Laddie Mikulasko is a legendary Canadian designer and builder. He is also very modest. When Ron Busche founded Balsa USA in the mid 70's the first three models to which he bought the rights were Laddie's Northstar, Enforce and Force One. As a tribute to Laddie's skill as a designer all three are still in the catalogue.
My kit was packaged around mid summer 1987 and sold for $59.97 USD. I bought it at the London Swap meet last year and am now getting around to building it.
I have a contra rotating motor which should put out about 800 watts.
I will add an inch to the fin so I can use 11 or 12" props.
I'm covering it with 1/16" rather than film.
Then covering with 1/2 oz. FG.
I plan on putting the horns on top of the wing so I can fly it off grass now and then.
I'm also going to use thin wing servos in the fin for the rudder and in the pod for the elevator.
I have started the wing but it's a big one. 44" wingspan, the root chord is almost 24".
Jack.
Those are BIG ribs!
mmmm ribs....
looking good Jack!
The Polaris' grandad...and Canadian too! Very cool! :D
Quote from: battlestu on December 02, 2013, 09:34:36 AM
mmmm ribs....
Warning: thread hijack!
So we know where to get great wings (either from Mike H or Colonel Mustard) but where do you get the best ribs? ;D
Great build Jack - you really are on a roll.
**shameless plug alert for Ben and his great work at Taxi**
Boston Pizza Meets the Ribnecks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1XwYhdftOY#ws)
sorry to get back on track she looks like it will be a fun plane to fly!
Jason's 1980's Kit Built Balsa USA Northstar Float Plane - Evo .60NX (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TlwstT8HyU#ws)
Quote from: battlestu on December 02, 2013, 10:15:42 AM
**shameless plug alert for Ben and his great work at Taxi**
Boston Pizza Meets the Ribnecks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1XwYhdftOY#ws)
Shameless plug accepted. Here's our latest:
BostonPizza "High Note" on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/79217100)
Now that the frivolity is over, Hint Hint.
Here is a neat way to hold the ribs while gluing!
I used a magnet with a T-square to hold them in place. It worked great. I tried holding them but they shook so much the glue would not set. This way is hands free.
I am fed up with Thin CA dispensers that flow too much glue and leave lumps that have to be sanded later. What I do is pour some glue in a small plastic bowl. Used pudding containers after the grand kids have been visiting. I apply the glue with a disposable brush, 20 for a few bucks in Princess Auto. No more messy glue joints.
I do the same for aliphatic glue, note the jar in the background.
Jack
Looking god Jack! Which contra rotating motor are you going to use?
Bigstik
Hi Al it was one I bought from HK about two years ago. I think it's discontinued but each motor puts out just under 400watts so almost 800watts in total.
Here is the fuselage and it's a long one. the stick is a meter and it's about 8" longer.
Now to get on with Pilot's meeting stuff.
Jack.
Looking good!
A little more progress.
The hull is sheeted and rough finished.
I have made experimental magnetic hatches for the wing servos. I used the magnetic rubber that you use on fridge doors. I got it in Dollorama. It has a clear pouch attached for photographs but if you strip that off you have a rubberised magnetic sheet that's about 1/32nd thick. My thinking is it will make a seal to stop casual water from penetrating. Plan "B" of course will be screws in each corner.
I'm on hold until I get some silicone wire. The motors will be 36" from the ESC's
I could not find a can of beer so Ed I hope a can of Bushs' Beans will help your scale fixation. the coffee mug in the other shots is a standard size mug.
Either way this is a big sucker!
Jack.
Looks great Jack and I can't think of a better substitute for the "beer bottle for scale" concept than BEANS!! They are at least in the these things give you gas family. Keep up the great work.
Bloody hell, it's huge!
That does look big! :o
Very nice, Jack! That's going to be a very impressive plane!
Thank you all for the encouragement, you have no idea how it spurs me on.
The first photo below is for any one intending to scratch build. You will need to accumulate lots of compact heavy weights. Here I'm gluing down a 46" x 4" sheet of somewhat warped 1/16th balsa on the underside trailing edge. I needed almost complete coverage.
My weights are an old bronze suppository mold broken down into three parts, stainless steel rotogravure plates taped up to prevent marring the wood and an old blown fluorescent light ballast. I got perfect contact all along the edges.
The second photo is an illustration of what you may face when you stray from a plan. The kit calls for 3/32nd sheeting on the LE, TE and center sections and cap strips. I decided I wanted to cover all over with 1/16th sheeting. When assembling the wing to the fuselage there will be a 1/16th difference which will have consequences for the fin placement. So I added 1/16th strips to the fuselage as the simplest way to bring everything back in line.
