REARWIN SPEEDSTER 30" Dumas Kit 326 Flight Reports

[LASTWOODSMAN]

This Rearwin Speedster Dumas 30" has been sitting on the shelf for 3 years now.  I could not wait any longer.       Just tied up a  3/16" motor, two strands each 13" long,  Crocket Hook on the prop hook, to the rear motor peg is   15 1/4"   .    Temp was 34 deg F (real feel 26 deg F), winds 12 mph from the West, gusting to 18 mph, and only 37% humidity,  12:30 PM and partly sunny.   I never checked the balance, and the bed tosses were OK.  So I grabbed my Flight Supervisor "Trapper"  and we went out to the Cricket Wicket, and got two perfect test glides with a very slight left turn, going crosswind and downwind - it was really hard to find a leeward windless side of the surrounding trees.   So ... I finger wound about 200 turns ( I was worried it would not have enough power in the first place, when inside the apartment, I could hardly feel any air wash to the rear, from test runs of the motor using that  9"  black prop, plus the rubber was now starting to get cold ).    Those 200 turns by finger gave it a perfect  10  second slow flight, staying low about six feet off of the ground the whole way, about 20 yards, with a very slight left turn !!  Then another perfect  12 second flight on 300 turns hand wound, low and very straight.   By now, the wind was getting stronger, but I made one more flight anyways, and I put a lot of turns into the motor.  The wind got a hold of her and she was swooping up and diving a couple of times, and eventually driven down into the grass of the Cricket Wicket,      which was not too short and not long.  No damage.       So, I forced myself to pack up and wait for another day.   I am pretty excited about flying this "Jumbo'  30"  Rearwin Speedster now!  Oh yeah,  the model weighs  86.4 grams  and the wing area is  135.4sq"  -  which equals a wing loading of  0.64 grams per square inch of wing area.  Now I might as well see if it balances to the CG on the plan.   I think I must put a third strand of  3/16"  rubber on, or make a braided motor, both of which I have never done before.   Oh yeah - I just balanced it now - it needed a further  3 grams  of clay that fit right into the engine air intake hole in the front of the noseblock.   Suggestions are welcome.   

PIC #1     30" REARWIN SPEEDSTER  rubber is loaded
PIC #2      Flying straight out to the left of the "Pitch" of the Cricket Wicket
PIC  #3     Climbing and swooping down and climbing again in gusty high winds
PIC #4       "Trapper", Rearwin Speedster, and backpack in Cricket Wicket of Jackson Park, Windsor , Ontario, Canada  April 8 2018     34 deg F

LASTWOODSMAN

[OZPAF]

Nice looking model - good covering effort and the glazing looks neat. That's keen - you must have been cold.

John

[LASTWOODSMAN]

Thanks John - I think I finished the covering with one light coat of Krylon clear gloss rattle can.  
     I just finished my first braided motor -  two strands of 3/16" each strand 26"  long, then braided down into a 13" motor of 4 strands each 13" long, crocket hook to rear peg is  15 1/4" - that should keep the nose plug on.    180 winds by finger gives 12 seconds of power run, and I do feel more air wash blowing backwards.   I am ready for tomorrow now - supposed to be 39 deg F winds 6 mph gusting to 9 mph in the afternoon, and I will be going flying - hopefully get some good pics, and we will see if that extra 3 grams of clay, in the nose block to balance it, will have any effect on the flight.  The normal temperatures this time of year are highs in the mid 50s Fahrenheit.
      Oh yeah, almost forgot - I am bringing the winding stooge this time ...    

