Waiting for the paint on the struts to dry. Put some scale-like decorations

Wow! Obsessed with Perfection! Congrats!

Thank you

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Here's a question: what is the significance of the number VT-DFR?

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Sanjay sir, that cub is shouting for an engine to be mounted on it. Everything is so scale about it except the electric setup!

@sanjarai55,
Too easy.
Registered 4/7/1951
Belongs to Bombay Aero Club at Juhu.
I checked it even before your post, as i was curious.

Wait till you come to regn nos that are gone.
I find it hard to believe that VT GDD, that i soloed on,
no longer belongs to my much loved Schweizer 2-22
No icon for tears?

Sir, I googled it  found this.

Delta Foxtrot Romeo is no ordinary airplane as it carries not only the legacy of legendary JRD Tata but also has the distinction of being India's oldest flyable aircraft.

Claimed to be the "oldest flyable aircraft" not only in India but but all of Asia, VT-DFR, as the call sign of the Piper Super Cub PA 18 says, was imported in the late 1940s and had joined the fleet of The Bombay Flying Club (BFC) in 1951 after registration.


Still owned by the BFC, the oldest flying school in the country, VT-DFR's legacy includes being flown by the iconic JRD Tata, who was also the first commercial pilot of India, besides serving as a training aircraft to hundreds of aviators who went on to serve various airlines and flying academies.

"Altogether there were six Piper Super Cub PA-18 aircraft which were imported here in the 1940s. This particular aircraft was one of the favourites of JRD Tata and was therefore registered with the call sign DFR where R is for Romeo," says BFC president Capt Mihir Bhagwati, president BFC.

Weighing 480 kgs, the 125 bhp Lycoming engine aircraft flaunts wooden propellers and seats two pilots in tandem (one behind the other). It remained continuously in service until the late 1990s following which it was briefly taken off duty due to airworthiness issues, only to be brought back in a restored condition a few years later.

"Of the total six PA-18 which were imported, two crashed while two others were sold out in late 80s. Other is still with us and we are planning to restore that one also.

"VT-DFR, however, continued to fly till late 90s before it was taken off service due to airworthiness issues. It was then fully restored from 2003 to 2010 according to new specifications and is now again put to use," Capt Bhagwati, who last flew the machine on December 15, told PTI.

This aircraft has in total clocked six to seven thousand flying hours and 120 hours in the last five years, Capt Bhagwati said, adding "this is not only the oldest flyable aircraft in India but entire Asia."

"Now we don't use VT-DFR for commercial purpose, it is though sometimes used for hobby flying or licence renewal flying" he said, adding "this is a historic aircraft, we want to maintain its legacy".

Narrating an anecdote, Captain J P Sharma, the Chief Flying Instructor at the Bombay Flying Club, says on October 15, 1932 JRD Tata flew India's first commercial flight for the Tata Airlines, which later became Air India. He had flown with 25 kgs of mails from Karachi to Juhu airport in Mumbai, then known as Bombay, on de Havilland Puss Moth (the aircraft).

Girish: it is now an electric only 

The front end etc. has been designed accordingly, and is not strong enough structurally for a Nitro with the higher vibrations and need for fuelproofing, tank placement etc.. Keeping in mind the size, weight, and (slow) scale flying I want, a 12*6 prop spinning at a lowish RPM - 6000 to 10,000 range should be OK. So I have worked around that

The designer has mentioned a 19 to 35 Nitro. A 19 would use probably a 9*5 prop, and a 35 a 10*6. One would have to fly at medium to high throttle to get the torque, which would mean the model would fly pretty fast too. So I'll go with an electric set-up for now and we'll take it from there.

The model designer stated 1.7 Kg without electronics; I should be total 2 Kg AUW (Flying weight) So I would need about 400 watts for take-off and maybe 250-300 for cruising. Hoping for the best here

All the best for the maiden chief

Thanks Girish, and the same to you too 

Super build Sanjay Bhayya  Eager to see her spread her wings 

Thanks Sam.

Hoping to maiden this coming Sunday 

I will be there with my EXPLORER
BTW; excellent build sir!

Thanks Prabal

so any maiden videos ?

Not yet. I still have some work to do in completing it

Setting the controls and throws

sir;
Maiden.when?

After the build is complete, obviously