this scheme on all my "duration" models.

Nice build! I used to love gliders in the way back then days!

I just had to scratch an OLD itch building this bird. It will probably never be competitive, even in the newer"entry" class here in Germany, but it is, to me at least, still one of the prettiest A1's ever designed. It is eligible for the A-1 Postal on Hippocket, at least and will not be alone as there is another being build by one of the members there.

Strange thing. Today, I had to reset my password even tho it worked fine the last time I logged in a few days ago