robc57

Not too far out - at long last the paintwork is finished and I got the completed model on the scales. Dead on 9lb so coveing was 1 1/2lb, but then I had to add a chunk of lead 4*1*.5 to the firewall in order to get the balance point in the right ballpark. It doesn't help that I'm using LiFe cells for power so there's nothing heavy to move around as there would have been with sub-C NiMh cells. I might try moving the lead to the front of the engine bearers where it will have more effect.
I thought it would get maidened this weekend but the weather forecast says otherwise.

Zor

robc57,

A beautiful Shybolt. Congrats.

Zor

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Wow! Should be easy to tell right side up, (you decide which).

robc57

It flew last weekend after all.  Noise tested and range checked, I started up the engine for a flight and thought the cylinder head was moving around a bit.  The engine bolts were coming loose.  I've used 4mm bolts in tapped engine mounts loads of times without problems, but this plane seems to be trying to frustrate me at every step.  Cowl off, longer bolts with locknuts fitted to hold the engine in tight (thanks Laurie), cowl back on and....




2 clicks of left trim.  That's all it took, and that was because I'd set the elevators very slightly out of line - easily corrected after landing with the twin snake setup.  A very smooth flying model, but man those flicks are fast!  All culminating in an absolute greaser of a landing, my best in a long time.  Unfortunately rain stopped play before I could get any more air time.
It was a good day, the NIB OS61SF in the Tornado got run in and was pulling like a train, the AT-6 got flown with it's Robart legs and HK $7.99 electric retracts (looked good and worked a treat), and the Skybolt was a definite hit with the other club members.  More importantly I can't wait for the next chance to see just what else it can do.
One thing I found, the struts were tight to get out of the wing - result one minor puncture in the lower wing from when the right strut finally came loose.  I've trimmed a couple of mm off the front locating wires, this makes it much easier to assemble/dissemble.

Zor

On mineI have epoxyed blind nuts behind the firewall so they do not fall off when engaging the screws and used nylon locking nuts behind the hidden nuts.

I have access the the rear of the firewall because of a hatch on the fuselage bottom between the cowl and the landing gear.

Enjoy your flying a super model.

Zor

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

Hey, I forgot to post this but last weekend I got my Skybolt back in the air! Again, here's a video of this plane from back in January when I was still first getting used to her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZyIC...ature=youtu.be .

On July 4th, I had an engine out condition right at the bottom of a spin and couldn't make it back to the runway. The plane went down in deep grass, was thrown back up into the air, flipped on it's back in a bit of a cartwheel and came in tail first, inverted. A luckier man hasn't been born, the fuse was intact, the wings were both intact, the cabanes and wing struts were still solid. Is this a strong airplane or what? All that happened was that I crushed the rudder and had some damage in the tail fin and fuselage/fin fairings. Oh yeah, the heavy duty TNT landing gear was slightly tweaked too.

I found that the wrist pin had seized in the connecting rod of this 20 year old OS 1.20 E Surpass. I guess I can pardon the old gal for finally having a bad day! The engine was completely disassembled, cleaned, polished, all new bearings installed, wrist pin and connecting rod cleaned and polished and it runs like a new engine. The surprising thing was how little wear or deposits were found inside this old gal.

I cut the old rudder away from the Dubro Hinge Points, leaving the hinges intact. I broke the remaining balsa off the hinge points then used a wire brush on the Dremel to clean the Hinge Points down to the plastic. I found the tail post was snapped, the left side rudder to fuse fairing glue joint was broken and the right side fuse fairing had multiple fractures. Opening the tail post fracture, I injected some medium viscosity CA and seated everything back in place. Then I wicked thin CA back into the left fin/fairing joint. The right side fairing was my big worry but after lifting the pushed in portion of the fairing back in line and wicking in more thin CA, a little filler was all it took to make things look good. Best of all, everything felt solid and I didn't even need to add a ply spline in the tailpost as I had been planning.

