Musings from the Combat Pits

The perfect stooge table

October 2018

By Buzz Wilson

When I built my launch stooge several years ago, I wanted it to be transportable. It is, but it takes a lot of room and some assembly is required.

Well, actually, I carry more stuff now so it is a pain to carry. This is complicated by the box and launch mechanism. See the original stooge article.

The stooge sits on the flying field all summer long and works well, although it is in need of an overhaul, which will be done this winter.

Several months ago I saw a stooge that was designed by Prokopo and used for F2D planes. I liked the technology and got one. There is a problem with this stooge. It is mounted to the ground. I looked for some sort of bench to mount it to but did not see anything that I thought would meet the goal of easy to transport. Then one day at a contest Mike Hazel showed up with a collapsible worktable.

He would erect the table and then place a piece of plywood on the surface to protect the surface from fuel and to prevent pieces and parts from falling through the holes in surface.

I decided it would be the perfect platform for my new stooge and it is. Looking around the left-over project woodpile I found a piece of ¼-inch plywood that I cut to the size of the tabletop.

Next was to figure out where on the plywood the stooge would placed. I placed a F2D plane in the stooge and decided it should be placed at the front of the table.
If the stooge is placed on the ground, it is held with two stakes. I used two 4-40 bolts and attached blind nuts to the bottom of the plywood. In locating the placement, I centered the bolts in one of the two slots on the tabletop. Next came securing the plywood to the top. I made two small plywood plates and attached blind nuts to them.

These are centered on the plywood platform and go through holes in the tabletop to attach the plywood to the surface. I finished the plywood with Varathane to protect the wood. From the cutting of the wood to finishing the project will take about two hours. Longer if you are letting the Varathane dry outside.

The following shows the plane in the stooge.

The table comes with an added bonus of a shelf that can be used to hold the pit box.

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This page was upated Oct. 26, 2018