I got Bored....

[learnedinuk]

So anyway, I had this "Ebay Extra" 50cc laying around (TTL aircraft, sold by Valley View awhile ago) under my bench for the last 18 months or so. I bid on it as a lark at a really low number. I think somewhere arounD $175.00. imagine my shock when I won the bid. The only problem was the covering scheme, it was hidious to say the least and that was being kind.

So I stripped it and here is what I ended up with. I have a DA logo coming for the cowl and I might continue the flames below the wing on the sides.

If the weather gets good again I will see how it flies.

The wife hates it when I get bored.

[DEVZAK9]

Looks good man love the scheme its different from all the other red bull schemes

[ferocious frankie]

Nice!

[pipercub123]

I like it!

[JEFFRO503]

You can't ever get tired of the red bull scheme....looks awesome man , good job! Wish i could friggin' cover like that.

[Jamieman]

Geez i wish i could cover.
Nice job man.
I have trouble wrapping my lunch.

[learnedinuk]

Thanks for the nice comments. I think it came out pretty good. Props to Scott at www.scottsrc.com for the graphics.

As for being good at covering...let's just say the camera hides most of the defects. This is the first plane I have covered in about 4 years. I am sure my next will be way better.

[pipercub123]

	Quote: Originally Posted by learnedinuk
	Thanks for the nice comments. I think it came out pretty good. Props to Scott at www.scottsrc.com for the graphics. As for being good at covering...let's just say the camera hides most of the defects. This is the first plane I have covered in about 4 years. I am sure my next will be way better.

I don't know man, I saw a few wrinkles under the fuselage that the cam didn't hide. Just pickin!
The only person that should be lookin at your planes bottom is you! Flying seems to hide the defects too, it's amazing how nice a crappy covering job looks in the air.

I normally turn the heat up to get rid of a stubborn wrinkle, but for some reason you aren't supposed to. I remember someone saying that over time it sags and than it's hard to shrink again as you've already shrunk it past a certain limit. So, I always cover at the lowest setting I can get. Some have said a lower temp keeps it from being affected in a hot car. I thought being coverd on a higher temp would just take more ambient heat to affect it. Anyone able to clear this up?

I've made the mistakes of ironing stick control surfaces to see the sticks outlining the covering. I try to now just seal the edges and hit the middle with a heat gun. I've torn off covering off of control surfaces in frustration, but have never ripped it off a fuselage or wing. Anyone cover a plane and than totally redo it until perfect?

I would love to be able to do a flame scheme like on the 100cc wild hare 260. I'm not sure how to get really clean cuts and keep the flames uniform. A template would be a start obviously and perhaps cutting on glass is the key to a clean cut? I've never gotten serious with covering to buy any glass. To some I guess it's an art and than some covering is just to fuelproof it and make it flyable. I see some crazy schemes on glow and I wonder how it stays fuel proof. Thankfully with gas it isn't as much as a problem.

[BTerry]

Looks great LearnedinUK.

I had one of those Extras and it was a tremendous flyer. Mine was a few ounces over 15# with the spinner, wheel pants, and pilot installed. Mine was so light that it was difficult to land on a windless day as it would just keep flying as long as the prop was turning!

For what it is worth, that plane was build by SD Models (TOC, Aviation Models, etc). I very highly recommend replacing the wing tube. Mine bent in flight after a few flights and the most aggressive maneuver I did was a few moderate snaps (no walls, blenders, etc). I used the 25mm x 920mm x .75mm carbon wing tube from Troybuilt, model # JAE25X920. It only saved a couple of ounces but was absolutely bulletproof. My aluminum wing tube only bent slightly but I was concerned the wings were going to crush the fuse sides. Also be sure you get some extra glue on the wing locator pins, I had one pull out and just about lost the plane.

Anyway, yours is a nice looking plane. I wish I still had mine, I had to sell it when I moved across the country last month. In terms of bang-for-the-buck it is very tough to beat. It flew nice and straight with a bit of yaw coupling when inverted - I think I needed to adjust the aileron tracking a bit to correct that. Harriers were easy, especially inverted.

Enjoy it!

[StPeteFlyer]

Looks Great! Thats a heck of a deal too.

[learnedinuk]

	Quote: Originally Posted by pipercub123
	I would love to be able to do a flame scheme like on the 100cc wild hare 260. I'm not sure how to get really clean cuts and keep the flames uniform. A template would be a start obviously and perhaps cutting on glass is the key to a clean cut? I've never gotten serious with covering to buy any glass. To some I guess it's an art and than some covering is just to fuelproof it and make it flyable. I see some crazy schemes on glow and I wonder how it stays fuel proof. Thankfully with gas it isn't as much as a problem.

Yes a template is a must, I found a flame pattern on line and traced it to a card stock template. I did cut it on glass and this was the first time I used that method. It really works great! Also the first time I used the Windex method for additional layers.

I will be changing out the wing tube.

[learnedinuk]

	Quote: Originally Posted by BTerry
	I had one of those Extras and it was a tremendous flyer... Mine was so light that it was difficult to land on a windless day as it would just keep flying as long as the prop was turning! Enjoy it!

You were not kidding. I finally got a chance to fly this plane yesterday. It is the first plane in a long time that was almost perfect on the first flight; I needed a click of down and that was it. Usually on the first flight I take off and make a few trim circuits then come in and land. Check over all bolts and linkages and continue the trim flight. This time after the first two laps I was doing IMAC and inverted passes down low on the first flight. Knife edges require just a little bit of down as it pulls towards the canopy.

Too bad it is raining this weekend I would love to get into some harriers and blenders.