Sport Restoring The Laser

[HRRC Flyer]

Well Fellas,

After some gentle Prodding from @stangflyer, I've decided to do my first build thread, even though the plane is already built. The plane is a 1/3 scale Lanier Laser. There are a few things I know I'm going to do for sure. The first of which is change the engine. The current engine in the plane is a DLE61. I am sure the engine will fly the plane, but I prefer not to use it. Since the "little brown truck" delivered my package from sunny Florida this morning, I now have two engine choices to consider. My first choice is the 3W70 I've had sitting here in a box for the last year and a half. A good friend of mine has the predecessor to the Lanier kit, a 1/3 scale Godfrey Laser and he told me the cowl for his plane is ALMOST wide enough for an older 3W80 twin. So hopefully my smaller twin will fit. If the twin is too wide, the sexy little red head (3W55XICS) that was delivered today is going in it. This one is still up in the air WRT which one I'm going to use.

The second thing I know I will change are the servos. The current servos are a mix on Hitec and JR servos. Again, I am sure these servos will work, but I've been itching to try Savox servos. I've read allot of good things, here and elsewhere about them and this plane will be a good test platform for me to try them with. Since this is the first plane I've ever owned that didn't use Futaba servos in it (except my Parkzone Foamies), I'll need some advise on which ones to use, but we can discuss this subject later.

The third thing that I'm going to change are the batteries. The current batteries are NiMH. I've switched to LiFe batteries in all of my larger "non-foamy" planes, so I will use them in this plane as well.

Unlike Rob, I have no intentions to strip and recover the Laser. From the pictures I've seen, the top of the plane looks great. That and the fact that I cannot cover a plane worth a darn. With the possible engine change to my twin, it may force me to get another cowl for it, but this the only major change I'm planning on making.

Since the plane will not come with wheel pants, some Bling will be required. A call to White Rose will take care of that nicely. Besides, I fly off grass almost exclusively.

Any and all advice and questions are more than welcome, so fire away.

Well, that's it for now. I'd like to post some pictures of the Laser, but I haven't gone to get the plane yet. So this may end up being the quickest build thread on record. . . . . . LMAO Also, if I end up boring any of you to tears, don't blame me. Blame that guy from Idaho for prodding me to do this thread. Besides, slow is my middle name. That and the fact, I'm still working 60+ hours a week.

Let the fun begin. . . .

 

[49dimes]

Slow???........I wrote the book on slow.....Most ARF's are 20 hours to completion. Me....No less than 20 Months.But here is a scheme you may want to consider??? This is a scratch built based on the Bob Godfrey Lazer....My buddy Derrek built it. Yes he was slow building it too lol.

 

[Alky6]

Looking forward to your repowering! I think I am joining the club on slow anyway. My JTEC 35% Extra is still a long ways from being done and in December it will be a year. So, I say.... At your own pace! LOL

 

[BalsaDust]

Might this be the one your buying? If so I know the guy. Really cool dude and a member of my club. Never seen the plane in person but everything he has brought to the field is always clean and in good shape.

How far away from the Petersburg area are you? Just asking as we could always meet up and fly at my club field if you would like when you hear this way.

 

[HRRC Flyer]

@49dimes
I like your Laser scheme, but if I decide to strip it, I am going back to the "Classic" dark blue with yellow stripes and stars. I've always loved that scheme and it's one reason I've always wanted a Laser. I know all about slow. I have a replacement Aeroworks 60 size Extra that has been sitting in the box for almost two years. As a matter of fact, I'm considering selling it.

@Alky6,
Join the club Buddy, the more the merrier. . . . You do need to get that Extra finished though. From everything I've seen and read, that is an awesome flying airplane.

@cbarnes0061,
Yep, that is the plane. . . . . If I knew how to copy a picture from one thread to another, I would have copied them here as well LOL. I do not know the builder of the plane, but I do know Tim as well. I met Tim at the NNRC swap meet down here last February (I think it was). He is a great guy that used to fly allot closer to me in years past. Tim and I also share a love for classic pattern planes.

