pshel176

Hi everyone. probably a bit late with this. but i got a red and white ASM Pitts at the begining of the year and put a PEAK 26cc gasser in it. I cut the engine mounting box of at the front of the fuse and beefed it up with a bit if 12mm lightweight ply. this means the cowl sits about 30mm further back to what it should but it still looks scale and the COG is spot on.
I've heard lots of stories about the pitts, tricky take-offs and landings. And iff you go dead-stick watch it just fall out of the sky. Rubbish. I will take off in a stiff 12-15mph winf in about 10 feet. Ihave done my best landings with this plane never nosed over yet. And last weekend i had a dead stick. Ign battery went dead. just floated her into wind on a long approch perfect. Stalls she just drops her nose. nothing violent.

mopar68

Pshel176
Greetings from downunder.
Thanks for the input, I am looking to use a BCMA 26cc. How is the vertical with your Peak?
The BCMA will fit with the cowl in the usual position.
There's alot of owners out there who are happy with the way this plane fly's. For the money its a cracker!

MP68

esbjoern

See this post regarding the MVVS26/Evolution gas engine in the ASM Pitts:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...=504065&page=5

pshel176

hi there mr down-under.
My PEAK is just getting run in now and is running well. it was a bit ruff utill i fitted the cowl. i thought i would run it without the cowl for a while to keep the engine cool til it got run-in. seems it was too cool. after fitting the cowl it runn much better. No problems with the inverted. And as you mentioned. "For the money" the plane is excellant value. Fly's great.

Mr48Volts

I just picked one of these up and am going to be running a 120AX in it, by all i'm reading should be a great addition to my hanger....Anyine else with any tips/tricks for putting her together??????

pshel176

Hi. the only extra tip i can suggest is, I found the fuse' a bit weak around the tail area. with petrol in it, it seemed to vibrate quite a-lot. i drilled a hole just in front of the vertical fin and shot in some of that expanding foam. stiffend it up no end. it's really strong now.

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

I've always wanted a Pitts, and I missed out on the GP model, so when Hobby people put these on sale I just had to snatch it up. I got it today, and I'm really impressed. The quality of the kit is impressive and there were no sags in the covering.

Anyway, one thing that prompted me to jump on this quickly is the fact that I have an OS FS120III (Pumped) without an aircraft. My original thought was to use this engine and a slimline Pitts muffler. Tongiht I was check clearances in the cowl and was thinking what A shame it was to have to cut the clearance hole for the valve cover. It just barely misses fitting inside. Then, I had a revelation. I have an OS Gemini 160 Twin just sitting around that I have for my yet to be started Stinson SR-9. The Gemini goes inside the cowl without any fuss! It looks like it would require an additional spacer, but I already have a Keleo exhaust for this engine! The Gemini weighs in at about 9 Ozs more than the OS FS120.

Is the Gemini to much for this plane? How will the extra weight effect the CG? Most of these short coupled planes require nose weight, so I'm thinking the 160 may be perfect, and I've been dying to put this engine in something.

Appreciate any feedback.

Steve

av8djc

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I'm looking at the HP website and the sale price is $279 right? Some earlier threads show some much better sales. I guess I need to wait for a while.
Dave

RevGQ

Move as much gear to the rear as possible, use prop with less pitch and fly plane on the prop. Be sure to stabilize the firewall. I used dowel side-to-side and fore and aft.

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

Here's some pics of the FT-160 install. With the RX battery, spinner and prop off it balances perfectly! Once I have the prop and spinner on (I'm waiting on a new Tru-turn spinner) all I will have to do is position the RX battery to keep in balanced.

Steve

blvdbuzzard

I have one still in the box. I picked it up from Hobby People on close out for $150.00, I could not pass that up. I have no engine for it so it will be a while before she sees flight. I was wondering what to power it with. I was thinking a 1.20 4s or maybe a small gasser. I will be upgrading most of the hardware to 4-40 with ball links. I do plan to do aerobatics and would hate to loose it because of a cheap piece of hardware.


Dru.

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

I bought this with the intention of putting my OS FS-120 in it. I had the FT-160 sitting around waiting on me to get building a Top Flight Stinson, so when I saw how well it fit it seemed like a no-brainer.

