Balsa models, rubber power...

[Simpo Two]

For the aeromodellers here... came across this on FB and it looks rather interesting:
https://www.facebook.com/motor.de.goma.2025/reels/

[Actual]

As a kid I made a balsa aeroplane using all the spars glued up and tissue paper and dope. It was a tight as a drum and I was very proud of my achievement.

It wouldn't sodding fly though.

One day I wound the rubber band up so much that it concertinaed

[Simpo Two]

Actual said:

It wouldn't sodding fly though.

What did it do?

I mostly made gliders; built one rubber power (KK Eaglet I think), then tried control line with limited success. Was never much good at starting the engines.

[Raj28]

Actual said:

As a kid I made a balsa aeroplane using all the spars glued up and tissue paper and dope. It was a tight as a drum and I was very proud of my achievement.

It wouldn't sodding fly though.

One day I wound the rubber band up so much that it concertinaed

This was me as well as a kid, although I ended up just throwing mine around as a glider!

Are these still available in kits commercially?! I need to try this again or it's going to haunt me

[Eric Mc]

You can still get Keil Kraft and Veron balsa/tissue models.

[Tempest_5]

I still build the occasional Free Flight Balsa Tissue model.

Plans can be found for free on the internet including for the Keil Kraft models Eric_MC mentions. A good source for these is the Outerzone website here,

https://outerzone.co.uk/index.asp

An excellent build website is Mike's flying scale model pages, https://www.ffscale.co.uk/. Lots of high quality builds. Get yourself a mug of tea before you sit down to go through this one.

Another designer I like building is Earl Stahl. His work comes from the 30's and 40s. Plans can be found here http://www.theplanpage.com/esp.htm

I get Balsa from the Balsa Cabin, https://www.balsacabin.co.uk, plus from my local model shop, The Sussex Model Centre. They do lots of the other items as well, https://sussex-model-centre.co.uk/

Currently there seems to have been a revival in the number of kits available from new suppliers.

[Jim H]

Hello folks,

Funnily enough, this subject got me into model aircraft over 40 years ago, on holiday in Spain my father bought me a cheap rubber band powered model - I had hours of fun with it. I’ve done a basic google search “German Rubber Band Powered Model” ( that could have produced an eye opening outcome) and it came up with this.

This was the manufacturer. Still going. Ok it’s not for the purists (non balsa etc). But it was really robust. I remember the flight surfaces were wire rimmed covered by a thin plastic film.

But you could set the tail / elevator by tweaking to shape, same as vertical fin / rudder. You could tune it to do lovely circuits.

https://www.guentherkg.de/en/Products/Planes-flyin...

[Eric Mc]

One I built around 1972 - still available, although now selling for over £40 !!!!



Keil Kraft Ajax

I remember that it flew very well.

[kimducati]

Try looking for 'The Vintage Model Co.'
They make reproduction old school kits such as Keil Kraft and Veron + others.
I'm currently building a replica 40" wingspan Keil Kraft Luscombe Silvaire, which I'm converting to mini radio control and electric power, rather than i/c free flight.
Used to chase the original version around Epsom Downs as a kid.
Anyway, they have hundreds of kits to choose from, and they are all produced in the UK (for a change)!!
Kim

[GliderRider]

The British Model Flying Association (BMFA), in conjunction with the the UK chapter of the Society of Antique Modellers are holding an event this coming weekend at the BMFA's national centre at Buckminster, Leicestershire.
Expect to see plenty of free flight models with all types of propulsion and none (gliders).

Retrofest

[Ayahuasca]

During lockdown I amused myself building rubber band powered ornithopters. They flew quite well.

[Ayahuasca]

[ATG]

Actual said:

As a kid I made a balsa aeroplane using all the spars glued up and tissue paper and dope. It was a tight as a drum and I was very proud of my achievement.

It wouldn't sodding fly though.

One day I wound the rubber band up so much that it concertinaed

Dad and I made a balsa and doped tissue paper glider when I was a kid. Probably had a 4ft wingspan. It flew pretty well, but without any controls, it was always potluck whether it was going to survive a flight. Finally it ploughed into a holly tree which properly shagged its wings. This happened while visiting some friends who had a cottage up a mountain in mid Wales.

Here's where error crept in. We disposed of the wreck on the log fire in their sitting room. Turns out doped tissue paper remains a bit burny-burny. We had flames coming out of the top of the chimney. The plane was consumed very, very quickly, but it still led to panicky running around, feeling the temp of the walls above the sitting room, sagely standing in the garden staring at the chimney trying to judge if the smoke looked normal or like there was a chimney fire. All ended well. Ho for the 1970s! Dope and balsa cement fumes all round.

[Yertis]

Tempest_5 said:

I still build the occasional Free Flight Balsa Tissue model.

Plans can be found for free on the internet including for the Keil Kraft models Eric_MC mentions. A good source for these is the Outerzone website here,

https://outerzone.co.uk/index.asp

An excellent build website is Mike's flying scale model pages, https://www.ffscale.co.uk/. Lots of high quality builds. Get yourself a mug of tea before you sit down to go through this one.

Another designer I like building is Earl Stahl. His work comes from the 30's and 40s. Plans can be found here http://www.theplanpage.com/esp.htm

I get Balsa from the Balsa Cabin, https://www.balsacabin.co.uk, plus from my local model shop, The Sussex Model Centre. They do lots of the other items as well, https://sussex-model-centre.co.uk/

Currently there seems to have been a revival in the number of kits available from new suppliers.

You're clearly a man of exquisite taste.

This Tempest is a WestWings kit. Very good kit actually but sadly it looks like they're kaput.



I've posted pics of this in other threads because I'm inordinately proud of it. It's teh first balsa model I've ever built and in truth not great. I'll be surprised if it flies. Anyway, after a protracted delay for 'reasons' I'm about to start the tissue and dope shenanigans, which I'll share in this thread now.

[Simpo Two]

Looks good. Flying might not be great because it looks like true scale, but you'll find out.

It reminds me of a Supermarine Spiteful I built from plans in about 1980. The fuselage was fully planked and it was fitted for C/L flying, but I got stuck on the undercarriage - I'd fitted steel brackets in the wings but could think of no way to fit u/c legs to them. It had an OS10 engine but was never completed and eventually had a Viking funeral.

[Yertis]

It's *supposed* to fly, has a rubber engine and very out-of-scale two-bladed prop. Come the time, I'll post a video of the fun and games.

[Simpo Two]

Yertis said:

It's *supposed* to fly, has a rubber engine and very out-of-scale two-bladed prop. Come the time, I'll post a video of the fun and games.

In scale terms, probably about 5 times the torque of a Napier Sabre so any flight over 1.5 seconds will be good