afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

I recently had a rough landing with my Patriot which broke the motor mount. It was an old kit which came with a one piece square(non adjustable) plastic/nylon mount. The original mount is GP MM40 mount. I bought a GP adjustable mount but it doesn't line up height wise and there's not enough "meat" on the mount to redrill it. Any other plane I would just pull the tank and blind nuts and fill in then put in new blind nuts. The Patriot would be a pain to say the least to get to the back of the firewall. In addition, I had installed an 11 oz. tank in there which made it an even tighter fit. Just wondering if anyone ever had to replace this mount, were you able to find something that would line up without having to install new blind nuts? Thanks.

Marty

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

Just a thought. Breaking a motor mount takes a pretty hard hit. You may want to go to the trouble to get to the rear of the fire wall for inspection if nothing else.

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

Good thought Mike. I pushed it in and it seems solid. The plane was about five feet over the runway slowed for landing when I decided to do a go around and just as I throttled up, a strong crosswind grabbed it and it went into the high grass. I think the mounts are designed to break to save the engine from damage, not to mention that the mount is probably at least twenty years old and may have been weak from old age...I know I am!

Marty

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

Have you looked at the round Hayes or Dave Brown mounts? You'll have to reposition the blind nuts but that'll be a good opportunity to build a tank hatch into your plane.

Hayes: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

Dave Brown: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...L=++&search=Go

Don

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

Don,
I've looked at those mounts. The Hayes might be close but I would still have to put another blind nut in which is what I'm trying to avoid. From what I remember when building the Patriot about two years ago, was that when sanding the front to match up with the nose ring, there 's not much balsa left up front when your done. It would be very difficult to put a hatch up front that would let me pull out the tank. If I can't get a drop in mount, or one that can be modified to fit, I'll have to start cutting in from the wing saddle area to pull the tank out. Since the tank was installed from the top when the plane was being assembled, I'll have to cut out the former at the wing to get the tank out and put in new blind nuts. Then put the tank in, repair and strenghthen the former. Not really difficult, just time consuming.

Marty

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

You can almost always get a new mount, and drill new holes so you can use
the existing blind nuts. It beats doing major surgery.

FBD.

smitty9969

My Feedback: (7)

Have you thought about the screw in blind nuts.. Just make sure you dont drill far enough in to puncture the tank.. And not sure how much angle you can get with the small cowling, so maybe a 90% dremel attachment..
I think your either goin to have to spend money or time..

Smitty

smitty9969

My Feedback: (7)

thats suppose to read 90 degree..

way too early in the morning
Smitty

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

FBD,
I might have to buy a few more mounts(fixed and adjustable) to see which one is big enough to cover the existing blind nuts and small enough to fit in the engine compartment.

Smitty,
I'm not sure if I've seen those. Are you talking about threaded inserts?

Unfortunately,
I'll have to wait a week as I'm off on family vacation. Am I the only one who looks forward to coming back from vacation so I can continue to fly, build and repair airplanes?

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Marty

smitty9969

My Feedback: (7)

yup.. that way, no need to access the back of the firewall