beaver180

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Yeah good tip John... if I have time ( weather permitting ) I'll give it a go tomorrow after my post repair maiden ( good planes these... get to " maiden " them a couple of times ). Come along if your keen??

CFN, Paul

flynte

Got my Revolver all finished up. Tip to tail balance was dead on with the modifications I done to it and took 3/16th of an ounce on left aileron servo for lateral. Going to run a few tanks through it today and hopefully take it for maiden tomorrow if it dries up enough. we got 2 ft of snow in the last week [:'(]

flynte

mike boxtall

We have had a lousy bout of weather also. I was hoping to get a maiden flight or two with the revolver in this weekend but not anymore. Temps are steady at -2 and with the wind gusting to 70 at times it kinda killed my hopes of flying.

grubs1234567

when do you think we will be able to fly mike I see that big mound of snow behind that plant is that melt going on the field?

mike boxtall

It was starting to dry up a little. The east side of the runway was dryish and as far as the pile of snow it shouldn't interfere too much. It will keep the south west corner damp but that is about all. Some guys have been out flying already. I have been out watching but not flying. I had my little one with me. If the weather holds out I hope to get out this week. Got the itch real bad. Bring rubber boots!!!

grubs1234567

sounds good can hardly wait myself

hotrod31

Come down to Winkler, our field has been dry for a couple weeks already. I wanted to know how much throw are you using on the elevator?

ghiapilot

Thanks for the great thread. Like others, I just got interested in this plane and had 43 pages of catch up to read. I took the Revolver out for the Maiden today, WHAT A BLAST!! Here is a short video of the second flight with an almost greased landing. Our runway has a frost heave (speed bump) that has not settled down yet, that is the hop........... and I ran out of room to stop at the end...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTvP82LybKw

Airframe is all stock, I have not done the landing gear update yet. OS 46FX with Slimline muff.

Wingwrecker

Hey all board noob here. Found this thread through RC-Groups of all places!

I got interested in the Revolver about a month ago and have spent the last 4 nights pouring over this kick-ass thread.. Thanks for all of the great information and reports!

Got mine last thursday and have slowly been getting her together. I am lacking the proper tools, as this is my first in-depth ARF build aside from a Nexstar ARF I put together 3 months ago and that was nothing. I've also put an Eflite Mini-Pulse together what a fun (and pretty) plane! And of course the must-have Stryker. All of which did not involve epoxy, CA, or Tap and Drill sets! So I still need to drill and tap the engine mount holes on the Revolver and I want my cowl to stay pretty so I'll be trying to borrow a good rotary tool from someone and hope I don't screw it up too bad. I hope to have her together by the weekend for the maiden.

I am another recipient of a 'wrinkle free' Revolver and I can't stop looking at her... What a HOT looking plane! The pics online and on the box do not do this plane justice.. I can't wait to get her to the feild just to show her off.

I'll be getting the Dubro LG and rubber tires and hoping that I can land this bird OK. I have already programmed flaps in but am not sure what to set the final rate at. I guess it'll be a learning process once I get her in the air. Can anyone recommend a good starting point? Should I program a little up elevator with the flaps? I remember someone here having good success with spoilers, but I'm thinking flaps will do a better job of slowing I can make her come down on my own.

I'm putting in a 55ax that was in the Nexstar and it was completely trouble free with the stock muffler, not a single engine stall. I'm hoping that the Pitts will not cause any problems for me as others have reported in this thread. Has anyone tried the Macs muffler on this combo? Sleek and black I think it would look pretty cool on this plane. Guess I need to decide what to do before I start hacking away on the cowl!

I too have about a 1/16 inch gap at the LE of the left wing where it meets the fuse. It bugs me but I can live with it.. Less than 1/32 on the right. Wish the left matched it.

I have yet to epoxy the HS yet. I am too anal about the tip to tip measurements and need to find a good way to get them exact, aside from holding my flimsy tape measure up to it, any suggestions? Also, I noticed the instructions say to use two CA hinges on the rudder, along with the tail wheel tab. But my fuse and rudder have 3 slots for CA hinges as well as tail wheel placements. Has this been the norm with the rest of you?

Sorry, a lot of questions I know.. Any help/advice you can offer is appreciated!

I'll recap for easier posting..

Flaps: Rate starting point? Elevator mixed in?
Muffler: Anyone tried the Macs?
H. Stab: Measuring tips?
Rudder: Number of CA hinges?

Thanks again, and LONG LIVE THIS THREAD!

Evvy

Wingwrecker

PS. Ghia..

Just watched your vid and yeah that landing would have been greased if it werent for the 'ramp'! Probably would have made the stop as well..

