- Fuselage and spinner
- Fuse covered, engine and spinner fitted
- Fin and rudder. The rudder is an actually part for the ModelTech Calypso 60 ARC that I never used. Finally found a use for it!
Topic: restoration
Tiger Fli Project update
April 9, 2016 – 20:53
Killer Kaos flies (restomod part 5)
August 6, 2015 – 10:12
The O.S engine gave me a little headache. I ran it at home a little bit, and it ran strong and started like any O.S motor should, i.e. with a light flip of the prop. It tached 10.000 rpm on the APC 11×12 and idled smoothly. All was well and then I tried holding the nose up, and it leaned out badly. A lot of tweaking later, I was unable to fix it. I re-did the fuel plumbing and moved the tank a lot further forward and hoped that would solve it. It may have been optimistic having the tank as far back as I did without using a pump or header tank.
On the field yesterday I had exactly the same problems. I switched from an O.S 8 plug to an OS F, and that did nothing. I tried a smaller prop, an 11×9, and that helped a bit. I then tuned it some more and eventually it ran strong. I had one flight where I landed early because I could hear it leaning out a bit in loops, tuned more, and then suddenly it ran like nothing else mattered, not missing a beat going up, down, sideways or anything. Success! The third flight was suddenly bad again, leaning out. Landed in a hurry, tuned, and suddenly it ran great again.
I have a successful track record of making stubborn engines run good, and I don’t intend to let this one beat me. I suspect the pipe is slightly too long, and I think shortening it might do the trick. I will also try an 11×10 to load it up just a bit more.
The plane flew just like you’d expect. I had some wild deja vu’s while flying. I have lots of flights on the old version of it, so it behaved as I remembered, which is a strange sensation when I was mentally prepared for a maiden flight! I was also surprised at how well behaved it was on takeoff and landing, and how well it tracked straight and level. It has no vices whatsoever.
Here’s a before/after photo, with at least 13 years between the two:
All the pictures from the project can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aerowold/sets/72157651018400942
The restomod project blogposts:
Restomod part 1
Restomod part 2
Restomod part 3
Restomod part 4
Killer Kaos restomod part 4
July 26, 2015 – 17:50
The Killer Kaos is covered and painted. I used Tamiya Lexan spray cans to paint over the white Oracover. Before painting, I gently scruffed the Oracover with 1000-grit sandpaper, which makes it less glossy without scratching it.
Tamiya lexan spray paint covers well and is easy to work with.
To avoid paint seeping under the masking tape like shown above, here’s a trick I use:
Spray a coat of clear, flat paint first. If any clear paint bleeds under the tape, it won’t show, and it fills the edge so that the color coat will not bleed under.
A perfect result
The undercarriage looked completely hopeless.
I cut the legs and added a pair of Great Planes axels. It now sits lower and has a perfect stance with clearance for up to 12 inch props.
Tettra 55 mm wheels look great
I repainted an old field box to match
Some stickers
Next up is hooking up the control surfaces in the tail, mounting engine and pipe, and the tank plumbing.
Killer Kaos Restomod
February 25, 2015 – 14:42
The original back in its day, about 15 years ago. I’m gonna loose the horrible 1990s color scheme and canopy and make it cool again!
I’m a fan of the Kaos series of planes and got a Killer Kaos* kit around 1998. I remember ordering it by e-mail directly from Joe Bridi, and that it was a very impressive kit with all sawn and sanded parts. He gladly offered advice on building and engine choice, although he disapproved of my choice to mount the engine upright. Well guess what Joe, that’s about to change!
I flew this plane a lot for four full summers, and learned a great deal. It was in fact the fist pattern plane that I never crashed. It was a good, solid flier. Eventually the ailerons came loose and I had plans to do a lot of fixes to it that I never got round to, other planes having taken its place as I started competing actively in F3A. It was sold to a friend in 2004.
I came across an O.S 61 SF last year and had no idea what to put it in, so I gave my friend a call, and it turned out he still had the model, preserved exactly the way it was when he got it. I bought it back, and now it’s never gonna be sold again.
So now I have a completely original, unrestored Bridi Kaos. It’s straight, light, well built (I was surprised at old selfs abilities, I didn’t realize I put that much effort into it back then) and it deserves a complete restoration. Also, I have come to realize that the spirit of the Kaos-line requires a bit of modification, so I’m gonna do that Hot-Rod builders call a restomod, which is short for restoration and modification. And I’m gonna have a ball doing it. It’s gonna be fast and not very loud, it’s actually gonna be kinda fast ‘n’ quiet!
My plans for it includes:
– New engine (an O.S 61 SF) and a spanking new Hatori 650 pipe and header
– Completely new covering and color scheme
– Lighter and better digial servos
– Rebuild the nose to mount the engine on its side
– New and different wing tips
– Individual aileron servos
Enough talk. Here are the pictures!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aerowold/sets/72157651018400942/
* Some Kaos trivia: The Kaos name was sold to Great Planes in the 80’s when they produced the Trainer 20-60, Kaos 60 and Super Kaos 40-60. After that, Joe Bridi continued to design other versions, but changed the name to Chaos with Ch. Utter Chaos and Killer Chaos to name a few. I never got used to that and so I still call all planes in the series Kaos with a K. Designed by pattern Legend Joe Bridi, the Kaos appeared in RCM magazine in 1970 and the streamlined long-nose Super Kaos with retracts came in 1973 in RCM magazine. That’s a looong time ago and it’s still cool! After Great Planes started kitting the Kaos, Don Anderson created the legendary Ultra Sport which is essentially a Kaos with a turtledeck.