I upgrade the Pull-pull on the rudder to a Dubro HD unit, and mine had metal links so I kept them. I'll do "scale" aerobatics with this plane but I'm not gonna go for 3D type stuff.

I just can't wait to hear how the twin sounds!

Steve

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

sseward: You are my hero!

Thank you for posting those photographs. I have wondered for a long time if the FT-160 would fit and WOW. It fits perfect! I now have a home for my FT-160 in a Yellow ASM Pitts. [sm=tongue_smile.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

Tom,
It wasn't that hard! I made a spacer by layering plywood (I can't remember the thickness..but I can measure if you'd like). I used the mounting plate as a template to cut out the parts. You'll note that if the FT-160 is centered on the firewall that it hangs slightly below. I used 1/2" bass wood to extend the firewall down to pick up the mounting screws. I also removed the factory installed blind nuts since they are in the wrong place for the FT-160. I also beefed up the firewall with a little more reinforcement.

The exhaust is from Keleo Customs, but I did not want to cut the cowl to have it exit, so i just bent it up to exit out the existing the cutout.

Hopefully I'll get it running this weekend!

Steve

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Steve, thanks for the extra info. Filed away for the time when I start construction of mine.

poorwboy

Hi, I just bought a asm pitts used with no fuel tank. I installed a ST 2300, can anyone tell me what oz tank I should put in?

cracker

Just a tip for you guys, I have been flying this plane for a few years. You may want to punch 2 holes in each side of the fuse where the cabanes go into the wood and drill thru both and then install a screw as they just glued these together and did not bolt anything. I almost lost my plane because of this but noticed one side was loose when I was checking her over. Just an FYI and hope it helps. I am sure the red/white version is the same construction. I love the plane though!

sseward

My Feedback: (1)

Since I'm still putzing around inside the plane this is something to check! Thanks.

BTW, I started the FT-160 this weekend and it ran great...sounds even better! This is probably the smoothest 4-stroke I've ever run, so I'm confident my firewall improvements will be adequate. The only issue I found was that it was dripping fuel from the carb when the engine was off. The tank is in the factory position which is to high for the FT-160 Carb. I wasn't happy with the fuel tank install as they have it setup anyway, so I built a light ply box, complete with rubber band retention for the tank and moved it down to lower part of the engine mount box. This bought me about a 3/4" lowering and I think should do the trick since I wasn't getting a major flow anyway.

I shot a video of the engine running, but I forgot to check the camara settings and my 20 second video was over 40Megs! Darn good quality though! When I run it again I'll shoot another video at lower resolution.

poorwboy.....the tanks is 450CC.....

Steve

sseward

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OK....I posted a video of my Pitts on RCU videos. Lets see if this link works!

http://www.rcuvideos.com/video/ASM-Pitts-006-avi

Steve

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

poorwboy

Thats *****in.

Thanks for the tank info. I am going with a 16 oz tank.

rc4j

My Feedback: (103)

Well, I finally got started on and completed my Pitts. I had the plane, and everything I needed to complete it. So, after reading some threads, decided it was next in line. I had already considered using the FT-160 twin, since it would fit inside the cowl very good without cutting it up, and then seeing it done here made the decision very easy (thanks sseward). I had to modify my firewall as well, to accommodate the mount. I also went ahead and lowered the tank. I had read before that the carb is so low on the os twin, you have to get the tank in the right location, or it will drip. ( made this change previously with my Taylorcraft, and it was a success) I cut a hole for the new tank location, and put in a lite ply floor. I used a 16 oz. tank, and can get 15 min. (or more) flights easily. No on board glow driver is necessary. I made another modification to the top wing. I decided to add 2 servos for the top wing ailerons, instead of using the slave rods that came with the kit. Saw a pic somewhere online, so it wasn't my idea, but I liked it, and saw that it was very doable. It was a little time consuming, but I feel it was worth it. I used 6 DS-821 digitals on all control surfaces. Total finished dry weight 12.5 lbs. I don't have a lot of time on it yet, and will try some CG changes next, but I'm liking what I see! It's a great looking ARF, and it flies very well also.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb1CT1L3o3w[/youtube]

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Awesome JW!!! Congrats! [sm=thumbup.gif]

And it sounds fantastic!!

Kostas1

Guys is the manual available online?

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Here ya go Kostas: