RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Could some of you folks give me brand and model names for the landing gear you used to relocate to the fuse? I don't want to end up ordering the wrong size or something that is inappropriate.

Thanks!

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

You can see the landing gear I used in my gallery. It does need to have springs added to keep it from bending too much. I like the springs since I fly from a pretty rough field and it smooths out my landings a lot. In the "my models" section, there is a description of all the mods made to the GSS.

On another note, I'm almost finished coveing the wings, got the bottom and the tips covered. May have some pictures later. I like the Worldtex, it stays put and shrinks well with no bubbles.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

A popular gear the guys like to use are from the GP Super Stearman gear.

I went with the landing gear from a Giant Ugly Stik, or Giant Super Stik. It was one of those giant stiks. My friend had a pair of gear from one that he sold me.

~ Jim ~

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Go to Tower Hobbies and do a search for "Dural" and you will find some decent options. The only issue is they are all 1/8 inch thick. I used one very similar but thought the base was too wide so I milled it down. That made it a touch week so I had to add some music wire to stiffen. I posted pics about 10 pages ago or so.

Well I finally have a good (no great) flightreport. There was no crazy winds, no hurricanes,no rain and no water in my fuel this time. I was determined to leave the field happy and I was finally rewarded. Last week all I did was work on getting the engine dialed in and even though Idid that I was still not feeling comfortable with the GSS. My landings looked like a basket ball bouncing down the runway and just never felt right. This time all I wanted was to get comfortable and that finally happened. I started with some basic large loops and moved to my normal moves like hammer heads and reverse cuban's etc. Finally things started to click and I felt real good. I put about 40 minutes of airtime on it and felt more and more comfortable each flight. I can now say ILOVETHISPLANE. Once I realized how much slower the GSSwants to come in for landing then my Jupiter pattern plane, 3 point touchdowns with a 20 foot roll were the norm. The engine is running flawlessly. Guys that were telling me the week before that I was too picky on the engine settings were now asking me what I did as it sounded fantastic. My fuel comsumption went way down and now with a 1 minute warmup and 10 minute flight I still have about 1/3 tank left. before after 10 minutes there was not enough fuel for a go around!

Icrashed my Pulse XT last Christmas and just got the word from my father in law that he finished fixing it so Iwill be putting that back in the air. He also gave me a Tower GC so my plan is to take the 6 volt NiMhRXpack in the GSS and put it in the pulse. I will then purchase a LiFe for my GSS buthere is my question. I am now using 2000 Mah NiMh in the GSS and am looking at the lifesource 6.6V 2100 Mah battery. Would this be a good choice for the GSS. I just put 45 minutes on the plane this weekend and when Irecharged it only put in about 700 Mah so Ibelieve the 2100 Mah 10C RX pack should be way more then enough for any future upgrades. I know some of you guys prefer other brands but I have the GC that I have to spend with Tower and that is the only LiFePO4 brand they carry.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

No experience with that battery, but the fact it's an LiFe would have me saying go for it!

Many (most?) guys are really shy of slowing their new planes down from what I've seen - with the same results you experienced when it comes time to land (testing the structure of their main gear attach points I suppose? :)). I think slowing them down is part of a good plan for your maiden flight - as soon as you get it trimmed and have some assurance it's not going to quit on you? Most are flying 3 mistakes high at that point, what better time than then to see what's going to happen when you pull back on the throttle stick (prior to landing it?)? Get some idea of how slow it will go prior to dropping a wing? Give yourself some time to get that mental image going of it's angle of attack at the point it stalls? To me, this part of the maiden is as important as a couple of high speed taxis prior to actually launching it the first time? Assuming nothing glaring shows up, that slow flight part of your plan can be a big confidence builder. Don't mean to preach, just sharing an observation. One of the most exciting times there is as an RC pilot is the maiden flight. One of the biggest grins happens as it's taxiing back to the pits after a successful one! -Al

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Al:
This was not my maiden as I have had a slew of issues keeping megrounded,the main one being a defective ignition module (3 deadsticks). When that was down waiting for warranty parts, I concentrated on flying my .46 sized Jupiter pattern plane. That plane comes in so fast on landing that I got used to it so when Itried to land my GSS I quickly found that it keeps flying and just ended up bouncing down the runway. Once Ifinally slowed it down considerably it landed perfect on all 3 wheelswith no hint of a stall and plenty of Aileron control. I have practiced stall charachteristics up high just to understand what it will do. I am not skilled enough to transfer from plane to plane quicklyas it takes me some time to get used to the one I am flying. Now that my GSSis in full service Iwill spend some time learning it more and more but this past weekend was the first time I felt confident with it and finally understood all the good things you guys keep saying about it. The Life battery is the same technology as the A123 systems products so this was why I posted the question. I believe Iwill purchase their 6.6v 2100Mah 10C pack as it seems to get great reviews and should be more then enough capacity for my needs. - MD

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

ahicks - Great advice on the maiden flight procedure to get up high and see how the plane performs at low speed and how the plane acts when it stalls. That's what the testpilotsdo withthecertified aircraft.I see way too many maiden flights at WOT for the entire flight, even when trying to do the initial trim onthe plane ifit is way out of trimand hard to control. I don't don't know why there is such a reluctance to throttle back a bit after takeoff. The maiden flight should not be a pylon race..

