# Herr Cloud Ranger build.



## Gary

Starting tomarrow.


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## Gary

Getting started. 

I love the smell of a new kit and its a perfect cold and rainy day to start building. As I expected from Herr, the sticks are straight as an arrow and light. The laser cutting is a good as it gets. Pieces fell out as I got the sheets out of the bag. 

I plan to build this as a 4 channel with airelons and reduced dihedral.

On to the tail feathers.


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## Gary

Welp, this is not a good way to start out. I didn't receive any tail feathers. 

E mail time.


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## PD2

Nice looking kit Biff - you going to go with electric or nitro (I'm assuming that "glow" means nitro for this kit and not the old school glow motors they would use for wire flyers)?

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> Nice looking kit Biff - you going to go with electric or nitro (I'm assuming that "glow" means nitro for this kit and not the old school glow motors they would use for wire flyers)?
> 
> PD2


Yea, glow means nitro. Ill be over powering this plane a tad. They call for a .061 and Ill be hanging an OS .10 on it. :rotfl:

Kit was $41.99.


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## justinspeed79

Any word on the tail feathers? 

What does 1/2 A mean?


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> Any word on the tail feathers?
> 
> What does 1/2 A mean?


Tail feathers on the way thanks to Mike Lee from Sig.

Definition of 1/2A varies. Not exactly sure.

Little plane works for me.


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## justinspeed79

Are Sig and Herr the same company?


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## PD2

Gary said:


> Yea, glow means nitro. Ill be over powering this plane a tad. They call for a .061 and Ill be hanging an OS .10 on it. :rotfl:
> 
> Kit was $41.99.


OH YEAH! MORE POWER! LOL!

$42?? Other than the engine and electronics what else do you have to buy to complete the plane for flying?

PD2


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> Are Sig and Herr the same company?


Different company but Sig owns them.


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> OH YEAH! MORE POWER! LOL!
> 
> $42?? Other than the engine and electronics what else do you have to buy to complete the plane for flying?
> 
> PD2


Two rolls of covering at about $30, wheels, another $10, props, tank and stuff. But I allready have all that.


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## Gary

Paul, heres a video of one. LOL!


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## Trinitybayrat

Sweet little plane!! 

I just finished building a Herr Mini-Sport about 3 weeks ago. This was my first kit build and my first try at putting on covering. I know what ive been missing now buying arfs, i really had a good time building and it turned out better than I expected.

How are you going build in your ailerons? I built some in, but it caused the wing to warp and the plane just doesnt fly right. I tried to use only one servo and conceal it in the fuse, but i might have to make it more simple and just use two in the wing. I might start on a new wing this week, my new wood bag ($14.00 for the entire plane!!) just came in from SIG yesterday. 

Tim


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## Gary

Definitly go with two servos Tim.


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## Gary

Tim, I was at work earlier and just didnt have to time to respond. Nice job BTW!

Got a couple of questions. What covering was you using? Some covering material like Monokote shrinks alot and if your not carefull, you could warp the wing and/or the airelons due to shrinkage..

Is the leading and trailing edges of the wing straight?

So you like building kits now huh? lol 

I'm addicted. Theres nothing like taking a box of sticks and turning into a work of art that actually flys!

When your ready Ill help you with how to install two airelon servos.


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## justinspeed79

Gary said:


> Paul, heres a video of one. LOL!


Cool! That little plane has got some moves!

I had a problem with warping on my SSE that I covered with Monokote. The ailerons both warped. My best guess is that it was from sitting in the sun, because they weren't warped when I covered them. I just held them down on a flat surface and used the heat gun to re-shrink the covering and they straightened out fine.


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## Trinitybayrat

The covering is Coverite microlite. Its so thin it reminds me of saran wrap, and was a challenge to work with on the larger pieces like the wing. When I would peel the backing off it would want to curl and stick together just like a piece of plastic wrap for food. 

My problem is I made the ailerons out of the trailing edges. I built the wing and went back and cut the section of the trailing edge from the ribs that I wanted to be the ailerons. I then went back and added a lite ply strip to be the trailing edge. It just didnt work out right, I think I tried to make it too difficult to get the linkage and all to work using just one servo. Im thinking that using 2 servos and adding a strip to the trailing edge will work better than butchering up a straight wing.


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## Gary

Yes!


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## PD2

Gary said:


> Paul, heres a video of one. LOL!


Very cool bro! Thanks for sharing that link! Amazing that for $42 those sticks of wood can do that!

PD2


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## Gary

If your looking for a long drawn out build, this aint your kit. It goes together quickly and so far, no problems.


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## justinspeed79

You're going to be a pro builder, Gary, if you aren't already..... 

How many kits have you built in the past year or so? You haven't even crashed any of them have you? Do you have a hangar somewhere? LOL...

