Kinner

Welp! It flew great after the motor kinks worked out. New radio was a bit strong on the ailerons but a case of dumbthumbs facing the sun and It just didn't have the altitude to correct. Another 10 feet and I could have pulled it out.

Had to wade a swampy irrigation ditch loaded with thorny something anothers.

Ray W.
Fleet Brotherhood #7

retransit

My Feedback: (18)

O.K., only I'm allowed to do that. I'm bummed.

Bob

Mein Duff

Not a pretty sight...but certaily looks fixable..the wings look like they are mostly intact...landing gear a bit tweaked

Kinner

It is re-buildable given some time. I don't think anyone could pile anymore sand and soil in or on that engine. Very soft cotton field between plantings so I have hope that no crankshaft damage occurred. Interesting , that the lower cowl broke loose and sheared off one of the lower crankcase vent nipples.

All but one of the ply wing jointers sheared at the joint giving some hope that lessor damage to the box beam is found.I'll continue the use ofply joiners and hope thatany futuremishaps , less wing damagewould occur.

I see a complete decover and rebuild of the fuse/engmount area. The landing gear repairs and beef up really paid off as you can see the gear wire bent but the attachment solid.

Rips in the wing fabric owed to the flex of impact but a 25 year old airplane really needs some good attention at those box beam spars.

Well, I always wanted to change a few things and now it will be an oportunity to do just that.

Still....

I'll add that the mod of the fuel tank to 2 separete pickups was more trouble than worth. First, It wasa dickens to get the fuel draw with each carb having it's own pickup. Even with an electric starter, she just wouldn't draw well for starting prime. Never had that problem when I used a single clunk. I think the vacuum of two carbs in one line to be more toit's liking. I often worried of the two clungs becoming tangled but that never occurred.

I'll return to the single pickup "Y"d to the two carbs.

Ray W

dabrown

Posting this here too...

Now have everything covered. Koverall applied with Stix-it, one coat non-taughtening Randolph butyrate dope, hair setting pinked tape, 2nd coat dope. Believe it's ready for color; fabric weave will still show. Won't be able to spray for a while until it warms up.

BTW, I was able to cover the top and sides with one piece of Koverall, except for the top front deck. I'll do that as a separate piece. We discussed this before as a way to avoid having to trim at the shallow angle between the top and sides. Koverall can shrink/stretch quite a bit but I wasn't able to take up all the excess at the front top.

Dave

Kinner

You filled the weave with only two coats.  Cheeky.

Nice work all around.  

Ray W.

retransit

My Feedback: (18)

Good job, Dave. Refesh my memory, if you've told us before. What is your color scheme?

Bob

dabrown

Like this one except forest green fuselage. I like it. I'm not going for competition scale I may combine several examples. They're all different. Yours is a specific example, but for others, it's hard to find enough photos of any one airplane.

flyboy_fx

I am going to join the fleet club I think. Someone offered me a 1/6 built fleet for $60. Has not flown yet, just used as a demonstration aircraft or something...

For $60, worth it I figure... Even if it needs work. Going to get it saturday!!!

What kind of power should I be looking at for it? Was wanting to do an E setup.

What do you all think? He says wingspan is 63.5" Is that correct?

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

Nice find for the price, good luck with ot!

Bill S.

jameighan

Ray,
I have been utilizing two seperate 14 oz fuel tanks with my Enya VT-240 ( 1 tank per cylinder ) and it has been flawless operation. I also use Enya R120 mufflers with the pressure tap going back to each indivual tank. It does take a little bit of plumbing, but is worth the effort.
FYI,
Jim Meighan

Kinner

Thanks for the tip Jim. In the Fleet, I suspect you had ample room to sit two tanks side by side? Secondly, is there a common fill line or do you treat each tank separatly?

I run my exhaust headers into some flex hose that is used for connecting toilets to wall fittings. It then fits snuggly into some copper/brass tubing. I never ran a pressure tap and all my tank setups were unpressureized.

Hell of a honker engine eh?

Ray W.

jameighan

Ray,
Sorry I missed your reply. I'm utilizing an Enya VT-240 with the 2 tank set-up in a 28% size Sopwith Pup and R120 mufflers on each half with seperate fueler valves for each tank.
The mufflers are hard mounted on the firewall pointed down with Teflon tubing routed to the exhaust outlets.
I'm still playing with the air bleed adjustment on the carbs. The PUP with 2500 sq in. weights in at 24 lbs and the VT-240 with 20/20 fuel has plenty of power. I think my next build will be a BUSA Fokker D VII with another ENYA VT-240. I still have 3 nib VT-240.

