Mini Drake Flying Boat

Anything with a propeller
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stuart mackay
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Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by stuart mackay »

Thanks to the generosity of Ron, this flat pack kit he donated to the Swaffham Skunk Works was converted into a 3 dimensional object on Sunday afternoon, just waiting on a 3.7g servo to finish off the controls, then it will be off to the nearest puddle for a play.
Great lil toy and more details here: http://www.parkscalemodels.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=73
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Stew
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by Stew »

Oh man, I need one of those now....
GarydNB
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Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 23:12

Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by GarydNB »

They used to be available from Hobby King.
GarydNB
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by GarydNB »

Phil_G wrote: 20 Jan 2021, 15:30 Do you know of any water nearby Gary?
:lol: don't think it hasn't occurred to me!
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stuart mackay
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by stuart mackay »

Quick question for anyone who has played with wet aeroplanes, what is best to waterproof the inside of the fuselage to protect the wood from the inevitable dunkings?
Would cellulose dope be sufficient and not add too much weight?
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Wayne_H
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by Wayne_H »

Lovely little aeroplane Stuart!

Dope is fine for water-resistance inside the fuze. In my experience, the most important detail is to seal all the joints/openings such as around the wing saddle, control runs, etc., so that if there is the occasional mishap (with small sea planes, its typically a flip over or wing tip digging in), water is kept out. i.e. Prevention V's cure. If an incident is severe enough to dislodge parts of the model, then you've probably got bigger problems to deal with than a little water inside :o ;)
Cheers,

Wayne
Once a Retrobate, always a Retrobate............ ;)
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stuart mackay
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by stuart mackay »

Good progress made and it only requires final link up of control surfaces, install RX and ESC and a prop adding (!)
The opportunity of good afternoon light today meant a mini photo session for the Mini-Drake.
Hope you like the overall effect of the transparent film with blue trim highlights.
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Martin
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Re: Mini Drake Flying Boat

Post by Martin »

Very nice. If you hand launch it, do so with reduced power, and then add the power gradually over the next couple of seconds. I've got a video I shot, somewhere, of a friend attempting the maiden flight of his similar flying boat - and because of the high thrust-line and low flying speed, it did an immediate power nose-dive into the ground and was destroyed. :(

I've found that these high thrust-line models are fine flying at full power, once the airspeed has built up. If you're going to suddenly go to full power, make sure you have plenty of airspeed, or some height to allow for the initial dive.
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