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#4394306 - 12/11/17 04:29 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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How do you feel he stick through those gloves?


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#4394478 - 12/12/17 05:18 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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The mittens are soft leather on the palms, and the inserts are fairly thin, if tightly woven, wool. I've no idea how they work in arctic temperatures, but they do. The trigger finger on them makes manipulating items easy, including writing. Since the plane is pretty much forefinger and thumb light in controls, no problem.

They worked wonders in the winters of Germany hanging out of the open hatch of an M113, and were a treat in the Nieuport.

The new cork for the fuel indicator was trimmed up a bit, re-shellacked, and is working a treat. The old synthetic ones became sodden and refused to float, which I found disconcerting. It's one thing to be "pretty sure" there is sufficient fuel and an entirely different thing to actually know there is sufficient fuel.

The squeal on transmit with the handheld turns out to be a common problem, and is most likely the cables from the handheld unit to the headset. It's not the antenna, as it squeals with everything removed from the aircraft and the rubber duck antenna on the unit. So I'm ordering new ones, as well as little thingiebobs that attach around the microphone cords. I suspect they're magnets of some sort.

Being a small, slow aircraft, one of my worries is runway or pattern incursion by another aircraft. A surprising number of folks with certified aircraft and built in radios don't use them around my field. I realize that it's not required, but it doesn't do any harm at all, and I like to call out my position to them. It's also one of the reasons I've been finding the correct - but smallest - pattern I can find to land and be off the runway at the first turn off.


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#4394487 - 12/12/17 06:14 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Originally Posted by Dart


Being a small, slow aircraft, one of my worries is runway or pattern incursion by another aircraft. A surprising number of folks with certified aircraft and built in radios don't use them around my field. I realize that it's not required, but it doesn't do any harm at all, and I like to call out my position to them. It's also one of the reasons I've been finding the correct - but smallest - pattern I can find to land and be off the runway at the first turn off.



Back about a hundred years ago (~1985) when I was training for my PPL at KGYH I was told to be wary of brand new biz jets flying in sans any radios, they were in fact arriving to have radios installed at a facility on our field.


"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
#4395219 - 12/17/17 01:42 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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I was out at the airport today to help a friend work on his KR2 when we realized that the weather was pretty darned good for flying.

When he got to a point where he didn't need my help, down I went to pull Babette out of the hangar and into the air.

So here I am, flying a small route around the aerodrome, well away from the front, when I feel it. I'm not alone. Looking around, up, and behind me, I'm shocked to see a Folke Wulf 149D at my eight o'clock, 1500 feet above and about half a mile off, stalking.

His paint scheme pretty much just like this:

[Linked Image]

It's intuitive!



[Linked Image]



A gallant salute (he had no ammo, so I spared him), and we went our separate ways.


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#4398770 - 01/07/18 11:32 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Good luck when you get a chance at a Blimp....

I got wrote up (un-officially) by the FAA for attacking a Goodyear blimp near Vero Beach, FL circa 1972. The blimp pilot contacted me and we talked on unicom channel. He apologized for having to report me, said it was company policy...ada...ada. The Melbourne FSS, the closest FAA types knew me very well and it was much ado about nothing.

Nowadays it would prolly be a terrorist threat requiring a zillion dollar strategic redeployment of AD assets.

Oh...the blimp attack. I was in a Cessna 150 Aerobat, climbed to about 5500 ASL, he was at about 1,000 ASL, did a proper wingover, and wizzed by the astonished blimp types at an almost VNE of 130 kts!

Glory Days...........


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#4398795 - 01/08/18 03:45 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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smile

I'm wrestling with the oil pressure right now. It's way too high, and I took out the two oil pressure relief valves, checked the holes for galling, cut the springs back a bit, and put them back in. No dice. The rear one had horizontal grooves on it, and I suspect it's the wrong one - it should be smooth - being the one used for the single oil relief valve VW engines.

So I'll go track down a new set of valves, take them out, cut the springs back a touch more, and replace the rear valve.*

* A bit of explanation of what the "valves" are. They're little cylinders pushed up into the paths of the oil flow by means of a spring held in by a bolt.

The front one has oil either going to the oil cooler or the sump. The idea is that if the oil cooler gets blocked up with something, it will divert oil back into the sump.

The rear one is the true oil pressure valve, as it has oil either going to the cylinders, etc., or the sump. The darned thing should be moving down against the spring a bit against the pressure, giving me 10 pounds for every 1,000 RPM. But it isn't moving at all, forcing everything into the engine...and there's no regulation of pressure. So the oil at 60 pounds of pressure has to go somewhere, and the only place it can go is out the prop hub.

It's all the rage to put in "heavy duty" springs to the point that one can't find the stock ones. They're grand if one's engine is worn out or running redline RPM's in a racing Bug, but no so much for normal operation. The response to too much oil pressure is to cut the springs back bit by bit until they act properly. Of course that means I need extra springs for when I cut one of them too short and don't get enough pressure.