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas  30" Flight Report MON APR 9 2018

3 pics of what the pristine model looks like first.
PIC #1    4360
PIC #2    4333
PIC #3    4338

PIC #4    8510      SIXTH FLIGHT
     Another great day flying - this hobby is starting to pay off.
Weather at  5:00  PM was 37 deg F (feels like 32 deg F), winds 7 mph gusting to 11 mph from North East, humidity 60 %, -  there was a lot of  disheartening light flurries most of the day when it was 32 deg F.  But we went flying when the snow stopped.  The ground was not hard, the grass was not too short, and not long either, in the circular,  encircled and surrounded by large trees, "Cricket Wicket" of Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

PIC # 5  8509      FIFTH FLIGHT
     This 30" Dumas Rearwin Speedster really flew right out of the box and  right off of the building board table.  All I had to do was balance it to the Center of Gravity CG on the plan, using 3 grams of modelling clay, that totally filled up the air intake hole, flush to the front of the removable nose bock.  This plane flew with the kit supplied  9"  black plastic high torque prop.

PIC #6   8507    BRAIDED MOTOR PULLED OUT   NO WINDS ON IT YET
     This braided prop was my first - a 52" long piece of  3/16"  rubber, folded over for a loop of 26" (each strand  13"), then braided with a winder, then the loop snipped and the ends tied off, resulting in a 4 strand braided motor that was 13" long.  I did not even lube this braided motor or break in the rubber by stretching it previously.  The motor did start to weaken and lose its rubbery springiness due to the cold,  but boy, would I ever like to see how that braided motor does in warm weather.

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas  30" Flight Report MON APR 9 2018 cont.

     Well, I got 7 flight pics in total, but they did not turn out bright, because the sky was dark and gloomy and ominous and cloudy, and even giving a few very thin light flurries of snow.  The weather looked bad all day with flurries and rain being forecast to start all the time.

     We left the apartment at 4:45 pm and got to the park, and set up the stooge and I was winding by  5:00 pm,  with rain forecast for  6:30 PM.
I made 8 flights, and on the last two, the wind was picking up and the flurries were starting and the sky was looking pretty ominous - good thing I had my umbrella.  We got home by 6:30 pm, and the tissue was already starting to sag from the humidity.

PIC #1     8500      IN THE STOOGE
PIC #2     8504      BRAIDED PROP PULLED OUT
PIC #3     8499      FIRST FLIGHT
     I knew this was going to be a good day right from the first flight.  I put in 14 cranks of my  15:1  winder =  210 winds and I let her go.  A perfect 15 second flight slightly turning to the left.  
 
PIC #4     8502    RH WHEEL PANT AND WHEEL BROKEN OFF  
PIC #5     8503    SCOTCH TAPE REPAIR
PIC #6     8501    SECOND FLIGHT    
     On the second flight I put in 300 winds and got another perfect flight of 18 seconds.  Actually, they were ALL PERFECT FLIGHTS.   On landing on this second flight, I picked up the plane without checking it all out, and walked back to the stooge, where, to my surprise, it was missing the right hand wheel and wheel pant.

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas  30" Flight Report MON APR 9 2018 cont.

PIC #1      8506       1/32"  LANDING GEAR WIRE BENT BACK
     I went back and found them, and Scotch taped the  1/32"  Landing gear wire back into the groove of the wheel pant (with the wheel in the middle of course).  I also had to bend the "ankle" back to shape, of the LG wire.

PIC #2       8505     THIRD FLIGHT  
     Third flight I tried launching it directly into the wind on 360 winds and only got 12 seconds of flight, and bent the LG wire again on landing, and had to bend it back    - story of the day - if you ever build this model,    USE  1/16"  WIRE (NOT  1/32" WIRE) FOR THE LANDING GEAR.  Actually, I was always afraid to fly it because of this very reason.

PIC #3       8508      FOURTH FLIGHT
PIC #4       8511      SEVENTH FLIGHT
PIC # 5      8513      ON THE WAY HOME      REPLICA SPITFIRE IN BACKGROUND
     Well, the flights went on, and they all flew very well, and the rubber kept getting weaker and weaker, and my longest flight was 22 seconds on 420 turns.      Then it was becoming too cold and windy, and rain or snow was coming, so we packed it up.  At least I got in my second great day of the season flying this summer.  I did not make any adjustments for the stab or rudder, and the downthrust was already built as per plan into the nose.
      Tomorrow it is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds, 43 deg F,  wind  7 mph  gusting to  12 mph, and 56 % humidity.   After that a week of high wind and rain, so I better get out again tomorrow and try to get some good sunny in-flight pics.  Little bit of repairs to do first.  Happy flying!  