To be honest, the only visible difference is that the "Super Skybolt" graphic on the tail is now black instead of red as it was in the video. When my buddy Mike at GlowPlugBoy RC cut the graphics for me he accidentally made a set in black before making the red that I had requested. I filed these away in case of just such a circumstance. He offered to make me another set in red after the rebuild but, come on Mike, I've got these. Hey, thanks Mike for giving me your rejects!!! Folks, if you need graphics, contact Glowplugboy! http://gcbmrc.com/index.htm Mike is cool for lots of things, estates, specialized glow fuel, graphics and all around great guy!

So I get it all together and last weekend I fly my baby again. Oh, she's as sweet as ever! Listen closely to the video posted above and at 2:12, after a double snap you'll hear me shout "Sweet!". At 2:22 you'll hear me shout "It's so sweet man!" All this while I had no idea that I was being filmed. This video was taken before I was really in touch with this plane. When I watch it now, compared to how I fly it now, it seems stiff and, well I was still leaning the plane. But she turned out to be quite a sweetie.

Yep, she's as sweet as ever!

Dave

robc57

Dave, it's nice to know all that weight is serving a purpose come crunch time, leaving a minimum of repairs to be done.

Skybolt evolution - I started out with an older ASP 120 four stroke but even with on-board glow I couldn't get a smooth transition from 1/4 to 3/4 throttle so I treated myself to an OS FS120 surpass pumper.  As I fly from grass I stuck a Master 14*9 3 blader on to reduce the grass trimmings thrown up on take off and landing.  What a great combination!  As the OS is a few ounces heavier than the ASP I've taken a couple of ounces of lead out of the nose but I think it still needs another couple removing.  Currently it hangs level when suspended 1/2" forward of the top of the rear cabane strut.  What did concern me yesterday was that it carried on spinning a full turn after centring the controls, is that the nature of the beast or am I getting near the safe rear limit for the balance point?  Everything else about it tells me to take a little more nose weight out but I'm wondering how tolerant this heavy beast will be?

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

Interesting, what kind of RPMs are you getting from the Surpass with the 14x9 three blade? I'm running a MA 15x7 three blader on my 20 year old Surpass and it feels pretty good at about 8k.

I haven't really noticed much additional spinning after I release but it has been a while since I've done spins. And then again, one turn probably wouldn't bother me much as I used to fly a plane that would take 5 or more turns to come out of a flat spin! It'll be a couple of weeks before I'll be able to get back to the field. If nobody answers before then I'll try to do some spin testing to see just how quickly the rotation stops.

Dave

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

WooHoo! I have been holding off until the deed was done, but went and picked up my Super this morning. Currently pulling the receiver and battery out of my regular 'Bolt for installation in the new machine. That one is up for sale to make room.

There are a few issues I will be dealing with before the maiden. Frankly, those quick links will be chucked in favor of some more reliable hardware and I will be looking for a spare main gear to mount the skis on for the upcoming winter.

All told, with the Saito 100 up front this one should be a blast. I'd done some very quick circuits with it a while ago, but never put it through the paces. Can't wait.

Now, if the weather would only cooperate. I'm starting to feel like Joe Shlobotnik here.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

After a week of "Tweaking" it's ready for the first flight. I had to make some changes again, the first was to bond down the canopy. It was only held down with the 4 screws and consequently would lift during flight to deposit any oil and crud in the cockpit. I also suspect the canopy would soon crack from the stress.

Those soft foam wheels got tossed in favor of some better feet. The tailwheel is now a bit larger to handle the grass field. The stock wheel hub was cracked anyway.

I also replaced the stock interplane links as I never liked them to begin with and the hogged out holes meant the cut down controls had to be replaced

The final mod was to run a completely new antenna guide tube to prevent it getting caught in the controls or linkage to the motor or tail.

EJWash1

My Feedback: (3)

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like a good chance for a maiden on the Super later today. Was getting everything ready last night and due the fact the wings have to come off to fit the plane in the car I suspect there is a need for a better way to attach the top wing to the cabanes. The 6-32 bolts or nylock nuts will wear every time and likely be dropped to get lost in the grass, so I wondered if anyone has come up with a better idea yet.

Zor

Hello guys,

I like the method used by Paul Carlson to install the wings on the Great Planes Skybolt.
Only two nylon screws for the bottom wing and then the top wing goes on without any tools.

