mach2

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+1 Never had any gap between wing and fuse on either of my first two builds. I havent put the wings on my third. Its still in the box, but will be finally getting around to building it (again). Im sure other guys have done more, but me building this plane 3 times is a testament to how loved this plane is. Flys great and is just a beauty. Its one of those planes that gets lots of comments on its looks. Its an elegant plane that doesnt break the bank. GP hit it outta the park with this one. To me, its by far the best looking Revolver. Im not too big on the 50cc plane. I was excited when I heard they were going to make one, but was disappointed when it came out. I dont like the engine cowling (nor the spinner, but that can be changed) and Im also not big on the color and scheme. Then again, I haven't seen one in person. Maybe better in real life?

This plane is obviously extremely fast, but it DOES fly well slow too, once you get it slowed. Its got a great wing on it.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I confidently say go with 6". It will fly solidly at 6", and will be easier to land slowly. Im sure you'll get many others to confirm this...

Don't build too fast. Make sure everything is right. You dont want to be building #2 right away! Enjoy...

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Robert, one more thing. If you haven't settled on a prop, Id recommend starting out with a 17x6 (i run a Xoar). If you want speed, a 15x8 is the ticket (recorded on youtube vids at 106mph with a headwind), but it's plenty fast enough for me with the 17x6.

wjcalhoun

And, if you really want speed, this airframe (with a bit of care with the build, reinforcements, and hardware selection) will hit 120 on a 12 pitch prop (DLE20). I have a 13.5 pitch prop ready to go for her next flying session. I'll post the GPS data for both the 12 and 13.5 pitch props from the same day - wind, barometric pressure, humidity, etc - for accurate comparison.

She has a different character at speed, and you will want to have your rates low - perhaps even near book - if you go fast.

Robert Groves

Thanks everyone.
Ill try post a pic of the wing-fuse gap. inbetween jobs and inbetween phones but i will see what in can do this after noon... you guys are still sleeping so maybe here when you wake up ) Sunny South africa is a good 7-9 hours ahead.

My DLE20 has only had 2 tank through so still breaking in with a 16x6... will then move to0 16x8 and later 15x8...... 12 " prop? wow... like me there are some speed freaks here haha...

I am on leave so today i have another 8 hours to out in. Got LG reinforcing this morning. Wing complete, upgraded to metal clevises stuck with original size, upgraded to metal clevises and 4-40 for the rest.
I am trying to complete for a fly on Friday but I also build quite well... so not going to over rush it.

what of the DLE mounting? Was there a template needed? I bought another mount in case the one that comes with the plane was not ok.

Thanks all again...... and I love threads where I heard version #3 of a plane being build..... lets me know I am on the right track with selection. Never had a GP before, always been a H9 fan, but after the quality of their Blue nose... was put off a little..

l8r

Rob

VictoryRoll

My Feedback: (2)

Hi RobertGroves! Welcome to the Larger Revolver thread ! Everyone on here is great! Truly one of the best threads I have been subscribed to.

In respect to speed, you should consider a Bowman Ring, Reed Block Mod and set Timing of the DLE 20 to 28 deg before TDC. If you do not already have Frank Bowmans email, it is: [email protected] . He will send you, if you wish, a bunch of information on everything I listed, with videos for the timing and pictures & instructions for the reed block mod.
Last but certainly not least is Bill, @wjcalhoun. He is the King of Speed on this Larger Revolver thread!

I am not sure why you have the space on one side of your TE of the wing, but I personally don't like it. I had a much worse situation where the wing didn't even seat into the holes, unless I sanded (opened) the holes in the fuse to accept the offset of the wing alignment pins. I was not going to do that as it would have caused more work than I was willing/able to do. I called GP/Hobbico Support and they were very understanding and gracious. They sent me a new set of wings, but alas they were off (slightly, like yours) too. Another set (actually the whole plane was exchanged for a new one) was sent to me and everything was dead on. Given that I and several others on this thread have experienced the same, I personally would not trust it. A phone call should get you a new set, or a new fuse, or even a new plane, as that is what happened in my last go around with GP/Hobbico, as described above. That is why I always do a dry fit before putting a drop of glue or anything else to an Arf, esp. from China. Go slow on build and incorporate P.D.C.A., Plan, Do, Check, Act.

