Old Sterling PT-17 kit

Anyone here ever build the old 1960's Sterling PT-17 R/C biplane kit?

I saw one of these fly back in the late sixties or early seventies. It was powered by a Fox .78 (two glow plugs) and it sure looked real in the air. I've always wanted one of these kits. Lo and behold, a radio (ham) friend sold me his kit and it is awaiting assembly.

Maybe I'll give YouTube a gander and see if anyone is flying one there.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger
Loading thread data ...

Hmmmmm..

I remember that !

I DID build the PT-19 tho... :)

Dave

Reply to
Dave

The Sterling PT-19 you are referring to had many more enthusiasts than the Sterling PT-17 that I am referring to. I think the extra wing scared many folks off, plus the thought of aligning the upper and lower wing in a successful manner.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

Had one, though after looking at the odd wood in the kit, I sold it to someone that had to have one, maybe the guy you got it from. Since then, I have learned that you had to sand the living crap out every former, tail surfaces, ribs. You had to lose about 2 pounds from any of their kits. You also had to match any identical parts with the same weight of balsa, fuselage sides, doublers, wing ribs, and wing tips . I once built one of their kit fuselages and it came out looking like a hunter's bow.

BUT, once built properly, they flew great.

Harry

Reply to
Harry Kolomyjec

--------------

I know exactly what you are saying, Harry.

My first store bought R/C kit was a Sterling Mighty Mambo. It was horrible, just as you described. I never finished it, although I did build the fuselage. One of my friends received it gratis from me and he fitted a wing that he found somewhere for who knows what? Maybe it was a Mighty Mambo wing. I don't think it ever flew. I didn't care. I wrote a blistering letter to Sterling about that kit and always kept an eye open for the police coming up the walk to the front door. The letter was that bad, but with no profanity. One of my better literary works, even if I say so myself.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

I agree. "back in the day" I built ONE Sterling kit and vowed to never go near them again. They were just horrible!

Reply to
Jim

I built one and it is still quite airworthy. Uses a SuperTiger .90 disguised in the plastic rotary engine,

Photos (including a realistic in-flight) here:

formatting link
Scroll down a little and look for "Stearman N2S-2"

Reply to
M-M

Horrible by today's standards (or not), the Ringmaster (and probalby the Ringmaster Jr.) was built and successfully flown by the thousands.

Tejas Pedro

Reply to
Random Excess

On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:57:14 -0500, Random Excess wrote in :

That was the end of my CL career.

Not because it was a bad kit (it wasn't), but because I couldn't get it painted the way I wanted to.

I didn't understand that you need a base layer with dope. I probably put a dozen layers of navy blue on my Ringmaster and it still looked horrible.

(sigh)

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

--------------

I had the same problem with balsa finishes myself, Marty. Back then, my answer was to use lots and lots of balsa sealer (clear dope and talcum powder), which led to a smooth, but very heavy and somewhat fragile finish. Little did I know that all I had to do after fine sanding the dickens out of the piece, was to lay down a layer of tissue (modeling) over the surface and clear dope it. I'm sure you've known this for quite a while too by now, but for those out there trying dope and experiencing the issues that Marty and I are referring to (open grain showing through the paint), it works miracles. You can get a glass-like finish in no time using a simple layer of tissue.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:20:44 -0400, "Ed Cregger" wrote in :

I do know that now, I guess.

But it was also the open bays in the wing that looked streaky.

A silver, gray, or white base coat would probably have solved that problem.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.