Get out and FLY      

LASTWOODSMAN

[OZPAF]

Glad it all worked Richard. Good luck next time.

John

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas 30"   Flight Report TUES APR 10 2018
DAY # 3

     Well, today, April 10 2018, was yesterday's tomorrow.  And I did make it out flying again - 3 days in a row - we NEVER get 3 days in a row good flying weather ...
      After all of that damage was done yesterday, I worked feverishly this AM after running the dog first thing, trying to strengthen up the weak, and always bending upon landing,  1/32" wire landing gear.

PIC #'s     8514, 8515, 8516
     The damage from yesterday's flying is as follows - the bottom tips of the large balsa "V"-shaped "trousers" (is that the word?) landing gear strut legs, that extend down from the fuse to the wheel pants, had its tips mangled and broken off from the wire bending on the impact of every landing,  and the Landing Gear wire was bent horribly out of shape.  So, I decided to try to strengthen the wire from the "ankle", down the groove on the inside of the balsa wheel pant, by gluing on two small hardwood Mahogany planks, right over the wire going down that groove, on the inside of the wheel pant.  First I had to sand down to bare balsa, the inside face of the wheel pants, and get out that ingenious tool, the small Jewelers File, and retrench that groove in the wheel pants so that the wire sat fully into the groove.  This involved having to securely block up the whole plane with big balsa blocks.  I straightened up the wire ends of the LG first, and the used 5 min Epoxy to glue the broken balsa tips back into place, on the LG wire, and onto the bottom of the  balsa "V"-shaped "trousers".  I also sanded those two little Mahogany planks down past the stain that I had put on them, so I was hoping that this would take the Epoxy glue better.  I also cut two balsa support planks for use in clamping the outside of the wheel pants.
 
PIC #'s   8518, 8519, 8520
     Here it is all clamped up and glued with 5 min epoxy, and the weight of the heavy clamps was offset with strips of masking tape to hold everything relatively in place, while drying.

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas 30"   Flight Report TUES APR 10 2018
DAY # 3  cont.

PIC # 8521, 8522
     And here is the result of all of that reinforcing work.  Now it was time to fly with out further adieu.
     Also,  before leaving the apt, I scotch-taped a small file folder cardboard tab, to the rear of the rudder just above the stab, and bent it  for a little more left turn, which in fact actually really worked out well,  and is very "adjustable".
     We left the apt around 3:30 PM and the temp was 43 deg F (feels like 41 deg F),  winds 4 mph from the West, gusting to 6 mph, and only 42%  humidity, but the flag at the entrance to the Park was at  3/4  attention - clearly it was more windy than 4 mph !!!

PIC # 8523
     Here it is loaded in the bungie-corded Winding Stooge for Flight #1, in the Cricket Wicket of Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  I only got six flights today.

PIC # 8524
      First Flight  on 375 winds using the same braided motor as yesterday, and I got one complete tight left hand circling flight that lasted 10 seconds, and a slow soft landing running out the  rubber.     For some reason, I was getting much longer 15 second flights yesterday on the same number of winds. ??      

PIC #  8525
       Second Flight same # of winds, and another 10 second perfect tight circle that landed right at my feet!

PIC #  8526
       Third flight 435 winds and a 12 second flight, and the landings are now taking their toll      on that flimsy  1/32"  wire landing gear at the "ankle".   I was having to really try to bend it back into shape after each landing.   

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER Dumas 30"   Flight Report TUES APR 10 2018
DAY # 3  cont.

PIC # 8527
       Fourth Flight  390 winds and a 13 second flight.  And bending the wire gear on landing again.  

PIC # 8528
        Fifth Flight   420 winds  - only 8 seconds as a big gust of wind drove it hard into the groun - no flight pic, but here is the pic of the damage back at the stooge - the left side wheel pant had its Mahogany reinforcement plank broken right off.    

