SackOHammers

Hello,

I'm building this wonderful electric ARF and thought I would share. This is a unique plane - very high quality ARF.



Here is the box:



The components:


Hacker A30 10XL motor
Hacker X55 SB Pro ESC
Hitec HS-65MG Servos
Spektrum AR6100e Receiver
XOAR 14X7 Prop
MaxAmps 3S 3000 mah battery

SackOHammers

Hinging the Ailerons:




Setting up the cabanes:




Hinging the elevator:

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

That's what I geat for living in the "North Country" mine's still in the mail OR at Customs [] Just curious about that canopy / fuse top. How hard is it to pull off of the magnets ?


P.S. Man that looks like one heck of a prop for that little motor [X(] Is that an electric prop ?

SackOHammers

The canopy is held in place by two magnets and a latch. The latch is at the back of the canopyset into the top of the turtle deck. The magnets are near the front. The magnets are not super strong. They are smaller than the magnets used in the upper wing. The magnets aren't difficult at all.

Its a 14X7 prop. It is electric. I have an APC 14X7E prop for it as well. I'm going to see which one I like better. The APC prop will be slightly less efficient because it can flex a little, but it will be more tolerant of prop strikes (while learning the plane). The wooden one will not survive a prop strike. Also, the wooden one is about $9 while the APC i about $4-$5.

http://www.xoarintl.com/props/ma/PJN.html

http://www.espritmodel.com/index.asp...strVarSel=4666

Xpress

That looks like an awesome plane. How come your HS65 servos came in a nice plastic case, and mine came in a junky small cardboard box?[sm=confused_smile.gif]

SackOHammers

Did you buy the HS65HB or the HS65MG? Mine are the metal gear... $10 more per servo... could account for superior packaging.

SackOHammers

The carbon fiber control horns:



Installing control horns:




Setting up the rudder and rear landing gear (notice the pull/pull control horns for the rudder):

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

The plastic is new stock the cardboard is old. I received some 65HB's in December and they had both. I perfer the cardboard, the plastic ones are awkward and hard to store - trashed them and kept the cardboard one.

SOH do any decals come with the kit ? I got notice today that mine cleared Customs

SackOHammers

Yes, a nice full sheet of decals. I'm at work so I can't take a picture. I think there is a picture of them in the manual.

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

I don't need a pic that's fine. I had just heard that some earlier kits came without decals.


Thanks .............. Don

SackOHammers

Elevator Servo and Linkage:



Aileron servo and linkage (lower wings):



Rudder linkage (pull/pull):



Rudder servo and linkage:

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

I'm really envious now. My Wife told me my ZG Pitts came today, I'm 3000 miles away and won't be home for a week She is holding it hostage and said that if I don't bring her something nice she may just forget where she put it [:@]

After seeing your build I'm really looking forward to it. I have a 1/3 scale Laser 200 / 4.2 gasser partly completed BUT I think I'll put the ZG together first.

Let's see what can I buy my good Wife

SackOHammers

This guy here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...postcount=1910

Bought some Great Planes Kwik Stripe, 1/16" black, part number GPMQ1460 and accented his lines.
He also covered the outside wingtips with black (over the yellow). This makes it a little closer to the full sized Python that this is a model of.

I think the pin striping sets off/accents the colors even more.

SackOHammers

Sorry guys, assembly got held off a couple days because I went flying. I also spent a few evenings at the bar watching some local bands. Had a ball flying the mini-pulse this weekend. Sunday night I did make some progress with the Pitts.

Mounting the motor - installed blind nuts in back of firewall:



The Motor and spinner:



Test fitting the cowl:



One of the landing gear assemblies (carbon fiber landing gear):



Landing gear and wheel pants:



Partially attached landing gear:



Marking Cowl position:



Positioning Cowl:



Final holes for Cowl (I didn't enjoy this part of the assembly):



Screwing on the wing struts:



Carbon fiber wing tubes. Wings are also held in place with very strong magnets:



Getting there:



Pulling servo cables through the formers. I used a "grabber" to route the cables how I wanted them:



Getting the electronics into place:

rrweather

My Feedback: (7)

Great thread. I just ordered one myself. I opted for "local pickup" so hopefully that will help me get it sooner. I almost ordered the e-flite pitts but kept hearing about the great reviews of the ZG. Went with the consensus. I am looking forward to receiving the kit. I ordered the electronics from an overseas manufacturer (read: Chinese). Hopefully they don't take too long to get. The deal Spektrum has right now with the buy one get one free receivers is too hard to pass up so my 9303 will officially be converted to 2.4 This will be the first plane I put the receiver into. Thanks for the thread, it's good to reference during my build.

