cmoulder

Bob, get some skis!

I ordered some (didn't get them yet!) from Maiden Model Products and will likely be maidening my Decathlon with them in January.

Just yesterday I flew a small electric Extreme Flight Extra from the snow, fitted with the little Parkflyer skis by Dubro. If you haven't done it, believe me that flying off snow is an absolute blast. What a hoot just doing touch-and-goes in the snow!

GotSky

Well mine is ready to go... I was going to take it up on Sunday but the weather here would not allow it. 20+mph winds and rain... I hope to go out next Sunday!!!!.. Can't wait.. The new Moki is running perfect. Just fired it up on Sunday in the shop.. Turns a Zinger 22x6 at 7800 rpm. Has great pull... I'll keep you all posted and Maybe get some photos....

cmoulder

Too bad about the high winds![]

You did the right thing by waiting. Gonna make it all that much easier and more fun when you finally get the right conditions.

I was hoping to get mine before Christmas, but Dan posted on the website that they're not shipping until the 17th of December, and I don't know how far down the list I am!

Finally received the skis from Maiden Model Products and they're some beauts! A superior product.

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

Scott, I put the pic of the instrument panel on the post. I'm not finished with the detail work yet, but here is a pic of the panel in the plane so far. I still have to paint the interior gray & black.
Thanks, Eddie

fisher1648

Great idea on the instrument panel - I didnt think of doing that way. I may have to rework mine now !

Thanks for sharing -

Eric

sdossett

Eddie
Looks good. I keep NOT taking mine apart hoping for some flying weather. Starting to get pretty-near winter here in IL. I will keep your pic. Please keep me posted as you do further mods.
Thanks
Scott

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

Eric, Your plane looks awesome...... I wish mine was finished. Your panel looks fine. They can hardly be seen through the tinted windows anyway..
Happy flying days ahead,
Eddie

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

If you think it is cold in IL, you need to come to OKLAHOMA CITY where there is the ice storm and no electricity....... I happen to be one of the lucky ones to still have power so far. Nothing to do but work and go home to finish my decath I guess.
Have a good flying day soon,
Eddie

cannonball200

My Feedback: (36)

OK guys, I'm back in the assembly mode on the decathlon......I brought it from the cold garage work bench back into the house so I can get it finished for a low wind, warmer day test flight. I like scale airplanes quite a bit as I have a 100" J-3 CUB Hangar 9, a 106" J-3 CUB Hangar 9 (still unassembled), a Cessna Skylane 95" Hangar 9 (an awesome flyer), an SNJ (T6) 82" ( still unassembled), and the Decathlon.

Eddie of cold OKC, OK

sdossett

Keep on workin' Cannonball. I assure this this one will be worth it too.
Got out w/ the 60 trainer yesterday, no SD98. Two flights=frostbite..well near anyway... Trying to work through a little hammerhead/ inverted flight/loop sequewnce to practice for Warmer Weather and a BIGGER plane!
Scott

fisher1648

Had a good flying day today - we are blessed with pretty much year-round flying !

Question: Anybody else having trouble keeping it straight on take-off. Feels like that first day with a Piper Cub - the short tail seems to make it hard to establish a good heading on roll-out. With the larger engine (46cc gas) I'm probably fighting some torque effects too. I struggled even without any crosswind. I'm on rudder low rates - by the book throws.

We got to looking close and the landing gear puts the main wheels at a toe-out condition - enough to see clearly. I'm thinking this is impacting its directional stability on the ground and encouraging it to "wander". To experiment I made up some tapered shims to get the axles oriented to eliminate the toe-out. I'm going to fly it again tomorrow and will post the results.

Am I on the right track ? Or are Decathlons like Cubs in that you need one step ahead of the rudder on take-off ?

PS - I added a bunch of expo (-30%) to the rudder to see if that would help - it seemed to make it tougher.

Any tips for making nice take-off rolls with a short-coupled taildragger are appreciated

Eric

mobyal

Roll in the power SLOWLY and SMOOTHLY and stay on the rudder. High-powered (relatively speaking) tailwheel aircraft are really susceptible to torque if you don't apply the power smoothly. I've got a good bit of time in J-3s and some in Stearmans (full scale) and I swear the biggest squirrel on the ground I've ever dealt with, full scale or RC, is the H9 80" J3 w/ the Evo 46 if you put the power on in a hurry!
Jusrt keep practicing; it's really kind of fun to run them around on the ground on two wheels!
Remember, slow and smooth. Rudder, rudder, rudder.

fisher1648

My take-offs improved dramatically today. The biggest factor was, as Mobyal advised, go easy on the throttle and be smooth. Adjusting the toe of the wheels definately helped the initial roll-out and made it so i wasnt needing to be all over the rudder right away.