PIC # 8529
        Sixth Flight - I am a sucker for punishment     - 450 winds and the longest flight of the day - 15 seconds - and another hard landing that broke the wheel and wheel pant right off       (because there was no reinforcement plank as it had been ripped off the previous flight).

PIC # 8530  showing the ripped off wheel and pant.
 AND ... now it was getting toooo windy, so we packed up and went back home.  At home the wind was now 11 mph gusting to 16 mph - way too windy.

PIC #  8532
        Here is what the damage looks like back at home.   Now we have a week of high wind and rain and bad flying weather forecasted.     Lots of time to think about how to make a proper fix.  I am open to any suggestions on how to fix this as I am really stumped.   I am really disappointed that the kit used  1/32"  wire instead of  1/16" wire.        I will know better for next time.        Maybe it is just time to "put her out to pasture" on the shelf with four other planes also now put out to pasture ... on the shelf.
     And that was my three day adventure with the Dumas 30" Rearwin Speedster, after it languished lonely on the shelf for three years.  Thanks for watching! Keep 'em FLYING !!

LASTWOODSMAN & "Trapper"
Richard

[OZPAF]

How about running another 1/32" wire towards the back edge of the trousers(inset into the balsa) and bend it to join(solder or thread/CA wrapped) onto the vertical section of the existing UC(the part inset into the wheel pants). The axle section would still be the single 1/32" wire. The recess in the pants would need to be wider.

This extra piece of wire does not join onto the fuse being anchored into the balsa trouser legs with say silastic to allow a bit of flex. without bending permanently.

John

[flyerinokc]

Great job another beautiful airplane. The wind seems to be a burden for this little airplane but she perseveres.

Mike

[flydean1]

Nice model.  You really should lube the motor.  I tie the ends and lube before braiding.  Stops edge knicking and premature failure of the motor.

You are not really stressing that motor much, but without lube you are courting disaster.  Also if you're not using a winding tube.  It takes only one failure and a destroyed fuselage to make the extra "bother" well worth the time.

[ZK-AUD]

Just on the undercarriage issue.  A model of this type ought not to be hitting the ground so hard when it lands.  Maybe have a look at the glide trim and make sure the prop is free-wheeling reliably.  As for the wheel spat John's solution is one option.  Another is to pin the joint with a piece of cocktail stick or similar and use epoxy to glue it.  Do one side at a time and prop the model on its side until it hardens.  Carefully put a nice neat fillet of epoxy around the joint using the rest of your cocktail stick (or even shout yourself a new one!) and as the epoxy settles you'll get a nice strong joint and also a scale-like fairing effect at the joint.

[LASTWOODSMAN]

     Hi John - thanks for the tip and the great diagram below.     The Landing gear is pretty bashed up now, so I think I have to make new triangular balsa Landing Gear Trousers.  Still thinking of just pressing the LG wire into the balsa of the Trousers, instead of cutting a trough     into the trouser for the wire gear to sit in.
     Hi flydean1 - I used to lube my motors - but if I am just trying to get it trimmed, I am just lazy, and put in raw rubber motors.   I have had plenty of damage from exploding rubber motors from too many greedy winds, inside the fuse, but only tissue damage so far.      Plus, I am now able to see when the rubber is getting close to the breaking point, so I just stop well short of the winds to break it - I am just a small park flyer - not good enough for contests ...
     Hi   ZK AUD   "Mike" - thanks for the tip       - I don't quite follow it all, so I will send you a PM with a couple of questions.   You can see in the third pic #8735, that I have lost the tip piece of the triangular balsa Landing Gear Trouser - they were getting pretty broken up anyway ...