I realize you live in S. Africa, so I have no clue what an exchange or getting a new wing set would involve and how fast that may happen. Then again, it may not be a problem and the plane will fly great w/o doing anything??? My wing alignment was a real issue, so I am not sure. Maybe others can pipe in with their perspective?

On the LG issue. I did the fiberglassing for reinforcement. Several others have done it too and they assured me it will hold up just fine, which has been the case. I have photos of the fiberglassing if you wish to see...they are probably about 75-100 pages back. I will find them for you if you are interested, but it seems you are going with the aluminum reinforcement which seems to be the preferred method.

One last point, esp. if you plan on cranking up the speed. I would replace ALL of the CA hinges with pin hinges (Robart's if you like). I am not a fan of CA hinges and here most agree.

I wish you the very best with your new Revolver and many sunny, windless days filled with lots of loops, knife edges, rolls, spins, etc. !

Enjoy and Have Fun !

-VR-

mach2

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We gotta get some video of that!

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

you can use a bigger one, but its not needed. you will need to cut an glue the tabs where the two mounts slide together (the side that mounts up to the firewall), since the dle is wider than what its meant to use. I cut the tab off and glued it to the other mount. Done deal. If I remember correctly, I used the right side holes. Then knocked out the left side blind nuts and drilled holes and moved them further left so they line up with where mounts need to be for the dle. I think its almost as far left as the mount can fit.

When I say right and left, Im speaking of the aircraft left and right...

Ill see if i can dig up the photos for ya.

I saw you asked about the throttle servo. I mounted mine all the way back on the wall behind the wing tube. It helps move the cg back since the dle is a little heavy for the plane. I used a 3200mah LiFe battery placed rear of the rearward servo tray, under the rear pushrods (below the turtle deck). With my smoke pump and tank, my CG ended up at 6.25". The plane flew wonderfully. But then again, I was running a 17x6 prop and not flying at 100+mph...

VictoryRoll

My Feedback: (2)

Hey Mach2! Since we are talking mounts, did you (or anyone else out there in Larger Revolver Land), use washers to create more down and right thrust? I seem to remember a few peeps saying that one washer for right thrust and two for down thrust ??? thx !

mach2

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Here is a pic of where my battery was located.

mach2

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This is the best pic i have of the motor mount. You can see how the left mount has the tabs inserted between the mount and the firewall (used as a spacer). And notice, the center pieces that would normally overlap have been totally removed.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I never did. Can you give some more info on this? Would this give straighter uplines? This may be useful since i havent started my 3rd (hopefully final. 3rd times the charm) build yet.

Thanks!

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

For anyone looking to do a smoke system on their Rev, here's some pics of what I did. But as I said before. I wont be trying it again, just in case it was the cause of my radio signal failure...

Since the smoke pump uses a lot of oil and the DLE20 is great on fuel consumption, I ended up using the smaller (a 12oz tank if I remember right) tank for fuel, and the large tank that comes with the Rev for the smoke oil tank. The smoke lasted for 5-6min, and after an 8min flight, my fuel tank had almost a half tank left. It was a pretty good set up and produced a ton of smoke! It was a beautiful combo. Just wish the plane was still alive...

Oh, and since the fuel tank was behind the oil tank, CG went aft after the oil was gone. So after the smoke oil was gone, she flew light, nimble and landed very nicely.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Here is the muffler side of the smoke system. I tried to coil the brass smoke tubing to get some more heat built up, but I couldn't get it right. Im sure if I could have found pre-coiled tubing it would have yielded more smoke...

