PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Sorry about the pricing, Mick. They don't make it easy on you fellas down there. Sounds like you're no quitter, though.

I have always wanted to visit Australia. I have friends who live in New Zealand as well, and I hear that's a unique place to visit. But admittedly, I should probably see some of America's wonders before going halfway around the world. I've never even seen Mt. Rushmore.

~ Jim ~[8D]

cromagnonman2

Well lets hope you make it down here one day Jim. There's heapsa stuff to see, but some of it is a loooong way apart! You need lots of time.
I dont think I'll go to the trouble you did with the back end of your S/S, but I was wondering about what's underneath the tail in the area everyone is mounting after market tail wheels. Is there something solid under there that can take a couple of self tappers or do you have to reinforce it? I also cant figureout how those setups workwith the little add on tail piece that the stearmanhas.I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on firewall reinforcement too Jim. There's a few good ideas on here. One guy did a beaut install of a DLE 30 but the muffler/firewall clearance was pretty tight in my books. I'dbe worried about the firewall getting cooked after you land & shut down.Others have fudged a bit ofextra room lengthwise by moving the cowl forward a bit. If I did this I was thinking I could put a 5-6mm ply plate on the firewallwith appropriate cutouts for the carb etc & this would also give it a bit of beef to absorb vibration. I would also do the firewall/fuse joint but am not sure what method is best. A guy on here built one of the first & used a 40cc with snow ski's. I'm sure you've read his posts. Over eleven hundred flights!. His epoxy/carbon fibre method worked I guess.

I read the blurb about your book....sounds like it'd be an interesting tale. Just might have to delve further!
Mick

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi Mick,

I hope to make it down there someday, Mick. Maybe on a book-signing tour. Is that even practical? Lol..

The tail section. I carved out the huge balsa block back there to lighten it some, and then I installed a ply plate for the Sullivan steerable tail gear to mount to. The Sullivan works perfectly, even with the small fin piece they have you add on there. It does make for a fun time installing the pin hinges on the fin/rudder, though. It's all do-able. It's a fun plane to build, and I tell anyone who wants to build one, take your time, do it slowly, and have fun.

Firewall reinforcement. I used HARDWOOD tri-stock and 45-minute epoxy. I stood the fuse on its nose, and I started cutting the pieces to fit in there. It took some time, mostly fitting and re-trimming the pieces so they fit snugly against the sides and firewall. Then I epoxied them in place, one by one. It's a big nose area, but the hole to access it is pretty small, so plan on lots of angling, twisting, and turning to get everything straight in there.

The Stearman has some sort of bracing that they glue to both the inside and the outside of the firewall, and as near as I can see, it won't interfere with a glow motor mount, but it wreaks hell with putting a gasser on the firewall, both on the inside and the outside. THIS was the toughest thing I had to deal with on the entire build of the Stearman. The bracing appears to be a piece of ply they glued edge-wise into a slot through the firewall, with balsa tri-stock glued to either side of the part that protrudes from the firewall. Two strips of it running up and down, and they do it on the inside as well. As you might imagine, anywhere your mounts end up, there are at least one or two that will require some trimming to accommodate your mounts. On the outside, it's not a big deal. identify the spot, and trim it down flush. But the inside . . . yikes. Because the access hole is small, it's a bit of a b*tch to get to them, even with a dremel tool. It'll probably be easier for most other folks than it was for me. At the time, my arms were recovering from paralysis, and simply didn't work in certain positions. Still aren't one hundred percent, for that matter. I gave it some thought afterward, and if I had it to do over again, I'd probably have trimmed and added more ply to the inside to make each mount position flush, rather than attempting all that whittling out with the dremel. Then I'd just get longer screws. Hindsight is 20/20 vision, as they say.

I went with the Syssa 30CC because it does a great job of keeping the (included) pitts muffler away from the firewall. Also, you can custom-order the mounts/standoffs for the required length at no extra charge, and it's so small and compact that the cowl doesn't need to be moved at all. And WHAT an engine. Gorgeous, and runs like nothing I've ever run before. I just couldn't say no to it, once I saw how many of the problems it solved. I already have one on another plane, and I can't fly it enough.

I used a hole-saw near the bottom to remove a big enough circle to fit the snap-on plug cap through, then notched the wood cutout on the edge to allow for the wires going to the ignition, and sealed it back in place.

