lazy ace photos

I finally got my Lazy Ace covered. I acquired the plans from a local guy who wanted to clear a bunch of junk out of his basement a few years ago. He had a lot of plans, but he finally admitted that he's just not a plans builder and never will be. I was happy to take these plans off his hands, as I had always thought about building a Lazy Ace.

I made a few alterations from the original plans, including bolt-on top wings, cowling built from solid blocks instead of smaller sheets and slabs, Klett tail wheel assembly, dual aileron servos, single cockpit, and balsa front deck. Engine is a standard OS 91 Surpass. Wingspan is

6 feet, weight is 10 pounds 8 ounces.

I haven't flown it yet. I still need to put the windscreen on and finish installing the control rods to the tail.

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Reply to
Robert Reynolds
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On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:33:58 -0600, Robert Reynolds wrote in :

Looks great.

Well done!

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

in :

Thanks!

I would have put a purple dart in the middle of the top wing to match the bottom wing, but I just didn't have enough Monokote. I used exactly two rolls of metallic plum. I took them out of the plastic shrink wrap when I started, and when I was done all I had left was a 1/2" x 12" strip, a little piece about 2" x 5", and a small odd-shaped triangle a couple of inches long. I was working hard to get this job done with two rolls, and I even used Monokote hinges on the ailerons. It would look better with a dart in the middle of the wing, but it's OK this way, too.

I'm eager to see how it flies. At ten pounds it should be a real floater, which is the kind of plane I like. I should be able to do half a dozen aerobatic maneuvers in a 20 foot box. And a plane like this should do an amazing tail slide.

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

In quatrain 5-97, Nostradamus predicted that on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:33:58

-0600, in message , Robert Reynolds would say:

Wow, it looks really nice. What did you think of the building process? Any particular tips? I've got the plans for this plane from RCM, but haven't gotten around to building it yet.

Vicki

Reply to
Victoria Heisner

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:37:10 -0600, Robert Reynolds wrote in :

All you have to do is pick a third color. ;o)

I'd recommend Cub yellow. I think it looks good with the purple and white.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

"Robert Reynolds" > wrote

I love a plans stick built airplane. It really is a work of art. It's a pity to cover it all up.

I think it could benefit with a little starburst, or stripes on the plain white part, though.

What size prop are you going to use? Let us know when it flies!

Reply to
Morgans

I've never been a big fan of rolled plywood, so I used 1/8" balsa for the front decking because it's easier to sand the imperfections away. For the turtle deck I didn't use notched bulkheads, I used plain round ones with the sticks stuck on the outside. This sure makes it easier to cut out bulkheads.

Other than that, there's nothing particularly tricky about it. It's a classic Chuck Cunningham design, which means that it's straightforward, simple, and it will probably fly great. Don't be afraid to simplify it even more, though. I've gotten to the point where I simplify things automatically, and I can't even remember what I did when it's all over. I'm pretty sure on this plane I simplified the underside of the bottom wing center section where it mates with the fuselage, which I do on just about every low wing plan I build. On this plane I ended up with a lite plywood fairing from the leading edge to the trailing edge that continues the lines of the fuselage and also makes a convenient foundation for wing bolts.

I also simplified the way the struts are held into the fuselage. I installed the 1/2" x 3/4" hard blocks in the fuselage per the plans, and then I drilled 1/8" holes in them with a drill press, so the strut ends stick straight into the holes rather than being held in place with J bolts. I made sure that I had a nice straight foot on each strut so I could stick about 2 to 2.5 inches into the hole, and they are held in place by friction. It helps to have a wire bender for making nice straight pieces.

The cowling on these plans is a great example of why I like solid wood cowls. I happen to have a ton of balsa blocks lying around. It's super easy to build a good airplane nose by bolting the engine in place, then measuring how big your cowl needs to be. Glue the big square blocks on the front of the plane with space inside for the engine, and then carve the outside so it looks like the nose of an airplane. I use this method all the time, and it works great.

If you want to chat about any particular detail, feel free to email any time. I'm always happy to talk about building from plans.

Have you ever seen Cunningham's Miss Bikini, also an RCM plan? It's one of the best flying 20 size planes I've ever built, maybe even THE best. Check it out some time.

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Another really great flier is the Sporty Ace, which is sort of a scaled down version of the Lazy Ace:
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Build the Lazy Ace first, of course. But these other two are also really great designs.

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

You're right about the color scheme, of course. But after building a plane like this it's too tempting to just cover it with white to get it done.

I have a 14x6 on the engine now, but I have a few others on standby in case I want to try something else. I have a 13x6, 15x6, and I think a

13x8 in the flight box. What would be your first choice on this kind of plane?
Reply to
Robert Reynolds

A couple of years ago I was flying a Gere Sport (Bud Nosen) with 8 foot wings and a Quadra 50. I had made a modification that contributed greatly to its flying chrematistics. I added struts to the ends of the wings. Just a 2 inch by whatever length of 1/8 bass wood it took with 2 #8 screws in each end into the endcap of the wing. These were used instead of the flying wires as I was not satisfied with the top wing stability during maneuvers and landings in cross winds. Some things I am pretty strict about..structural integrity is high on the list. I had lots of fun with that plane until the battery line parted just at rotation one day. Balsa everywhere.... I have a "new" one framed up in the attic waiting for the current 3 builds and repairs to clear the shop. Probably early this summer as I really loved that kite.

