G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

Does the bottom of your version still look like this one?

RCA8

Lookin' good. Ive decided to move my engine up also. Im just waiting on some 3" long socket head cap screws. the backing plate behind the firewall sounds like a good idea. Im also going to glue in some hardwood gussets in the fuse where the landing gear bolts on. That area looks pretty weak to me. Question... on the wing attachement, there is one blind nut on each wing for the nylon bolts there are two other holes in the wing that sort of line up with holes on the fuse. one of them is accessable to add a blind nut in order to put another bolt in. the hole in the back part of the wing (the add on piece) is not. Is that hole intended to be used for a carbon fiber stud as a centering post?.

cpreinfalk

It's about 15 pounds. No idea how exact my bathroom scale is, though. :-)

cpreinfalk

Who knows! I did find 4 carbon fiber (or really really hard plastic) studs that fit exactly in those holes, so I used them. I didn't bother with putting additional bolts in. I figure there can't be a lot of force pulling the wings out. 99% of the force tries to bend/push/twist the wings up and down, but not out. So the one nylon bolt on each side should be enough.

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

That's not bad, a little heavier than I had hoped though. I only have a Brison 2.4 without a home, so I'll have to wait and see how ballistic your setup is.

Thanks!!

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

Check this out, apparently your plane doesn't exist!?!?!?!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_81...tm.htm#8120318

cpreinfalk

Yes, that's it.

cpreinfalk

Interesting! I went to that thread and re-inforced what you said. Honestly, I like my version (the one that doesn't exist) better than the version they described in FlyRC and on the nitroplanes website, but what's the point of doing a build thread of a plane that doesn't exist??

cpreinfalk

Last night I secured all 3 batteries and hooked them up and tested the switches and all.

I even checked the ignition by taking the spark plug out, connecting it, turning on the ignition and cranking the engine to see if there is a spark and yes, there is a spark. So the ignition seems to be working.

What's left to do is:

- Fuel DOT
- Secure clevises
- Strengthen fuselage
- Secure servo extension connections

If the weather agrees with me, I will definitely maiden it on the weekend.

cpreinfalk

You gotta love those manufacturer/distributor pics of airplanes in wild maneuvers ... with a prop that's standing still, no engine and all control surfaces exactly straight ... :-)

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

I never noticed that! That's pretty funny!!! I really like the bottom covering scheme though.

cpreinfalk

Nitroplanes.com shows the plane as sold out now.

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

So does Raidentech, which is the same place from what I can tell. The weird thing is if I search for "Katana" at Raidentech it comes up in stock and way cheaper too!?!?!?! There is also a coupon code for 10% off if you google "raidentech". Weird, but it worked for me all the way up to the payment part of the checkout.

minitelemaster

Raidentech also has the katana at two different prices ($250 or $350), depending on where on the website you find it!

So the blue canapy katana is supposed to come with CA hinges? The pictures on nitroplanes website show pin style hinges...hmmm

Why would nitroplanes give up a plane for a magazine review and yet put almost no information about it on their site? Plus half their info is in metric even though their target customers are in the USA. Sometimes, no, change that, all the time, I don't understand nitroplanes.

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

I just read in the FlyRC article that it had "CA Style" hinges. My Great Planes Soucy 1.60 had CA hinges and I don't think I would install them on an airplane this size again. They lasted for quit awhile, but did eventually start to fail. Just go with pin style (robart) hinges and never worry about them.

bobbee0155

You would have to check that the trailing edge is wide enough to accept Robart hinges. On the Great Planes Ultimate 65" the trailing edge is designed for CA hinges and you cannot fit Robart hinges. You could fit the flat Dubro style though.

cpreinfalk

Done! The work on the plane has completed last night. Strengthened the fuselage with Epoxy, secured the clevises (I used shrink tubing), replaced the servo arm of the rudder with a proper aluminum arm with the correct length, put the prop and spinner back on. Tomorrow (or Sunday, depending on the weather), I'll have to run one gas tank through the engine on the ground to get familiar with the engine (it's new, plus it's my first gas engine, plus it's cheap Chinese), so I left the cowl off. I'll take the cowl with me to the field, because after the ground test of the engine, I'll fly it with the cowl.

Hinges: My first plane (last year) was a no-name Chinese .46 size Katana from eBay and I didn't know about CA hinges and I bought pin style hinges in the hobby shop (didn't know what those weird white rectangles are that came with the plane; plus the manual didn't mention the hinges :-) ), so I put pin style hinges on my first plane. Those were the best hinges I ever put in, until the Katana of this build thread, which came with pin style hinges. If this plane came with CA hinges, I would have replaced it with pin style hinges, no doubt about that.

Anyway, either tomorrow or on Sunday I will maiden it and will post videos to this thread.

I'm excited!!

cpreinfalk

Looks like the weather is going to comply with a maiden tomorrow.

cpreinfalk

bad weather today, but tomorrow it's supposed to be bright and sunny.

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

No rush. It's at least 5 months to comfortable flying weather for me! Take your time and make sure evrything is right.

Good luck!

cpreinfalk

Maiden went fine. Engine runs really well. In knew that the CG is too far back, but during the flight it turned out that it's way too much. Flyable, but the tail is really hanging down when flying slowly. But it was controllable (as you can see in the video). No aerobatics at all yet, just trimmed it out and then decided to land it after realizing that the CG is so much off.

Despite the CG, I love the plane. I'll add lead to the front and will fly it again next weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05nrLTTJxVo

G.P.

My Feedback: (1)

That sounds very promising! Glad to see that you got it down safely. I know that you are using a pretty light engine, but is there anything that you can do to shift things around and get some weight forward? I would have thought that going to a pull-pull on the rudder would have offset the light engine. Is this airframe just naturally tail heavy?

cpreinfalk

I wouldn't say that the engine is on the light side. In comparison to a DA50, it weighs a few ounces more. Also, the engine is a few fractions of an inch more forward than necessary (it just worked out that way with the standoffs). The batteries (2500mah NiCad, also not exactly light) are all the way in the front. So I would say that the airframe is tail heavy. However, I'm definitely within the weight limit, so I'm not concerned about adding weight in the front. As I said, it's possible to put a piece of wood in place so I can add lead right above the actual engine, so it should be possible to add not too much weight in order to shift the CG.

As always, I'll keep you all posted. :-)

BTW: When I first started the engine, all 5 control surfaces went out of control on me and fluttered like crazy. Huge interference. I had an experienced gas engine user to help me on the field and after initial panic (on my side), he found out that I didn't push in the spark plug wire all the way on the spark plug. Once he pushed it in properly, all interference was gone and I had no problems at all (obviously all that happened on the ground, not in the air :-) )

cpreinfalk

I added lead on the left, right and top side of the engine box. CG moved forward nicely. Will test it on the weekend.

minitelemaster

How much weight did you have to add?