330rule

The canopy seems fine, not perfectly clear, but nice and flexible.

I went with the 35 because of the space inside the cowl. Originally I wanted to use a dl55 but it was going to be too difficult to get it to fit. The 140mm from firewall to spinner is tight with most motors once you bolt on a muffler. A twin sounds like a nice choice. I also looked at the dle35 but again, it would not fit because it is rear exhaust and the muffler causes a problem.

I sorted the firewall on the weekend, so I should have the motor mounted in the next couple days.

Pics to follow soon!

330rule

Some progress!

I mounted the motor over the weekend. The MLD 35 fits well, only requiring some minor cut outs in the cowl and a rather large hole in the firewall for the carb. I had to shorten the standoffs that came with the motor and used some spare SWB spacers to get the exact length. If the motor was any larger you would to have to completely remove the bottom scoop which was something I tried to avoid.

The cowl was secured to the fuse using some 4-40 bolts and blind nuts. The kit came with about 10 20mm square 1/8 ply plates so I thought I would utilise some of them to hold the cowl blind nuts.

Next is to mount the ignition and hookup the throttle, and make a linkage for the choke.

Sorry about the dust!

330rule

I mounted the ignition behind the firewall with some foam padding and zip ties and cut a hole for the ignition lead.

The throttle servo fitted nicely next to the steering servo and I used some 2-56 threaded rod and ball links for the connection.

I decided on a manual choke (you could easily add another servo next to the throttle for the choke).I made a bracket out of circuit board and used a piece of brass tubing for a guide (with a plastic insert) and soft soldered it together. The choke lever is accessible just inside the air inlet of the cowl.

330rule

Next up was the Nav light installation.

Red beacon under the fuse. Red / Green lights on the wing tips and a solid white on the tail. As well as flaching strobes on the wingtips.

Very happy with the results.

330rule

The Lights

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13MTyLwBXN4[/youtube]

duanen

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Adam, she is looking good.what kit are the lights?. I'm in the process of fitting an RC lights kit to my ESM PC-21 and was just wondering which kit your lights were.your engine photos look great. what was involved to fix the fire wall. I also see that the retracts are in so I'm guessing they have been updated/fixed.great work on this bird so far keep it coming. I'm loving this bird., just wish austar would let me know a price and when they will be available

330rule

The lights are the Navigation + Strobes light kit from rclights.com. Here is a link: www.rc-lights.com/products/RCL5316.html A friend of mine has purchased another kit from the same company with landing lights etc and they also look good. However I am yet to see them in the air.

To straighten the firewall I used an epoxy / filler mix and just sanded it level. It's still not quite straight but the part where the motor bolts on is which is all that matters.

As noticed I have received the new gear legs. They have been redesigned so they should be fine now.

I still have to finish the cockpit and complete the installation under the canopy. But I am getting close finally! When It was together today I gave it a CG check... and it looks like I will have to add about 1kg of lead to the firewall (with the batteries behind the firewalll), a pain but I expected it. So I am going to try and reduce that by getting the required weight as far forward as possible. Maybe I'll get a heavy prop washer made which should help a bit. Also the model weighed in at 10.3 kg without the lead so I am looking at around 11 kg all up. The prototype was 12.8 kg.

330rule

I used a hanger 9 pilot, which I had to build up 6mm as he was a bit short. To finish off the cockpit I made some seat backs out of balsa and gave them a coat of paint. Fills in the empty space nicely. I glued the canopy on with pacer canopy glue.

330rule

Here are some photo's of the install. I went with a Booma RC Intelliswitch and dual Hyperion Life 2100 mah batteries for the receiver. I also installed an Ultra IBEC for the Ignition power and as a kill switch. The model is tail heavy so I chose to mount the batteries behind the firewall (although this didn't help much..). I also installed another life battery for the lights.

