rjbranchii

Brodak has just added another really competative full bodied stunter to its line, Windy Urtnowski's Strega. The Vector 40 is a highly competative plane with a .36 - .40 size powerplant. But now they have gone way upsize with the Strega which is 750 sq inches. The Box says ".51 to .60 motors. A .51 will not fly the plane. The wing is 3 inches thick. There are alot of flights on a number of planes which arrived in December and thanks tothe mild winter in the east alot has been found out about them. A strong .60 is the minimal size motor for the plane. It is happiest with a .70 class motor. If using a 4 stroke you need to mount the motor about 3/4 to 1 inch aft of its normal position. You can either cut the nose or as I did for a Saito .72 use a shaft extention. I am building the arc. It looks like the balance will be decent with a 3/4 in extension. Windy already has building and tuning dvd's available so you don't have to enter the project alone. He is running a RoJett .76 in his. Only really nessecary mod is to round the leading edge. Easier in the arc than arf, but still not a big deal. AND the hardware is all usable. It includes carbon fiber pushrods and ball links. Very nice and complete kit.

Cudo's to Brodak. They really are doing a nice job with their big arf's and some rumor has it some full bodied middle range planes are in the offing as well.

Bob

wjvail

My Feedback: (3)

I haven't order one but it sure is tempting.

Here's a link.

http://www.brodak.com/shop_productde...ProductID=8091


Bill Vail

rjbranchii

Here are some pics of the Strega ARC ready for final sanding prior to covering. The vertical stab are the only things bashed. Stab is 1 inch taller and rudder about 75% bigger. Engine pic shows saito .72 with 3/4 inch prop shaft extension and Ultra Products manifold and needlevalve kit in place of carb. The last pic shows a 21 in span Scientific P-40 profile for size comparison.

bob

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martin_solo

Bob,

Nice Work. I am thinking to do the same thing. But I am worried about this prop extension, is it safe for a Saito 72? What Brand and model is it?

Thank you,

Martin

rjbranchii

Martin

After working out the details of how to do a shaft extension on a 4 cycle I decided against it. You can't do one with the jam nut so you have to develope a different mode of securing the prop. The most sucessful I heard was pretty involved and I really was not comfortable with it. It would have really only allowed for wood props and that limits things alot in a competative stunter. So I took Windy Urtnowski's adviced and cut the nose. I took off 3/4 inch. This was as far back as I could get the Saito .72 on the bearers. As it turns out you wind up with a nice spinner fit, I think it was 2 1/2 inches. A nice p-51 spinner profile looks great. When I cut back the fiberglass cowl, low and behold I had the small behind the spinner air scoop the mustang had! I added a little reinforcement on the inside of the lip and it looks nice. I'm in process of covering now. Looks like the cg will be within range. Really turned out to be no big deal to do.

bob

Black Arrow

Wow! The quality of the pictures you guys put up impresses the heck out of me. Also (and I mean no ofnece here) I'm glad to see that I'm not the only guy with a cluttered up work shop! LOL!

BTW: I used to hunt ducks on Harsens Island years ago.

rjbranchii

Wow, someone who knows where Harsens Island is! Ducks still abound here too. As to the shop, yea, I have 4 workbenches, I clean when I cannot find a space to work, or it takes more than 10 minutes to find a tool. Just not enough room with CL and RC going on at the same time. I tend to be a multitask builder doing several planes at a time.

Martin: Here is a picture of the cowl after the chop. The spinner is not a P-51 shape but you get the idea.

bob

martin_solo

Nice work! It is looking much better then the original. I am planing to use an OS 70 Ultimate with the pump removed and a custom made manifold. I have seen the guys here using as little as 2,2Oz to make the full pattern with a 68Oz P-51.

cheers,

Martin