fredo

Thanks mate, I thought that would be the case. It's kind of weird. Seems like the gold was painted over the dark green colour 'cos it appears quite dark as well.Basically, they painted the number first and then added that creamy strip accross the fuse later on on top of the number. Funny, it looks like it wasn't planned that way.

fredo

Here is some more.

fredo

fredo

Did some more work on the cockpit and the fuse. This is a very time consuming part, as I'm not using any stickers and have chosen to create my own stencil. It's not perfect but I'm Ok with it. Also started spray painting main wings. The paints I'm using are epoxy enamels in spray cans. It's less messy and I had some good results with them in my previous project. It will also get a clear coat on top of it. I'm not 100% sure if these colours are true reflection of the real thing but all I know the green is supposed to be dark green combined with cream. The ones I'm using are called Cottage green and Classic cream.

maekju

I like it, I like it a lot. Great job!

Calvinman

Looking real nice Fredo

fredo

Nothing seems to be easy. I was quite happy with the cockpit and gave it a final clear coat, before I realised, it somehow reacted with my top coat and the whole surface decided to crumble. Had to sand everything off and start again. There's no project without a stuff up. Well, not a big drama, it's just annoying when it happens. Anyway, I continued working on a tail skid and trying to keep things simple. I have used piano wire and a piece of spruce with the hole drilled right through its length, then cut in half. Using hysol, I clamped it together with the wire in the middle. I didn't want to leave it open, so I decided to make a fairing from a lithoplate. I used this stuff to make luvers on the cockpit as well. It's very light and easy to work with. After trimming up the shape, I have screwed it onto the fuse using small wood screws. After the touch up paint, I'm quite happy with the result. I noticed, the real Jeep has also something similar.

fredo

Today I have attached the rudder, spray painted UC and finally, the cockpit didn't come out too bad except that pink filler I used to build up the canopy frame.
I didn't think straight at the time and soon as I removed the masking tape ...there it was ...that lovely pink colour from the inside. .

fredo

And some more with dry assembly. Now, my main concentration will be the cowling, which will be a bit of a pain, 'cos the louvers on the top & the bottom of the cowling are wrong way around. The mould maker probably didn't realise this. The air vents need to be positioned for the air to exit not to enter. So, my dilemma is, should I cut that bit off and turned it around or sand it smooth and build my own louvers.

fredo

Here is, what I decided to do with louvers. I drilled and filed the holes first, then marked the area and finally cut off. Glued with epoxy mixed with micro balloons in reverse. I gave it a rough sand and filled some small imperfections with my favourite pink filler. All I need to do, is to give it a fine sand and do the same on the bottom. Oh, and the last pic shows the first time I put this beast on wheels. I really start liking the look of it.

fredo

I'm back. I didn't post for a while. With lack of time and other commitments it's hard to focus. Anyway, I have done little progress again. The cowling is now finished even with my made up shell sticker. It's probably not exact but for me close enough. Also, I have started installation of my radio gear. I made up carbon push rods for elevators and a simple pull pull for rudder. Next, is to install throttle servo and fit ailerons to wings.

fredo

This is how I made up letters on the wing. I don't think I'll choose this method ever again. It nearly turned to a total disaster. I decided to use self adhesive A4 sheets I bought at "Office works". At first, I tried if I'll be able to remove it from the wing and it seemed easy. After cutting all letters and slapping those 3 sheets on the wing, first I masked the rest and sprayed with black epoxy enamel. Well, what happened overnight, not only the black paint cured but also my stick on sheets. Boy, didn't I have a hard time to get that off without damaging the surface. In the end, I found warm water with metho spirit worked well but it took a while untill I safely removed it. Again, it's not perfect but it will have to do. As you can see, I'm nearly at the finish line. I did some preliminary balancing and it looks very promising.It looks like the total weight will be about 8.5kg. Now, all I have to do is to finish installing radio gear, do some programming and voila. If everything goes well, I'd loved to maiden her next week....providing there's no nasty surprises. We have a scale day next Sunday, it would be great if could get certification by then.

