Sloping Off - March 2006
New Wine in a Junior 60
by Glenn Bradshaw
In response to the request in the last issue of the Club magazine, I wondered if my "two-pennorth" might midly interest anyone.
I've attached a picture of my venerable old Ben Buckle Junior 60, something of an "old boy's" plane, or trainer, as it tends to amble about the sky in a genteel and predictable manner. It is just the plane for those summer days when you try getting aloft and staying there for as long as possible, just floating about in an orderly manner, calm and relaxed.
Having moved on to other planes, this one has mostly been just hanging on the wall for the last few years, but a comment made by another club member about another flier who had fitted a brushless motor prompted me to have another look at the old 60. I had previously had a 600 Race motor, Olympus belt-drive gearbox, 11 by 7 prop and 8 cell GP 3000 NIMH batteries. On this set-up it performed very well, but I wanted to see if it could do better.
So.. out with the balsa knife and on with the job. Everything came out including the railway-sleeper bearers for the gearbox, plus the very heavy thick wire undercarriage and 3 inch wheels and the battery box.Off came the vintage style very short nose and the nose was lengthened about 2 inches to help balance with the lighter motor and battery pack. On went a carbon-fibre undercarriage with smaller wheels and I feel that although the vintage look has been lost somewhat, the end result has been worth it as I think it looks a bit more streamlined and better balanced.
The motor is now a Typhoon 2912/10 (it says on the box) brushless 600 replacement, with Kokam 2000 amh LIPO battery, there is actually room for two batteries to extend duration if wanted, and a 10 by 7 APC prop. Test-flying with only one battery meant that a couple of ounces of removable lead was needed. It weighs 2 lb 12 ounces without the battery,n ot too bad for a 5 foot wingspan model. Yesterday brought a "window" in the Arctic conditions and I rushed to "The Somme", ie ...the flying area in Kings Park now churned up with goalpost and corner flag hazards, and despite a stiffish chilly breeze, decided to go for it.
In a nutshell, I was stunned by the take-off, very much shorter than before, astonishing climb angle and height was gained before I knew it. It proceeded about the sky just as I had hoped, the only drawback was that as it is so much lighter, the wind affected it more than before, but nothing that one couldn't cope with. I was really pleased that with a minimal amount of work, and not too much expense, my "old reliable" had been transformed into what felt like a completely different model with changed characteristics and a joy to fly, proving that there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle!
I have another model in the pipeline which has filled the winter months building, it's the DB Sport and Scale IC Tiger Moth, also about 5 feet wingspan which I have converted to electric,w ith a lot of advice from Trevor Hewson on the electrics. It is now built and awaiting a suitable opportunity to test-fly, but I may wait until the flying hazards have been removed from the Park before risking it (any excuse to put off the fateful moment of first flight!) I hope it will perform as well as the smaller electric Tiger Moth from DB which I also have and which flies very well, really looking the part as it potters round in a vintage manner.