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

My only issue with the Life batteries is that once in a while I forget to turn off my receiver or TX and that would be a very expensive mistake. It would cost me about $70 to replace my two batteries.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Wow the forum seems to have been fixed, the links from email open immediately!!!

Steve, that was certainly a concern of mine about the battery running dead if left accidentally on. This is a real possibility for me as Iuse the Great Planes switch/charge adaptors but unlike what most do, I make it so that you have to push the buttonto turn on the switch instead of pulling it. Ihave turned things on just moving throughout the house before. I always thought of it as a failsafe to do it that way but certainly not for the battery. Maybe I should add a low voltage alarm so that if I am home when it gets low I can hear it is on. Something to think about.

One more thing guys, I was noticing that my plane gets pretty dirty underneath from exhaust oil. It is much better now that the engine is tuned but it still does it. I took some 5/8" silicone hose and made about 3/4" extensions for the muffler outlets (J'tec pitts muffler) and it cleaned up the problem about 85%. I am still running 32:1 but will switch to 40:1 synthetic on the next batch of fueland see how that does. If there is still any mess then I may extend them to 1 inch but so far I am extremely pleased.</p>

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Got the wings covered today.

I used three peices on each side because I don't do well with large peices of covering material and also wantedto get the max use from the roll. Saved $22 that way.I covered the tips first since that is the part I have the most problem with, they came out better than I thought.

Now I need to paint on the trim and get it all put back together. It is like starting with a new ARF right now. Hope I can get it done in the next two or three weeks. I sure miss flying this plane.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Steve,

Looking VERY nice!:)

I'll bet you're gonna LOVE having the old girl back in prime flying condition.

~ Jim ~[8D]

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

I got the first coat of paint on the bottom of the fuselage. I think it will look great from 300 feet or so in the air. I paint about as well as I cover. Good thing I wasn't born in China, I'd starve to death. No wait, I think I would be shot for poor quality over there..

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Looks good to me.

~ Jim ~

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

But in case I'm wrong, remember to DUCK, comrade.

~ J ~ :)

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

At least my GSS will not look like a clone of anyone else's plane.

Got on coat #2, that will be it. I may shoot some clear on it later.

Got to get the wing masked off, maybe I can paint it tomorrow. One painted stripe is all I can do, the starburst is out of the question. I found some black pin stripe, I think that will make it look like I tried.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

If you need some help on how to paint on stripes and such, let me know, I'd be glad to spend some time yacking about it. I've done a lot of custom painting over the years, and this stuff is fun. I did my Spacewalker years ago.

~ Jim ~

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Thanks Jim, I don't have a "know how" problem, I have a "want to" problem. Just getting lazy in my old age.

The monokote ripped off half of my elevator on the old Ultra Stick and I flew it for quite a while like that.I got nervous one day when I was trying to pull outof a high speed dive. Made it with only 10 or 20 feet to spare. After that, Idid manage to work upthe enthusiasm to fix it.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Ahhh. Okey-dokey.

I have that same affliction myself. I'm looking at this video series I've taken on, and I just roll my eyes now and say, "WHAT was I thinking?" I have two books waiting for my attention. Sorry, make that three. So not only do I buy that new Decathlon, that I have to build, I'm going to makes videos of it. Yep. Pure genius, I tell ya. I didn't really want to have any spare time to go flying anyway, right?:eek:


~ Jim ~:)

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

<font size="3">Jim, sounds like the next time you get a chance to fly, you may need to be put on the buddy-box.

I help people find jobs and one of the engineers in a company I'm working with wants me to go back to work and help him on a new UAV design. Sounded really exciting, offer of some really great money; I could buy more toys. Then I remembered my last UAV project before I retired. Working 60 to 80 hours a week, deadlines, milestones, meetings, etc.and no time for my toys. I can't go back to the dark side.</font>

<font size="2">Oh yeah, I almost forgot, got to stay on the subject and not get off track, they are ruthless about finding that: Syssa, engine, airplane, got to work on covering my GSS, blah, blah, blah, etc.</font>

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Got the fuselage painted. Need to get the tail feathers masked off and painted. Maybe tomorrow.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Is it me, or that a Ryan STA paint job - sorta?

Looks like it's going to be really nice.

~ Jim ~

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

I was gonna say - very STA ish.  And that's a good thing.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

It could be, by accident, I dont remember what it looks like. I'm just using rolls of trim that I've had for years and red paint. The wing trim design is pretty simple too, it will follow the same pattern.

I am so lazy anymore. If it weren't for my toys, I'd stay in bed all day. And honeydews, got to get up to do those too. Not doing them has consequences. Bad ones. Good thing I married a nurse, I bought a new 100 count boxof #11 blades and I think I've cut myself with 40 of them so far.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

Maybe I can claim it is a badly built STA and enter it in giant scale events.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
 

http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/at...-RyanSTA02.jpg