skypiratescotty

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Hey all

I just got the Kadet Seniorita EP from NitroPlanes and I'm gonna put a .45 Enya on it. So far I made a new wing joiner with 0 dihedryl and epoxied the two halves together. Also going to make it a taildragger.

If anyone is interested I'll take pics and post as I go or I'll just post pics when I'm finished.

Scotty

HellcatAce

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Go for it!!! The pics are always helpful to anyone who may decide to follow in your footsteps.

skypiratescotty

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OK

So far it is a basic ARF assembly. Wings have been epoxied together with 0 dihedral, tail assembly glued down and control surfaces have been hinged and CA'd. I'll start posting more pics when I get to the conversion part of this build. This plane really has been planned from manufacturer to be electric so it looks like there will be some modification required to hang a glow engine.

I will say that this really is one of the better ARF's I have gotten. I don't need a fancy box as long as the sandwich in it is tasty and for $80 I'm impressed with this plane. The covering is perfect and so far everything has lined right up. If I was gonna complain about anything it would be that there was no string in the wing to fish servo leads thru but that really is no big deal. The interior is laid out for an electric setup but I'm sure Mr Dremel and I can make room for a throttle servo and fuel tank.

Most parts will be here Friday so not sure how much I can do till then but I'll let you know!!!

Scotty

skypiratescotty

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I actually have two conversions going on here. I'm not only converting to glow power but also making this plane a taildragger. Since this is a power forum, that is where I'm going to focus but if anyone has taildragger questions feel free to ask.
So I opened up a hole for the throttle servo, bolted on the engine mount, and ran a throttle pushrod.

The throttle servo opening was simple. I just drilled a couple holes and used the dremel to open it up until the servo fits.

The engine mount was a little bit tricky since there is no access to the back of firewall from inside of plane. I was gonna epoxy 3/32" plywood to the firewall but it was aleady pretty thick plywood. I ended up drilling 1/2" hole in the bottom of fuse to feed the blind nuts thru using needle nose plyers. I have some black vinyle to cover the hole now that mount is secure. Mount was attached using 8-32 x 3/4" socket head cap screws. I then lightly painted the firewall with 5 minute 2 part epoxy to fuelproof it.

The throotle pushrod was a pain in the butt because there is a bulkhead about 2" behind the firewall and it is really difficult to get your hands in there. Be patient and creative and you'll come up with something.

One more cup of coffee and I'm going to install a fuel tank. Make sure to measure before you order. I roughly measured the opening before I ordered and came up with a 2 1/2" opening so I ordered a Du-Bro 8oz tank. Still going to have to open up the hole just a teenie bit but no big deal. I'm hoping an 8oz tank will still get me 10-12 flights with my .45 Enya. I mostly fly at or just below half throttle anyway with bursts to full entering loops, rolls or stall turns.

Scotty

skypiratescotty

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that's weird!! one photo per message?

skypiratescotty

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Tank installation was tricky because there is a former about four inches inside of the opening that had to be sanded down to get the tank as far forward as I could get it. I may just leave the cowling off for two reasons. One is that I will have to really chew it up to get it to fit and two, it will be easier to re-fuel.

All in all, I'm OK with the project but I wish there had been some more consideration from the manufacturer towards glow power in their design. I know it is advertised as EP so I knew what I was getting into. I would just cuation anyone that wants to convert one to glow to really plan ahead and think it thru. I spent just as much if not more time taking things back apart than I did putting them together.

Anyway, it's been too cold and windy to fly so I had a chance to learn something. Only thing left is to install electronics and balance it.

Scotty

kdc

I would say that is massively overpowered! I have a Seniorita which was fitted with an Enya 30SS plain bearing and it was uncontrollable on anything but quarter power. A .20 or an old type .25 two stroke is all you need for this model.

skypiratescotty

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Thanks kdc
That is actually good news. I have a Thunder Tigre GP 25 I can put on it and I won't have to gring up the cowling too much to hide the engine. I just figured a 5lb plane would need a .40 size engine to be able to do any aerobatics.

Scotty

kdc

My plane was a kit built one and weighed three and three quarter pounds which is exactly as the advert see http://www.sigmfg.com/IndexText/SIGRC60.html where you will see the engine range specified. Note that this version has no ailerons but lots of dihedral. Even if the ready built electric version weighs more I don't think a more powerful but heavier engine would help at all. This is a plane that flies because of it's huge wing area and not due to engine power. It is a different type of flying to modern planes, it's slow like a vintage model. Even at the increased weight of the electric version ( 4 lb 10 oz ) it's only 14.2 oz sq ft which is still low.

Use the TT GP 25 which should be enough even at 5 pounds. but try to minimise weight which will give better flying. If necessary move the engine forward to adjust CG rather than add lead. Remember that more power, a heavier engine and such a large, light wing are the receipe for structural failure. And this is only a plane for gentle aerobatics!

Final thought is that a smaller engine mount will be needed for the TT GP25. First check whether the engine needs moving forward for the CG, if so make a hardwood spacer bolted through the existing holes and having new hole spacing for the smaller mount. This means you might be able to twist the engine to an angle different to 90 degrees so the silencer clears the fuselage.

skypiratescotty

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hanks again kdc
After carefull reconsideration I'm going to leave the Enya .45 on it. Balance is spot on and it looks more proportional to the plane than the .25 does. I think I would be running that .25 at more than 1/2 throttle just to keep the plane in the air let alone loops and big vertical stall turns. I think as long as I use good throttle management with the .45 it should be fine. Plus, when spring gets here I'm going to put floats on it and probably can use a little extra power for take-off.

Anyway, I plan on a maiden flight tomorrow and will try to figure out how to upload the video. At the very least, I will put it on YouTube.

