foam built l-19 bird dog (6 foot wing)

by brianm311 | February 3, 2014 | (17) Posted in Projects

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with the cold an snow set in and not much flying weather i decided i would build a plane, a big one but i wanted to stay on the path of foam not bashing balsa and monokote just like foam,any way i searched online and found a kit that caught my eye the l-19 glow dog it is a kit this plane has a 6 foot wing span the body is 52inches long an weighs roughly 3lbs! i purchased it from a company called parkflyer plastics and it is completely foam!! so here are my build pics and my maiden flight with it hope you enjoy!! (p.s the kit cost 70$ and you need to supply all the electronics and 3mm foam for skin )

so with the kit you get all the plans wing formers bulkheads for the fuse and the wooden parts for landing gear wing attachment and motor mounts

here you can see the body takeing shape

all the bulk heads instaled

building the elevator

skinned elevator (plane is skinned with 3mm foam)

now buiding the rudder

rudder finished

heres a look at the fuse with the foam on and covered with lens tape (cowling comes with kit)

looking into the battery compartment

rudder and elev controls i used flex cables from great planes for the control lines super light

landing gear on

test fit of the elevator

elevator mounted

now a test fit for the rudder

rudder finished

i used a tail wheel i got from great planes its an easy mount and steerable!

laying out the wing formers

i used a yard stick i bought at lowes for my wing spar

here you can see the light strip installed in the wing for night flying

running out of work bench!

one side done

the plans called for one servo here i opted to use 2

test fit for the wing

here you can see the lights they strobe should look cool at night!

getting ready to apply foam to wing

aileron is ready

here is a bottom view of the wing note control line for aileron

finished wing ready for covering

top side finished

bottom showing aileron connectors and power for lights

changed the factory mount out for an adjustable one factory one is foam and broke during a little mishap! lol

here she is! painted and ready for a maiden!!!

i got the inspiration for the paint from a plane i saw online

couldnt be more happy with the finished plane!!

COMMENTS

Noobi1951 on February 26, 2014
Wow! What a beautiful plane. You are to be congratulated. Seems to fly well (a little hard to see in the video) with great takeoffs and landings.
What did you cover it with? What is lens tape (used on vertical stabilizer).
This makes me want to try one, thanks.
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brianm311 on February 26, 2014
thanks! I used a yellow packing tape to cover the plane and the red on the verticle stab is lens repair tape I got in the automotive section at Wal-Mart again thanx!
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LordVader on February 26, 2014
Awesome job, nice use of balsa and foam. This may be something for me to give a try. I'm not a very accomplished pilot, but it's just foam. Thanks for sharing, shows what can be accomplished with alittle thought and determination.
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brianm311 on February 26, 2014
thank you! we all start somewhere soon you will be accomplished!!
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bensgreentrain on February 26, 2014
Great job! I to wanted something bigger so I got out an old set of plans, Goldberg Anniversary Cub, Got some dollar tree foam and started whitlin, I haven't flown it yet. But when I do i'll post it on flite test. The FT scratch builds have taught me a lot. I am using balsa and ply for high stress areas. That is a great looking L-19 and looks to fly well to. Keep up the great work.
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brianm311 on February 26, 2014
thank you and I will be looking forward to seeing the cub when you are done! i as well have learned a lot from the ft scratch builds and they also helped me become a better pilot!! again thanx
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sailorJohn on February 26, 2014
Thanks for the stills ,I like to see old style building with newer materials.
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brianm311 on February 26, 2014
thanx i wanted to go beyond the what i call box builds and this was a great platform to start that venture!!
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spetnazer on February 26, 2014
Wawwwwww..its very very very nice build sir! beautiful plane!

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brianm311 on February 26, 2014
thank you
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ChrisM on February 27, 2014
Great Looking Plane ! Good Job!
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brianm311 on February 27, 2014
thanx it was fun to build and even more to fly cant wait till warmer weather to try it than
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spetnazer on February 27, 2014
Hi...where did you get that plans?
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brianm311 on February 27, 2014
I got the plans and kit from a company called park flyer plastics they have some cool stuff and there service is great!
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Gozzie on March 3, 2014
Fantastic build. Absolutely beautiful.
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brianm311 on March 3, 2014
thank you!! it flies as good as it looks!
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foam built l-19 bird dog (6 foot wing)