rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

I forgot to mention that Ireplaced the axle with roughly same diameter rod but, stiffer. I cut it a bit shorter than the stock axle and it's working out well. It takes some fiddeling around with the internal collar to get it right but, mine seems to be working OK. After adding the collars to hold the axle still, it should work much better.

Looks like you guys have already figured all of this out but, wanted to share my solution.

RJ

Chris Nicastro

My Feedback: (3)

I put a brass tube ove the axle, soldered it, drilled a cotter pin hole, put the wheel back on and cotter pinned a fake nut to the out side. It looks like there is an axle castle nut keeping the wheel on.
This took out any wheel play and provided a scale detail.
I use bungey cord for suspension and its really effective.
If you need a photo I can post one.

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Sounds good Chris. I'd like to see it if you have a picture.
I should probably take a picture of mine and post it for anyone who would like see it.
My priority at the moment is getting the engine running correctly on my Camel but, I'm waiting for parts so, Imay have time to mod. the left wheel. However, our weather looks good for the next few days and I'd rather be flying than fixing.

RJ

Jaybird

Chris,

A picture is always helpful!

Jaybird

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Looks like this thread has gone dormant for a few months so, Imight as well give it a kick and see what happens.

Iflew my DVII a couple of weeks ago and all went very well. The Saito FA-80 is doing a fine job and the bird is holding up well. I've figured out that she likes take-offs and landings from the grass rather than the concrete. She still tries to veer off course on takeoff but, it's easier to correct before she gets out of hand. Landings are a breeze in the grass. She tracks straight and true and those big wheels roll right over the rough stuff. She taxis well with the tail wheel mod.
I've been flying her with a 2 oz. heavy hub but, she acts a bit tail heavy so, I removed the 2 oz. and installed a 4 oz hub. If it turns out to be too much weight, I'll replace the 2 oz. and add some sticky weights to the engine box.
The FA-80 pulls her along at very scale speeds but, there's not much verticle. Loops, rolls, etc. are attainable if I build up a little speed first. She's fun and relaxing to fly and I plan to do a lot of it with this bird.

RJ

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Hello to the ....crowd? Where has everyone gone?

Oh well, here's an update on my DVII:
I took her to the club field today and got about 4 good flights. It was frustrating at first because Icouldn't get the engine tuned correctly. Finally had to take the cowl off and adjust the low end and that did the trick. The little FA-80 came to life and was turning the 14x6 wood prop at 8300 RPM. I hot rodded around a bit on the first flight and ran out of gas after about 9 1/2 min. flying mostly wide open doing loops, rolls, etc. The dead stick landing was uneventful except for the applause on greasing the landing ...in the grass of course. She is much easier to handle on takeoff or landing when on grass.
The next few flights were somewhere around 3/4 throttle or less. It's amazing how little power this bird needs to fly well. At 1/4 throttle she cruises along very nice and turns easily with shallow banking. She's just a big old lazy kite. Ilanded with approx. half of a tank of fuel remaining on the last 3 flights (10 min. each).
Concerning aerobatics, her rolls are more like barrel rolls and she requires a little dive to pick up speed to do a loop. She will fly inverted with much effort and almost has enough power to perform an inverted immelman. Of course, that' not what she's meant for but, she does her main job very, very well. Looking good on slow fly-bys and wing over turns. She dives very well and picks up speed quickly so, watch your altitude when coming down hill. She will spin but, wraps up pretty tight and, again, she comes down in a hurry.
I have a lot of fun flying this one and consider it a keeper. She's a great conversation piece and impresses everyone when in the air.

RJ

PS: Itried the 4oz hub and didn't like it so Ireplaced it with the 2oz. and will stick with it.

Azzir325

Still here, RJ, and reading every post. Just don't have much to say I guess.

