*Stick and Tissue Fans & RC Nuts,
I think I fit in both categories :)
As I mentioned elsewhere, Proctor is testing a prototype D-VII to tempt us all!!
I am thinking of a Antic Bipe on floats as a warm up to the Jenny and Albatros.
As for the D-VII, the longer nose here definitely helps. Another good prototype
is the SE-5 and 5a. A good long nose, lots of dihedral, and pleasant moments.
I think the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter has a longer nose than the Pup or Tripe if
you are set on rotaries.
*Fokker DVII around for years, about 58' span, Tower has them for $95.
*The old control-line brick - OS90 four cycle
I think the Tower kit is the Sterling. I would stay away from that one if I
were you. It might fly on the 90 FS but I doubt it would be well behaved and pleasant
to fly. They haven't updated their designs recently, or even ever as far as I
know. The Sterling kits I have seen have been sorely wanting of a modern hand.
I think you would do better with a set of plans and hand selected wood. These
old kites were pretty light and should be modeled as such. I have a set of
plans for an Albatros D-II with a 56" span and it specs a 40 2C glow or 40
geared electric for scale flight at about 6 or 7 pounds. I would guess the
Sterling D-VII at over 10 pounds and heavily loaded with the 90 FS. That engine
ought to be able to pull a well designed 68" to 72" D-VII in a very prototypical
fashion.
Caveats are, I have not seen this particular kit you are considering, nor have I
flown an OS 90 FS. I have a 6' Sig J-3 with a lot less drag at about 6 pounds
and it flies like a dream at 1/2 to 2/3 throttle with an OS 40 Surpass. In
fact, I have had a tough time getting the idle low enough to land under power.
I will be adding a glow driver soon. Based on this and other FS powered models
I have seen, I have to believe there is a better recipe. I like to build light
to fly, handle carefully in transit, and not test crash survivability. Again
though I hope you have been liberally using the proverbial grains of salt.
*I gotta paint all those lozenges, too, so it may be YEARS!
*Any ideas, helpful hints?
RCM offers templates for making stencils for spraying the lozenge patterns.
Check with their plans service.
Thayer Syme
San Francisco