The third photo is an experimental hatch system I'm trying. It will be on the upper surface of the wing. The black material is magnetic rubber and the hatch cover adheres to it. Hopefully it will be strong enough to stay in place during flight. The rubber seals the hatch so it should be water resistant to casual water. If not plan "B" will be four screws in the corners. The magnetic rubber is 0.5mm thick and comes from a dollar store fridge magnetic picture holder. It is not very thick so the amount of attraction may be marginal but nothing ventured nothing gained.
Jack.
Quote from: Papa on December 22, 2013, 03:15:09 PM
.... The first photo below is for any one intending to scratch build. You will need to accumulate lots of compact heavy weights. Here I'm gluing down a 46" x 4" sheet of somewhat warped 1/16th balsa on the underside trailing edge. I needed almost complete coverage.
My weights are an old bronze suppository mold broken down into three parts, ..........
Jack.
OK. All was well Christmas night - a nice meal, a glass of wine, a few emails and sharing of best wishes for the season while some nice fluffy snow fell gently outside on our well-iced trees - and then I read this post. Bad move!! This is Stephen King stuff! It obviously had a profound effect on my psyche and woke me at 2:15 a.m. Christmas night, in a cold sweat no less.
Jack: How on this earth did you come to have bronze suppository molds?!! They conjure up all kinds of fearful images of your hidden past, so I will impose an embargo on my thoughts. You really will have to elucidate and give us a master class at the next Pilots Meeting.
Fearfully yours, with much trepidation,
Andy
(However do I sleep on this?!! Be still my fertile mind!)
Hi Andy,
did you say "fertile mind" or did you mean "febrile" LOL.
I worked for many years for Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and they made a lot of suppositories and the also owned Elizabeth Arden so lipsticks were made in similar molds. They were throwing out this particular mold so I kept it thinking it would be useful someday. Some 30 years later I was right, it is very useful.
Now go back to sleep.
Jack.
Makes me wonder if the suppository and lipstick molds ever got mixed up!
If they did you would have a very colourful A$$.
Come to think of it that would suit your colourful personality. LOL.
Jack.
Back at it. I tested the servo locations and everything looks good. My plan is to keep the servos in the wing exiting through the upper skin. To minimize the openings I'm using Sullivan cables so the outer tube will be all that exits the wing.
I completed the extra long extension leads for the servos. Tested them and they work. Soon they will sealed in when the wing and fuselage are finished.
Sanding the top of the wing skins to fit the fuselage was a slow sanding exercise. I wanted to get a really tight fit and think I achieved it. The gaps in the skin at the points will be covered by the splash rails.
It has a lot of mass!
Jack.
Oh wow! What type of beans are they, Jack? ;D
The best! They are "Bush's Beans". They are American and you can get them at Costco. Best beans bar none.
Too bad you missed the model, it's not bad either.
J.
I guess he couldn't see the forest for the beans! It's a TEMAC thing!!
Andy
Beans, beans are good for your heart.
The more you eat, well, .... the better for your heart! ;D
I just blew a capacitor off my brand new speed control!
I was testing all the wiring because once I finish the model it will be inaccessible.
Also some of the extensions are 36" long and I assembled them myself so I wanted
to double check. All the servo's worked fine so I thought OK now let's try the motors.
Hooked up the motors and got four beeps for 4 cells but nothing else.
Since the ESC's were located about 24" from the motor I was not watching them.
The motors did not make any happy music so I checked to see if the Tx was reversed.
At this stage everything had been hooked up for about a minute. There was a loud pop
followed by grey smoke and a burnt electrical smell. One ESC was hot but not too hot to hold.
The other one was cold. The hot one had popped the capacitor right off the PC board.
The capacitor had one wire only the other was smoke. The scorch marks are only around
the one capacitor.
The test battery was a 4 cell 5,000mA but was on storage charge and now I'm wondering if
that might be a cause or did I just get a bad ESC. They were HK brand 60A with a BEC.
The one with the disconnected BEC was the cool one. Any ideas?
Jack.
It's the beans, Jack! The same thing happens to me when I eat too many of them!! Not good for ESC's. :D
Andy
Jack if the ESCs you're using are Plush 60's, I've had excellent performance from mine, so it must be the beans! Good luck finding the culprit!
Jack, you're awfully quiet all of a sudden!...
Jack, are you OK?.....
Jack? Are you in there? Speak to us Jack!! .........................
Mary, could you please check on Jack!! Wear a respirator, just in case .....
Andy
I was looking for intelligent technical responses not fatuous comment that was beneath my dignity to respond.
So there! LOL.
Enough of that, on with the build.
I had decided that I wanted to add about an inch to the motor height so I could use larger props. I had also decided to use thin wing servos in the motor pod for the elevator and rudder. These seemingly simple decisions have resulted in a cascade of modifications and opportunities for creative solutions.
After many, many excursions down blind alleys I finally decided to just raise the height of the fire wall. I did this to keep everything else stock and have a minimum of modification. Laddie did the same thing by modifying his design by adding a segment in the fin. I wanted it to leave as is as much as possible.