Since you have a 6 foot wing, you might want to think about something to keep the upper wing from flapping around. Fly it first and see it there is an issue. If so, then open the bottom of the lower wing and put yourself in a pad to bolt a strut in the top of that wing to and one in the bottom of the top wing. If you do it carefully, it will not be noticed when you are going for show.

Please let us know how this one works...

- Jim

Reply to
Six_O'Clock_High

"Robert Reynolds" wrote

I dunno. I've never had a glow engine that big. Saying that, I think I would not go with a pitch over 5, and perhaps a 4 would be good, too. Something like a big biplane needs a low pitch, to loaf around, but be able to accelerate quickly, and strongly, with as much vertical as possible, and a large disk to keep things slow on the down line.

It is my opinion that most people are running around with way more pitch than they need.

Reply to
Morgans

You're probably right about pitch. I built a Big John biplane about 8 years ago and powered it with a Saito 91. It flew great, but it always took the entire runway to land on a still day. It was a long time ago, but I'm pretty sure I had an APC 13x8 on that engine. Now that I'm a bit wiser, I would go with a lower pitch.

I have a drawer full of props that I've acquired from various buyouts over the years, but I don't have a big prop with a pitch less than 6. I don't want to go to the store and spend money on a prop when I have so many at home...

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

Robert:

I would really be interested in your procedure for doing the Monokote hinge on the ailerons. If it isn't too much trouble, please describe your procedure. Ed Forsythe and I have been discussing this, and I would really like your take on it. I am not bored by detail.

Harlan

Reply to
H Davis

The Big John biplane I had a few years back had a 78" wing, I think. I built it the same way as this one, with 1/8" wire cabane struts and no interplane struts, and it was just fine. I'm not expecting any problems with this plane, but I suppose it's always a possibility.

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

___________ ____________ / ! aileron / ! T.E. of wing / ! / !

That's a terrible diagram, but it will have to do. Notice that the aileron is beveled so that it meets the wing only at the top, and the gap which allows movement is only at the bottom.

With the wing and aileron flat on the table, iron a strip of monokote over the joint, the entire length of the aileron. My strip was about

1.5 to 2 inches wide. When you have it stuck on completely, turn the wings over and deflect the aileron until the bottom of the joint is flat from one side to the other. In other words, you can iron a strip of monokote on the aileron and the trailing edge of the wing with the iron flat on both parts. As you iron the bottom strip in place, use the point of the iron to make sure it gets all the way into the gap. Ideally, you want the two pieces to stick together through the crack. If you get them to stick together in the middle, they won't come off during use.

Any time I'm applying monokote to an airplane I keep Windex and paper towels handy. If your skin oil gets on the first piece you put on, the next piece that is supposed to stick to it will have a harder time sticking. To produce the best possible adhesion, I always clean the parts that are already on the plane with Windex right before I put the next piece on. This is especially important with monokote hinges.

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

In quatrain 5-97, Nostradamus predicted that on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:25:51

-0600, in message , Robert Reynolds would say:

[much great information saved, but snipped solely for bandwidth purposes]

Thanks for your very gracious offer. It's going to be a while before I get to the Lazy Ace plans. Right now I'm waiting for the right wingtip on the Sig Kadet (Mk II) that I'm building to dry.

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I hadn't seen the Miss Bikini, but you might want to also check out Chuck's Miss Texas:

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It looks very much like the Miss Bikini, only much larger.

When RCM started in with their problems, I grabbed plans for all of the planes from "my day" that I really wanted to build back then. So, I've got the Sporty Ace, the Lazy Ace, and Miss Texas. Over the past couple of years, the doctor has been trying to glue my left eye back together (diabetes), so my modeling hasn't progressed as quickly as I'd planned.

I haven't gotten my first kit-built plane together yet (but I do have my fieldbox done), but I'm looking forward to getting everything together so that I can start scratch building for the first time. I'll have lots of questions for you then!!! ;->

Vicki

Reply to
Victoria Heisner

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I have seen the Miss Texas in the catalog many times, but I never ordered that particular plan because I have a few others in that size category already. Now that you mention it, it does look kind of like a blown up Miss Bikini, except the tail is a bit different.

I never did get into the planes from "my day". I started building from plans around 1990, and right from the start I went for the stuff that was already old. I bought things that looked good at the time, like the Cloud Dancer, but most of my stuff is from the 70s. Seems to me that the RC planes of the 70s were just more interesting, especially in the

1990s when everybody had an Extra, a Sukhoi and a Staudacher, all of which look pretty much the same to me.
Reply to
Robert Reynolds

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