jasonred007

before n After

mrfixit220

no doubt its a good looker and turns some heads but with the cg at 3 1/4 as it says in the instructions (this puts it perfectly neutral)it will snap like a mother. this plane is not for the faint hearted as it does not like sweeping pylon turns using the alerions. this is a plane that needs speed and is not very forgiving. i still cant bring myself to throw away the pile of sticks mine turned into. i have crashed my share of planes but this one hurt. not so much the money but how fast i lost her and couldnt save it. i brought her up 3 mistakes high as i was schooled and put it thru the paces to see what evil lurked and couldnt get it to do anything badly until i let my guard down. that last turn into the wind did it. again its not a sundy flyer for the inexperienced as i confess to be.... i wont be the last to post here crying over spilled milk lol...[&o]

mrfixit220

try taking a gas safe silicone and put a 1/16 th bead on the leading edge of either the velocity stack or carb inlet.

jasonred007

The first three pics were from a previous post before the maiden. The second 2 were after the 2nd flight. The motor box simply came apart..... The CG felt great at 3 1/8. My maiden I flew with 15 to 20 mph gusts and landing was a breeze in the wind it cut right through it. I really liked the way it handled but will not get another one until the QC has improved. I am already wticking my giant UCANDO together I am going to put SAITO 220 Golden Knight on this one

FlyerRick

The creator of this plane, Mike McConville, reads these forums...I can't believe he hasn't responded to your post Jason???

jasonred007

Nope no respone yet, but he is undoubtably a busy man. I recieved a response before to direct Q's. In there defense I called the tech. dept. and they are sending me a "drop tag" to send the plane back for exchange. Unfortunately, I dont really want another one. I have had very positive responses with there customer service in the past, and hopefully the bugs will be worked out of the DOWNER. Till then...........

Thanks for your concern, Jason

jasonred007

aargh!! Not a whole lot of damage to the rest of it even from landing. The motor box was separated from the fuse and believe it or not holding by the 2 cowl screws

F1 Rocket

More flying

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We finally got a chance to play with the Sundowner today with its new packs. I ended up going with 12s (6s X2) 5350 Evolites. These are (so far) amazing packs. They weigh 4.2 oz more (per pack) than the 3700 Evo 20 packs but ran very cool @120F on a 90F ambient day. This was after some pretty hard running. Ended up putting back 4200ma afer 7 min. Speeds with the APC 16x12e were in the low 120's.

The Sundowner has gotten a rep for being snappy and there are several that have been lost due to stall/spin/snap incidents. My experience is the airplane will bite if not set up well but is fairly docile once dailed in. Landings are hot but this is normal for this type of plane. I've got the CG @ 3'' now and have set the low rate elevator so when the plane is at speed I can pull full back in a pylon turn and it will not snap.

Overall this has been a very fun project. It's just so cool to rocket by down on the deck and then stand it on its wing and pull.


Danny

fiffer

Hey Danny,
What did you end up with on your Low rates and did you use high rates. Are you going to stick with 3" CG. I've not set my Downer up yet or balanced it. Waiting on my pipe.





Thanks, Darren

F1 Rocket

I think 3" is the sweet spot for the CG. My elevator low rate throw (measured at the tip of the elevator) is 5/16" up and down w/+50% expo. High rate is 7/16" up and down w/+70% expo. I fly in low rate (elevator) at all times but switch to high rate on short (very short) final. I find this lets me hold the plane off a bit longer before it touchs down. One thing I have noticed is that it tends to climb a bit when I get it really fast. It's perfectly trimmed at all speeds short of warp. I may try a bit of down thrust and see if this improves things. The plane really is a lot of fun once you get used to it. For your first landings give yourself plenty of room so you don't need to pull hard when turning final. Then fly it on with some power. It doesn't like to three point. Good luck on yours.


Danny

GR7Racer

F-1 Rocket....

What is your ready to fly weight?

Thanks...
KMac

F1 Rocket

I have not weighed it with the new packs but it's probibly around 13lbs. Wish it were less but it took some doing to get it this low.


Danny

GR7Racer

F-1 Rocket...

If you get a chance to weigh it, let us know.

Thanks!

KMac

MMcConville

My Feedback: (4)

I thnk you guys have hit on a very important point. The cg on the SD has to be 3" to 3-1/4" at the most rearward, if flying it at a higher weight with a 35cc engine. The low rate elevator is also all that is needed.
A more aft cg will cause it to snap in a pylon turn, so dont run the CG back.
I like to set up my racers so a pylon turn is full elevator stick, and at 3-1/8" to 3-1/4" CG and full up on low rate, the SD wouldnt snap in a turn ever.
Like someone else mentioned here, I too only use hi rate elevator for the final flair on landing.
Of course at a lower weight (w/ a smaller engine) the model is more forgiving, but still, dont run the CG back.
The reason for the unusual forward CG is I believe the cheeks, which generate lift and effectively move the center of lift forward, so a more forward CG is needed.

F1 Rocket

I've leaned on mine pretty hard with the CG @3" and even on high rate it is pretty forgiving. I totaly goofed when I first setup the plane and ended up with the CG well south of 4". Now that was an exciting flight


Danny

FlyerRick

F1 Rocket...why would you set-up your CG over 4" when the kit specifically tells you no more than 3 1/4? Were you experimenting or something...just curious?

F1 Rocket

Ahhhhh you ask...Why would I do such a thing. Easy, it wasn't intentional. I just goofed. I knew it was a bit aft but never fixed it before the maiden flight. If that wasn't enough I took off in high rates as well. It was, as I said, a very exciting flight. LIke they say on TV. Don't try this at home


Danny

FlyerRick

Ahhh...I see! A bit of the "ole goofo" that were all guilty of at one time or another!

bzyguy01

Hey Arizonan...Did you get her in the air this weekend??? If not....Good luck! I will be at the River this weekend for Labor Day and will not be able to play with the wings[img][/img]

FlyerRick

I had to work all weekend and didn't get the chance...Mike Smith, Kenny and I are doing her maiden tomorrow evening at the field at around 6 and cant wait! CG is set at 3 1/16" with the nose just a tuoch heavy, the Hi and Lo rates are all set and the Expo's are dialed in also. We'll see...[8D]

akular1

Has anyone tried this with a DA-50? I am extremely interested in this aircraft, and would like to get some opinions regarding this engine combo. I assume you will have to place it facing down...and will obviously require some cowl cutting. But, does anyone have any thoughts regarding this?

Best,
Andy K

jasonred007

A direct quote from M McConville when the idea was thrown into the ring, I also had this idea. Post # 70 was this....
RE: Sundowner from Hangar 9 - 6/28/2007 9:31:45 PM

MMcConville



Certified



Posts: 1723
Joined: 6/26/2003
From: Champaign, IL, USA
Status: offline DA50 is WAY WAY WAY too big for this model. Please dont even try it. It will be way heavy, and probably end up breaking in the air, if somehow it will fit inside the cowl.

_____________________________

Mike McConville
Horizon Hobby

(in reply to z06kal)

chris8105

My Feedback: (22)

Can someone measure how tall the top of the vertical stab is from the ground when built. I want to know if its to tall to fit in my car. Thanks

Leseirf

About 14 1/2" with the stock tailwheel setup. Sitting on the ground the top of the cowl is about the same.

Mike

chris8105

My Feedback: (22)

Thanks.