Howard Littman Model Aircraft - hjlmodels.com

[kittyfritters]

One of my customers built three of my kits in the last month and informed me that he was having trouble trimming them because I had left the CG position off the plans and he didn't have a starting balance point. I checked the plans and discovered that I had left the CG location off the plans on five of my kits. This surprised me because, literally, a hundred of these kits have been built and no one told me about it! At the Round Valley contest I saw Bostillations and an Irish Jumping Bean flying very well and no one told me about the initial trimming problems.

I have reviewed and revised the plans where necessary and am having them reprinted for future production. If you have any of the following kits and have not built them yet here are the balance points:

Bostillation a bit less than and inch aft of the spar. This is noted on the plan in an unconventional location, the upper right corner of the plan off the wing tip. The marker has been moved to a more conventional location under the side view of the fuselage on the plan.

Irish Jumping Bean about an inch aft of the spar. Plan revised.

Wright Amount of Wrong just aft of the leading edge of the lower wing. Plan revised.

Double Trouble at the spar on the upper wing. Plan revised.

Bristol Beaufighter about 1/3 back from the leading edge of the wing.

My apologies if this has caused you any trouble with these models.

Keep 'Em Flying!

Howard

[kittyfritters]

My original prototype of the Giant NoCal Beaufighter was built with 1/16" stock like the smaller version. It flew well but would warp on a warm breath. The current, production, beta prototype is made with 3/32" stock. It's not that much heavier but is much more easily handled and transported. After a slight redraw of the British temperate camouflage skin I will release it for production. Look for it December 1st.

The short test flight in the video was just because Dave Gee asked me to do it. It was flown with a few hundred turns on single loops of 3/32" rubber with a large, acetate drag tab on the right wing to get it to turn in the small gym. On 1/8" rubber, outdoors, it's a different animal. I'll get some outdoor video of it this weekend.

KF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVY3ZEZ8gCc

[staubkorb]

IMPRESSIVE!

[kittyfritters]

I did get to fly the Beaufighter a couple of times at the Boys & Girls Club gym in Pacoima after the Black Sheep Pearl Harbor NoCal contest. The gym is slightly larger than Stonehurst but you have to be careful to avoid the ventilation fan ("The Sikorsky") in the middle of the room. Still getting back in to the habit of using the Sony Action Cam but at least I did get some video.

https://youtu.be/XT0L0cOkIeE

https://youtu.be/qujEL-jbMOU

KF

[kittyfritters]

The Giant NoCal Beaufighter kit is now available from my web site. https://www.hjlmodels.com/sgino.html

[kittyfritters]

The model in the photo is a laser cut version of Wade Wiley's Basin Flyer. The Basin Flyer is a good performing, simplified model.

Laser cut prototype.

First_Finished.jpg (213.99 KiB) Viewed 15100 times

The kit will be available at the end of August.

KF