It sounds killer with the pitts on there! Can't wait to hear my 55ax (if I stick with the pitts.)

MORE VIDEO!!![sm=shades_smile.gif]

mike boxtall

I was out at the field Mon.Apr.28 with my 14month old son. I did not bring the Revolver because he is usually a handful and I dare not let him run free there. I got there around 6 and he was asleep at 6:05 in his carseat. He did not wake or move until 8:10. There were a few guys out. It is dry enough to taxi out to the run way at both ends. Alot of garbage though. I should have brought the Revolver. D'oh!!!

cavandish

I flew my revolver this morning, 2900 mah rx batterys were fully charged 4 days ago, battery check started first flight on first green light.
By the 3rd flight it was flicking into the red when operating the ailerons, I though "that on board battery checker is crap"
During the 3 flight whilst flying nearly level at good hight, I totally lost control response !!!!! slowly she started to roll towards the deck, I held opposite aileron and a very big grimace, after what seemed like forever, my 2.4 seemed to re bind & re gain control with a giant kick (i was holding the stick hard over)she got down in one piece after a very, very, nervous landing, I will certainly take a lot of notice of that battery checker in the future, as for 'cheap' 2900 nickel hydrides (branded vapex) I am just not sure now !

john

Wingwrecker

Yikes! Guess you'll heed those warning beeps from now on, eh?

Wingwrecker

Anyone know what size the hex driver is for the motor mount bolts? 3/32 is too small, 1/8 is too big.. 2.5 is too small and 3 is too big. 14 different allen wrenches here and none fit! Nothing here fits the small real wheel collar bolt either...

Any help or is this thread officially dead?

rlecocq

1088 posts to date..........................thread is dead?

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Na, not dead.... just busy and I guess you guys State side ( esp up north ) are getting models ready??

Wingwrecker... pretty sure 2.5 hex fits mine, I'll go check and get back shortly.

Long live this great thread!!!!!!!!........

Chow for now, Paul

Wingwrecker

Found it, thanks. It was 7/64. Thanks for the reply.

I've been flying since January as the winters stay mostly mild here in Denver, aside from the occasional 3 feet of snow that usually melts in a few days...

Any help or suggestions regarding the other questions I posted a few replies up?

Thanks again,
Evvy

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Hey there Evvy... yeah that's the one 7/64. Even took my cowl off to double check for ya.

I'm surprised not more of you fellas don't fit skis and fly off the snow some more. You must have some real nice still days following a dumping?? Suppose it'll be too cold there tho??

Soft landings, Paul

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Are you talking about cutting the engine hole out of the cowl?? If so just go a bit at a time and slowly. I didn't have a demel tool, I used a 1/8 drill bit and drilled a heap of holes and then used the drill as a router. I sanded with 80 grit paper the final bits required to fit the engine and the BCM pitts. I did make the mistake of cutting my cowl all the way back to the firewall underneath to get it to fit over the pitts pipes... could have stopped an inch or so further forward. Argh well extra cooling

As for the hinges... I used some robart pin point hinges and drilled them in same positions ( but middle of ) as pre slotted CA ones. I used three plus the tail wheel hinges. I have since cut the stock tailwheel off and replaced with the Great Planes 25% Yak 54 tailwheel from Tower Hobbies... bargain @ $1.98, yip under two bucks!

Just use the stock undercarriage and change to the dubro if/when it fails, unless you have it now. I still have stock foam wheels. ( I fly off grass by the way )

cavandish reports the use of flaperons not far back, which I too intend to have a go. May not help with the boucey landings as much as spoilerons would kill the lift on touchdown but would slow it down a touch I'd imagine. cavandish says no elevator mixing was used

As for lining up the hori stab... I measured from the HS to the wing tube ends ( made sure the tube was centred and even ) as I didn't have the room indoors to fix the wings on.

Hope this helps ya,
CFN, Paul

mike boxtall

I broke in my 75ax yesterday. Was really surprised as to how quiet that motor is compared to the 46ax. I broke it in with a 14X8 and was getting around 8400 r's after 3 tanks. Was also pleasantly surprised at how long a tank of fuel lasted. Held it up at 3/4 throttle and figure it should hover around there but we'll see. Really looking foward to its maiden flight. The thing that I would look for as far as measuring the stab off the wing tube is just that the wing tube to be centered. When I got mine I was thinking about doing the same thing but found the predrilled hole was 1/4" off center. Also to stiffen the tube I stuck through a 5/8" dowel. Just for a little peice of mind. I would hate to fold the wings. It was a bit small so I wrapped it with duct tape to make it fit in tight. It added a bit of weight but the dry weight is still only 6 lbs 7ozs. I re-weighed it with a different scale. Now just waiting for the wind to calm down to typhoon speed then I can go flying... I hope. Also at my LHS I came across a 11X12 apc prop. I want to see how fast I can get this thing to move once the motor is completely broken in. I am hoping for 11,000 rpm with this prop and the 75ax.