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

Regarding down thrust, I'd say fly it without the cowl prior to installing the cowl? Some guys (including me and at least one other) have found a very definite need for down thrust (one washer/shim on each of the upper mounting bolts). Side thrust hasn't been discussed since I've been on board, but it would come as no surprise. We have some pretty accomplished flyers playing with this plane nowadays....

Need will be obvious as the elevator trim required for level flight varies dramatically from say half throttle to wide open?

If the cowl has been mounted, THEN the need for down thrust discovered, your spinner to cowl clearance (you know, the one you spent so much time getting just right?) will be trashed! -Al

Robert Groves

Thanks VR, I'll consider the ring when looking for more speed. I am trying to get a pic up of the TE of the wing, its not as rod fit issue, that is fine, just a gap? weird, never encountered it. Ill post a pic as soon as i can. my old phone is just not so great...
Yes in S.Africa, getting new parts is the cost of shipping. I saw the gap during dry fit, but assumed the wing screw in would close it..... NOT hahaha. It isn't bad.... lets see what everyone has to say when I get a pic up...
I should have just stuck with the glass LG upgrade then lol. I will epoxy inside now and i have added 2 x metal strips from the outside bolts to the firewall which I'm confident with.


@mach2... also using a 3200mah life, not much clearance under the push rods. Where is your Velcro attaching too? did you do a balsa mod underneath?
Should be mounting engine this afternoon, ive been pulled away for work so no maiden tomorrow, pressure off till my return next week....
Was going to place battery on the servo tray next to the Rudder and elev servos, but guess i would need some weight on the tail then. im going to do it like yours and do a cg check.
im running ignition and RX from single Life 3200.

Robert

Robert Groves

ok completely getting the info now on the engine mount... thank you kindly for the most valuable info... going to have to come and fly when i visit the US next
im going to go ahead and shim some down thrust in from the start.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

What part of the US do you frequent?

For the battery location, yes, I just made a wood platform to glue to the fuse framing. cut holes for the velcro to go through and ran the velcro through before gluing it. I also put a strip of velcro on top of the plate, and one on the bottom of the battery to keep it from sliding around. I was easy on it if i ever needed to remove the battery as to not break the fuse. The battery was stuck to the plane really well with the velcro. But I never really needed to remove it. I charged it in the plane. I wouldn't recommend that with LiPos, but I felt pretty comfortable with the LiFe battery.

Also, on my next build Ill probably use a smaller LiFe battery. The 3200mah was much more than I needed. I usually fly about 3 flights per outing. I could have flown at least 3 times that on one charge. Even using it to power the servos and ignition. So I just dont need it. So I can save some money. To keep aft CG without the heavy battery in the rear, I may do a mod to put a servo on each side, just in front of the elevators like other have done.

I do think Ill shim the motor downward as well on my next one. Al, how thick are the washers your using? just wondering how much shimming needs to be done.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I just attributed that to the semi symmetrical wing.

Robert Groves

I have spent some time in NY, long island and Chicago. Last year I went through San Fran through to Hawaii.... that was 36 hrs. of flying....goodness, literally other side of the planet but really nice!
I am just joining a firm based in San Fran so maybe I will get to do some more business trips

I am going to see where the plane balances and then do the battery move. My 3200 life needs to come out for a proper balanced charge and I use the same battery in my Mustang. shouldnt be so bad to take it in and out under the rods. just needs to be secure.

how do you charge you life under there? my charger has relatively shortish balancing cables.

On the shim I put 2 standard washers on each, about 1-2mm gap. Took a pic, but cant load it here right now... ill try again later.
Lets see what Al put in on his.

Rob

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

My thought exactly! I held off buying this airframe for quite a while for that reason actually? I was pretty disappointed my first few flights because of it. Regarding thickness of the washers I'm using, dunno, std. washer, maybe .030? The installation COMPLETELY neutralized the effects of the semi symmetric airfoil! There is no need for a trim change 1/2 to full throttle.


