profmb

Hi Captainmicom,
Thnaks for the tip about the lights - excellent!

akroblade954

Thanks for the advice. I had looked at their site before, but it didn't look too special. Always good to hear feedback from people who have actually seen them. Will send them an email to see if they can to a custom set for me

akroblade954

Hi

It was in RC Model World and, yes, a great review which was the trigger for me to stop hesitating and just go buy!!! However, the quality is only OK. There are some bad detail points that could easily have been done much better. Here's what springs to mind-

Cabin floor too high, flap+elevator+aileron servos all out on show, a basic universal main undercarriage, scale interior is unbelievably unscale, cowl lines don't line up, not much glue holding things together (be very careful to check inside - especially around the tail - read one of my earlier posts for more info on that), other minor quality issues with covering and control surfaces and the hardware pack is not too good (I swapped them for Pete Tindle fittings).

Don't get me wrong I love it. Its a great stand off scale model, turns many heads, flies very scale (I fly a full size Cessna 172) and gets the adrenalin running with its shear presence, but it is no TopFlite Gold Edition when it comes to the quality and detail!! And if you want quality, detail and size, the TMMY is the only choice, but you'll need deep pockets

profmb

Hi akroblade,
Thanks for this advice....Ok I now know what to expect..

Top Flight Cessna - I do not suppose wil take the 57T?...need an ARTF cos I am building a 25% Tiger Moth at present...what is TMMY?

Cheers

akroblade954

TF Cessna is 60 size, though I do have a 91 2 stroke glow in mine

Check out [link=http://tmmy.pantown.com/]TMMY[/link] and then wish you never asked!!!!

profmb

Now they do look the business - and I would seriously consider investing in one of them - but they are just too big. This is what appeals to me about the ASM - that the fuselage is in two pieces. I wil write to TMMY (thanks for much for this link) and ask what they might be able to do in this regard...

or maybe it is time to invest in an MPV...

akroblade954

You don't have to go for the biggest one, but then again.......

Best investment I made was a £1300 Mitsubishi L300 van! Doesn't take up as much room as a transit but has a 2.4m load length in the back

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

Hi.
I ordered one but i can't decide on the power plant.
I badly want to fit a FUJI BF-34EI 4 stroke on it but i don't know if it will fly it at least scale like.
I don't need aerobatics just scale flight and endurance (it is a University project)
Any ideas or opinions about the possibility of using the Fuji BF-34EI (2hp) or the Saito FG36 (3.5hp) 4 strokes?
Here are some specs on the Fuji 4 stroker (from the manual):

"The recommended propellers are:
22 x 10 wood, or 22 x 12 carbon
Other propellers that can be used are
18 x 8, 20 x 6
Typical operating RPM are:
20 x 6 Mejzlik Carbon Prop:
BF-25F: 1,400 – 6,600 RPM
BF-34F: 1,300 – 7,200 RPM
18 x 8 Bolly Carbon Prop:
BF-25F: 1,400 – 7,300 RPM
BF-34F: 1,300 – 7,800 RPM
Temperature for the above was 15°C, humidity was 20%. Engines were new, with
100 minutes of break-in running."

Thanks.
Chris

akroblade954

Hi Chris

I don't think either engine has enough power to safely fly the model around. I would say that, you may just get away with the Saito if you have a huge amount of space and good long runway and approaches.

My FTL 52cc 2 stroke single has enough power with the 22x10 prop, but I would honestly like some more for safety. I think the Zenoah 62 seems to be a good match, being heavy enough to not need additional ballast weight (I have 1kg on the nose with my 52cc, though it is a light engine) and enough power to get you out of trouble on a failed landing attempt!

I know the kit says 30 - 50cc but, in my opinion, a 50+ is required.

Good luck!

