Tman

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Has anyone built and flown the 38% Corby Starlet offered by Sportsman Aviation? What do you think of the plane and what did you use for power?

Thanks

wifpwcf

hi tman ,yes i have flown one ,,,chris white designed that plane in australia & they fly well
cheers glen

Tman

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Hi Glen, what engine do you use?
Thanks

Shubova

My Feedback: (9)

Hi,
I'm looking for a Corby Starlet, the smaller yellow version.
Let me know if anyone is selling one. Hobby People does not stock them anymore.
Shubova
[8D]

scalebirdman

My Feedback: (6)

I just finished putting together the Global Hobby 38.5% ARF. Running a old Saito 270. Really enjoying it!

CJ-1

Hi Eveyone,
Just thought I would say hito eveyone and let you guys know if thst anyone has any questions about the BIG Corby that Iam more than happy to answer them if I can.
In the mean time her are some pics of the full size bird.

Regards

Chris White

scalebirdman

My Feedback: (6)

Chris...

Got any other pictures of the full-size bird? It would help my documentaion for Scalemasters.

CJ-1

Hi Scalebirdman,

Yes I do and here they are.

scalebirdman

My Feedback: (6)

Many thanks!

By the way, I placed 4th in advanced category at last year's Scalemasters championship in Wenatchee WA. with the Starlet. I have a 2nd one and I plan to re-work this one from top to bottom to make it more competetive scale wise.

CJ-1

Well done with the Corby at the Masters.. I will be there as well this year with my scale version of the Corby. I have not booked any place to stay as yet and Iam trying to find out where most people will be staying as I will be on my own.

CHEERS
CHRIS WHITE

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

I have just started building my 38.5% Corby Starlet ARF, and have heard of big troubles with the covering. I understand the red, blue & gold trim film can delaminate from its colored adhesive and leave quite a mess. I've seen such a thing happen just this past weekend with a no-name ARF (4Star knockoff), and the entire top leading edge film came off to the spar. So now I am contemplating what to do about it.

So far I have gone over the entire airframe, ironing down the trim very well. At a minimum I think I will also apply some clear Monokote (or Ultracote) over the seam on the leading edges of the wing, stab and fin, as well as apply clear over the trim where the "rays" of the sunburst pattern thin and come together in the center of the wing and stab leading edges, and over the "points" of thin gold and red trim on the fuse. I'll also seal the edges of the ailerons and elevators and rudder (where the trim stops).

I am debating about going further, to essentially seal all edges of the trim colors. This would mean strips of clear between the rays of the sunbursts, and clear strips to edge the trim on the fuse. A lot of work, but much easier to do before everything is assembled.

Before I go to all that trouble, could those folks who built and flew a giant Corby Starlet with glow power (ie, oily) weigh in with their experience?

Thanks so much,
- RB8

maxiemac

I wonder what the chances are of this thread coming to life again? - I recently bought the 38% Corby Starlet and am about to start assembly, but I'm uneasy about using the supplied control surface CA style hinges and would like to know if any of you assemblers out there were happy with them, did any of them fail, did anyone use a different type of hinge? if so which hinge was used and did you have to modify any structure to accept a different hinge type? - cheers - maxiemac

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

CA hinges worked just fine for my Big Corby. I fly it with an OS FT-240 twin, and have had no issues with the hinges. Did seal the control surface gaps with clear film.

maxiemac

Thanks Redball8 - you are a gem, just saved me a lot of work - I've read on other forums CA hinges can and do break which was why I asked the question - and thanks for staying in touch with this forum and providing an answer for me.

I too have an O.S.240 brand new in box to use in this airplane - can I ask 'how did you mount your engine' - looks to me that two of the engine mounting bolts have to be recessed into the side of the engine box.

On my airplanes with different color trims I use a mix of 50% each clear nail varnish and acetone and paint all the color trim edges and ends with a fine brush, tedious to do and needs a steady hand, but it works for me - cheers - maxiemac

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

I actually designed my Corby for two engines, the ST3000 and OS FT240. Divided the tank compartment into a top & bottom, with a lite ply floor in between. For the ST3000, the tank goes on top and the radio/ batteries go down below. For the FT240 the tank goes below, to line it up better with the carb centerline. Did have to use a mini servo (MN48) mounted on the firewall to control the throttle.

