August 13, 2008

Prospark spark conversion units are now available again from us. Having trouble getting nitro fuel? Cost of nitro fuels is going up. Factory in China where nitro is made had a fire. Last month only 400 barrels left in the USA at this time. Full-size car racers will use this small quanity right away. How about converting your larger two and four stroke glow engines to run on gasoline or no nitro fuel (FAI fuel)?

More Prospark information on our web site under "Products from other companies" at the bottom of the column on the left. A new version of our Prospark web site is under construction.

New project in the works. A 30% scale model of a great looking homebuilt aircraft, the Thatcher CX4.

I have decided to put a hold on our Great Lakes project. The reason is that I need to increase our sales income now. The Great Lakes project won't be ready for sale until late this year or even early next year thereby reducing the possibility of any revenue from the Great Lakes project for this year.

Since we are in the balsa business, I have decided to produce some scale balsa wood kits. The kits will be scale models. Not exact scale like our Great Lakes and Aeronca projects, but scale models suitable for local scale competitions. Our kits will be pretty close to scale, but liberties will be taken in the shapes and contours to allow for a great flying aircraft and somewhat simple to build. Our balsa kits will produce great sport aircraft and as a bonus, suitable for local scale competitions.

I have chosen for our first kit the CX4. The model will be a 30% scale which will produce a 85" wingspan. Power will be a 30-40 cc gas engine. Many of the larger glow 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines could also be used.

We have authorization from Thatcher Aircraft to use their name to produce our kit. For more information on the full-scale CX4 click on their website at :thatchercx4.com . In their website you will find over a thousand photos of the construction process of several CX4's that are being built plus many photos of completed aircraft. A 3-View drawing is also shown.

July 28, 2008: This is the status of our CX4 drawing as of July 28. Shown inside the cowl is an OSBGX 3500. Fits perfectly. Super Tigre 3250 fits too. Both engines will be fitted with Spark ignition and will use gasoline. Will use a Slimline silencer. Other than the wing fillets and wing gap covers, the outside shape of the model is finished.. Yet to do are the aileron pushrods, wing gap covers, canopy slider brackets and frames, and some minor items and corrections. Will soon have a seperate web page section for the CX4 project.Our CX4 is of all balsa construction. 1/16" Balsa wing & tail sheeting. 3/32" Balsa fuselage sides and sheeting. 1/16" Plywood fuselage doublers. 3/8" Birch plywood firewall. 2 piece 85" wing. Scale strip ailerons. Scale cockpit detail with room for a full figgure 1/4 scale pilot. The canopy will slide rearward. Fiberglass cowl. 3 1/2" spinner. 30-40 cc Gas engines. Room for a 32 ounce gas tank. 6 H.D. servos. 3/16" Aluminum landing gear with 3 1/2" wheels. Fuselage width at firewall is 7 inches. Cheek cowl width 9 3/4". Estimated weight 18-20 pounds.

Construction is balsa, birch plywood, and spruce. Cowl & wheel pants are fiberglass. A two piece wing allows for easy transport. Canopy slides aft to get access to wing attachment fittings, servos, and scale cockpit detail.

July 7, 2008:This is a view of the rear part of the fuselage showing the bulkheads and stringers. The instrument panel is a scale size. The red object is the 1/16" plywood seat floor. It is hinged at the rear to provide access to the throttle servo, receiver, and batteries, all of which are hidden from view. The movable floor also allows for the attachment for the four 3/16" dia. aircraft clevis pins that hold the wing panels in place.There is room for a 1/4-scale full-figgure pilot. The sides, top, and bottom, sheeting are 3/32" balsa. 1/16" plywood doublers are provided and have lightening holes to save weight. The servo tray has two elevator servos with their pushrods going to a slider bar that intern has the elevator pushrod attached to it. The rudder servo pushrod goes to a pull-pull bellcrank that has the rudder pull-pull cables. The aluminum servo tray is removable for servicing the servos.

 

The full-scale CX4 is not designed for aerobatic competition, but it has the structural strength for many aerobatic maneuvers. The 100 hp VW engine limits its aerobatic capability. However, our model should be capable of serious advanced IMAC/TOC type maneuvers. Our CX4 is not intended for hovering type 3D maneuvers. The scale control surfaces are not suitable for the 3D type maneuvers.

Several engines can be used. Two engines in particular are recommended, the OSBGX3500 and the Super Tigre 3250. Both of these engines have not been very popular due to their high consumption of glow fuel and the resultant high cost for the fuel. However, both of these engines can be easily converted to spark ignition and gasoline. C&H, and now available again the Prospark ignition systems, can be obtained. Walboro carburetors can also be installed in both engines. With the spark conversions both of these the engines provide very high performance, light weight, compact size, and excellent low RPM performance.

