CAP232CM

My Feedback: (8)

I'm getting ready to mount the engine but I'm confused. The manual says 3 3/4 from the bottom with the lower hatch off, Model airplane news article says 3 1/4, and Rc modeler says 3 1/2. The 3 1/2 mark seems to be the best from what I can tell.

Anyone experience this problem? Motor is going to be Irvine 150 with a hanger 9 metal motor mount. Thanks!

fishgod

My Feedback: (13)

3 1/2 is what you want. I found out about it when I went to mount my cowl. Then I saw where someone else posted it on the boards. Also

The ply that they used for the firewall is garbage. I put together the plane late last winter and it sat waiting for spring. Spring came and I gave the plane a good once over and found that the firewall was bowed out from the weight of the motor. Also the washers that I used for right thrust were being driven into the wood so my right thrust kept on changing. Last Friday I got sick of messing with it and cut off the old firewall and put in a good piece of ply.

Be aware this thing needs a good 3 degrees of right thrust. I had about 2 degrees to start off with and then had to add some more.

The landing gear plate is a weak point. They (Lanier) say to use wood screws to put the gear on. I didn't I used #8 blind nuts. On a really easy landing the gear just folded underneath it. Same thing happened to another guy in our club that has the edge. I replaced the gear plate with good 1/4 inch 5 layer birch ply and haven't had a problem since.

Check your tail. The spar in mine was sloppy loose I used epoxy to get rid of the slop. Email me if you want the how to's.

Watch your wings. After I flew this weekend I found that the phenolic tube in one of my wings was totally free floating. It wasn't a hard fix but I hate to think of what would have happened if I was a 3D flier.

I guess that is about it. Other then those few thing it is a great flying plane.

Michael

CAP232CM

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks for the info Michael! I thought 3 1/2 looked good but just needed some reinsurance. I already fixed my landing plate mount after watching a fellow club member trashing his. I hope to fly mine this weekend just need to finish up the radio and motor installation. Very interesting about the wing tube I'll have to watch mine. Thanks again!

Eohlin

My Feedback: (5)

Fishgod,

I have a similar issue with my wing tube in my left wing, however I don't think it is the tube as much as it's the block at the end that it secures to.

What did you have to do to your wing to fix it?

Thanks,
Eric

RSands

I've had similar experiences with their CAP ARF. Not that I'm complaining, with Lanier it's a given; replace some wood, redo a couple things, add a couple things, you got a good, strong, (possibly slightly overweight), decent flier. The thing that's got me wondering is what will happen with the Goldberg kits? Will they become Lanier quality? If so, it's a shame.

Rick

fishgod

My Feedback: (13)

Eohlin

My tube was pretty close to be free floating so this is what I did.

Used my dremel tool with a small sanding drum and removed the wood on the root of the wing that holds the phenolic tube in. I then used a marker to mark the tubes position. I Pulled the tube out and sanded it down. I used pro-bond polymer glue and glued the tube back in place. I used a small phillips head screwdriver and put it through the 4-40 hole where the wing tube bolt goes in. This kept the tube aligned while the glue dried. Once the glue was cured (about 2 hours) I took the wing tube and coated it with a very very light coat of Vaseline (approx 3 inches, 1 inch into the phenolic tube and 2 inches out of the tube) . I then cut up some fiberglass into really fine strands. Mixed it with 5 min epoxy and put it around the wing tub where I dremeled out the wood. Once the epoxy was cured I removed the wing tube and gave the root a quick sanding.

Michael

Eohlin

My Feedback: (5)

Michael,

Thanks for the ideas. I also called Lanier this morning and they have experienced the same problem with one of their own planes.

The gentleman I spoke with recommended I use foam safe CA and a needle to inject the CA into the wing around the tube. I think I will give that a try, if it doesn't work then I will go with your idea.

Again, Thanks.

Eric

outdoorsman

My Feedback: (156)

dumb question, but how do you orient a motor mount along a thrust line marked on the firewall to drill the mounting bolt holes.
is it along the mounting surface of the mount? also if you want to mount the engine laterally, how do you orient the mount in relation to the lhrust line marked on the firewall.

outdoorsman

bgi

My Feedback: (7)

Decide on your thrust angle (2 or 3 degress - your choice).
Call this angle A.

