NMPRA

The left outside of the fuselage molds. IMG_1484_1024.jpg The right outside of the fuselage molds. IMG_1485_1024.jpg The right inside of the fuselage molds from the bottom. You can see modifications to the engine compartment area. IMG_1486_1024.jpg The right inside of the fuselage molds from the bto...

The right wing panel molds. IMG_1475_1024.jpg The left wing panel ,molds IMG_1476_1024.jpg The right wing panel molds still have the primer in them from before I got them IMG_1477_1024.jpg The left wing molds. I removed the primer from these using masking tape. It takes a while.. IMG_1479_1024.jpg T...

I didn't know if this should be in the Q40 forum or Building Tips ... it is Q40 related so I've put it here for the time being ... Trey may want to move it to Building Tips. I will go all the way from making male molds to making airplanes and getting them ready to fly ... it will be a journey, but I...

I'm not going to post photos every time I do a layup on these molds. I'm making progress and I expect to have the molds done by this weekend, excluding the cowl mold. That will go into next week. Then I will make male molds. I will probably pull proof parts and build the Estrellita fuselage this wee...

Mark Ackerman of Carolina Custom Kits visited me this week to go over our plans for the Estrellita EF1 and Shark EF1 laser cut kits and the molds I'm making for the fiberglass parts for those planes. Mark purchased the rights to the Telemaster line of kits sometime over a year ago and sells them th...

It's GO TIME on the molds for the Estrellita EF1 / Shark EF1. The surface coat came out perfectly and went on smoothly without running. Only thing is I'm out of white pigment for the other half of the cowl mold. It typically takes me 3-4 days to do the layups the way I like to do them. So I have tim...

Actually... You should be able use the axles from the shoestring. As this is where we started. Dub Jett and Jerry Small designed these originally. Horizon used their design to make the parts for the shoestring. The same axle was sold by Super T for a couple of years. The wheel pants where originall...

I was going to put surface coat on these molds tonight. But I was late getting the PVA on. This is my first time using the H&M Dolphin Wax on molds. So I went heavy on the PartAll PVA. They are nice smooth coats. Jerry Small used to say "If you can paint PVA well, you can paint anything". He gave me...

Sometimes you just do what you have to do. I started on the final sanding of these parts on Saturday around 6 pm ... It's now 9 am and I have been up all night. I was not happy with the 320, 400, 600, 1000 after running to Walmart and getting more compound, polish and wax. So I wet sanded 1200, 1500...

Since my return this year, the #1 request has been for the Estrellita EF / Shark EF1 parts. With the shop back in gear. And me back in gear, things are getting done. Mike Helsel, Greg Doe, Brad Clayton, and others are due parts. Mike doesn't know it yet, but he is getting a complete laser kit and fi...

Well I have decided that I am going to continue to post to the NMPRA forums regardless of the people who don't like me posting here. First and foremost, I do advertise in the NMPRA Newsletter. I also include the printed full color NMPRA application with all orders that go out of our business. Even o...

While I have shifted most of my posting activity to Facebook and have a new page there currently called The Independent AMA and NMPRA Pylon Racing Page and an EF1 page at EF1 Pylon Racing , I'm still going to post what I consider useful info to the NMPRA forums. I finally have the shop back in full ...

While I have shifted most of my posting activity to Facebook and have a new page there currently called The Independent AMA and NMPRA Pylon Racing Page and an EF1 page at EF1 Pylon Racing , I'm still going to post what I consider useful info to the NMPRA forums. I finally have the shop back in full ...

This is my test stand I use for testing mid-size electric motor systems. It is very flexible and allows me to test EF1 motors, ESC's, batteries with transmitter control without having to mount the systems in airplanes. I use it on motors from EF1 up to about .90 c.i. equivalent electric propulsion s...

Before he passed, Jerry and I were replacing the fiberglass tube with a carbon fiber tube. That completely solved the strength problem. I can provide more details if needed. Gary, Have several questions for you if you have the time and / or the will to answer. Are you talking about the fiberglass t...