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Sounds like a "Mel Gibson" ( a Leathal Weapon ) with that combo! I wonder who has the fastest Rev at the moment???

I did have to make sure the wing tube was centred properly before I measured off of it.. was out at bit like you say. Do you reckon you'd need to stiffen your tube? I ask as when I cartwheelled my Rev quite hard I was happy the tube took "the hit" and bent. If it had not bent I think the wing itself would have got badly damaged and also the Fuse would have suffered considerably too.

CFN, Paul

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Just looked at your other models Mike... I can see why you are beefing the tube up[)] May not "pull" like the Viper... surely?? lol

Chancho

Last weekend, after 42 flights with the Saito 100 on the revolver, the bearing case came apart and gutted the engine. It was fast, but hopefully faster after I just finished fitting in an FA125. I still owe Cmircman some video, "Its coming..." I spent the last few days remounting the engine, looking for and testing the right prop. I got lucky and found the 13x11 with the FA100, but much-higher pitch props than that are discontinued from APC. I'm limited on the 4 stroke in RPM, but you 2-Stroke guys can wind up a smaller pitch prop to get to similar speeds but I need more pitch at lower RPM... Anyhow, after digging around I found a 13x14N (Narrow) at the hobby shop across town. It was quite dusty so I imagine they are not popular and maybe that is why APC discontinued them? It took a few tries with a 14x12, 14x14n, 13x13 to no avail and to finally get to the 13x14N. The motor likes it @ 9500 static and I've dropped it to 9200 in order to leave it room to unload in flight. We'll see, if the weather permits. I still have to rebalance the plane after adding 3 oz. of engine. "Man, testing propellers can be an expensive thing after $13 bucks here and there.. I bet I've got $150 worth of props on this plane trying out the OS FL70, Saito 100 and now the FA-125..."

I did have a servo tray on the right wing come totally loose. It was after a high speed flight, ripping around the field. Something didn't seem right and I landed a bit early. Luckily I found the tray dangling before the next flight or I don't think it would have still been around. Some Gorilla glue fixed it up and I put some glue around the base of the wooden structure in the of the other tray as well. I can't imagine the forces on this little plane at 100mph +.... The guys in here, HunterandJeff, led me to tape the wings and I finally did it after the servo incident. I put White Monokote in between all the control surfaces to prevent any flutter. I should have done it sooner and I recommend anyone using this plane above 55 mph to do it as well. A few hours and a little bit of Monokote is cheaper than a new plane.

I'm thinking of putting a couple screw inserts in the front, inside of the wings so that I can add an extra screw to hold the leading edge of the wings tight to the fuselage. Even though the nylon bolts are tight I've noticed that after a flight or two things are a little sloppy. I'm sure those little nylon dowels in the front are almost stressed to the breaking point? I pretty much have to re-iron the plane after a few flights over 100mph..

I saw a guy at the field with a tower hobbies 75 and it ran perfect. Regardless, this plane is like crack cocaine for nerds who play with model airplanes. There's just not enough throttle no matter what you put on it. The trim scheme and lines work together and look great flying around the field at high speeds. I'm confident in the structure as this plane has made it thru full throttle high speed dives and snap maneuvers, etc... I just don't know how good they are as I'm anticipating 125 - 140 mph...

I don't know where this came from, but here's a neat little graph of potential speeds (Thanks to whomever made it) with prop-pitch combos you guys might be trying.

I've been following this thread and everyone has some great ideas and tips. Keep it up!

Happy Flying,

Phil Green

mike boxtall

Beaver,

From the guys I have spoken to about this engine, it wasn't designed for high revs even though it is a 2 stroke and has a red line of 16k. It was designed to swing larger props at lower rpms to keep noise levels down. Later on I might even try a 12X8 and see how that works out before I go nuts with that 11X12. I was reading on the sundowner forum that a guy had his wing tube colapse on him in flight. I fly agressively so I figured why not and 2-3 extra ozs = piece of mind. It might be over kill but you never know where there might be a week spot in the tube.

mike boxtall

Chancho I also have a saito 125. Got it mounted in my little toni. I was thinking about putting it in the Revolver just wasn't sure if it could be done. Could you please post some pics so I can see how you have yours mounted. Also I was spending lots of cash on props to see which would work best. I found the Club Saito forum and the guys there have really been lots of help and saved me a small fortune in props.