Westland Lysander build

[Andy Hoffer]

    Thanks guys for the kind words and encouragement.
Andy, the plane was a handful. I was working the sticks to get the plane aloft and then keep it there. It was severely nose heavy, but that was based on the drawings. My gut feeling was that the drawing had the C of g too far forward, and given the motor, battery location and the heavy landing gear this aircraft should have required almost no nose weight, but to my shock 20 ounces was required to make the position indicated.
It was very strange to have to hold full up elevators the entire flight and full flaps deployed to gain height where I could relax (slightly). I cut the flight short to ensure power on landing and given the fact that the elevator was maxed out, power is what allowed a smooth but hot landing. The plane should be flying like a Cub and I suspect it will once the balance is confirmed and she is properly trimmed. I can hardly wait to try again!
Glenn.

How does the C of G on the full-scale plane compare to that indicated on the drawing for the model?  Is the model airfoil scale?
Andy

[Bigstik]

Great job Glenn, build and flying!

[electroflyer]

  Thank you Alan,
I'll try it again Sunday if the weather is good.

[Andy Hoffer]

Hi Glenn:

Looks like a nice fall day tomorrow.  I should be there before 2 pm.  Hope to get some great photos of you and the great Lysander.  Save some battery for a photo flight. 

Cheers.

Andy

cc @electroflyer   

[electroflyer]

  Well it has been a long time between posts, however I am pleased at how the reconstruction has progressed.
The fuselage was basically in three major components with the landing gear also severely damaged. The first step was thinking this through as to how a reconstruction could be quickly and effectively completed while keeping the airframe square and true. The original frame was constructed from quarter inch balsa. I decided to swap this to bass wood. This meant splicing to the rear fuselage which perfectly intact. I made long rails and eased formers into place and only securing with adhesive once everything was looking correct according to the drawings.  Here are a few shots from the beginning.

[Wingnutz]

Glenn, good to see you back at the Lysander...we know you'll do a great job on the rebuild. Based on your experiences to date, any planned changes before Lizzie takes off again?

[Andy Hoffer]

I am certain that with the Bick's Extra Garlic Sandwich Savers everything will turn out just fine!!

Andy

[electroflyer]

     Heck, I knew I should have laid out half a dozen beer....like Bill 

   The only changes will be to go back to the original plan of doing anti-clockwise prop rotation, windows that roll down in the cockpit, some sort of cockpit detailing and the winglets with dummy bombs or possibly some sort of bomb drop if the plane becomes very comfortable to handle.

[Andy Hoffer]

     Heck, I knew I should have laid out half a dozen beer....like Bill 

   The only changes will be to go back to the original plan of doing anti-clockwise prop rotation, windows that roll down in the cockpit, some sort of cockpit detailing and the winglets with dummy bombs or possibly some sort of bomb drop if the plane becomes very comfortable to handle.

I sure know that part.  I actually took the leap of faith and added a pilot to my Pitts!  (Scary!)

Andy

[electroflyer]

   Come on Andy, Lets see a photo of your handy work!

[Andy Hoffer]

   Come on Andy, Lets see a photo of your handy work!

Actually I went for the minimum handy work possible in order to avoid arousing the wrath of the gravity deities! (A very wise man at TEMAC always says, "Don't make it too pretty!!")  I opted for a stock Hangar 9, 1/7-scale youth-size civilian pilot bust (http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN9113), which is about perfect for the 1:5.5 scale of my model.  (I don't know how they figure it to be 1/7 scale.)  No enhancements, other than to trim off the base.  I even avoided the temptation to light-sand the hair to get rid of that Brylcream gloss, paint over the hair paint on the rims of the headphones (dummies! - he must have been painted late on a Friday afternoon), or put a mic boom on the headset.  I can only hope the deities don't think I chose too handsome a pilot to emulate yours truly in the cockpit.

Cheers!

Andy

[Wingnutz]

Looking for Frank's reply! 
The pilot figure may look a bit like Desmond Lightbody but I'm having trouble seeing the resemblance to Andy. I think this time, someone other than me may have been into the beer!
At least now, Andy has someone else to blame if anything ever goes wrong with HOFR,

[electroflyer]

  Well, I have just placed this thread on life support and I am charging the paddles....Clear!

   Merry Christmas guys!

   My Lysander had a bad crash back in the Springtime which left me pondering the feasibility of making it air worthy again or just trash the surviving parts. The plane had crashed into the grove of trees (now known as "Lysander Forest") which is due east of the pitts.
It had crashed on a very windy day, the wind was blowing at least 15-20 kmh from the south. On takeoff the plane was very responsive to power and took off with ease, however, it was not responding to the bank command very easily. This has always been a fault of the aircraft design, construction and covering. I managed to get the plane to turn and was now heading north. Over the trees was where everything went haywire. I tried to bank left to be facing west, the response was painfully slow and then suddenly the wing tip dipped and the spin began, I quickly applied power and managed to save the aircraft, but before I knew it, the plane was back in a spin and this time the lack of altitude meant a collision would occur! With a painful crashing, breaking sound the bits and pieces came to rest.
  The rescue party of Dave, Greg H and Frank and Andy helped me to retrieve most of the parts. Surprisingly, the fuselage was more or less intact, the motor and cowl were off and had to be located, the fuse and half a wing had to be removed from a tree. everything was brought back to the car where disassembly for transit happened. I was also able to start the inventory of surviving parts.

  After leaving the plane for a couple of days, I pondered buying a whole new wing kit from Sarik hobbies in the UK. Not a week after the crash a brand new laser cut short kit from Sarik came up for sale on RC Canada. I almost purchased it until I realized that I would have to build the whole plane again. The truth is, I had the plans and former sections, so out came the tracing paper and balsa and I rebuilt the broken inboard wing section. That inboard section was joined to the outboard section and the two halves were made into one wing. This was not a quick process, but was rewarding.
  I know it is a long winded story, but the aircraft is almost complete now. Here are some pictures to show some of the reconstruction.

   Glenn

[Andy Hoffer]

@electroflyer you are inspirational yet again.  Congrats on the resurrection of your magnificent Lysander!  It is looking great.   

I am going straight down to my cave to work on my Grumman Tracker!!

Thanks for the nudge Glenn!

Andy

[davidk]

You say long winded, I say nicely detailed.  So glad to see the progress in pictures.  Nicely done!