Inside the pod will be a tray to hold the two servos and the exits will be worked on tomorrow. The photos below show how I finished the motor end of the pod. The hatch will be opened only if I have to service the servos. The tray will be inserted from the other opening.
The photos show the various components. I cut a notch in the fin to match the hatch contour. The hatch has to slide forward to clear the fin so I had to do a lot of fiddling to make it all work. The finished bits look good together and I'm happy with it and it seems to fit nice and tight. All is rough sanded and will have to be rounded and made to look pretty.
Jack.
Looks very racey! I love it. :D
That looks great Jack! The beans are in the details and the firewall, fin and fairing/cover look well engineered and made. All that thinking looks to have been put to good use!
Yes! That does look like an elegant solution to the thrust line issue, and it will add a special look to your Northstar. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks with the rest of the plane.
I have completed all parts and am at the point of assembly. Once I start gluing it will become a big awkward thing requiring lots of space. I think I will start FG on some small pieces. There are ailerons, rudder and elevator plus my new hatch cover to practice on.
Here's Laddie's electric version.
Jack
Laddie flew this plane at Kingston (at the Saturday evening float fly) a few years ago. It was impressive!
Relatively speaking how fast was it?
Jack.
Quote from: Papa on January 21, 2014, 04:44:51 PM
I have completed all parts and am at the point of assembly. Once I start gluing it will become a big awkward thing requiring lots of space. I think I will start FG on some small pieces. There are ailerons, rudder and elevator plus my new hatch cover to practice on.
Here's Laddie's electric version.
Jack
It looks beautiful. (Have you tried getting it out of the basement yet?!!) :D
Wonderful choice and build Jack! Laddie' electric North Star is shown with wheels on grass!
Are you mounting wheels?
The smaller foam versions (Polari) work spectacularly off almost any surface except maybe asphalt without wheels. Take-offs at 2/3 throttle are non-issues even for the EDF powered version taking off from water. Ground steering with no wheels is pretty impressive too as the prop wash blows directly on the empennage surfaces and gives some thrust vectoring.
Not sure how the bigger North Star would react but adding wheels to the smaller Polaris would be a step backwards.
Thank you for the comments, Bill.
I never intended to use wheels, only water or grass or even snow (to stop Andy from whining).
Just been outside and that wind and cold is lethal.
Jack.
Quote from: Papa on January 24, 2014, 01:07:03 PM
Thank you for the comments, Bill.
I never intended to use wheels, only water or grass or even snow (to stop Andy from whining).
Just been outside and that wind and cold is lethal.
Jack.
Sounds like the oxygen is getting low in Jack's winter cave!! :D
Andy
Getting some more building in.
The wing is now permanently installed and the bottom has been sealed. Next step is Fiber Glassing the bottom. For a start I will use 2oz. on the tip floats and the bottom from the tip to the step. I don't think I will use the 2oz. past the step.
The tail has been built and and the wiring has been run out to the nacelle.
I have carved a new mold for the cowl and fiber glassed it with random strips of 0.5oz. cloth. Once dry I will add some 2oz. strips to build it up to the desired thickness.
I have been holding off finally gluing the nacelle as once on everything becomes much more awkward.
I have been practicing glassing with some small parts. The stand offs are large pins and building board magnets. Works well. The whitish stuff is some left over filler that was getting old. I mixed water in until I got a sauce like consistency. I painted on the cloth as a sealer. Works very well. I just sanded it back and covered it with automotive primer. No hint of cloth showing.
Jack.
Looks impressive!
That looks awesome, Jack! Keep moving. The big rodent said Spring will be here in 6 weeks!
Thank you.
Moving right along I tackled the motors today. I had put this off for a long time because I did not know how I was going to do it. Anyway I bought a pusher 11x8 for the rear prop and a standard rotation 11x5.5 for the front. That will give me counter rotation so torque won't be an issue.
The spinner is not fixed yet and I don't think I'll worry about a rear spinner yet. If it works well I may work something out during the Summer. Maybe a FG thing molded around a large plastic spinner. The rear prop is held in place by four bolts clamping a metal washer on it. I have to balance the system as I think I may have reamed the rear prop slightly off center. The rear motor turns the forward prop and vice versa.
Wow! What a mean looking machine. This looks like it will be great for slicing hot dogs and buns at the Annual Fun Fly!!
I can't wait. :D
Andy
Moving along and all the large surfaces have been Fiber Glassed.
Now to complete the fuselage and tail bits.
Then final assembly and filling and sanding and primer times 3 or 4.
Still mulling paint colours and schemes.
Thinking about a deep wine and orange camouflage with yellow or white accents.
Or
Just go patriotic with red and white and maple leafs.
Jack
Beautiful work.
I like a simple design.
Red and white patriotic.