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50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 12 Mar 2020, 02:00
by drigotti
I just finished converting a single channel Guppy I flew way back in 1970 to electric and galloping ghost. It originally flew on a PeeWee .020 with an Adams magnetic actuator and I'll be darned if I can remember what radio I used.....
She NOW sports a Willy Nilles faux .020 (3D printed) with a 1306 motor. I used a Tobe magnetic actuator clone, a Redcon 4 ch RX, a BLHeli 12A ESC and a 2S 350 lipo. I'll try her out later this Spring. She weighs 7.6 oz (216gr). Box weight say 8oz (227gr). The actuator draws 175ma at neutral and this increases to 200ma at extreme throws.
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Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 12 Mar 2020, 02:26
by Wayne_H
Dave, I like it! :) 👏

That 3D printed Cox is also most impressive - it adds to the authenticity & finishes off the conversion nicely.

Should be a "born again" winner 8-)

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 12 Mar 2020, 05:30
by Tobe
Well done Dave.
Please see PM

Cheers

Tobe

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 18 Nov 2020, 14:10
by tiptipflyer
Dave´s picture of the Guppy with the Cox dummy engine inspired me to get my at least 40 year old Guppy back in the air.
I did just what was essential to get it airworthy again and made a drawing to get the dummy engine 3-D printed similar to Dave´s.
Well, my 3-D printed one looks a bit more crude, but from a little distance it is quite nice.
My Guppy had already rudder and elevator control. After a successful test flight, which will be in the near future after lockdown, I will remove the elevator servo to make it rudder only.
I also made the same dummy in the size of a Cox BabeBee for larger models. Looks great also.
Thank you Dave for the inspiraton.
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Frank

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 18 Nov 2020, 18:58
by drigotti
Looks GREAT Frank!

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 18 Nov 2020, 19:53
by Shaun
We should start a thread/topic for links to model related 3D prints.

Shaun

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 18 Nov 2020, 23:13
by Wayne_H
Thart new moderator chappie must be a bloomin mind reader, or one o Santa's helpers, or 'summin like thart - https://mode-zero.uk/viewforum.php?f=72 - Now, where did I put me bucket list??

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 23 Nov 2020, 05:27
by ozrs
Some pics of my Guppy:
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Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 23 Nov 2020, 08:09
by tiptipflyer
Great, there arwe more Guppys around than expected.

Re: 50 year old "Guppy" converted to electric and GG

Posted: 20 Jan 2021, 23:18
by jmendoza
Nice nostalgic Guppy thread.

I built my 1st Guppy in 1976, but with a Pee Wee .020 is was too heavy to fly very well and barely would maintain altitude.
About 5 years later I built a 2nd Guppy and this time used only clear finish, and no covering film on the wing, but it too was very marginal in performance. We ditched the heavy foam wing and built one from sheet balsa a-la-school-boy. That really helped the plane as it was lighter and had a tad more area. Later on, we replaced the Pee Wee with a TD .010 converted to use a bladder and would get 10 minute flights. With the TD .010 it would do loops, wing-overs, stall turns and rolls. I suppose if the Guppy was rigged with modern radio gear it would be much lighter than with the old Ace Pulse Commander airborne.