Scotty

kdc

These Enya engines are very powerful, I am using an Enya 40SS plain bearing in an aerobatic model and I would not dream of putting that in a Seniorita! Sure to cause a structural failure by using all that power on a plane with so much wing area and relatively fragile wings. You may think that by using just part throttle you will get away with it but it's highly likely that the engine will not run reliably at low throttle for long periods. I notice you have with the fuel pipe going up much higher than the needle valve to clear the engine mount, this will not help the engine to run reliably. It is normal to put the fuel pipes through the centre of the engine mount when using a sidewinder mounting. This keeps the fuel pipe almost level and shortens the pipe length.

skypiratescotty

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I normally would run the fuel line thru the center of the engine mount except in this case there is not enough room between engine and mount without pinching and there is another wall about 2" behind firewall that you can't see. This is the straightest shot and carby is only 1/2" below center line of tank. I believe this to be acceptable.

Thanks for the concern about too much power. I definately understand the Enya .45 is strong. I'm so close to finishing that I'm going to give it a gentle maiden tomorrow and then I might decide to take an OS 46LA off my other trainer and mount to the Seniorita. This is, IMHO, a really nice looking plane and I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize it being in my hangar for a long time!!!

Scotty

spaceworm

Several years ago I bought a Kadet Junior with an OS 25FP. It did not have ailerons. The .25 was more than adequate power. I put the plane down pretty hard a couple of times as I had not flown at all in about 10 years. I even landed it in tall corn once and it survived. The Junior was designed for glow power and I think it would have been more robust than the EP Senorita is. My point is that like has been mentioned, the Seniorita may well self distruct with the added power of the glow Enya. Something to consider especially if you are thinking aerobatics. For aerobatics with the Enya, I would suggest something like the Tribute. I fly mine with an Evolution .36 and it does fine. I have been castisized for flying trsiners very hard with tight loops. cuban eights, spins and high speed split S turns. Some planes do not survive this treatment well. I do not think the Seniorita will. JMVHO.

Sincerely, Richard

skypiratescotty

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I'm actually going to start a Tower Uproar kit build soon and the Enya is going on that so I plan on being gentle wtih the Seniorita. I'll post tomorrow how the Seniorita flies with the .45 on it.

skypiratescotty

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Scrap the Uproar!! I think next will be a Sig Somethin' Extra kit build. WOW, Enyas are really strong and smooth engines. I've always used OS's or Thunder Tiger Pro's from .46 - .91 and this Enya is way smoother at throttle response even though I got it used and was told it is about ten years old. I think I hit a HOMERUN with this engine!!!!

It was windy today so I didn't fly but I did start it, adjusted the HS needle and got a really nice idle.

Scotty

pipercub17

you are going to blow that thing up with that much power !!
and why did you take the dihedral out of it ?
this is not a aerobatic plane
i flew mine with a saito 30 fs and still flying it 8 years later takes off in 10 feet with it

skypiratescotty

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Hi Everyone
I realize this is not an aerobatic plane!!! OK.....It's a slow flying trainer made for just pokin' around and that's about all I plan on doing. Occasional loop, split-s, and lotsa touch n goes. I don't fly like alot of people in videos I have seen, meaning full throttle take-offs and almost never adjusting throttle until landing. I always use just enough throttle to keep the plane in the air. More for climbing and idle for down lines.

I'm sorry but I must disagree that "I'm gonna blow this plane up with that much power." If you know how to use it then it can be good. The plane balances perfectly and besides, I've already said I was going to do 1-2 flights and then contemplate the engine change. Flying around at 1/4-1/3 throttle seems fun to me. I only could fit an 8oz tank but I should still get nice long, slow flights from it.

When I want to get aggressive with aerobatics ( inverted flat spins, snap rolls, and knife edge ) I will fly my Super Decathlon.

Anyway, maybe by starting this thread, the next person will start with a smaller engine but this is what I have. Might I suggest to those who are sure I'm going to destroy this plane, that they keep an eye on the " Crash & Rebuild" section. Otherwise, I hope to have a flight report tomorrow evening if winds lay off some.

Scotty

skypiratescotty

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MAIDEN FLIGHT REPOERT!!!!!!!!

Wind SW 10-12
Air 69dg
Vis- clear

This is the first plane out of around 20 or so that reguired zero trim to fly straight and level at 1/2 throttle. I do consider 1/2-3/4 throttle the max for this plane as anymore is useless and putting unnecessary strain on the airframe. Take-off is half the distance from pitchers mound to second base and climb out is smooth and really pretty. Loops are as big as you want, stall turns look majestic, and with zero dihedryl, rolls are axial and quick for a trainer. I was concerned that adverse yaw might come into play because of the ailerons being the outer most half of the wing but the nose goes where I point it. Did two flights and probably 10 touch n goes which is what I mainly built this plane for. Basically, an easy to fly, simple to land, no stress plane and it is all that and more. Landing this thing is as gracefull as it gets!!!

Not that I'm out to prove anyone wrong, actually just the opposite, but a .40 class engine is fine on this plane. Any experienced flyer should be able to hear the engine and see/anticipate the planes attitude and adjust accordingly. No doudt a .25 size engine would keep this plane airborn but I bet it would be above 1/2-3/4 throttle screaming the whole time.

I do feel (don't know why ) that I owe an apolagy for having some attitude. It was frustrating having so many people say I was building a bad project, waasting my time, gonna destroy the plane. After today, I would encourage everyone to buy a $72 ARF and take what you have on hand to make a great flying model. The payoff is very rewarding!!!!

I'm still training my cameraman ( he got his first cell phone 2 weeks ago ) so I'll post video as soon as I can get decent footage.

Scotty

skypiratescotty

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVw77M2nyyg

first time posting vid so hope it works