kwmtrubrit

I have been given a Mystery Ship kit by a flying buddy to get me going in the "full house" arena. Does anyone have any tips for the construction of this plane? My building experience is somewhat limited to a Gentle Lady and a Riser 100. No problems with them but was wondering about any "gotcha's" with the Mystery ship.

Keith

seanpcola

My Feedback: (11)

The Mystery Ship is a horrible plane. Totally not worth building. To keep you from wasting valuable glue and covering, Keith, I will charitably offer to pay the shipping to my house, thereby relieving you of the possibility of making a grave mistake.

I mean, what are friends for?

Sean

kwmtrubrit

THANKS FRIEND!!

May your armpits be infested with the fleas of a thousand camels. Coming flying soon?

fmichaelb

I've got one about 80% complete that I'm working on right now. Something that I didn't do that I wish I had--you see in the instructions where you put the upper and lower sheeting on the trailing edge of the wing and then later you cut it between the rear spar and the leading edge of what will be the flaps and alierons? If I were doing it again, I'd put that sheeting on as seperate pieces. Once it's on, you can't quite tell where to cut.

Also, I'm wondering how the wings will stay on instead of accidently sliding off. The other sail planes I have that use a rod through the fusulage into a tube in each wing for the wing joining method either have the wing on top and use rubber bands stretched around dowels or in addition to the rod mentioned, have a hole in each side of the fusulage (siilar to where the servo wires would enter the wing) and each root rib has a little metal hook that fits through the hole and you wind up with two hooks that you can tie (or rubber band) together after you have put the wings on at the field, and it of course has a hatch that you put back on after you have tied the hooks together. The Mystery Ship doesn't have a hatch there and the instructions don't address this. Maybe friction is suppossed to be enough to hold them on? I don't know.

kwmtrubrit

fmichaelb, thanks for the sheeting tip. I've not really looked at the instructions yet. Too much going on, turkey, etc. As far as holding the wings on, I can share with you one idea that you have already mentioned a bit. A friend of mine has a Merlyn that also has the rod going through the fuselage. Although there isn't a hatch, the "cup hook and rubber band" method is used. What you do is hook the rubber band on one wing and pass a wire with a hook bent into the end through the fuse. Hook it to the rubber band and pull it through the fuse and hook it onto the other wing. It works very well. Any other "gotcha's" you've noticed on the model?

p.s. It's a good idea to attach a piece of dowel rod to the wire ( to look like a "T") to make it easier to hold and pull.

Keith

camdyson

From memory, this was the first laser-cut kit released on the market, or at least was touted as such. Never seen one in the flesh, so keen to see some pics.

Cam

John Walter

My Feedback: (1)

The easiest way to keep the wings attached is to use a strip of vinyl electrical tape to hold the wing to the fuse. It will stretch to conform to the curves and it comes in many colors.

Garvey

I used Multiplex Multilock wing connectors (Part # 72 5140). These consist of a plug protruding from the wing root and a corresponding socket set into the fuselage. The wing can simply be pushed into place and the Multilock holds it firmly throughout the flight, but will release in the event of a less than perfect arrival. It's easy to use and there is nothing to fiddle with or forget, I flew my Mysteryship with this system very successfully for six years.

MTT

My Feedback: (8)

Over the years, I have built and flown two MS's.

The MS's weak point is that flying stab T-tail, for several reasons :

It has only a very narrow support on top of the fin, and hence, is a wobbly affair.

The tailplane is supposed to be actuated by a bowden type push-pull rod, which bends upwards in the vertical fin, and connects to the tailplane.
The radius of this bend is fairly tight, and there is too much friction in it, so the tailplane does not center properly after elevator input.

Most importantly : The aft fuselage, just in frony of the vertical fin, is quite narrow, and not strong enough to with withstand the loads generated by the T-tail even in moderately rough landings.
The solution is to reinforce the aft fuselage, which adds a lot of weight right where you don't want to....

Or : convert the whole thing to a "regular" cross tail.
I did this on my second MS, works very well, and I can not tell any difference in the flying characteristics compared to my first MS with the T-tail.