I actually live in Isle Of Wight County and I fly at Hampton Roads RC in Chuckatuck at Lone Star Lakes which is owned and operated by the City of Suffolk Parks and Recreation. If you are free, the first Saturday in November, our club is having our annual Toy's For Tots Fly-in. Actually, there will be night flying on Friday night and you can camp on site, but the Park Ranger will not allow outdoor fires on the premises. There will be a landing fee of an unwrapped toy and there will be food available for donations only. There will also be a raffle for some R/C goodies as well as a 50/50 raffle. ALL proceeds from the Fly-in will be donated to Toys For Tots. Last year we donated five or six of their big white boxes overflowing with toys and almost $5000.00 if I remember correctly. Why don't you gather up a bunch of your Buddies and come on down and fly with us. We'd be glad to have you down for a visit. If the weather cooperates, I'm sure you'll have a great time. You can go to hamptonoadsrc.com and get all the information you need. If you do decide to come down, come early. The best parking spots fill up pretty fast. One more thing, our field is AMA sanctioned so a current AMA card will be required. I'm sure this isn't a problem, but I wanted to point it out, just in case.

Back to the subject at hand, I think I'm go to use some servos I currently have. They are Futaba 9155's which are overkill on this plane, but not having to buy eight more servos will help offset the new engine and it will allow me to buy some more Bling for my Laser. I bought them for my AMR 50cc Stick that is still being built. My 3W70 twin was originally bought for the same plane.

 

[BalsaDust]

I wish I could make it out to the fly in but that weekend my wife and I will be visiting family. Hope it's a good turn out for yall though. Yes Tim is a great guy.
My offer stands as well. Just let me know when you head down to pick up the laser and we can go fly. I'm pretty sure our ft lee field isn't that far from tims house. I got a couple of profiles your more than welcome to take for a spin. I promise a smile will go across your face and you will prolly giggle a little bit the first time you nail the throttle on that piped OS55ax.
I looked up thst extra. It looks like a nice little bird. Wish I had some spare cash cause I would ask how much.

 

[HRRC Flyer]

@cbarnes0061
Thanks for the offer, but I don't know what time Tim will be available for me to go get the plane. I will let you know when I'll be up that way again. I appreciate the offer of letting me fly your planes, but I have a personal rule not to fly other peoples planes. That and the fact that I'm a little rusty since I've had a serious shortage in available flying time this summer. My invitation will stay open to you too. Any time you can ride down this way on a weekend, just let me know.

 

[stangflyer]

Well Fellas,

After some gentle Prodding from @stangflyer, I've decided to do my first build thread, even though the plane is already built. The plane is a 1/3 scale Lanier Laser. There are a few things I know I'm going to do for sure. The first of which is change the engine. The current engine in the plane is a DLE61. I am sure the engine will fly the plane, but I prefer not to use it. Since the "little brown truck" delivered my package from sunny Florida this morning, I now have two engine choices to consider. My first choice is the 3W70 I've had sitting here in a box for the last year and a half. A good friend of mine has the predecessor to the Lanier kit, a 1/3 scale Godfrey Laser and he told me the cowl for his plane is ALMOST wide enough for an older 3W80 twin. So hopefully my smaller twin will fit. If the twin is too wide, the sexy little red head (3W55XICS) that was delivered today is going in it. This one is still up in the air WRT which one I'm going to use.

The second thing I know I will change are the servos. The current servos are a mix on Hitec and JR servos. Again, I am sure these servos will work, but I've been itching to try Savox servos. I've read allot of good things, here and elsewhere about them and this plane will be a good test platform for me to try them with. Since this is the first plane I've ever owned that didn't use Futaba servos in it (except my Parkzone Foamies), I'll need some advise on which ones to use, but we can discuss this subject later.

The third thing that I'm going to change are the batteries. The current batteries are NiMH. I've switched to LiFe batteries in all of my larger "non-foamy" planes, so I will use them in this plane as well.

Unlike Rob, I have no intentions to strip and recover the Laser. From the pictures I've seen, the top of the plane looks great. That and the fact that I cannot cover a plane worth a darn. With the possible engine change to my twin, it may force me to get another cowl for it, but this the only major change I'm planning on making.

Since the plane will not come with wheel pants, some Bling will be required. A call to White Rose will take care of that nicely. Besides, I fly off grass almost exclusively.

Any and all advice and questions are more than welcome, so fire away.