I know nothing of whether Syssa is available to you in Australia, but I imagine you can get them. I recommend it, to be sure.

You can get my book through Amazon, or a bunch of other places. One would think I'd know if it is available in Australia, but I don't know. Sorry! The E-Book is being reformatted, so it'll be available there again soon. I've got another coming out sometime later in the year, or early next year, titled T.I.T.O.R.

I hope I've been able to give you some helpful tips for building your Super Stearman.

~ Jim ~[8D]

cromagnonman2

Hey Jim,
Man do I feel like a goose......just taped up my ailerons before fitting the robart hinges & thought I'd better run through those vid's by "Jim the Builder" before going any further.
......and the penny dropped. It only took a week even with the big hint! Great work!

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Glad you enjoyed them, Mick. Just doing what I can to help the other guys. It was fun, but I don't have much time for it these days with book deadlines and such.

I hope it helps!

~ Jim ~[8D]

cromagnonman2

Hi Jim,
Well that didnt start out too well. The drill ran off & out through the covering on the top aileron (on the wingtip hinge). Do you know if those drilling alignment jigs work? I might have to get one before I go any further. Seems the drill hits something inside the control surface. It seems the hinges are way too long to me. They only go through a plate about 6-8mm thick, the rest is void. Can they be shortened up a bit so I dont have to drill so deep? I'm using 310's.
Mick

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Mick,

As I mentioned above, there is a sheet of lite-ply inside the center of the aileron. You can use a dremel tool with a carbide chew-bit to "chew" through the lite ply center. Just so you know what I ultimately did after that first one, I had wrinkled covering on my ailerons that wouldn't come out, so I peeled the undersides and installed my Robart pins with the dremel tool and epoxy, then recovered them.

Those drill centering tools work good, once you get the hang of them. I used them for the starter hole before going at it with the dremel.

You can add extra balsa for "meat" when they're open, if you wish. No matter what you do, you have to deal with the lite ply plate inside. Most of mine ended up at a slight angle coming through the plate, and the epoxy held it nicely from there. Just make sure it exits the surface at the correct spot for the hinge area.

Hope this helps.

~ Jim ~

bufordbob

Jim,

Your avatar is a Monocoupe , how do you like it? Was it the Pacific Models arf?



Bob

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi Bob,

I liked the looks of it, but it wasn't a good ground handler, and it was very heavy due to the clipped wings. If the wings were full spread it would have been nice. Not a relaxing plane at all. But gorgeous. It was a PAC Aero model.

I've been trying to change my, Avatar, but I can't seem to make the photo file small enough to be used there. I had to get help from somebody else to have the Monocoupe put up there. I've got a nice photo of my Super Stearman now, and I'm hoping to get that up there sometime soon, as soon as I can find somebody to help me get the file straightened out again. Lol

~ Jim ~[8D]

bufordbob

Speaking of ground handling, I have the Great Planes PT 17 version, I electrified it with a 160 size electric motor, it flies very well but is an absolute horror to take off(paved runway not grass). Considering using a gyro on the rudder, moved from grass run ways in NJ to Arizona(no grass here). This plane defies logic will ground loop in a heart beat.

Bob

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Bob,

You can check out some of the "fixes," partial fixes, and (partial) solutions we used in trying to tame the squirrely ground handling of the Pac Aero Clipped-wing Monocoupes. You'll see there are always a few guys who say they have zero problems with theirs. I'm always amazed that they feel the need to stop in and say that. loved mine, but it was a constant struggle on the ground. Landed pretty well, though.

One thing that seemed to make a lot of difference was when we reduced the rudder throw to no more than 3/8" on low rates when taking off. The large rudder was TOO effective and small movements caused big changes when accelerating. The Stearman has a big ol' rudder, so you might need to reduce the throw on low rates for takeoffs.

On every plane I have, I remove the stock steering gear and use a Sullivan Steerable Gear. On my Stearman, I used the one that matched the Bipe's weight, but it clearly wasn't up to the task. Wobbled whenever I'd lay hand on the turtledeck. I stepped up to the next weight class of Sullivan Gear, and now it's looking good.