805kitbuilder

My Feedback: (15)

I still own my Starlet after many years. The covering had definitely seen better days so it was completely stripped down. All the hinges were replaced with Robart pin style. The plane was then recovered in Monster energy drink scheme. I'm running a Brillelli 360gt 60cc gasser under the hood. Carbon fiber landing gear replaced the stock sticks. I'm actually very surprised at the amount of attention it used to get wherever I took it. It's quite a show piece. It's been sitting covered up in the garage the last couple of years. Maybe it's time to pull it out one of these weekends

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

Maybe post a pic or two?

I got a bit anal about peeling covering, and sealed every edge of the stock covering with 1/4" strips of clear film (MonoKote, I think). Was a bit of work, but the covering has held up beautifully after all these years. Did eventually have to take the film off the fiberglass wheel pants and paint them - film on fiberglass isn't a good idea.

805kitbuilder

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Beautiful plane. Looks brand new, actually better than new. Here is a picture of the wings. I will pull the plane out this afternoon and take pictures of it together.

805kitbuilder

My Feedback: (15)

Okay, here are some pictures of the Corby. It won't win any scale masters competition but I guess I really wasn't going that route. Glad to see that others still have the big Corby out there.

805kitbuilder

My Feedback: (15)

Edit: sorry guys, I have no idea why the pictures came in upside down.

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

No problems - just imagine it inverted!

That really is a horse of a different color ...

maxiemac

redball8 - I too have the option of a S/T 3250 and an O.S. FT 240 twin but the main reason I bought this plane was because the cowl was big enough to fit the 40cc twin inside it - so I'm sticking with the twin and would like to know how did you mount your twin and what size fuel tank do you use for it - I can comfortably fit a 24 oz tank but a 32 oz is no go without removing some of the inside formers woodwork as shown in pic 6.

I've added other pics to show the start of my assembly and how I'm mounting the twin - I wasn't happy with the instruction manual's ideas for the aileron connections so I used a 1-1/4" Robart swivel control arm, a 4-40 ball link coupling and made two 4-40 pushrods using threaded rod covered with brass tube silver soldered each end to suit as seen in pic 1, followed by pinning each CA hinge in pic 2.

My engine mounting method was to remove two channels of wood from the engine box with a router, fit two pieces of 5 mm x 32 mm wide steel that will bolt to the engine box and the motor will bolt to the steel - but before I get that far I need to install a ply backing plate behind the firewall to replace the wood that was removed and brace it to all sides of the engine box insides - not easy as you can see in pic 6 - not a lot of room to get in there - that's where I'm up to for now.

PS: I think Tates in Australia still has stock of this model - late Dec. 2015 I paid A$400 for mine (down from 600) so that's less than US$300 with the current exchange rate plus cost of freight to the US ???? - if you're buying from the US you would need to ask Tates if they still have stock and would they be prepared to ship to US - or if you have a buddy travelling over here maybe bring one back for you

redball8

My Feedback: (128)

I took the cowl off to show the engine installation. I just drilled another hole on each side of the mount to match the engine box on the fuse. Also found some of my notes regarding the tank compartment; I used a 24oz Sullivan tank, but considered smaller sizes. No problem with flight times.

Note throttle servo on tank hatch - a lot easier than trying to get a throttle cable back behind the tank. The FT-240 I had was used and came with the aluminum exhaust pipes shown, these also work well.

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I know I've posted this before but if anyone is interested in building a 1/4 scale Corby from scratch I have plans available. My airplane was designed for sport flying rather than scale competition and, as such, I have stretched the tail moment a bit. Other than that it is pretty close. A cowl, canopy, wheel pants, and landing gear would have to be sourced or made by the builder. (Traplet has plans for a 1/4 scale Starlet as well so the parts may be available from them.) Plans are free for the asking and I am happy to supply a CAD file of the parts for anyone wanting to have them laser or CNC cut. Plans are pretty basic and definitely not for the beginner but anyone with some scratch building experience should not have any problems.

maxiemac

RB8 - thanks for pics and tank info - I see your engine mount cap head bolts are close to the port engine box side - were you able to fit T nuts behind them or use some other method? - the method I am using as shown above was because I couldn't see enough room inside the box to fit any type of T nut or other type of nut - then I realized later that the cowl vertical trailing edges where they fit to each side of the fuz were not square, so I squared them up, put the motor back in place, fitted the cowl, moved the engine into place so the prop drive washer was central to cowl cutout and found I had moved the motor slightly starboard by about 1/16" - still not enough to put T nuts behind - you must have special insights - I like your overall installation and those exhaust pipes look neat too - once again thanks for your communications and info provided - cheers - maxiemac