The F-15 Page

The Philip Avonds F-15, manufactured by Aeroloft, has turned out to be a great flying plane. It is powered by an AMT Mercury turbine, and has the Mercury conversion kit in it from Avonds. So far, 225 flights, and all is working great. Final weight was 22.5 lbs dry. Below the pictures are some thoughts on different elements of the plane.

Click on any of the images below to see a larger photo.

The Box of Goodies finally arrives. f15_1.jpg 54.05 Kb 3/24/99 11:45:08 AM	Rigging the full flying stabs. f15_2.jpg 27.04 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:08 AM	Main former installation. f15_3.jpg 26.02 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:08 AM
Ah.. Finally Taking Shape f15_4.jpg 44.85 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:10 AM	f15_5.jpg 45.27 Kb 3/24/99 11:46:02 AM	Cockpit and engine test stand detail f15_6.jpg 44.00 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:12 AM
The joys of terrorizing the neighbors :-) f15_7.jpg 104.50 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:12 AM	Painting gets underway. f15_8.jpg 41.04 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:14 AM	A night of Red f15_9.jpg 36.98 Kb 3/24/99 11:49:58 AM
Ready for markings and then clear coat. f15_10.jpg 45.57 Kb 3/24/99 10:32:16 AM	Detail work about 1/2 done. f15_11.jpg 53.92 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:32 AM	The best way to ballance an airplane. f15_12.jpg 47.90 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:34 AM
Cockpit detail. f15_13.jpg 47.89 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:36 AM	Nose & Intake with Mercury Installed f15_14.jpg 40.79 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:38 AM	f15_15.jpg 56.69 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:38 AM
Awesome night run on the test stand, and yes, many shots were taken to get the timing just right. f15_16.jpg 24.73 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:40 AM	f15_17.jpg 34.17 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:42 AM	f15_18.jpg 45.87 Kb 5/12/99 11:02:40 AM
One of the best in-flight photos anyone has gotten of one of my jets. f15_19.jpg 42.21 Kb 7/1/99 3:02:40 PM	"Best of Show" at The Show-Me R/C Extravaganza, in Jefferson City, MO f15_20.jpg 77.27 Kb 7/13/99 11:30:42 AM	Nice takeoff f15_21.jpg 14.07 Kb 11/19/99 10:30:32 AM

-    The kit is a good one from Aeroloft, with good glasswork, and excellent pre-covered balsa flying surfaces. I would recommend the Mercury conversion from Avonds, if Aeroloft is not offering it, as it's nice to have all the proper full bypass ducting and correct formers. It has a well crafted split tailpipe with ceramic felt for the hot spot at the break. The rest of the interior I used BVM Heat Shield, which seems to be working well.

-    The power plant is excellent. The AMT Mercury is an incredible piece of engineering that simply starts easy, and just runs. 15 runs on the test stand, and 4 flights, and I'm starting to realize how temperamental the ducted fans are in comparison. Running with 80 oz of fuel (32 oz, 2 x 24 oz), flying for about 7 min, and landing with about 25 oz left.

-    Excellent retracts from Robart, and they are nice and strong for the job, but I can't speak very highly of the brakes from Aeroloft. The O-rings don't recess back into the hubs when air is released, so they drag. I spent 3 nights reworking them to get them to a function stage, and now they work tolerable.

-    Finish. I see now why guys use the automotive paints, hazards and all. The outcome just can't be beat. I used Dupont Chromobase & Chromaclear for the first time and got top notch results, learning as I went. The markings were from Aeroloft, and were an absolute joy to use. I'd used Pro Mark before and found I needed to spend an extra amount of time cleaning up a goo residue from around the markings. There is none of that with the Aeroloft markings, much less trouble, however they do need to be clearcoated.

Overall, I couldn't be happier. Top speed isn't blazing fast (clocked at 130 mph), but there's lots of power - just what I was looking for.