Glad you're getting some flights in. It's the slow season up here in NY, AKA the building season. I DO get out once in a while. There's a group I fly with on Sunday mornings at the local HS parking lot. We mainly fly smaller electrics since the fingers tend to freeze if you spend time assembling a bigger plane, and if you get glow fuel on your hands, forget it! LOL. I also have a club which flys indoors twice a month too, so I don't get too rusty. And speaking of building season, I have a small project going on, a Pat Trittle Dumas DH 4, and have ordered a Vailly Aviation Stinson L 5 kit in quarter scale from Precision Cut Kits in NJ which I am expecting in January. My hope is to have the Stinson flying for Warbirds over Delaware next July. I think building the Stinson will be easier then the damn Trittle DH 4! I have a build thread on it if you're interested.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11...m.htm#11327497

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Rick

mr.magoo54

My Feedback: (45)

I have one of the ECOMrc fokker D-VII. I wouln't recommend one of these planes to anybody. The material is of very poor quality,they left half of the building supply's out
like Control horns,control linkage, gas tank and I lost count of how many nuts and bolts were not there. I had to romove the dowel pins in the wings so that I could sand
the ends of the wings so ther wouldn't be a gap you could drop a nickel through. The botttom wings had the same problem. The instruction manual , you just need to
throw that away. I still don't know what the CG is suppost to be. The manual said2 different amounts ,114mm and 143mm from leading edge. Your guess is as good as mine
I have been around the RC communty for several years and have build everything from plans to ARF's and this plane has to be one of the most disappointing plane's
I have ever layed my hands on. If anybody out there has build and flown one of these planes I would sure like to know what they set there CG at.

handyman 220

My Feedback: (54)

Hope someone is still reading this forum. I just picked up a DVII, after assembling the landing gear I have at least 1'' of music wire protruding from each side. On the pics I see posted it doesn't look like others have this much axle showing. Do I cut the extra off? I realize I need some space between the wheel and the landing gear legs but this much seems excessive.

bobhammerhead

Its been few years since I built my DVII and if memory serves me correct, I remermber cutting my axles. One sugestion I would make is to dull coat everything before assembly. It made a world of difference in appearance. Kept it from looking like a toy. (imho)
Sure do miss the old bird. A sweet honest flyer. Good luck with your build.

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Music wire axle? You must have bought the park flyer version. This thread is devoted to the 64" WS version and, believe me, the axle is not made of music wire. In fact, Ireplaced mine with stiffer rod because the stock axle was too easy to bend.

RJ

handyman 220

My Feedback: (54)

I'm assuming it is supposed to be music wire. I do have the 64'' DVII. Any how, I have already cut 1'' from the axle and the wheels are closer to the landing gear legs. It looked ridiculous with the wheels hanging out the way the manual tells you to do it.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

I cut/shortened them down, just remember you have to get to the "O" Rings, plus I added a washer on the inside.

handyman 220

My Feedback: (54)

I was also thinking of adding a washer and wheel collar to keep the o-ring from rubbing the wheel. I like the color mods you did to yours, little touches to make it yours.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

for the inside u just need the washer, works well. but make sure you notch the axle for the wheel collar inside the rim/wheel. then you'll be good to go.

handyman 220

My Feedback: (54)

Willey thanks for the help, I did file a flat spot for the wheel collar. Just have to find a washer for the other side of the axle. Looks 100% better with the wheels tucked in closer to the landing gear legs.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

your welcome, yes much better. i have flown many types of models and this one is right up there, great flying model.

Here is a vid I put on youtube if you would like to see...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwJlp...BJBEVTYlqqH4Ug

handyman 220

My Feedback: (54)

Very nice!!

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Sorry about the confusion handyman. Music wire to me indicates something small. The axle is too long and needs to be cut. It's also soft and it won't take too many hard landings before it bends. I replaced mine with harder material after the 2nd trip to the field. She looked like a duck waddeling down the taxi-way.
Oh, and those big, good looking, plastic wheels will break. Irepaired one by drilling through the mounting studs and holes and using small bolts and nuts to hold it together. H9 doesn't make parts for this bird anymore but, there are a few on Horizon's site but, they are getting fewer. There are some after-market wheels available so, if/when you need them you'll have to shop around a bit.

