SPA Modeler

Magnificent! I love those planes.

I built a Cessna 172 in 1/72 scale; I only wish I had Matthias Rust's markings for it. That would be so cool.

Love those pics of you flying too. My brother was a pilot too, I wish I'd had the opportunity to fly with him before he passed. I'm certain he looked just like you do in that pic when he flew too.

Those look spiff, Fermy.

Two really smart looking Cessna Spam-cans there Fermis - well done.

A little Cessna story (just to thrill you with the build Quality) - When I was an A&P we had a 172 that took some nasty wing damage to the outer sections (can't remember how). Rather than just pull the wing apart and re-build and skin it (which I'd done before on a few aircraft) the boss (or the owner) decided to get a new wing for the aircraft. This we did and the day came where we went to fit it. For those that don't know the wing is held on by two mountings (and the strut) fore and aft. When we fitted it up, the front went together nicely - however the rear mounting on the new wing was 1/2 inch out!!!!!! How's that for build quality!

Sufficed to say we re-built and re-skinned the old wing!

Thanks guys!

portman wrote:Two really smart looking Cessna Spam-cans there Fermis - well done.

A little Cessna story (just to thrill you with the build Quality) - When I was an A&P we had a 172 that took some nasty wing damage to the outer sections (can't remember how). Rather than just pull the wing apart and re-build and skin it (which I'd done before on a few aircraft) the boss (or the owner) decided to get a new wing for the aircraft. This we did and the day came where we went to fit it. For those that don't know the wing is held on by two mountings (and the strut) fore and aft. When we fitted it up, the front went together nicely - however the rear mounting on the new wing was 1/2 inch out!!!!!! How's that for build quality!

Sufficed to say we re-built and re-skinned the old wing!

Shortly after earning my private ticket, I scheduled the plane (a 152 with a 125 horse engine) to surprise my wife for her b-day. We were going on an hour flight north, to a casino for dinner and a show. Airport was fairly close and the casino had a free shuttle. Anyway, we head up to my airport...beautiful, calm, clear afternoon. Get to the airport and there's "my" plane...upside down on the ramp. Somebody forgot to tie it down the day before and it had gotten blown over during the night. I was able to talk two people out of their scheduled flights with the other 152, so the night was not lost. The right wing took substantial damage and was replaced...it flew like it had two left wings. Prior to this, you could let go for a few seconds, and it'd just slowly drift left...afterwards, let go and it'd damn near roll ya right over. They got it squared away though, fairly soon.

Fermis wrote:Thanks guys!

portman wrote:Two really smart looking Cessna Spam-cans there Fermis - well done.

A little Cessna story (just to thrill you with the build Quality) - When I was an A&P we had a 172 that took some nasty wing damage to the outer sections (can't remember how). Rather than just pull the wing apart and re-build and skin it (which I'd done before on a few aircraft) the boss (or the owner) decided to get a new wing for the aircraft. This we did and the day came where we went to fit it. For those that don't know the wing is held on by two mountings (and the strut) fore and aft. When we fitted it up, the front went together nicely - however the rear mounting on the new wing was 1/2 inch out!!!!!! How's that for build quality!

Sufficed to say we re-built and re-skinned the old wing!

Shortly after earning my private ticket, I scheduled the plane (a 152 with a 125 horse engine) to surprise my wife for her b-day. We were going on an hour flight north, to a casino for dinner and a show. Airport was fairly close and the casino had a free shuttle. Anyway, we head up to my airport...beautiful, calm, clear afternoon. Get to the airport and there's "my" plane...upside down on the ramp. Somebody forgot to tie it down the day before and it had gotten blown over during the night. I was able to talk two people out of their scheduled flights with the other 152, so the night was not lost. The right wing took substantial damage and was replaced...it flew like it had two left wings. Prior to this, you could let go for a few seconds, and it'd just slowly drift left...afterwards, let go and it'd damn near roll ya right over. They got it squared away though, fairly soon.

lol! Upside down on the ramp is never a good attitude for an airplane - Glad they got it sorted out though - I'm amazed it passed a flight test if it was that bad.

portman wrote:
lol! Upside down on the ramp is never a good attitude for an airplane - Glad they got it sorted out though - I'm amazed it passed a flight test if it was that bad.

Truth be told, it wasn't THAT bad...but it was far worse than it was before. Turned out to be that the chord line was out by an 1/8th inch, compared to the other wing...leading edge was 1/16th high, trailing edge 1/16th low...more lift on the right wing. I only had two more flights in it, before they got it straightened up. It was a great little airplane, up until they took out the engine upgrade and it was back to a 110 horse. The extra 15 horses it had made a big difference.

Finally got called in to my airport during daylight...got a couple pics...






Not great, by any means...but, whatever!!!

Nice - I miss working on an airfield.

**edit - Just wondering why you had a D reg Cessna on your field when it sank in that this is your build! Well you fooled me!

Nice! Until you zoom in, that looks pretty 1/1 scale real!

What he said ^^^

It almost looks real. Well done, Fermis!