I found that gently and slowly rolling on the throttle to about 1/3 power and holding a little elevator made for the best take-offs. I'm usually worried about a tip stall or snap (trying to break ground too early) but I'm plenty nose heavy and it appears very stable at that power. I also tightened up the tail wheel springs so it steers more positive. The rudder was set at high rates (by the book) with no expo.

If I dont hold a bit of elevator it has a tendency to drop the left wing before breaking ground - I suspect that's the engine torque taking over. A little elevator seems to balance that effect.

I had some near perfect, on-heading, wings level, scale like take-offs today

But, the day wasnt without drama. As seen in the attached pic the strut tab came apart. Seems the soft alum didnt hold up well. I'll replace with some better material. Luckily, I noticed it before any collateral damage !

Gauch

Does anyone have any difinitive information on the Decathlon shipping status?

Gauch

Can you update the RCUniverse forum that all the Decathlon orders were shipped yesterday and today. We will be sending UPS tracking numbers to those we have emails for.

Thanks,

Dan Speers
www.rcguys.com

cmoulder

Thanks for checking. I am on the e-mail list and have paid in full, but no notification of shipment yet. Must be backed up.

cmoulder

Eric, according to UPS my Decathlon is arriving today, so I'll be assembling soon!

Now that you've flown yours a few times, how does the right thrust (and down thrust) seem to be working out with the Brillelli? Do you plan to add any, or is the built-in thrust pretty good?

Thanks.

fisher1648

I'm happy with the thrust as it is. I dont notice any issues regarding throttle transition and trim, etc....

Seems good/normal to me.

I wonder if the cowling lines up better in the 2nd batch ?

Eric

rbuhrman

My Feedback: (8)

UPS just brought mine. Looks real nice. I'm going gas for power. I have a Brison 2.4 (40cc) but that might be a bit much for this airframe. I also have a Zenoah G-26 but that may not be enough considering I will want to be putting floats on this thing too. Any ideas? How's the vibration with the gas engines? Thanks and Happy Flying!

jbarnes

I've been flying mine all Summer with a Fuji 43. All I did was put the fuse on its nose and inject some on the inside edge of the firewall (from the inside) to beef up the hot glue they use when building the ARF. I've got about 30 flights on mine and have had no issues with a gas motor of this size. One word of caution though, both of my airlieon servo blocks came loose after about 15 flights. I'd throw some epoxy on those blocks to avoid that potential issue. Excellent flying plane with great looks and superb quality right out of the box. Just wish they hadn't put that RC Guy's decal on the side of the thing. Have fun, Jerry.

rbuhrman

My Feedback: (8)

Sounds good. Thank you Jerry. I think I'll go with the Brison. I refuse to add dead weight to a plane so I may have to mount the battery pretty far back to balance. Did you have any issues there?

mobyal

That decal peels right off. Pick away at a corner until it lifts enough to grip it; if necessary, apply some heat. Comes off real easy.
Al

pzar

Has anyone flown one with a G-26 yet.....is there enough power ? I want to use this as a glider tow plane....anyone have any thoughts ?

cmoulder

Thanks again for the info, Eric.

Mine finally arrived this evening at 7 pm. UPS running even later than usual for the holidays.

Got the plane de-boxed and everything looks fine. I was a little worried because the outer box looked as if it had been roughed up a bit, but the packing must have done the trick.

Overall first impression is very good. Well made, but as usual with most ARF's these days the grain of the shear web sheeting between the wing spars seems to run the wrong way. Not too worried, however, as this is not a 3D plane and won't get slammed around at all. IMHO, the glue in the fuse looks better than average, and the firewall has some epoxy on it. It will need a little additional hit with medium CA, but not extensive reinforcing as many ARFs require.

My wife is in retail and has to work this weekend, and the weather forecast looks crappy, so guess what I'll be doing the next couple of days??

EDIT: I just test-fitted the cowl to the fuse and the lines match up very nicely.

rbuhrman

My Feedback: (8)

Haven't flown my Decathlon yet but had a G26 on my H9 Clipped Wing Taylorcraft, same weight, 15lbs. It flew OK but had little or no vertical. It would not go into a loop from level flight. I'm having the same question with my Decathlon.....want to go gas but G26 is not really enough and 40cc might be too much. Think I'll go with the 40cc though, since I'll be adding floats later.