SackOHammers

I put in a fake cockpit last night. I glued in a piece of balsa to extend the battery tray out 2". I found when I tried to balance it that it was nose heavy. Moving the battery back got it to balance the way I wanted. I'll get pics up either tonight or tomorrow showing the cockpit. If weather permits, I'll maiden this weekend. So far, I'm pleased as punch with this plane. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. As far as I'm concerned, this plane takes ARF to a new level.

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

I just got home and checked mine out, looks great. One thing though. Did your motor come with the black plastic X mount or did you need to order seperately. Mine only has a round plywood mount []

SackOHammers

I got the Hacker A30-10XL. It came with the round ply spacer you mention and the metal X-mount. Both were in the same spot in the blister packaging.
I saw somewhere you could buy the X-mount...just search for Hacker mounting kit or hacker mount or something. Of course, I'd first check with the vendor and ask "Whats up?"
You'll need the X-mount. Well... I saw somewhere... where the Zero G guys installed the motor without the X-mount. It looked possible but more work... so I used the X-mount.. was nothing to it.

SackOHammers

Here is the detail for the Cockpit Mod.

Painting the cockpit trim:



Using a Whataburger cup for the instrument panel backing:



Gluing instrument panel to backing with White Elmers (before this step I took a heatgun to the backing and formed the curve to match the cockpit better):



Gluing the instrument panel to cockpit with hot melt glue (if I were to do this again I'd move the panel further aft):



Instrument panel in position:



The other cockpit pieces (printed with an inkjet printer on regular paper):



Cockpit put in place:



Cockpit (blurry - sorry):



Cockpit:

SackOHammers

I extended the battery tray more to the aft - this allows me to move the battery and get the plane to balance where I want. I also extended the power leads for the ESC:



Its done! All balanced and ready to maiden.

Don M.

My Feedback: (5)

Two things,

Where did you get the interior picture to print off ?

Could I trouble you to measure the distance between the mounting holes on the X mount. My motor supplier is going to send me a mount but it may be a while cause their outa stock. In the meantime I'm going to make one. It may work out fine but if it doesn't at least the holes will be in the right place to mount the stock one in the future. If you could measure in MM it would be nice but if not inches will suffice.

Thanks ........ Don

jumper666

SackOHammers, well done.

SackOHammers

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Don,

Tonight is going to be hectic so I'm not sure I can get to it until Saturday evening. Will have to pull the cowl and motor to do it reliably.
You might get a quicker answer if you go here:
In fact, I almost guarantee one of those guys, maybe even one of the Zero Gravity guys will answer. (Andrew or Assaf... or their US partner jbauer)
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...y+pitts+python

Go here for the cockpit printouts:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...postcount=1487

jumper666

SackOHammers, I have seen some negative comments about the quality of the graphics. Some have said they are fussy to apply and tend to curl. Do you plan on using them?

SackOHammers

I haven't made up my mind if I'll apply the graphics or not. To me, they don't seem to add a lot to the appearance. Who knows, maybe one evening I'll get a wild hair and apply them. I'm wondering if maybe some of these people don't have a lot of experience with decals? All decals will curl if you pull the decal from the sheet. You need to pull the sheet from the decal. Maybe they already know this... not sure.
You do the same thing with CD and DVD labels. Lay the sheet face down on a clean, flat surface. Use your finger (or in this case the tip of a #11 hobby knife) to hold down one corner of the decal. Keep the decal flat against the surface and peal away the sheet. This should minimize curling.
If it does curl, just stick it to the plane as flat as you can (squeegee with credit card) and apply heat to re-activate the adhesive. Or maybe just heat them up a little before you apply to plane. This will make sure it sticks flat. Other folks that -really- want to make sure just take some clean nail polish from the wife's cabinet and use it to tack down the edges of the decal.
To me it doesn't seem like such a big deal.