maekju

I told you it was going to maiden this summer
You have a great looking model fredo. I'm sure the maiden will go well. Post a vid if you can.

fredo

Thanks Maekju, I'll try my best.

fredo

Well, here she is in full glory. All programmed for 2 separate flight modes, engine seems to be tuned now as far as I can tell on the ground. The pipe gives it that extra grunt as I expected.
I re-checked balace and she is just a tad nose heavy. Probably about 10mm from the recommended CG. To be honest I'd rather have that than having it other way around.
So, everything is set to go, I just have to organise my heavy model inspector and see if he could do it for me before Sunday. I don't think I'll be taking videos from maiden 'cos in my opinion they are the most boring videos, you can watch but I certainly will take video once I get few flights.

Calvinman

Wow, that is one sweet looking plane Fredo

fredo

Thanks Calvi, I hope she'll fly just as sweet. It turned out, she is 8.3 kg empty weight, which is great for da50 on pipe. Should be able to perform unlimited vertical no problem.

maekju

Wow! Seven months work produced one beautiful plane fredo, really beautiful work. A model that turns out that good has to fly good. Good luck on the maiden.

fredo

Thanks mate, wish me luck

ARUP

Very nice early color scheme! Have fun flying it!

fredo

Hi folks, just a bit of update.
I have a bad news and I have a good news. The bad news is, I did not get certified yesterday as my inspector and I discovered the horizontal stabiliser is a bit too flexible for comfort.
This could potentially develop flutter in the air. So, against my will I have put braces in there, to make it nice and stiff. So, this morning we were trying to give it another go and then I discovered one of the soft solder joints come apart. Damn..... This never happened to me before but that's what happens when you are racing to the finish line. Anyway, this means I won't fly tomorrow on our Scalefest day but I might bring it over just for a static display. I'm really pi**ed off with myself, I should've picked it up earlier. Now, the pressure is off and I have ample of time to make a decision, what to do with it. Ah yeah, and a good news is, it's still in one piece.

fredo

Here is a couple of pics of our scalefest day. Mine is still sitting proudly itching to get in the air. As you can see I have reinforced tail surfaces with wire braces. I'm basically sitting on two versions. The very first Jeep did have reinforcement cables in the tail but only had half cockpit. I'm ready to maiden now but my work and weather crossed my plans. I'm hoping next week.

fredo

Hi guys, finally I managed to get this beast in the air. Again, there are good news and bad news. The good news is, it's still in the same condition as it was before the flight...in one piece.
The bad news is, it tries to nose dive every time I release the elevator stick. I trimmed it but after about 6 laps I decided to land. OK, back to drawing board. At home, I rechecked incidences and found that motor is -1 degree in relation to the horizontal stab. The main wing is +1 degree in relation to horizontal stab, which is OK. So, a bit of down thrust. The other thing I found, that extra bit of nose heaviness is a bit too much. I have packed the engine to match the stab using couple of washers and checking it with my trusty digital incidence metre. I have also moved the main battery pack from the CG area to the back where I keep my receiver. Now, the balance matches what's suggested in the plan. I'm not doing any more until I do another test flight. Could be tomorrow. Wish me luck.

fredo

OK, I have done another couple of flights after those adjustments. This plane is definitely not for beginners (at least not for now). I have trimmed it to the best of my ability but there's no such thing as letting my thumbs off the sticks. This is not the first time I had this experience. Comp Arf Gee Bee was even more vicious. There's just way too much torque from the prop pulling the plane to the left (it actually wants to do flat turns), and having only 0.5 degrees of right thrust (plan shows none) is not going to counter balance that. It needs more but that means redoing firewall so the engine can be mounted slightly to the left with at least 3 degrees of right thrust. Before I get into that, there are few easier options. I might try to mix throttle vs rudder and see if that makes it better. The rudder deflection (right) will have to be somehow proportional to the rpm of the motor. I might also try 23x8 prop rather than 22x10. If you guys have better idea let me know. I'm open to suggestions. Other than that, she seems quite predictable and lands easy. Next time I go out there again I'll take few pics and maybe a video.

maekju

I'm sure you'll get it all sorted out. Would love to see a video. Best of luck.