330rule

Unfortunately I had to add about 1.1 kg of weight to the nose. Even after bringing the weight out as far forward as possible with a plywood box. I also had a friend make a heavy prop washer for some weight right out on the nose. The fibreglass fuse is just a bit heavy in the tail end. This brings the total weight to 12kg, which is on the high side for the MLD-35.

330rule

Ready for the test flight!

330rule

Couple More...

330rule

It Flys!

330rule

Some More..

330rule

Last ones..

330rule

It flys well, the 35cc is a bit on the under powered side, but it is certainly plenty to fly it around. It is still very rich so once it runs in a bit I think it will be fine. It only took a few clicks of trim to get it flying straight. The power is a bit lacking but it did pull around a reasonable size loop, and slow and fast rolls are smooth. After some smooth low passes for the camera, I put the gear back down and tried some flap. The flaps slow it down nicely with very little trim change, they dramatically slow the landing speed. Once the nerves settled... the landing was uneventful. I had another 4 flights on the day. The only problem I had was the balsa seats I made came loose with the vibration, but other than that the model went really well.

A friend videoed the flights, so once I get it sorted out Ill post some vids.

duanen

My Feedback: (1)

hey Adam, great news to see her in the air the plane looks great flying. did you get a true final weight and what size engine do you think it needs if the 35 is just ok. a 40 or 50 .Overall including the build what do you think of her.I still love the look of this plane. Is the factory looking at the tail heavy issue for the actual production version.
nice build and thanks for the review looking forward to seeing the video, appreciate you taking the time to fill us in
Duane

330rule

Final weight is 11.9 kg. The 35cc provides realistic power, so anything up to a 50cc would be a good option. I would certainly look at a 50cc - 55cc twin as it will provide a lot of the required nose weight and should also fit it the cowl better than a single. My motor is still quite new, and certainly running rich, when tuned correctly it will provide better power. The factory is aware of the nose weight, but I did not use heavy equipment (small motor and life batteries) I don't believe they are concerned with the 1kg of weight I required.

I am very happy with the plane. The kit went together well, all the parts fitted well out of the box. The hardware was ok, I replaced some of it as detailed above but that is really just my preference. I am used to having more power available but the plane flew great. My issues so far have all been with the retracts. The factory replaced the rear oleos with a different design and they are now working fine. On the first test flight attempt the nose leg oleo separated (the pin holding the sprung leg in fell out), so I made the factory aware of this and just replaced the pin myself. I also have had huge dramas getting the retracts to work reliably, as they dont always seal, and when they dont seal they just empty the air tank in a few seconds. I ended up replacing the cylinders with some identical cylinders off a friend. These are also CY cylinders but he got some success out of them (they were actually removed for electric retract modifications so how reliable they were is still questionable). The test flights were all made on the replacement cylinders. I am told the factory is looking into its quality control and possibly an alternative. I think the units are standard CY retracts so I am told I was unlucky...

Cheers
Adam

330rule

Flight Video...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht4Fq53BMvw[/youtube]

duanen

My Feedback: (1)

nice flight Adam,
it looks like the 35 pulls it around ok. what prop is on that and how much ground clearance did you have.I'm thinking a larger engine will mean a 3 blade prop for the ground clearance. any thoughts?

330rule

19-8. A 22 inch will easily fit, I checked it when I considered a 55cc. Possibly even a 23 inch prop would fit with clearance.

duanen

My Feedback: (1)

that's good news, the 50 twin I'm thinking about swings a 20x 10(RCGF)

330rule

Sounds ideal! Bit of extra weight up the front and a lot more power. Also looks like it will fit pretty well within the cowl.

jcpflyer

Thanks for starting this thread 330. I just opened my kit that I purchased in 2009. Your information has convinced me that the Saito 125 I have will not be enough power. A few years ago my brother and I did the Air Combat thing (www.aircombatusa.com) so I'm hoping to redo the covering into camo.

Lars N

Thought I would give this thread a new start again. I came across this in pursuit of a model of Marchetti SF-260. Where is it best to buy this model? Have found some online stores, but shipping is totally extreme so quickly become very expensive.