PIC #1    8733
PIC #2    8734
PIC #3    8735
PIC #4    8736
PIC #5    8737
PIC #6    DIAGRAM OF THE FIX

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT THURSDAY APR 26 2018

     Well, I did give it the 'ol College effort, and I went back flying this afternoon, after flying the  18"  AIR CAMPER  in the morning,  this time with the  'Jumbo'   30"   REARWIN SPEEDSTER.   At  3:45  PM, it was 55 deg F, winds were 12 mph from the SW gusting to 19 mph, and only  58% humidity, and NO Cricket players on the Wicket !!   I used a thick wide elastic to temporarily Jerry-rigg the left side wheel and wheel pant onto the  1/32" landing gear wire.
     This Speedster has a tight, braided, heavy duty  3/16" rubber motor of just under   15 1/2"   in length - prop hook to rear peg is  15 1/2".   I put in 450 winds into the rubber, and it really went fast, zooming and speeding, right by me.  Launching downwind in the leeward side of the trees, I needed that real  burst of power to get it going faster than the 12 mph wind, when it finally gets out of the lower speed sheltered wind, and out into the real wind, in order to get lift.   It did great tight circles back into the windless leeward side of the trees, so I had some great flights - about a dozen - longest flight 24 seconds.

PIC #1    8722
PIC #2    8723
PIC #3    8724
PIC #4    8725
PIC #5    8726
PIC #6    8727

LASTWOODSMAN

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT THURSDAY APR 26 2018 (cont)
 
     I had a couple of "two tight circle" flights, and a few flights just floated into the wind for a soft landing.   After almost every landing, I had to bend back the  1/32" LG wire where it bends from impact, right at the bottom of the trousers.  And it rips up the bottom balsa of the trousers  pretty good.  I lost a piece of balsa at the bottom of the left trouser ...
     But she still flew while wounded, and was running out the winds of the rubber motor.  I thought that that big rubber band on the left wheel pants would slow it down on that side, so before I went out, I added two cardboard tabs on the stab, left tab bent down, and right tab bent up.  Surprisingly, it flew just fine in circles left ( I also had put a small cardboard tab on the rudder the last time I was flying it, and it was bent for a slight left turn, which also worked).

PIC #1    8728
PIC #2    8729
PIC #3    8730
PIC #4    8731
PIC #5    8732

Well, it was a lot of fun ...      

LASTWOODSMAN

[OZPAF]

It's a great pity you don't have lighter winds for a while, Richard. Full marks for trying and thanks for all the photos.

John

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT MAY 8 2018

     Well chaps, I am back after totaling my Easybuilt 25" WACO "N" bipe yesterday.  Today, I got right back in the saddle, and we headed out to the Cricket Wicket in Jackson Park with the  Dumas  30"  REARWIN SPEEDSTER, high wing Jumbo.    At  11:00  AM,  it was  63 deg F,  with winds  7 mph  from the south, gusting to  11 mph,  and ONLY  45% humidity! - but with still lots of dew on the long grass.    When we got home at Noon,  the wind was  9 mph  from the SW, gusting to 14 mph,  and  45%  humidity.
      She has the braided  3/16"  motor of four strands, when twisted up and resting, is just under  15"  inches long, with prop hook to rear peg of 15 inches.   She is flying with broken ankles, where the  1/32" wire bends at the bottom of the triangular balsa landing gear trousers.  A big chunk of wood is missing on the bottom of the left trouser, and I just attached the balsa wheel pant to the wire with a thick elastic.   It works real good, and I just bend the wire back into shape on both gear, after landing.  Landings today were pretty soft coming back into the 7 mph wind and running out the rubber.   Plus the grass was still  6" long and thick,  as they mowed the rest of the park yesterday, but had not mowed the cricket Wicket yet today.

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard                                                               cont.

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT MAY 8 2018  (cont.)