The original receiver battery pack 1100 mAh has ended up with two dead short cells.
After charging the voltage was 2.5 volts. I opened it and proved that two of the cells were reading next to zero volts.

That pack is sitting behind the landing gear springs in the picture.

I bought a 4.8V pack and a 6.0 V pack and installed the 6 volts pack.

I had to also buy a 6 V charger.

It could have been interesting if the shorts had taken place while in flight .

It is more likely that the shorts developped during charging due to localized heating at some spot in the cells.

The hatch modifications I made are so convenient. Remove the bottom little screw of the cowling, loosen the screw at the spring one turn, turn the metal tab 90 degrees and the hatch comes right out.

Zor

P.S.: I do not know why I cannot write a caption to the picture.
Also "upload more files" in edit mode does not work here for me.

Editing again 13 Oct 2012 at 19:10 EDT trying to add a picture.and trying to write a caption to the existing picture.
When I click "Upload More Files" nothing happens.
I do not know if it is me but I do not think so.
I can edit adding text but pics have a problem.

Anyon else has this problem ?

Zor

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

Well, even with some borderline weather I maidened the Super today. A bit of trimming required and was more than I though necessary until I realized the trim does not affect the second aileron servo on the aux channel.

Other than that I found it needs a LOT less elevator than expected. Felt if I honked on it the plane would swap ends. Those ailerons on the upper wing sure make a huge difference in roll and inverted was a non event. With no aileron differential rolls were relatively true down the axis with no adverse tendencies at all. Have to say first impression is this is a completely different bird than my Sig 'Bolt.

Despite that I made the best greaser landing of the year.

Zor

Deleted text and pic.

It was a duplicate of post #1597

Zor

Zor

Please disregard this posting.
I am trying to add a pic to previous posting (#1597) and find a way of adding a caption to the picture.

I am also trying to delete the picture attached here.

Zor

Edit ___I found how to remove the picture that was in this posting.

I still do not know how to add a picture to previous posting and add captions.

Any help ?

Zor

RCKen
Please delete whatever you wish but where do I find how to add pic and caption ?
Thanks.
Zor

gasayers

Just popped back to say I seem to have fixed the exhaust problem and now have quite a few fantastic flights clocked up on this plane.
It is such a great plane to fly (under statement). It just does exactly what it's asked every time. After waiting so long to get a biplane I now wish I'd done it years ago.
I've set my cog further back than recommended but it seems to love it. os 90 in the front and no lead anywhere. 6" pitch prop allows it to land on a dime. Awesome!!
Thanks for help and advice. I've recommended this plane to all my friends and they agree it looks perfect. (Can you tell I like it?)
cheers
Glen

Zor

Hello Glen,

I scrolled way back but could not find if you have a built up kit or an ARF.

If a kit, which one ?

Zor

gasayers

Hi Zor, have to confess it's an arf. Bought it and a new os90 of a guy who'd had it 1/4 built in his garage for 3 years.

Cougar429

My Feedback: (3)

gasayers, welcome to the bipe club. They are lots of fun. Finally retired the trusty Sig Bolt after 330+ flights and maidened the new Super last Saturday. Saves me having to tear into the Sig trying to add upper ailerons and use that time for other projects.

Now if I can just get the new van so I don't have to assemble and disassemble it for transport life would be great.

Zor

Hi gasayers,

Saying it is an ARF is not a confession .

So I now understnd that it was a kit that the fellow had built only about 1/4 .

You consider it was an "ARF for you" since it was partly built and I suppose you had to finish building the kit.

Is it a Sig or a Great Planes ? I only know these two having made such a kit.

Zor

gasayers

It's the great planes plane. It definitely hadn't flown as the ailerons wern't glued and no hardware fitted at all. I've bought all the fittings and wires to do your rigging mod but haven’t got around to doing it yet.

One of the other great things about this is it fits in the surf in one piece. No assembly time at the field. Very cool. I put a "shelf" type arrangement in the back of the truck so it fits two fully assembled nitro planes, trex 700 and an edf jet.

Zor

The kit or the ARF ?

Zor

gasayers

arf

Zor

kit