I takes me longer to put an arf together than it takes you to build a kit!:spineyes:


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> You're going to be a pro builder, Gary, if you aren't already.....
> 
> How many kits have you built in the past year or so? You haven't even crashed any of them have you? Do you have a hangar somewhere? LOL...
> 
> I takes me longer to put an arf together than it takes you to build a kit!:spineyes:


I used to build kits just for fun back in the early 90s. Ill guess at a total, 45 planes in the last 17 years.

I didnt get serious about flying untill around April this year and so far, A SuperStar 40 arf, a Kadet LT 40 arf, a four Star 60 and 40 kit build. A Goldberg Eaglet 50 kit. A GP Big Stik 40 arf and a Herr little something extra arf. Partially built SSE kit. A GWS slowstik with the Stevens Aero Stik 2.0 built up wing kit thats 99% complete and Stevens Aero Diddle rod kit thats 75% done.

I have crashed before, but that was back when I started flying Pico Sticks in 2000. Since I got serious and flying nitro, I haven't crashed yet knock on wood. :smile:


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## fishermanX

Do you think the weather will be good tomorrow Biff?


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## Gary

Im iffy.

*Tomorrow:* Rain showers in the morning with scattered thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon. High 62F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


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## Gary

Yea, lets go!


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## Gary

F13 is the underside of the fuse and there is a pretty good curve to deal with. I went against the instructions and started from the rear working my way forward up untill I reached F5. This is where I used the windex/tape and weight method of bending balsa.

I also changed my mind on powerplants. I ordered a Thunder Tiger .07. It was $48.99.


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## Gary

The fuse is complete and I may have broken some rules for the Gram Geeks around here. I used expoxy for the firewall and for fuel proofing the engine bay area. I did however thin out the epoxy with isopropal alcohol and used a heat gun and a brush to get it as thin as I could. It still needs sanding though. I have a few areas where I have gaps that stills needs filling in, but after sanding I think it will still come out at less than a 100 grams.


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## PD2

Looking good! I used to love kit building cars. If there was any way to make money off of just building the kits and selling a built/setup car, I'd probably do it.

Nice work Biff!
PD2


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## Gary

Where the tail wheel wire goes into the rudder, I beefed it up by adding some lite ply and then surrounded the area with thin CA to help transfer the load in case I have some hard landings. 

The tail feathers need a final sanding but otherwise done. And I'm waiting on the UPS guy to bring me some goodies including the TT .07 engine.

Next step is the wings. Ill be starting them tonight.


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## Gary

This thing is so tiny! :tongue: I'm used to a Saito 1.0 swinging a 15" prop and here comes this .07 with a 7" prop. :smile: I like it!

Gots some hacking to do though.


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## PD2

Very nice Biff! Coming along great! That TT engine should be good - if I recall correctly wasn't OS producing them for them? I can't recall - been too long. Regardless, nice build up bro.

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> Very nice Biff! Coming along great! That TT engine should be good - if I recall correctly wasn't OS producing them for them? I can't recall - been too long. Regardless, nice build up bro.
> 
> PD2


I dont think so bro. As far as I know all OS's are still made in Japan. This TT is made in Taiwan. The quality is excellent though.


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## PD2

Gary said:


> I dont think so bro. As far as I know all OS's are still made in Japan. This TT is made in Taiwan. The quality is excellent though.


That teaches me for messin around in a hobby that I have not been ingrained into, eh? LOL! Actually, Taiwan has been producing some quality stuff - they are really trying to get out of the China-like stuff and go into being quality driven like Japan, generally speaking. So that does not surprise me about the TT.

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> That teaches me for messin around in a hobby that I have not been ingrained into, eh? LOL! Actually, Taiwan has been producing some quality stuff - they are really trying to get out of the China-like stuff and go into being quality driven like Japan, generally speaking. So that does not surprise me about the TT.
> 
> PD2


Took me 5 hours to figure out how to mount it bro! lol


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## PD2

Dang!! But look at the nice job you did! Smooth, sanded, rounded edges and that notch out on both sides looks like it was made for it! Plus, cutting into balsa wood like that is not easy - one wrong move and it goes to pot quickly.

Awesome job! Now it looks like the plane was made for it. :slimer:

PD2


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## justinspeed79

Lookin good.


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## Gary

Thanks for the compliments guys. I love building kits. 

The left wing panel came out very straight and with only one hitch. The first shear web came up short and would not touch each rib. One of the reasons I keep scraps and actually bought a GP Pete n' Poke just to have extra lumber in case I needed it. (Lots of wood and it's cheap) 

The inboard side of the wing needed a little filler and this is what I use. I live within walking distance of a Home Depot and the closest Hobby Shop is a 40 minute dive. Cheap too! 

On to the right wing panel. :work:


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## PD2

Hey, if it works, go with it. Who cares about driving to the nearest Hobby shop if you can get what you need right at the hardware store. Yes, you want to support the local hobby shop, but they are scarce now. Closest one to me is Randy's and its about a 20-30 minute drive.