As a side benefit, both the engines mounting hole dimensions are the same making it easy to install either engine in our CX4. Slimline makes Pitts style silencers for these two engines. Both engines are completely enclosed within the cowl with out the spark plug or carburetors protruding out of the cowl.

Drawings are almost done. Will start the shop working drawings (2D format) in August.

Offered will be plans only, a short kit with laser cut ribs and plywood parts, canopy, cowl and wheel pants.

A complete kit with all modeling supplies (balsa sheet and sticks, spruce spars, canopy, aluminum landing gear. wheel pants, linkage, hinges, pushrods, servo trays, gas tank, wheels, spinner, tail wheel assembly, fasteners, cockpit details, possibly a 30% scale full figure pilot, LiteFAB or Colorfab fabric or fiberglass cloth, and even Nelson Hobby paint with choice of colors). Only items needed are the engine, prop, and silencer, and the radio equipment. Gussing a price of about $400-$500.

More information to follow. Call for more information. Discount will be available for preproduction orders. Payment or deposits not required for orders until prototype has been flown.

May 4th, 2008

We now have banner ads in the RC Scale Builders web site. You can find this very interesting site for those modelers interested in scale aircraft at:

www.rcscalebuilder.com

We are offering a line of high quality balsa. Each sheet is weighed and sorted into light, medium, and heavy balsa. Upon request we can even supply wood in the various densities (6-9 p.c.f.) of the light weight balsa. Accuracy of the machining is the best available. Our balsa is not the cheapest, but is competitive to other sources. Lot lower than retail prices. All items are in stock with the exception of blocks.

The Precision Scale Instruments are a exciting new product for us. Over a period of time, we will have a vast collection of items for detailing cockpits. Should have inventory about the the end of May. We are still working on the web site and shopping cart.

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TOP GUN 2007

Bob Gonzalez wins best biplane award at the 2007 Top Gun scale competition in Florida using our ColorFAB and NELSON Hobby Paint.

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A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

I am seriously interested in selling my company, NELSON Hobby Specialties, a division of NELSON Aircraft Company. I will keep my NELSON Aircraft Company as an active corporation. A new company name will be used to sell giant steel tube/fabric covered aircraft scale kits that are built just like the real aircraft. The purchase offer can be made immediately.

Primary reason for the selling of NELSON Hobby Specialties is to enamable for me to devote all my efforts and resources to the future design and production of giant scale R/C kits. In particular my first kits will be an Aeronca 7AC Champion  and a Great Lakes Biplane. They are described elsewhere in my web site.

I will be available for product development, marketing, and consulting assistance to the purchaser for products directly related to the current product lines upon agreed terms and conditions.

Our web site and shopping cart ordering system will be sold as part of the sale.

Purchase terms and conditions are negotiable.

Please contact me by phone (toll free @ 877-263-5766) if  you, or know of someone who would be interested in taking over the ownership of NELSON Hobby Specialties.

NELSON Aircraft Co.

Jerry Nelson, president

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Comments on selling Nelson Hobby by Jerry Nelson, owner:

Recently I have been offering our marketing name, Nelson Hobby Specialties, and our product line for purchase. Price is negotiable and is attractively priced. There has been several individuals who have asked for additional information. Two were very seriously interested and one of those visited me at our location. Although the interest was there, no final purchase agreement has been made. Nelson Hobby is still available for purchase.

I think the ideal buyer is someone who has been interested in getting into the R/C Hobby industry.  The buyer perhaps would be in a personal change of life situation, does not like his/her current occupation or the management where he/she is employed, perhaps the business is having hard times and is downsizing, going out of business, or will be in a short period of time. Another possibility is someone who is looking for a business opportunity for the son or daughter. That buyer is or has been involved in the hobby and has knowledge of the industry.

The advantage of purchasing Nelson Hobby is to have immediate name and product recognition both in the USA and to a certain extent in the international market. In particular our Nelson Hobby Paint. A potential buyer should consider the cost of getting an unknown business and business owner recognized into the hobby market. The name recognition is very important in the hobby industry and getting that name recognition can be time consuming and as a result, very expensive.

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Great Lakes will be first kit. Aeronca will be second kit. We no have seperate section for our Great Lakes project. Click on Great Lakes Biplane in the column on the left. (3rd item down).

I recently visited my long time friend, Joe Martin in Oceanside, California. Joe is the owner of Sherline Products, a manufacture of miniature lathes and mills. A very successful business employing over 40 people. Purpose of the visit was to be part of the opening of a museum he has recently established featuring outstanding miniature projects that individuals have built.