Standard recommendations on Bipe handling: Keep the elevator pulled back (keeps the steering wheel on the ground) until it starts rolling, then ease off as you go. You HAVE to let off on the elevator as it goes, or this plane and all its magnificent 1440 sq. inches of wing will take off prematurely, Without airspeed to keep it going straight and true, you'll torque-roll (prop turns the plane), ground-loop (not enough air going over the surfaces and you're trying to climb anyway), stall-snap-roll, whatever it can do to you. Get the airspeed up, then ease it off the ground. These are MUCH different from the smaller models, and more like their big full-scale cousins in that they need finesse to get around on the ground. Once you let off on the elevator, the tail will lift and fly before the plane is ready to. Once it's flying, you'll know you can begin to g-e-n-t-l-y pull back again, and let it climb into the air and gain airspeed, and THEN start to go for altitude. They're different than other planes, but that's the beauty of a bipe. Once you get used to it, it'll quickly become your favorite. They have a majesty all their own.

Also, on a bigger plane with a big engine, advance the throttle more slowly, it doesn't need it all to take off, and a lot of power all at once can have the prop turning the plane.

Hope that this is some help to you. Some of this stuff will be obvious to you, but to a newbie on a nice bipe like this, it can be a big help.


~ Jim ~

cromagnonman2

Jim,
Many thanks for the tips.
Mick

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Anytime, Mick. That's why we come here.

~ Jim ~

smkrcflyer

I have a one of these planes I will be starting soon. If I use a DLE 20 will I have to add nose weight? I would also like to use smoke. Will the DLE 20 work well with the added weight of the smoke system or should I use a different engine?

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hi Steve,

The 20CC is adequate to power the plane as designed (it's a 1.20 size bird), but it's going to come up short on the weight needed in the nose, much like the 1.20 size motor recommended for the plane. One reason the 30CC engines out there right now have become popular is that the total weight hung on the nose is right around 40 or 41 ounces, as I recall, very close to the total engine/muffler/EDI ignition weight of these. The 30CC's power-to-weight ratio is of course much higher.

Guys who are running the Saito 1.20 and 1.50-sized glows are claiming that they have adequate power with no complaints, and that theirs fly very well, but some have also admitted they'd like a little more power to get out of trouble.

The DLE 30s are very popular, some of us have Syssa 30s, some have powered them with far more, but the 30s are more than you'll ever need. Mine is a Syssa 30, and it fits easily in the engine compartment, with no problems at all.

Hope this helps you out.

~ Jim ~[8D]

smkrcflyer

Thank you Jim. I'll look into the 30cc engines.

Does anyone have a smoke system in there plane, if so could you shair your setup?

smkrcflyer

Jim,
You were asking about resizing pictures for you avatar. There is free software that does this and is easy to use. Its called Easy Thumbnail you can get it at www.fookes.com.

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Thank you, Steve!

It worked!

~ Jim ~[8D]

smkrcflyer

Glad it worked for you.

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

I think I'll make a few more for fun, and rotate them.

~ Jim ~

brenthampton79

Well I just broke my super stearman out of the box and fixing to begin assembling. Any tips I'd appreciate. I'm going to install a saito 170r3 on her. I figure that will solve the weight issue for the nose. I've got all of my stuff ready just need to check out gp's updates for the manual as well as you guys recommendations. How long does this plane usually take to assemble at the field?
Thanks guys!

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

If you work steady on it, and you have your tools set and ready; ten, maybe fifteen minutes and it's assembled.

If you fly off a grass field, you can use larger wheels. There isn't as big a weight issue as some say. It takes about 41 ounces total on the nose, I believe. I mounted my servos in the rear and it balance fine.

The ailerons are easier to get the wrinkles out of if you just recover them, if the wrinkles are bad.

~ Jim ~

brenthampton79

Thanks Jim I'll recover them if they present much a problem. I usually build kits but liked this plane so here I am. I also wanted to throw my radial on something and fly it not have a hangar queen. You think that I would be safe installing the elevator and rudder servos in the tail since the radial will be heavy then?

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Absolutely fine, I'm sure. Also, if you're using dual A123s or heavy batteries, they can be moved around to adjust.

If you're going to use Robart Pin Hinges, let me know.

~ Jim ~[8D]

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

I used several ounces of silicone in my cowl, holding the dummy radial in. That's another way you can adjust weight.

Read the manual a few times before you start. It's a pretty good manual, better than most.

~ Jim ~[8D]