I tell you what, the kits may be cheap, but the amount of time you spend building one of these kits....it has to be heartbreaking when or if you wreck.

PD2


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## Gary

Slacked off a little this week but got some work done this weekend. I finished the right wing panel and just got done joining to the two halves.

The instructions call for 4 1/2" of dihedral and I ended up with 5/8". This plane will be a handfull. :spineyes:


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## Gary

Working on not using rubber bands for the wing mount.


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## PD2

Coming along very nicely Biff! Definitely a ton of work to put it all together, eh? I'm surprised you did not invest in some small wood working hand claps to hold pieces together while the glue bonds. Would something like that work or is it too curvy for all that?

I know you have to put a skin/fabric on the wings, but does that also go for the fuselage too?

Awesome work....slow and steady gets it done.

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> Coming along very nicely Biff! Definitely a ton of work to put it all together, eh? I'm surprised you did not invest in some small wood working hand claps to hold pieces together while the glue bonds. Would something like that work or is it too curvy for all that?
> 
> I know you have to put a skin/fabric on the wings, but does that also go for the fuselage too?
> 
> Awesome work....slow and steady gets it done.
> 
> PD2


I have all kinds of clamps but sometimes its just easier to use tape or weights. The balsa wood on this plane is really soft and will dent if I use clamps.

The covering will be a mylar shrink wrap stuff called Monokote. I ordered a Eindecker kit last night and will be done in fabric. Shiny plastic just wouldnt look right on this.


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## Gary

Since I hate rubberbands, I modded the kit for a bolt down wing. Taint pretty but with some filler and lots of sanding, itll be ok.


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## justinspeed79

Gary, couldn't you just section in some hardwood on the trailing edge to eliminate the need for the raised section? 

Another plane? What the f...... lol....

I have a bunch of planes that need work, I'll let you do it for free, you don't have to buy all those kits!


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## Gary

justinspeed79 said:


> Gary, couldn't you just section in some hardwood on the trailing edge to eliminate the need for the raised section?


The raised section won't matter much since this is a slow flyer. In fact, I was looking for some additional drag to slow down landings.

Laminating lite ply over the trailing edge is much stronger than trying to section in hardwood to the back of the ribs,

er,

I dunno! :tongue:

It was easier that way.


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## Gary

The Eiendecker will be a challenge and will probably take me a year to build. It's not a total "Scale" plane but I look forward to the build. I estimate 400 hours in total.


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## justinspeed79

The Eiendecker looks pretty nice.


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## PD2

See, I always thought the body/fuselage was solid...never knew it was monokoted too like the wings. Very interesting. Guess this makes the plane lighter for easy flight?

That Eiendecker will be cool! I used to like the Red Baron look, but the gold version is cool too. Do you guys do the "dog fights" with the tail streamers? I saw that one time on an Inside R/C episode. Looked fun and cool!

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> See, I always thought the body/fuselage was solid...never knew it was monokoted too like the wings. Very interesting. Guess this makes the plane lighter for easy flight?
> 
> That Eiendecker will be cool! I used to like the Red Baron look, but the gold version is cool too. Do you guys do the "dog fights" with the tail streamers? I saw that one time on an Inside R/C episode. Looked fun and cool!
> 
> PD2


Not only lighter, but stronger. Monokote has the tensile strength of 25,000 psi and weighs .2 oz per square ft. Unfortunatly, it's not as good as it used to be. They used to have some chemicals in their formula that the EPA didn't like and now it's not as good as it used to. When the weather turned cold both my planes covering started sagging really bad.

I havent tried RC combat yet. Im way too new and far from being good enough for that but we have a national champ in control line combat righ here in Houston who used to be a racer.

Lester Haury.


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## PD2

Gary said:


> Not only lighter, but stronger. Monokote has the tensile strength of 25,000 psi and weighs .2 oz per square ft. Unfortunatly, it's not as good as it used to be. They used to have some chemicals in their formula that the EPA didn't like and now it's not as good as it used to. When the weather turned cold both my planes covering started sagging really bad.
> 
> I havent tried RC combat yet. Im way too new and far from being good enough for that but we have a national champ in control line combat righ here in Houston who used to be a racer.
> 
> Lester Haury.


Wow! 25,000 psi?!? You could almost make a trampoline out of that stuff! LOL! Why did it start to sag when the weather turned cold?

Seems like Houston is full of R/C champs for various type of R/C, yet the place does not get the recognition it deserves like California, eh?

PD2


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## Gary

PD2 said:


> Wow! 25,000 psi?!? You could almost make a trampoline out of that stuff! LOL! Why did it start to sag when the weather turned cold?
> 
> Seems like Houston is full of R/C champs for various type of R/C, yet the place does not get the recognition it deserves like California, eh?
> 
> PD2


Monokote is very temperature sensitive I guess. No problen though, just go back over it with a heat gun and it will shrink back.


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