Re: batteries, single battery for flight pack and ign. I went genuine A123 route, 2300mah. and can fly 2 evenings between charges using less than 50% of battery capacity (I fly about 3 flights as well). 30cc planes using identical setup, can't quite get away with that, but still WAY safe using 2300mah!


Re: charging an LiFe without disturbing anything? The battery's balance connector can be replaced with a Futaba (or whatever) end. That lets you use it as a second voltage tap (more on what to do with that in a second). That lets you plug the battery's balance lead into a HD (Futaba) switch harness with built in charge jack? Now, make yourself an adapter for your charger's balance lead, and plug that into the switch's built in charge jack? If you decide to try this, please BE CAREFULL WITH YOUR POLARITY, AND BE AWARE OF THE DIFFERENT 3.3 vs. 6.6 VOLTAGES!!! (black=ground, red=6.6, white=3.3 for our purposes here). Also, it's very important the white wire on the output side of your switch to be cut/disconnected. That will have 3.3v on it, and the flight pack has no use for 3.3v feeding the circuit supplying signal to the servos!

So, what to do wit the output from the second switch? Plug it a 'Y' harness that's been installed in the rudder circuit. This give the rudder (the biggest servo, or at least the one with the most drain on it) a straight shot from the battery - without having to go through the receiver. ALSO, when the rudder isn't looking for big power, this second circuit can/will supply extra power that can be used to power anything in the rest of the flight pack - helping to eliminate 'brown outs' when using bigger and/or digital servos. Another huge bonus of the second feed is redundancy? If anything fails in the first feed line coming from the battery (it's switch or any connections coming to/from it), this second circuit will supply power to the entire flight pack.


So, with this second switch, we can supply extra power to the rudder (or elsewhere) as needed, we can now provide the plane with 100% switch redundacy, AND wired as above, we can charge the battery without messing around....

Downs side? The extra weight of the second switch harness and the 'Y' harness....

-Al

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

i started charging my batt with a cheap hobbico charger and it came with an extension for the balance wires. So i just left that on the battery. Worked out well. Its nice to just charge with it in the plane. With my schedule, the a123 battery is pefect. I can decide to fly, and start charging. Then by the time ive got every thing loaded up but the main fuse, the battery is charged and im out the door.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Al, after reading this, i just had a thought about my loss of control with my Rev with the smoke system. I was powering everything with the one 3200mah LiFe battery. The servos, ignition and smoke pump. It was the 5th or 6th flight on the plane, and only the second of that day. Im wondering now if that was my mistake and caused a brown out. Had i powered the smoke pump with its own battery, i may have been fine. Or set it up as you described above. Im still very new to the hobby and just figured that the one batt could handle it all. Its been a while so i dont remember exactly how i wired everything, but ill look back at the pics and see if i can figure it out. I do know i had a switch to the pump, so that it wasnt always hot when i had the rest of the plane powered...

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

Mach, a flying buddy lost his plane when his elec. retracts bound up when they were lowered? Another single battery lesson. Brown out city!

Guys are flying 50cc planes on the setup I'm talking about above - but - if I had a smoke pump, or as in my buddy's case, elec. retracts - I think they'd get a dedicated battery? -Al

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

OK, I remember how I did it. On the Hobbico LiFe pack, there are two standard connectors coming off of it (along with the deans and balance plug). Im pretty sure I used one to a switch then to the Rx to power the plane. Then other other connector powered the smoke pump. BUT, I don't think I used a Y to go back and send power back to the Rx for redundancy. If I had used the Y as a second power source for the servos, maybe would have saved the plane....

I had a 3200mah battery that I was hoping to use, but I guess i stored it too long. I just pulled it out the other day and it was all swelled up. So I basically threw 60 bucks in the trash. That sucked...