Douglas Boston IIIA

[Steve Rickett 2333]

And here he is in his office.... The canopy has been glued on with RC Canopy glue and the gun epoxied into place.

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The other two crew members were installed without lightening as I needed a small amount of nose weight to bring the CG back to the position I had when she flew last.

I need to make a cover for the rear inside section of the hatch....I'll probably make this out of pro-skin or maybe lithoplate.

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Despite a few small jobs to complete she is now ready for flight again.....

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[Steve Rickett 2333]

The pushrods and ignition cables need adding to the dummy radials....

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Oh...and the nosewheel seems to have very limited steering so this needs some attention before flying....other than that I need to run the engines and make sure the settings are still good and then charge her up and go flying!

The final all-up-weight came out at 31.3kgs or nearly 69lbs. I'm pretty happy with that as I guessed the final weight to be 70lbs at the start of the build...do I get a prize?

She still feels very heavy to pick-up though and that sharp stall she had when weighing about 5lbs lighter is giving me nightmares! I think I might keep a bit of safety speed for the first few landings...if not all landings!

The weather is pretty bad at the moment but hopefully things will pick up early next week so I can get this Over 20kg testing finished off and then gain the final paperwork so I can take her to some events.

I'll keep you posted........

[rob ellis]

dremel diet.,,,.,.love it!

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Is anyone else gob smacked by just how good this is?

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Alan---just look who the builder is--I would expect nothing else---superb

[David Brown]

That's Quality

[Phil Clark]

Is anyone else gob smacked by just how good this is?

NOPE.......annoying isn't he, every one a masterpiece.

P

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Thank you everyone, it's nice to hear after quite a prolonged build! I admit that this was a project I thought might never get completed, it's been through quite a lot with us. It's seen the birth of our Daughter (now 5!), a two year stint in the Middle East (it's even been through the Suez Canal twice!) and three house moves!

But what I hope my postings here do is show what is happening within the LMA over the 'Quiet Months'. I hope that it perhaps encourages others to have a go at building something a bit different. I don't have any special skills, everything has been learnt from a few years experience and not being afraid to just have a go. Don't think that the Boston is perfect....I have left off a whole load of detail and there are a few areas I wish had turned out better, or lighter. I am regretting using the scale aerofoil as I don't think it is performing as well as I had hoped and despite my achieving the estimated weight...it is perhaps 10lbs too heavy. Still, it's been fun to build and I'm pleased with the finished effect....I just hope the rest of the test flights go ok!!!

[Steve Rickett 2333]

I've got the last few jobs all sorted now. Dummy ignition leads and pushrods fitted to the engines....

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The nosewheel has been sorted, plus the canopy hatch has been tidied up and painted......I've had both engines running in the garden (don't think the neighbours appreciate the sound of two Laser vees as much as me!) and so we are now all systems go for test flights!

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[Richard scarbrough]

Fantastic job Steve as ever.
Cheers Richard.

[Steve Rickett 2333]

Thanks Richard, I hope things are mending well for you.

I got the Over 20kg testing finished over the last weekend at the fantastic Winterton Flyin. 5 flights in total (plus the 5 it had while in primer). I took the model upto to full power passes, big wingovers, rolls and a few stalls. The model took it all very well, even the landings were better this time!

I'll let the photos do the talking (thanks to Mike for these) and hopefully the final paperwork will be through in the next week or so ready for East Kirkby.

[Alan Cantwell 1131]

Damn things real

[rob ellis]

got my vote!