I'm now covering a Concept Fleet and that will be powered with a Saito 325R. I made many changes to the Fleet and I like to build robust. I just hope the total weight is less than 25 lbs. and should be ready for this Spring.

Jim Meighan

Kinner

My Fleet was about 26 or so pounds and with a 18-10 prop, the VT really climbed out steep and really had a time with it slowing it down.

Idled at 1,000 and maxed out at near 8,000. Scarry for me but the valves didn't float. If I went back to the 20-10 I could reduce the top end but wow! what a motor.

I had all my settings letter perfect but since I sent it off for major overhaul, I still fiddled with them. At idle, it smoked greatly and would load up and lose a cylinder. Any leaning gave me fits resetting the idle stop.

All in all, still a worthy engine.

Ray W.

jameighan

Ray,
Did you use a keep alive glo driver on the VT-240? I'm using one on my VT-240 and it's turning a Master Airscrew Classic prop 20-8 with 20/20 fuel. I have to review the log book for high end RPM with 10/20 versus 20/20 fuel. I'll locate those numbers and post later.

My Fleet in the bones with engine, gear and wheels, and servos weights a solid 19 lbs. It still needs Solartex covering, paint, batteries, wiring, pilot, receiver etc. I'm planning on the CG to be centered with-in the limits indicated on the plans as I do not want to add additional ballast
Jim Meighan

Kinner

No, I didn't run any onbd glow.  After I learned the engine and got it to idle, I never needed it.

After the overhaul, seems the settings were disturbed from that and I was in the process of dialing it back in.

Ray W.

jameighan

Ray,
I've posted these RPM numbers before with the Enya VT-240. I purchased this engine as a basket case and did 100% rebuild when you could still purchase parts from MRC many years ago. Anyhow, 10/20 fuel yields 6,500 RPM and 20/20 fuel yields 7,400 RPM with a Classic 20-8 prop at an ambient temp of 60 degrees F. The only issue I still have is to set the air bleed screws to get the idle down to approx 1,500 RPM. It's still cold here in central New Jersey and I will not be flying until late March.

My main focus now is to complete the Concept Fleet ASAP as our club holds opening day at the end of April with a building contest. This is a workmanship contest in scale, non-scale, and ARF catagory and to qualify you must be able to take-off, complete a 360 turn and land to prove airworthyness. It's fun.

Visit our club site at www.mcrcs.com

Jim Meighan

Kinner

Welp, the engine is clean and oiled, I've done a runout check and can't seem to see anything bent.  I got some parts from Bill Jennings who has access to most VT240 parts.  

I looked over the manufacture's stat sheet and reports the redline rpm is 11,000.  Wow..and I thought I was risking valve float when mine tached 7,200 with a 20-10.  10% nitro.

I think the TF large scale Corsair will enjoy the motor until the Fleet gets rebuilt.  Already built up and covered, only one tank in so I'll resort back to the 2 carb one tank system I've been using for so many years.

Ray W.

jbogdano

My Feedback: (13)

Anybody got a 1/6 electric kit they don't want? Willing to pay fair price and/or do a build thread.

bob418

My Feedback: (4)

who has an website for the concept models Fleet 1/4 scale

thanks

bob418

My Feedback: (4)

also can someone measure their cowl on the 1/4 scale fleet and tell me the height and width at the firewall and how long it is?thanks!!

Jb Stearman

My Feedback: (8)

Bob418

The Fiberglass Specialties cowl on my 1/4 Concept Fleet is..... 8"tall by 7 3/4"wide at the cowl.It is right at 6"long.

JbStearman

Check my gallery for pics.

smkrcflyer

I got the engine running on my Fleet last night. Hope to have it flying soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTyc...e_gdata_player

bob418

My Feedback: (4)

Mine is about 7/12 high, 5 1/4 wide and 6 inches deep mine is 1:5 scale and desperate for a cowl!!

Jb Stearman

My Feedback: (8)

bob418

What is the wingspan of your Fleet? You may have the smaller version of the Concept Fleet. If you have plans or can find drawings close to those demensions, you can "tweek" the numbers and build the cowl out of balsa. Also give Fiberglass Specialties a shout. They might beable to come up with something for you.

Jim