I have not used any means to hold the wings on, other than slightly bending the incidence pins backwards. This generates enough tension so that the wings will not come off easily.

JayBFlyer

My Feedback: (5)

Hey Guys,

Jay Benafield here.

I was wondering if any of you know how to get ahold of L&H Distributors? L&h used to supply Sheldons Hobby with the Mystery Ship, but that appears not to be the case anymore, I mean as of this morning 1 Dec 07, my search of their website doesn't locate either.

I discussed the the ship with the designer, Bob Martin, 4 or 5 years ago with the the same general question here. He commented on the tail design. First she is for more advanced flyers. She has a broad speed envelope, but really likes to go fast. If you feel your controls are sluggish and her response is lethargic, get the airspeed up. Poor landings like nose first, wing tip down, or upside down, are not recommened because things other than tails break too. He said adding some carbon fiber to the section ahead of the tail would improve strenght, but would most likely increase the weight of the tail section which is a tad heavy to begin with. Bob said the 6 oz. of obligitory nose weight comes from the long fuse. The fuse length is determined by the moments that are required to soften yaw and pitch.

There was a construction article in Rc Modeler back when she first came out. I think I still have that around somewhere on a computer. I will look.

I want to build three. The first I want to use some of the new electric technolgy in the nose instead of lead. A brushless motor and some lipos. 6oz has to be there anyway right. Make it useful. Maybe just a little carbonfiber in that tail section, maybe one oz or less if I am careful, and compensate with a little more battery up front. Also I need to get my flying skills upgraded as most of my landings are painfully expensive.

The second I want to build out of cabonfiber, 1/32 or 1/64 ply, and 1/32 balsa. I want to see how lite and how strong strong she can be made.

The third I haven't figured out yet.

I just called Sheldon's Hobby in San Jose because the Mystery Ship is no longer on their website. Sheldon's I was told can still provide the kit on special order basis. The are checking on the price for me. I will post it in a day or two, that is if I can find this post again.

I also bumped into this article out at the Charles River RC Club site about a little brother/sister called the Mystique. This is the link for you reading pleasure. http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articl...bymystique.htm

Later

JayB

JayBFlyer

My Feedback: (5)

Hey, look what I found in that article out at Charles River RC.
Major Hobby 1520 "B" Corona Dr. Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403 (520) 855-7901

MTT

My Feedback: (8)

Electryfying the MS can be done, but is a bit tricky, since there is not a whole lot of room in the fuselage.
Once you have you motor, speed control and drive battery installed, you will have trouble finding room for the fuselage servos.
One example I found on the the german RC-Network, has the whole fwd fuse filled up with the motor and batteries, and the servos and rx ended up in the fuse aft of the wing joiner.
Certainly doable, but requires some modifications.
However, with today's battery technology (LiPo's) it will probably be easier.
See pics here : http://www.rc-network.de/forum/showp...47&postcount=4

JayBFlyer

My Feedback: (5)

MTT,

Thanks for this post. I needed the guidance.
Jay

Damien123

Hello, I have a Mystery ship kit brand new never built or even started, it was a Christmas present received in 1998, and the box has been on my closet shelf ever since. It was purchased from major hobby, for a couple hundred dollars and is totally complete all the laser cut parts are still in their boards, I unrolled the plans and was like, oh hell no... Too much plane! Not exactly a good first RC project. Anyway I have different interests now and i'd like to get $150 for the kit if you would like some photos, email me at [email protected]

Thanks!

Damien

excaliburmaxi

Hello Damien123 I`m happy to see some kit photo. Where do you live in Fl? Some time I came in Miami for work. Thank you Regards Max

MTT

My Feedback: (8)

If I didn't already have a MS, built 2 yrs ago, I would buy your kit.
I see that building is not your thing, but i like it, and the MS kit with it's laser cut parts is a joy to build.

dinchl

Where can I get a Multiplex Multilock Wing Connector?

Thanx

dinchl

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

Soaring USA- I just bought some myself.

JayBFlyer

My Feedback: (5)

Any news about the Mystery Ship from anyone. Still flying. Anyone make some new sticks or anything.
Jay