Official Black Horse 2350mm Gilmore Red Lion

[DaleD]

DaleD Welcome to Hobby Squawk. Thank you for the kind words.

Black Horse has put out, IMHO, the nicest Wedell-Williams Model 44 Gimore Red Lion currently available. It was a pleasure to share the build. Our videographer was having equipment problems, so no video as of yet.

I got your PM and will be happy to answer your questions a little later today. Cheers.

Good morning, been waiting patiently on a video. Any update please, have you taken her out since the last update?

DaleD

[Twowingtj]

DaleD Good day to you too.

The Gilmore hasn't been flown since last report. The workbench was tied up with another project.

I was able to get her back on the bench yesterday. I had a list of things that did get done.

1) Added another 6oz. of ballast to the nose.
2) After setting in the sun on the last trip to the field, there were several areas of covering that needed tightening. Iron set to 250deg F addressed nicely.
3) Moved the elevator pushrods to the outer hole at the elevator for better servo resolution.

If the weather holds to the forecast, I hope to get her out for another run and video this Sunday.

I'm also planning to order the Wedell-Williams logo from Callie Graphics for the tail.

[OV10]

Twowingtj If your videographer is getting put to work maybe I could sneak over and get some CAS ground pounding Bronco action captured

[Twowingtj]

It was great to see OV10 at the field today with the new FL Bronco.

I took the Gilmore up for an early flight to see if the extra 6oz improved the low speed handling. Winds were again a gusty 8-15mph crosswind.

There was a Very slight improvement, but not enough to feel in full control on landings. It was still very pitchy on the pitch axis at landing speed and required 3 go arounds to get her down safely.

The plane has quite a bit of positive incidence built into the horizontal stab mount. I suspect that this would account for the stable feeling at higher speeds, basically countering the tail heavy condition. When the plane is rolled inverted, it shoots up steeply with no forward stick pressure.

At this point it's obvious that I need to get more aggressive on the weight addition to the nose. I'll shoot for a more stable nose heavy condition, then go from there.

[OV10]

Twowingtj Hopefully the videographer was able to capture something that can be posted over on the Bronco thread

[Twowingtj]

OV10 he's working on it.

Got the Gilmore back on the bench. While adding additional nose ballast, I hooked the incedence meter up to the horizotal stab/elevator assembly. There is just under 2.5 deg. positive built in to the design. This, likely helps explain why it felt less tailheavy at normal flight speed and would drop the tail at near touchdown speed.

More test flights on tap for the next trip to the field. Once she's flying at the point it feels well balanced, I'll put her back on the Vanessa CG rig and check where the actual flight worthy CG is.

[bbolz]

Hey alpha, any idea when the gilmore RL will be available again?

[Twowingtj]

bbolz MRC Support says ETA around August. Alpha or Marco Polo might have a better ETA.


Got the Wedell-Williams tail graphics ordered from Callie. Should be in next week. Still haven't been able to get the stars to align to get the Gilmore back to the field. Hopefully things will align within the next week.

There are plans to fly the Gilmore Red Lion in at least three events this year. First is the Aeros' Festival of Giants in Chenango Bridge NY. Next will be the Golden Age Radio Control Model Meet, at the Golden Age Air Museum in Bethel, Pa. And of course, the Rhinebeck Jamboree at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook, NY.

[bbolz]

Thanks. August is not bad. I can wait. Looks like an awesome plane. A good fit for my saito fg60r3.

[Twowingtj]

That Saito should pull it along fine and sound good doing it.

This bird looks great on the ground and presents well in the air. I've only had four flights in a slightly to quite tail heavy state, in windy conditions. Even so, at cruise and above, it's feeling good on the sticks. Once the CG is dialed in to improve slow flight handleing, it's going to be a stellar flyer.

One thing I have noticed after just four flights. The rubber skin on the tires is starting to wear away. And that's on a grass runway.

[Twowingtj]

Got a chance to get the Gilmore out for a couple of flights today. It flew like it was on rails. The lastest ballast addition did the trick. Total lead added is now at 30oz.

As soon as I have the chance, I'll get it on the vanessa rig to see where the CG wound up at. It sure feels good to have it flying the way it should now.

[Twowingtj]

The Gilmore Red Lion balanced at between 112-113mm on the vanessa rig. Now I'm looking forward to flying it at events. Unfortunately the Rhinebeck Jamboree has been cancelled for 2020. It will be flown there next year. There are still a few others on the event list.

If you are a fan of classic Golden Age avaiation, this is a bird worth adding to the hangar. There's just something special about an airplane with a big round cowl. Good job Black Horse and Motion RC!

[Twowingtj]

A clubmate was able to capture a little video footage for me. Its not bad for cell phone video. Thanks Josh. The landing was a lot hotter than it should have been. This was the first time flying the Red Lion without a 15mph+ gusty crosswind. Wasn't sure if I could handle it. Batteries were at 3.93v per cell after the flight.

[OV10]

Twowingtj
She barely porpoised and Josh gets the for video turnaround time for publication.
Still waiting for the Bronco vid

[Twowingtj]

OV10 Still getting the elevator dialed in. The bird has such a long tail moment, it doesn't take much throw. I've got 15deg high rate, and 12 deg low rates. Even on low it's touchy at high throttle. I'm going to move the pushrod further in on the servo arm for better resolution.

[DaleD]

A clubmate was able to capture a little video footage for me. Its not bad for cell phone video. Thanks Josh. The landing was a lot hotter than it should have been. This was the first time flying the Red Lion without a 15mph+ gusty crosswind. Wasn't sure if I could handle it. Batteries were at 3.93v per cell after the flight.

I have watched this flight video no less that 5 times. She sure is a beauty to watch moving through the skies. All I say each viewing is, "WOW!!!!! When I grow up I would like to have me one of those for myself".

I could not notice what I would consider any bad tendencies and she seems to be quite a floater. The slow flight just before landing was all I need to convince me that I must have one when they become available.

By the way, you have a VERY nice looking flying field.

Tanks for sharing.

DaleD

[Twowingtj]

DaleD Thanks. Our flying field is a full scale private airport, so lots of room.

Once the Gilmore is balanced so it's not tail heavy, there are no bad tendencies. It will fly around at 20-25% throttle pretty nicely. As I mentioned before, it's got a lot of frontal surface area, so it will slow quickly if you back out of the throttle too far.

Most of the stills were taken while just leisurely cruising up and down the runway.

Black Horse did a nice job in both design and execution. Well worth adding to the hangar.

[Twowingtj]

A big shout out to Callie Graphics for producing the Wedell-Williams tail graphics for the Gilmore Red Lion. The vertical stab just looked a bit incomplete without them.

Just tell Callie that you want the same Wedell Williams tail graphics set she made for Tony Jensen, and she can hook you up. They are done in a matt finish so they blend right in.

[OV10]

Callie IS the best but I'm sure most everyone already knows that by now

[Mike Schaefer]

Do you think that a Saito 60 gas radial would be adequate for this airplane?