kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

I've just ordered a Patriot XL to build. This will be backup to my Kangke F20. What mech retracts have worked on this bird for the mains and nosegear?? How much will extra servos weight affect performance compared to going with air gear like Robart 605s?? I plan to put OS 91FX on the nose. Please help.[:-]

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

Although some folks have used them, I wouldn't recommend mechanicals in the XL.

Just a whole bunch easier to install and configure air gear.

And when you get down to it, the installed weight of a dual-servo mechanical gear setup ends up nearly the same as the air system. So weight wise, its sort of a wash.

Spring air, B&D, Robarts are all good choices for air systems.

Mechanical wise..... Dave Brown gear, B&D & Robart are worth looking at here.

I am a bit curious about the EuroKit gear too... may have to try those on my next project.

With any of these choices, make sure you have the gear on hand before building, and plan ahead.

Balsa Master

i dont own a patriot, however i was thinking about buying 1 so i did my research and talked to razor a lot and came to the conclusion that mechanical retracts are NOT the way to go with the patriot, i browsed the spring air catalog and they have extreamly nice retracts along with B&D. in some aspects i prefer them much more than robart or CJ retracts i think their locks are more secure. CJ.s locks seem kinds flimsy to me and based on the robart corsair retract issues i have problems trusting a company that would gladly sell you massivly inferioior parts. (though their hinges are excelent ill give em that) i would go with the spring air, i saw razors plane that had em and it was NICE landed fine with no performace drawbacks from the weight.

kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

I looked into the retracts options a bit last night. Seems that Spring Air 305 is recommended for Patriot, but wonder if that also applies to Patriot XL which is bigger. Is this the gear you guys put in yours???

Balsa Master

whats the difference in weight between the 2 modles and how hard are u on landings. if your gentle and its not too much heavier the same ones should work. otherwise step it up a size

Razor-RCU

My Feedback: (50)

I have not even seen an XL in person... I would just call the Spring-Air folks and tell 'em you are gonna use the XL and see what they say---

Pneumatics seemed intimidating to me at first, but now I would PREFER them to mechanicals (I have used both) I can tell you that the Spring-Airs on my 46 sized Patriot were VERY strong, the blocks will break before the gear- I would not hesitate using them on a 8-8 1/2 LB airframe (I fly off asphalt)

I have had good luck with my mechanicals (They are of unknown brand, bought it built-) but look like the common Hobbico gear... They work fine but are softer, and have WAY too much play for my preference--

Keep us posted and enjoy!

kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

Thanks for the input. I will build this alongside with my flying buddy. He's putting together a TF Spitfire in a couple weeks. Anybody knows easy way to finish this bird with Thunderbird scheme??

johntheroadie

My Feedback: (6)

I've done a Thunderbirds scheme on an Altech F-22 and a demonstrator F-15. The way I did it may not be the best way, but it worked alright, provided you've got a good eye and not too picky about the results.

Doing the scallops was tricky for me. I covered the airplane in white monocote completely, and when finished, I would freehand draw where the scallops should be on the monocote with a black sharpie. If the position/size/shape didn't look right, I'd just take some trim solvent to remove the lines and draw them again until they looked right to me. Once I was satisfied that the scallops were okay and in proportion, I took a piece of plain white paper, taped it over the a scallop section and traced the sharpie outlines onto the paper. Take the paper off of the airplane, put it the colored monocote and cut both of them out. I usually break them up into left/right sections that join in the middle of the top and bottom of the airplane. Once have all the pieces ready, I use the "windex method" (see this thread:http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/How_..._603331/tm.htm )to position the scallops in the right spots, let them dry overnight and hit it with a little bit of trim solvent around the edges and low heat in the middle.

The trickiest part is getting them lined up at the break sections of the scallops, so be careful that you're very accurate in regards to the width of the scallops. Also if you do late-model T-bird scheme like I did, keep in mind, you'll only have to cut out a red scallop, and a blue scallop because for the white one in the middle, you'll just leave the base white showing.

I used the same method to do the tail sections and the 'bird on the bottom of the F-22, but I'm never going to put an outline around it again. My result turned out pretty lousy and was time-consuming. (although from a distance, you can't tell it)

The stripes are just measured out and cut for the wing tips on mine (not done very well, though).

Hope I didn't confuse you too much and maybe it'll help. If anybody else has some other suggestions on how to do it, I'd like to hear about them as well!!

kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

Thanks for the input. But geez, I hope there's an easier way to do it.