     I wound  330  to 450  winds into the rubber and had about 14  great flights, all circling left from one complete circle to one and one-quarter circles, all staying within the Cricket Wicket.  I used a little bit of down tab on the left elevator and a little bit of clay weight on the right wingtip to widen the circles out a little bit   -  thanks for the tip "Free" ( 'spliffsecond '), of the weight on the opposite wing.   All of the flights were  15 - 20   seconds on a perfect sunny day.  Two boys from the High School were watching from the Cricket stands as I sent her out on the first flight, which to my relief, was long and very slightly turning left, after which I adjusted the rudder tab for more left turn.  I got one of the boys to take a pic of my launch ( my only pic of launching the Speedster ).   The last flight of the day, when the winds were getting higher and gustier, the Speedster was driven down into the grass by a gust of wind ( see pic ), so I called it a day, and there was NO DAMAGE to the plane.
     Nothing like launching a "Jumbo" - you really get to "throw" it ...
     So, my flying soul is now rejuvenated,  and seeing as the weather is going to be way too windy for the next several days, I can now happily get back to building the  18" Albatross D5.

Keep 'em flying!

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard

[flyerinokc]

Congratulations well done!

[OZPAF]

That's a good finish to the saga Richard - fitting reward for perseverance.

John

[LASTWOODSMAN]

     Thank you gentlemen, for your kind encouraging words.     They really do help to foster impetus in this quite perilous,       and precarious,        business of flying Free Flight rubber powered, balsa and tissue, miniature aircraft.    

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT MAY 16 2018   pg 1 of 3

     We just had another fun day flying the Dumas  30"  REARWIN SPEEDSTER.   It was a great forecast of  5 mph wind.  When we got out to the Cricket Grounds at  11:00 AM,  it was 61 deg F, winds 8 mph from the North, gusting to 12 mph, and 72% humidity, which did not affect the tissue.   And she flies just fine, even with that broken left foot.   
      Last night I took off the old braided motor.  I noticed the last couple of flights from a couple of days ago, that it seemed to have lost a little bit of power.  Sure enough, there were three breaks in the rubber of that braided motor - good thing I took it off.      That motor was braided from a single loop of 30" (two strands of 15"), of  3/16" rubber, and knot tied.  I had stretched it out and put a whole bunch of winds into it, folded it over - ie  now four strands, each strand 15",  and allowed it to twist and braid up, tied it all off with a few strings into a little loop that I could insert the rear aluminum motor peg into, and at rest and braided, it was a  12"  braided motor.  It now went into the garbage.
       Then I made a longer (by 2 inches) braided motor.       I started out with one loop of 36" this time knotted (two strands of 18"), of  3/16"   rubber.   I stretched it out,  put a whole bunch of winds into it, folded it over ( now four strands of 18"), allowed it to twist and braid up, tied it all off with a few strings,  and at rest and braided, it was a  14"  braided motor ( prop hook to rear peg is  15" ).   I put that new motor into the Speedster and that is what it flew on today.    (cont.)

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard

[LASTWOODSMAN]

REARWIN SPEEDSTER FLIGHT REPORT MAY 16 2018   pg 2 of 3 (cont)

        I still could not get very far past 450 winds, as it was almost impossible to turn the crank on the winder because of all the rubber pressure.     I had put a little extra clay weight into the nose, because of the added rubber weight in the rear of the plane.  I had also put a little extra bit of clay onto the right wing tip also, to counter any additional torque that would push the plane left.
      I kept notes on my flights today.  I had 14 flights from basically  15  seconds, to a new  25 second record (by one second), using anywhere from  375  winds  to  480  winds, and I really saw no improvement by using the  14' braided motor,  over using the 12"  braided motor.
      But it was still a lot of fun.  On the sixth flight, I tried a launch almost directly into the crosswind - BIG MISTAKE - a gust of wind caught the plane and drove it into a cartwheell crash at full song, five seconds into the flight !  ( Heart went up into throat ).        Luckily, there was NO DAMAGE !   This plane is STURDY !!!     
       The best launches were downwind from the leeward side of the trees.  It was doing a perfect circle up to two complete circles, and staying well within the Cricket Wicket and away from the trees.  I noticed it was flying pretty low and steady, so I took some nose weight clay off, and then on the  11th  flight, I got my new record of 25 seconds, going very high and beautiful with two full circles !!   (cont.)

LASTWOODSMAN
Richard