Joe has set up a foundation called the Joe Martin Foundation for Exceptional Craftsmanship. There are two sections of the foundation, an on-line museum and a very professional, open to the public, museum located in his factory.

The purpose of the foundation is to recognize individuals who have created outstanding projects made mostly from metal. Some examples are miniature steam engines, clocks, small scale versions of metal working machines, and scale model aircraft.

For more information on the foundation see www.CraftsmanshipMuseum.com.  And if you are in the Oceanside area (phone is 760-727-5857) stop by for a visit.

Shown are some photos that I took that highlight some examples of the projects on display.

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SPECIAL SHOPPING CART INFORMATION

Thanks for looking at our web site. Click on the list of products on the left for detailed information on the products that we offer. To order our products we suggest that you use our shopping cart. To order on-line, just click on the Shopping Cart title block right above this message. Special discounts are offered for online orders. Please note that the shipping costs shown on the final summary in the shopping cart order are estimated costs. Also there can be some special packaging charges when shipping items that can be easily damaged in shipment such as 20 and 30 inch piano hinges and aluminum pushrods.

We offer a quantity shopping cart discount. As the value of a shopping cart only order increases, so does the discount. Up to a 20% discount. More information by clicking on Order Info in the above title bar.

By the way, our shopping cart is a fully protected and secured system.

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NEW EPOXY: Recently received a new Epoxy that is designed to be used for joining metal to metal. Our application will be to join hard 2024T-3 and 6061T-6 aluminum tubing together to make scale model fuselages and tail surfaces. Initial testing proves that the joints are so strong that the aluminum tubing can be bent without the joint failing. Project to use this epoxy will be a 30% (125" wingspan) Aeronca Champion.

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MILITARY FLAT COLORS NOW AVAILABLE: All military colors are available in a gloss finish or a non gloss flat finish. Price is $1 more for pints and 1/2 pints. Item number are the same, just add a F at the end of the item number. Shopping cart and web site information being updated as time permits.

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INTRODUCTION BY:

Jerry Nelson

I have been in the model industry for over 40 years in the roll of a distributor, manufacture, retailer, consultant, designer, importer and magazine writer. Over the years I have designed and published plans for over 50 different R/C model aircraft from 1/2A R/C’s, AMA/FAI pattern aircraft, pylon racers, sailplanes, standoff scale, and several giant scale projects.

Jerry Nelson, president of NELSON Hobby Specialties, with his original all aluminum AL-1. First fully aerobatic all aluminum R/C aircraft. Wingtips, cowl, and wheel pants are from fiberglass. 100" wingspan, Saito 270/300, 32 pounds, Airtronics Vision radio. Three aircraft were built.

I earned a bachelor of science degree in aviation maintenance engineering from San Jose State University in California. Have a private pilot’s license with an instrument and glider rating and have a total flying time in excess of 800 hours. In addition I have an Airframe and Powerplant license.

Almost 30 years ago, I produced the first all fiberglass R/C model, a 12 ft. span KA6E sailplane.

Numerous articles on R/C topics have been published in national and international R/C magazines. Many of my more popular R/C aircraft designs were offered as construction articles.

Have attended hundreds of local, national, and international competitions including being a member of the winning R/C FAI aerobatics team in 1963 and team manager of the winning team in 1965.

Over 30 years ago, with the assistance of friends in California, I started the Formula 1, 40 size, pylon racing event and the NMPRA organization. The NMPRA is still active today.

When I moved to the Chicago area about 25 years ago, I started IMAC, the scale aerobatic turn around pattern event. This event has become very popular throughout the USA and internationally.

I assisted the Circus Circus Hotel in establishing the Tournament of Champions event by writing the model competition rules for the turn around aerobatic maneuvers and the later large scale aircraft requirements. I was contest director for the first six TOC events.

I am very proud to say, because of my past activities in R/C modeling, in 1998 I was elected to the AMA Hall of Fame.

In 1998 I sold my aircraft oxygen business that I operated for over 15 years. Many of my former oxygen customers are modelers. Today, all of my business efforts are focused on the hobby industry.

Currently I am a writer for FlyRC magazine. In addition to my monthly "In My Workshop" column, I do product reviews and other specialized articles for the magazine.

Several model aircraft designs are "in the works". Hopefully in the near future I will be offering some very high quality electric powered aerobatic and scale kits. Gas powered aircraft kits are being developed as well. In particular is a 1/4 scale 1300 sq. in. Zlin 526AFS scale/IMAC model to be powered with a DA50.

I attend many modeling events as an exhibitor, contestant, or as a magazine reporter. I am constantly looking for new ideas and products. This is how I determine the type or mix of products offered to my customers. This catalog material shown in the following pages reflects the nature of the hobby products offered.