TOPIC: Profile Kits from TSP

Luke , did you shape the leading edges of the flying surfaces at all ?

Hi, no I didn't sand the wing. The kit isn't really set up for that as it would damage the pre-printed surface. They won't be high-performance flyers but I'm sure they will fly well.

Thanks
Roger adds:

leaving the wings as a 'flat plate' does little harm to the aerodynamic properties of these little models. At these sorts of Reynolds numbers a flat plate aerofoil is as good as many. Well, that's the theory! Howard disagrees and always shapes his 1/16"- 1/8" wings on his models.
I usually shape my profile model's wings for aesthetic - not aerodynamic - reasons but I haven't noticed any superior glide therby.

This is not possible of course where the balsa parts come prepinted. However, even with thesee I will give the edges a couple of coats of dope and gently 'tidy them up'. Raw balsa edges are made good with paint of the appropriate colour.

Brian Lever has just sent me a photo of his just-finished TSP MiG-19:



Brian comments: "I was impressed with the accurate fits of all the main components . The motor holder impressed me the most. The trough was a perfect tight fit onto the bottom of the fuselage and the aerodynamicly- shaped cap a very nice touch indeed. Including paint ( and a micro paint brush) was also a nice touch . I did round off the leading and trailing edges plus the fuselage edges ( not mentioned in instructions) and am interested in your advice on whether a little wash out at the wing tips would be beneficial to hold a wing up in a turn?
All in all a very nice kit" .

This is praise indeed from a very experienced modeller.

As to washout on the wing tips, the prototypes seemed to fly well without this, but 1/16" up aeleron each side it wouldn't do any harm!

Anyone up for a Gripen?

One of the aims Piotr had for his motors and profile kits is to inspre, excite and help young modellers to have fun.

He has succeeded, see:

TSP rocket flying

Us old guys might argue that a steadier flight with less power is to be preffered .... but what do we know?
I look forward to seeing how the Gripen does with an L-1.

I wonder what these guys will do next!

Brian Lever has now completed his building of an eaerly example of the SAAB Gripen:





Brian comments:

All the parts were in place and the kit made a very good impression.
I do like the attention to details:-
Small Paint Brush
Two Paint Colours to match pre coloured model.
Glue
Bamboo for launching stick
Rubber for catapult
Plasticine colour coded for weight
Pre- built motor tube and fuselage attachment unit Decals Foil to protect rear fuselage from exhaust gasses.
Following the instructions the model went together easily. I used a special grab white glue for all the components. This gave more time for small adjustments ensuring accuracy.
I did use a few drops of cyno just to firm up when happy with the white glue fixing.
As you know this was a very early kit with a discrepancy for the wing and foreplane dihedral angles between the plan and instructions. I used the plan measurements. We know this has now been corrected for all current kits.
The instructions also mention referring to the plan for fitting the decals. My plan showed no decals. Perhaps because of it being an early kit?
I fitted a few decals by referring to the coloured photo on the box lid.
I sanded all the wings to a softer section and rounded off the fuselage.
These edges were then touched in with the appropriate colour paint supplied.
Please note the power egg has been painted the fuselage colour and I have yet to fit any balancing plasticine.
Many thanks for the opportunity to build the GRIPEN which I’m sure will prove to be a great model to trim and fly.



My only comment is that I think the elevons could be hinged as a trimming aid and the provision of a downthrust tab. But I'd be interested in how it trims out without these. Will it be as exciting as the MiG 19?

Brian has now managed some glide tests of both the MiG-19 and Gripen. He writes,

" Both showed a tendency to horizontal instability. I cut out ailerons in both and added a tiny amount of washout. This immediately cured the problem resulting in nice straight and flat glides. I now require a calm day for their first flights".

Both of my MiG-19 and Gripen prototype s had a tad of washout, so it does seem a good thing to do.







Above: my prototypes from which the TSP kits were derived. 'Little things' like washout and a thrust tab are refinements that the experienced modeller will want to make to the basic model. They are easy to make and help trim the model to make flight profiles more predictable, if less exciting!