RC India

Resolution: No new build till I complete this rehab of my Solo Star...

Got this In 2011 from a fellow flyer, when she was already 8-10 years old.
Mainly for something to carry my Super Tiger ringed 40 that had sat in its original box since 1996.

But flew her rarely due to (1) almost complete conversion to electric power since 2007, (2) initial difficulties with the ST 40.

Little by little, discovered that the ST 40 needed to burn some 2 gallons of fuel to get properly broken in.
And that it treated well, it would last forever.
And that a bit of nitro (1-2%) helps a lot.
And that rotating the fuel inlet a bit can help in transition (the pickup nipple now points a few degrees south of straight aft)
Still running it a bit rich, but have leaned the slow speed needle 45deg and the high speed needle 2 click leaner.

Last month took it to the field after a 6 month gap, after giving it a small squirt of WD40 to free the carb barrel and the crankshaft. After 3 turns of the prop to prime, it started on the very first flick (by hand). Onlookers were amazed!

Back to the airframe.
Last year I hit a tree branch with a wingtip on approach. Perhaps 10’ high.
She got spun around but landed on her feet.
Didn’t look too bad till I got home and found major breaks in the fuselage in the cabin area.
Did some major surgery, but it was still a patch up job (see unrelated green on white/red/blue fuselage)
Now I found stretch marks (like my wife had on her tummy when our kids were born) on the green film.
Flew her anyway.
Till getting careless on a landing in a 90deg 5-6 knot crosswind, allowing her to drift off the grass runway into the rough.
Where she hit a clump.
Result, a lovely 20 yearold Top Flite 10x6 gone, and the left half of the stab broken.

Time for major surgery.
Maybe it’s time for a complete skin off rehab. Even the wings have a lot of patches anyway.

Once I strip off the covering and fix the woodwork, I’ll have to choose between a Monokote clone and Doculam (something I’ve not tried so far). The existing covering is some silver coloured film stuck on with rubber cement, and then painted over in the original Solo Star scheme.

Should not be a lengthy repair. Unless you want to change all the covering

Monokote clones work fine. Nowadays both sp4mm3r and Rcmumbai keep stocks - more importantly the shipping is reasonable

Good luck, and keep us posted

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Thanks for the moral support.
I am considering stripping the entire covering, to unearth hidden breaks if any.
For example, I used to wonder why the fin was a bit flimsy. On cutting off some covering, found a break in the rudder post.

Jigged the pieces up.
Stuck them together with 5 min epoxy.
Bamboo toothpick splints in epoxy filled grooves cut across the breaks.

Great! Glad to know you're steaming ahead

Enjoy sanding off the excess epoxy  ;)

Elevator joiner reinforcement

learnt new technique of bamboo toothpick sir

Added new gussets.
With correct (diagonal) grain.
Didn’t want to use CA or epoxy.
So used something that smelled closest to old balsa cement (like thick dope)
Needs pre-cementing. That’s applying a cement coat to the joining surfaces and letting it dry.
Then apply a second coat and join.

The structure is darker, I think for two reasons:
1. Might have been harder wood than balsa. For a 40 size model, there’s very little structure in the stab. Yet it has lasted some 10-15 years
2. It’s coated with rubber solution! It is covered with a silvery (polyethylene?) sheet stuck on with rubber solution!

Every day one learns something new, eh? So I’ve painted the structure with thinner, hoping to remove the rubber solution residue as far as possible...

I’ve too learnt many new things from the Vintage forum in RCG...

I feel a bit sad that hardly anyone posts step by step pics/posts of their builds.

Except, say, sanjayrai55 and flyingboxcar.

Their threads get responses from all over the world!

Request everyone building anything to post step by step pics to inspire others!