Trevor

About 1.5 hours work and the wing is complete and I wasn't hurrying. Even the hinge slots were pre-cut which is one of the jobs I least like having to do. I am impressed with the quality of the model so far. It seems to be well made and the covering is proper Profilm not the cheap chinese stuff which seems popular on some artf's.

After being impressed by a couple of Weston Cougar 2000's at the shindig at Fickleshole on Sunday and talking to one of the pilots about them, I decided I needed a funfly type of aircraft and this was the one. This is also my first ARTF. It feels a bit like cheating, there is so little to do to build it. Not even the wings need joining as they are in one piece. The main work is installing the radio and engine so it shouldn't take too long. As you can see in the picture there aren't many parts in the box. I want to use my spare Irvine 46 but the standard .46 size plastic engine mou

Don, As usual you are making an excellent job. I was wondering what type of wood you are using for the longerons and cross pieces and how you slit them and shape them so neatly. Any tips you can give would be much appreciated Looking forward to seeing more of this model and I hope you can give another talk at club night when it is finished. Trevor Searle

Peter, Many thanks for the copy about wing incidence. I will study it but on the first quick read it seems to confirm what I thought, that a positive incidence is required to neutralize washout. I will let you know how I get on. Thanks again

Hi Peter, I will definitely write an article for the newsletter. How many pages should it be? Photographs alright? Microsoft Word okay? I will try and get a flying picture included when the flying attitude thing is sorted. I had a look for Gordon Whiteheads book. It is going for £100 on Amazon. I can't find a website for RM Books I will have to keep looking, it looks like my kind of book. Trevor

Can someone tell me how much throw they put on their CAP232 elevators, rudder and ailerons? Also what scale their CAP is so I can scale the throws? Inboard throws on elevators please due to the tapered shape. Thanks. Trevor

Took it to the field yesterday and Simon kindly test flew it for me. The throws were way too high and it took some trimming but it seemed to fly quite well, though I am sure that was due more to the pilot. Didn't get any pictures but I will next time. Main problem was the attitude of the plane in the air. It flew tail down and needed quite a bit of up elevator trim. Balance is okay I think. This seemed to me to be more due to wing/tailplane incidence. I built 2 degrees of washout in the wing but the wing root incidence is 0 degrees to the tailplane so the wingtips have negative in

Over decorated as usual!! The next stage creating the fiberglass canopy. I have noticed the epoxy resin doesn't stick to polythene sheet so I tried covering the blue foam mold with some, after painting it with emulsion and sanding smooth to protect it. I used a heat gun to shrink some thin polythene (actually some scrap solarfilm backing sheet). Need to go very careful with the heat gun to avoid damaging the blue foam. It shrank nicely and made a good membrane over the canopy. Held loose ends underneath with masking tape. I then put 2 layers of 25g woven glass (leftover from ano

Shame about the minor damage but it could have been worse. Didn't take too long to build, how many hours do you reckon it took?

Thanks, I'll probably start a bit forward of that.

Darren, It's looking really nice, wish I had done mine in white not yellow. What %chord is the balance on your CAP? I am looking for a start position to balance my scratch built one. Trevor

Darren, It's looking really nice, wish I had done mine in white not yellow. What %chord is the balance on your CAP? I am looking for a start position to balance my scratch built one. Trevor

Have made some progress with the canopy. Had to glue two pieces of blue foam together with white wood glue to get the right thickness. Then drew outline of canopy on ends using fuselage as a guide. Carved it roughly to shape with an old bread knife. Tried a saw but it made too much dust, knife is better Finally sanded it to shape with 80 grit sandpaper. If you do this yourself use a dust mask, it produces lots of clingy dust It took surprisingly little time to get to this stage, about an hour after the glue had dried. Next stage is to fill in the little dings,

I've always had the urge to try to build a plane from scratch and this year I decided to have a go. I also fancied a CAP-like plane so I combined the two desires. I downloaded some pictures and dimensions of other models and the real thing from the Internet and drew some plans on old wallpaper. I have a spare .46 Irvine so I tried to keep the dimensions consistent with this (span 57" fus 48" inc. cowl and rudder). I kept the weight as low as I could by using lightweight balsa where possible and as few ply formers as I could get away with. I could have cut holes everywhere but the covered fuse

Thanks. Could you also include pictures of how the electronic ignition and radio stuff is wired together? How many batteries are required? I assume the ignition requires a separate battery? The size of these engines seems a bit scary to someone used to .40 - .61 size engines but I suppose you get used to it. Can you recommend a more sedate model kit for petrol then a CAP for a beginner, like a Cub or something?

For the uninitiated among us, can someone explain what is required to use petrol instead of glow? How do you overcome interference etc? Is there an equivalent of the .61 2-stroke glow in petrol or do you have to start with 30% CAP size planes and 26cc engines? What is a good starting point for introduction to petrol?

Thanks Peter. Sorry I didn't make it to club night. I couldn't find a pop bottle big enough (and besides I couldn't face having to drink all that fizz!). I am going to try a couple of different methods I have read about, blue foam mould with fibreglass and a plaster cast and fibreglass. The result doesn't need to be too good, this is just me trying out different construction methods. I will post the results, anything for a laugh Trevor

Has anyone got suggestions for how to MAKE a cockpit canopy (in this case for a CAP232)? I have read about making them from old 3ltr Coke bottles or from glassfibre, just wondered if anyone has tried and succeeded with any particular method.

Thanks for the advice, I really ought to walk before I can run. I think I am being a bit too ambitious with my current projects. The Seagull Spacewalker sounds like a good way forward for me, then graduate to a larger CAP or similar. Trevor

Has anyone got experience of the Blackhorse artf kits, especially the .40 size ones like the CAP, Sukhoi etc. They seem quite cheap just wondering if they are well built, good value and suitable for someone moving beyond trainer stage? Trevor

Thanks, that is what I was after.

Hi, Does anyone know the answer to this? I am building a CAP232 from scratch (don't ask why, it's just one of those things I have to get out of my system). Something I have never really thought about before, should the angle of attack of the tailplane be parallel to that of the wing or should it be tilted slightly up (to give the tail some extra lift) or down (for whatever reason)? If the angles are different, by how much? Wingspan: 57" Fuse length: 48" Happy Easter

Here is the current state of my Miles Magister I am building from plans. A way to go yet but it should be flying sometime this year. Span: 71" Engine:ASP80FS Trev