Everything Willey told you is right. The wheel collar on the inside is a good idea because it keeps the wheels from sliding left and right on the axle which can cause some very exciting take-offs. It can get especially squirrelly in a crosswind.
I added a steerable tale wheel to my bird because our club field has a beautiful 480 ft. concrete runway. However, I've learned that my DVII much prefers the adjacent grass runway to pavement. If the wind isn't straight down the runway it weather vanes very quickly on pavement. The grass helps to keep it from going astray. Once the tail is up she flys right off. In the air, lead with rudder and your turns will look very good. She only has two ailerons and they make her bank well but, the rudder does the turning.

Once airborne it's a beautiful flyer. I have a Saito FA-80 mounted on mine and it provides very scale power with enough left over for a zooming loop and/or immelman. Rolls look more like a barrel but, she will fly inverted with concentrated efffort. I get a lot of complements on it at the field when she's in the air or on the ground.
Landings are easy as she will slow down to a crawl but, watch out for crosswinds and be sure to keep the the elevator stick back once the tail is down or she can flip over on her nose.

I know you'll enjoy yours once you get her finished.

Best of Luck,
RJ

ramboman

About mine:
* replaced axle and external wheel colars
* torque 4014 with 15*8 prop 1200W
* 6s2p a123 under the hood
* excellent plane.

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Looks like this thread has gone to sleep again. Maybe I can wake it up?

I flew my DVII on Monday and had a ball. I replaced the 14x6 wooden prop (after breaking it on the first landing) with a 13x8 Master Airscrew. I also tweaked the low end on the carb because she was running a bit rich and wouldn't idle too well. End result was a few nice flights until Inoticed the covering coming loose on the under side of the bottom wings. This bird sat on the shelf at the LHSfor a long time before I bought it last year so, I imagine the glue on the covering has lost some of it's sticky-stuff. It's an easy repair but, haven't gotten "round toit" yet.
The Saito FA80 seems to like the 13x8 MA. I peaked it to around 8100 rpm and left it a bit fat. It was our warmest day of the year so far ....91deg. F. I'm running 20% Power Master and it seems to like it very well. Plenty of power and the fuel, along with some baffeling, keep it running cool.

RJ

Charles, AC6WU

My Feedback: (80)

I haven't read all of this post as yet but it sounds interesting so I will take thee time to do so. I have three Hanger 9 D.VII's in my flight. One has been heavily modified, one is being modified and one is stock for practice flights.

"U.10" is my favorite model, flies perfectly and has more than 60 flights on her.

I have to say, the first thing I did was get rid of the stock landing gear. Yes, the axle shaft is music wire (it comes in all sizes many of which are larger than this.). Bungee cord, heavier music wire and good wheels are the answer. It does not get rid of the "Fokker Waltz" when landing however. Knowing the planes landing characteristics and using them to advantage makes for some pretty nice wheel landings but when the skid comes down be prepared!

"Mimmi" is my second D.VII that's presently being "Lozenged" in the paint shop. My planes are hand painted and take a great deal of time.

I have a build log of "U.10" if anyone's interested. I hope the attached pics come through...

ramboman

I crashed my brand new one last weekend, during takeoff...
Just turning yo right, to the fence, without any control (lack of tail wheel ?)...
Shutting throttle too late...
Reparation ongoing...
There was no wind...
During maiden flight : lot of trim to ailerons... probably lack of side thrust ?
Powered with Torque 4014 and 15*8 prop... 6s2p a123.

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

Nice fleet.

RJ

rowdyjoe

My Feedback: (9)

I know exactly how you feel.
I lost a very nice GP Reactor Bipe the same way. I experienced LOS after takeoff and it crashed to pieces after a slow turn to the right that could not be corrected. It's hard to get upset when you know it was your fault but, it's another story when the equipment fails. Because of that crash and momentary LOSon another model shortly after, Isold all of my Spektrum gear and bought another brand. I'm convinced that the new DSMX transmitters work well with DSMX receivers but, it's a crap shoot when using the older DSM2 receivers with it. Another club member experienced total LOS using a DX18QQ with an DSM2 receiver and lost a very nice 30% Pilot. Contrary to what Spektrum advertises,I'm convince there is a problem with using the DSMX/DSM2 combination.
Good luck with the rebuild. My plane was not repairable.

RJ