I'm beginning to really, really, really hate mechanics.


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#4399708 - 01/13/18 06:13 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Most likely the spring you have is an incorrect aftermarket item. They are too long if memory serves me. Go to www.thesamba.com and check the 'performance' threads. There was some discussion there about this just a few days ago. Seek poster 'Modok'. He is very knowledgeable.

#4399779 - 01/13/18 07:31 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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Yep, there are a few "hot rod" parts in the engine, for better and worse.

While the replacement set I bought are after market, just by looking at the springs, it appears they match the originals closer - they don't look as robust or long as the ones in there now.

The wife was smirking at me for not rushing to the airport to put them in, as we've got another cold snap here. She thinks it's endlessly humorous that I don't flinch at flying in freezing temperatures but don't want to perform maintenance in them. The truth is that in the cold, when my hands get numb, I tend to over torque things and cut myself more.


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#4399795 - 01/13/18 08:44 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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'The Cold' is a story everyone has! When a young lad my autos (just a few car lengths ahead of the junk yard's tow truck) always had major break downs in Feb... the coldest time of the year, here. I wrenched them myself.... outside.... on the ground... in the cold, wet rain, sleet and snow using a few basic hand tools and an abundance of curse words. Trannys, blown head gaskets, burnt valves and etc. I could repair it or at least get them to a machinist for the work needed. My hands never hurt too bad until they got warmed up to normal temps after all work was done. You realize then and there that, yep, that hand slip DID slice the meat on the knuckle or that starter that fell DID catch the pinky finger. That's when 'The Pain' stories start! lol

Last edited by ARUP; 01/13/18 08:45 PM.
#4400549 - 01/17/18 04:18 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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Yep. Today is a hard freeze, this weekend will be in the 60's and sunny. Life Down South.

New plungers installed and the springs cut down to where the pressure is much better - still high, but not crazy, and I'm loathe to cut them down too much, as the oil will thin as it heats up. I should be able to take her up and around to check it out this weekend.

Culver Props started on my new one! The replacement they made for me was 60" long, when it should have been 62. Pretty neat that they're exchanging it with no cost - that's customer service! So next month I get to change it out.


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#4401026 - 01/20/18 03:17 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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That's pretty cool customer service with Culver! I'm a big fan of Golden Age Racing airplanes and have built a few RC models of them. One I still wish to build is Hans C. Rasmussen's 'Skippy'. Mr. R. was a very interesting man and worth an internet search. Mr. R. made everything on that airplane except the prop and the tires. His friend, Roger Lorenzen, supplied the hand carved prop! I wrote Mr. L. a letter a few years ago asking if he remembered the colors of 'Skippy' but he didn't. I still have that lovely letter in unsteady hand writing from a very nice and genteel man! Mr. L. has probably passed on by now but it was cool to have that tiny bit of interaction with somebody who was actually a part of that period of history... and he was a prop carver!

As far as those springs go cutting them back might not be the answer as the metallurgy is suspect and causes problems with elasticity and such. I have tried to find the thread about them but, alas, cannot. I'll keep looking.

#4401030 - 01/20/18 04:57 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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Well, cutting them back seems to be the consensus from the folks I've been talking to.

She's still topping out at 60 pounds at full throttle, but down to 40 at cruise. A few spots of oil on the cowl at the end of the flight, but nothing serious. I may back off about a pint of oil in filling her.

I went out to the airport today to work up some replacement baffling seals for the engine, and after gluing them up, realized that not only was it in the mid 50's, but the wind had died down to almost nothing.

So up I went! Air was glassy smooth - it was like sitting on a kitchen chair - and I made the most of it in the hour and a half before the sun started to get low in the sky.

When the air gets thick like this she doesn't want to land! I went really long waiting for her to settle onto the runway!


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#4401160 - 01/21/18 04:12 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Cutting a spring makes the compression rate stiffer. Springs are rated by installed tension, compressed tension and compression rate. If you really want to study springs, research springs for snowmobile clutches. The Yamaha technical update manuals from the 90s and early 2000s have good graphs showing the comparisons of some 20+ springs that fit into the same application.

If you have an arbor press, you can test the springs. You need to test spring pressure for installed height and compressed height. The difference is the rate. You need to consider coil bind (mechanical touching of the coils) and flex (the spring wanting to bulge outward when compressed). The length of the spring and coil thickness will affect coil bind. The fit of the spring within the bore and coil thickness will affect flex. You can mitigate the flex by placing a solid rod inside the spring coils.


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#4401163 - 01/21/18 04:48 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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I have the inverse problem - too much tension.


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#4401452 - 01/23/18 06:13 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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That is what I was getting at. When you cut a spring, you increase the rate. You decrease the installed tension because you have lessened the length. What affect you have upon the compressed tension will depend on the compression length and the rate.

I know it seems opposite, but a spring of the same wire diameter and material is "softer" when it has 10 coils then when it has 5. You have a longer wire that is flexing.