Well, that's it for now. I'd like to post some pictures of the Laser, but I haven't gone to get the plane yet. So this may end up being the quickest build thread on record. . . . . . LMAO Also, if I end up boring any of you to tears, don't blame me. Blame that guy from Idaho for prodding me to do this thread. Besides, slow is my middle name. That and the fact, I'm still working 60+ hours a week.

Let the fun begin. . . .

Good on ya David! That is awesome. I'm really looking forward to your thread here. If I may? 3w70!!!
I also have one of those. Just aching to put it in something but not sure just what yet.

So yer blaming me for the prodding? Sweet....I'll take the heat.
Now git busy! (Cracking whip)

I should talk....wow. I just finished as of 2 a.m. this morning, 50 hours of work/driving. I do need to get busy on that big ole Yak though. Maybe my four day weekend will provide some accomplishments. Only reason I am stripping it for recover is the plane needs just a little cleaning up. And the covering has a few bad spots. Otherwise, I'd be bolting hardware in and flying it.
No worries, I like to cover.

So, let the fun begin. We're all waiting. (Stiff prodding with sharp stick)

 

[BalsaDust]

@cbarnes0061
Thanks for the offer, but I don't know what time Tim will be available for me to go get the plane. I will let you know when I'll be up that way again. I appreciate the offer of letting me fly your planes, but I have a personal rule not to fly other peoples planes. That and the fact that I'm a little rusty since I've had a serious shortage in available flying time this summer. My invitation will stay open to you too. Any time you can ride down this way on a weekend, just let me know.

Haha bud you don't have to worry about flying my stuff. I let pretty much anybody fly my stuff and I have a rule for myself when it comes to people flying my stuff. If I offer it to them to fly and they crash well then shame on me. My slabs I really don't care about anyways. I beat them all to hell and they all have some sort of damage here and there.

 

[HRRC Flyer]

Good on ya David! That is awesome. I'm really looking forward to your thread here. If I may? 3w70!!!
I also have one of those. Just aching to put it in something but not sure just what yet.

So yer blaming me for the prodding? Sweet....I'll take the heat.
Now git busy! (Cracking whip)

I should talk....wow. I just finished as of 2 a.m. this morning, 50 hours of work/driving. I do need to get busy on that big ole Yak though. Maybe my four day weekend will provide some accomplishments. Only reason I am stripping it for recover is the plane needs just a little cleaning up. And the covering has a few bad spots. Otherwise, I'd be bolting hardware in and flying it.
No worries, I like to cover.

So, let the fun begin. We're all waiting. (Stiff prodding with sharp stick)

Hey Buddy,

Long time no see. I guess you have been working allot since you've been absent around here for a while. I have to be in the office in the morning by 6:00am, but I'm outta there at noon and I don't have to be back until Monday. You, of all people can post any question or comment you see fit. As much BS as I've given you lately, here's your chance for pay back.

Regarding your 3W70 twin, you need to look at the H9 Revolution, Dude. That thing is wicked looking and since it was designed by Mike McConville, I'm sure it flies a great as it looks.

Even though the last thing I am going to do is try 3D with the Laser, the biggest problem is the difference in weight between the DLE61 and the 3W70 twin. The plane already has four servos in the tail and that's with the DLE bolted on the fire wall. I know my 3W55 is heavier than the DLE and the twin is heavier than my 55, obviously. The other concern with using my 3W70 twin is that I would need to buy a new cowl, which isn't any problem really. The problem is that I have exactly zilch, the big goose egg, zero experience painting anything. Not even from a rattlecan. . . . . . Besides, I know my little red head will fly the Laser better than the DLE ever could. It's just a shame hiding that shiny red cylinder inside a cowl.

OK, lets shift gears and start a discussion with regards to Savox Servos. Do any of you have first hand experience or know anyone who has anything good (or bad) to say about them? I may end up not using the 9155's I have and an added benefit is the fact that since the Savox servos have a metal case, I would think they would be heavier than the Futaba's which would help with my motor weight dilemma. I still have some time to ponder this since I am still waiting to set up a time for picking up the plane. Hopefully it will be this weekend. Hell, I starting to get excited just typing and thinking about getting this thing. . . . ..