Measure from rear of the motor mount forward to the engine prop hub.
Call this distance D. In trig terminology, this is the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

Use your calculator to calculate the sine of the angle.
Call this S.

Multiply D times S to get the offset to the left. The offset is the side opposite the angle.

Example:
Prop hub is 6" in front of engine back-plate.
Offset is 2 deg.

A=2 deg
D=6 inches
S=sine(A)
=sine(2 deg)
= 0.034899

Offset = D * S
= 6 * 0.034899
= 0.20940

So you offset the engine mount 0.209 inches to the left in order for your right thrust angle to center the spinner in the thrustline. That's about 7/32"

I hope the math wizards will review and correct or confirm this. I wish I had Minnflyer's diagramming expertise. There is a really simple excel spreadsheet attached to calculate this. Enter values in the yellow cells.

matlok

I'd highly suggest removing the covering off the bottom open area of the fuselage and going over all the joints with some CA. After mine crashed we noticed that almost all the joints (formers, stringers, etc.) were either just tack glued in one little spot or appeared to have no glue whatsoever. In a few places you could peel off the covering and the parts would just fall apart. I've heard similar stores from a lot of other people online about this Edge, too. A bottle of CA and a roll of red Monokote would only cost about $20, which is a lot cheaper than replacing the whole $300 airplane! And even if you used the WHOLE bottle of CA that's at most 2 extra oz.

lenough

An easier way to calculate the offset is to go to Gsal.org . Then go to the section tools. In there is an offset calculator where all you do is plug in 3 numbers and it does tthe calculation.

RLDIII

My Feedback: (1)

OK guys, back to the original question again if I could please. I guess the concensus is that the correct number is 3 1/2" up from the bottom of the stock firewall (which is what the directions in mine say, though the line they show APPEARS to be much higher!). However, where I am still confused is what this line is supposed to represent. Is it supposed to be the horizontal line over which the engine is centered, in other words, is this the vertical marking of the thrust line? Also, why do they have you draw TWO vertical lines, one centered, and the other 1/8" to the right (looking at the firewall). Is the second one the one you should use, with the 1/8" offset to keep the prop centered at the end of the cowl, once you add the right thrust??

Finally, I have read a great deal about the landing gear plates coming out of these ARF's. However, I notice mine has two aluminum support brackets BOLTED into the fuse on top of the gear plate. Is this something new they have added to try to overcome this problem, or is it the same on the older kits that had the problem??

Thanks all,

Lee

bgi

My Feedback: (7)

Lee,

The vertical thrust line on mine is 3-3/4" above the bottom of the stock firewall. I measured by mounting the cowl and measuring the center of the hub cut-out projected back to the firewall with a square.

Yes, this line is the vertical thrust line.

Why draw two lines? You got it.

I can't answer your LG question.

-brad

RLDIII

My Feedback: (1)

Brad,
Thanks for the info.

Lee

bill white

My Feedback: (13)

you have the modified gear set-up, which works fine, and is strong enough. Do not use canopy glue to attach the fiberglass cover over the landing gear. it won't hold. I used epoxy, after the cover came off, and it worked fine. BE VERY careful about using a pushrod for the elevator, unless you are using a small engine. I used a ST3250, which is overpowered, w/a arrow shaft pushrod, and on the second flight, while performing a split S, the elevators both developed flutter, and failed. I am replacing the plane, but will use dual servos in the tail, and if there is a resultant weight penalty, I will add the weight to the firewall.

Great flying plane, w/no bad habits that I detected, Bill

RLDIII

My Feedback: (1)

Bill,
Thanks for the info. Did you end up with your engine thrust line 3 1/2" up or 3 3/4" up from the bottom of the firewall? Also, which mount did you use for your 3250, the radial back plate (seems too long), or a beam type?

Right now, I am hoping that the heavy 3250 will add enough weight to the nose that I can use two elevator servos in the tail. However, if that works out too tail heavy, I'll try something OTHER than the pushrod that caused your failure. Thanks for the tips and sorry for your loss.