I know blahblahblah ..... I am counting rivets.

Last edited by Brit44 'Aldo'; 01/23/18 06:16 AM.

TPA who TWI
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#4401495 - 01/23/18 03:39 PM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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You're correct, of course - it's a matter of effectiveness versus efficiency.

Shortening the spring (and the point at where it starts compressing) as the plunger is lowered works, but it's stiffer as it puts the pressure on. But there's some give in when it starts compressing - versus zero on the longer one, as it's already in compression - making it more effective.

It boggles my mind that one can't find NOS oil pressure relief springs for a Type I Bug engine, and that all that is available is after market "improved" ones that have too much tension for low RPM/low temperature use. If I could find a "pull a part" junkyard with some bugs in it I'd be crawling underneath with a screwdriver and a hammer.

Went up the day before yesterday and it was much improved. At full RPM's (around 3300) I got a little oil out of the spinner, but I'm okay with that, as it's at the full 3+ quarts (there's a about a pint or so in the oil cooler and hoses to it). Oil pressure at cruise (2500 RPM) was 40, and after an hour, on landing, it was 20 at idle. Roughly twice what it really should be, but it won't hurt anything. I may just have to keep the oil halfway or a quarter above the add line on the dipstick.*

A little oil on the cowl and a few drips on the bottom of the upper wing, the right wing, and right elevator, but none on the left. Easily wiped off and not a problem. The decision to use exterior house paint on the plane has really paid huge dividends.

I also double checked that the venting for the engine case was clear, and it is, so no over pressure there.

It sure was nice to fly for half and hour the other day. Pretty bumpy, owing to the front having moved through and the sunshine heating everything up (Wednesday = freezing and snow, Sunday = 65 and sunny), but getting pushed around is just a function of what the airplane is. I had to keep the flight short as I had around an hour in the tank (three or so gallons) and am a bit skiddish about pushing the minimums - and both my Jerry cans were empty, so no filling her up beforehand.

I improved the engine baffling, making up some strips of leather folded over flexible cardboard and putting them along where the aluminum sheet projects to the cowl. It seems to work just fine. There's some spots along the firewall where the cowl doesn't quite sit flush against it that I'm going to mark up and fabricate some sort of soft blocking of it. It may be as simple as some duck tape folded part way over itself and attached to the firewall.

Culver is cutting me a new propeller, as the one the sent me was 60x27 instead of 62x27. It doesn't really matter - I don't think that extra inch of length on both ends will really improve anything - but when I mentioned it to them they immediately said they'd cut a new one for me and send me a shipping label for the current one when it's done. Now that's customer service! It'll be interesting to see what finish Alaina up there will put on it (I just leave it up to her with the instruction to "make it pretty.").

Next up is improving the combing around the cockpit and adjusting the gun. I did the combing in the most get-it-done manner I could, slapping some scrap faux leather over a bit of garden hose and pipe insulation and wrapping over with a long boot lace to keep it in place. It looks way better than it should, but it's not really as secure as I'd like it. So I procured some leather from a recliner someone was throwing out (they put it on the curb for the trash man and in short order the back panel of it was cut away - always, always carry a knife!), and it has a nice section on the bottom with the pile part of velcro where it attached to the bottom of the chair. That section will be used for the very rear of the cockpit, and I have industrial velcro that will hold it in place across the back.

So I'll remove what I have and either recycle it if I can, putting some eyelets in it and lacing it properly around the edge with some leather strap (okay, leather boot laces), or just make new, as I think I have enough.

My gun is too far forward and set at an angle to where the convergence would be about 15 feet in front of the prop. The latter would be funny if it didn't actually bother me, and the former is a matter of aesthetics. It just doesn't look right. I'm also hoping that moving the gun back four inches will make it more stable and I can use it as a viable camera mount. As it is now it vibrates just enough to make the camera work suspect and needing serious editing to make it worth showing.

* Checking the oil level isn't as straight forward as one would like. I have to lift the tail to bring the oil pan level, wait a little, and then check it. Since the dipstick is at the very forward edge of the engine (and thus at the high point), I don't trust whether or not there's a little daub of oil on the tip and call it good.


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#4401745 - 01/25/18 01:40 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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One thing good about many av engines is that too much oil just gets spit out instead of blowing seals like in auto engines.

#4401764 - 01/25/18 04:49 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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Well, it's an automotive engine, but the prop hub doesn't have a proper seal on it, so out it goes!


The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.com

From Laser:
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#4401906 - 01/26/18 01:06 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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That's right... but it's an av engine now because of the mods! I think I'd make a good politician the way I word things vaguely like 'many av engines...' and such! lol Are you going to fly in to the Dayton Dawn Patrol this year?

#4401924 - 01/26/18 06:53 AM Re: 7/8 scale Nieuport 11. [Re: Dart]  
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Lifer

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Good grief, that would be a full week!


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