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

Hi.
I was thinking the same that's why i just bought the SAITO 57T.
I think it should fly it ok as i am looking for low fuel consumption, low noise and low vibration level.
Chris

akroblade954

Saito 57T should be great! profmb is planning the same power plant [8D]

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

Great!
I will receive the motor hopefully next week so i better start constructing a test bed for it.
It is a rather expensive engine though (950 Euro), my pocket has a black hole in it but i was planing to build a plane like that for over two years.
For example my Turbine powered jet took me 3 years to complete as i cannot buy the whole package at once and then again i can only afford mainly used equipment.
The 57T unfortunately is rather new so i bought it new...
Chris

profmb

Wow that will be some 'university project'...what kind of project is it? It is a beautiful engine - I have not had mine running yet because it was delivered without any exhausts!

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

He he What happened is that the project demands a very fuel efficient engine that has little or no vibrations and low noise in order not to disturb the people underneath.
The plane must fly for 600km (300km round trip, fully autonomously including take off and landing phases) and of course this can only be done from a reliable engine.
To say the truth i am a bit worried since the engine is rather new to the market.
The project is funded well but i couldn't resist and i bought one for my self which i will pay of course []
Chris

SLONLOW

My Feedback: (26)

Has anyone decided on using the OS FF 320 Pegusus on this airplane? I am considering getting both plane and engine as a begining New Year project. Just looking for some insites. I love scale airplanes and scale sounds from them. any input from anyone?

akroblade954

This sounds awesome! Have you got a website for the project? Can you post a link for us???

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

No i don't have a site because the project is partly funded by the Army.
The autopilot is the Paparazzi (http://paparazzi.enac.fr/wiki/Main_Page)
but most of the autopilot code is altered by me and quite a few sensors were added.
I promise that i will post photos here when the goods arrive and of course a video from the maiden
but this should be next month.
Chris

cubflyer

My Feedback: (5)

Does anyone know where to purchase this airplane? I tried the earlier links, but the kits are not available.

Thanks in advance.

Jorge.

hendrix

My Feedback: (2)

Here : http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...d.asp?id=28530
and here: http://shop.lindinger.at/product_inf...ducts_id=80460
BUT they are out of stock, they will have it (i emailed them) after Christmas.
Chris

cubflyer

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks Chris.

profmb

Hi Pegasus Models have got some coming in - they are in Norwich, UK. Ask for Craig - he is very helpful and they ship all over the world.
Cheers

profmb

Hi all,
I wonder if one of you can help me - I have just received mine, and started on the wheel/ spat assembly. However I do not seem to have the parts that are in the instructions....

Main spats - the instructions require two collets for each wheel - I only have two in total. There are eight grey plastic bushes - yet the instructions only refer to bushes for the nose wheel. I am contemplating using some of these to act as spacers for the wheel / spat clearance.

The bags of fixings for the main wheel comes with two blind nuts and two small bolts - but I cannot find anywhere a reference to the use of these - are these additional fixings for the spat to the internal plywood member that gets fixed to the inside of the spat? There is a hole on the plywood lining piece to the spat and so I am thinking that it is in here where a blind nut may get fixed. But the instructions make no reference to this.

The nose wheel axle is just long enough to pass through the forks in the leg. Yet the instructions show a long axle passing through the spat and fixed with a nyloc bolt. My axle is no way long enough to pass through the spat and the end of it is not threaded. So how does the spat get fixed to the asssembly?

Any ideas would be most appreciated!

Thanks

akroblade954

Hi mate

Glad to hear you managed to get hold of one. Are you still putting the Saito 57T in it??

My first thoughts are that they could have changed the hardware supplied in the latest batch, though that's not helpful if they haven't updated the instructions! Sounds a cheaper solution if they have??

I assembled the main gear exactly as per the instructions and I thought the instructions were quite clear and straight forward. The only slight modification I made was to raise the spat up 4 or 5mm to give it more clearance on our bumpy grass strip. Each wheel needs 1 collet each side of the wheel - you may find that the first collet is already on the axle??. I would say that it actually only needs one collet on the outside fixing and, yes, you could use a spacer between the wheel and the 'cast' nut on the axle.

For the nose wheel, I did it slightly different to the instructions, but only because I didn't want the axle bolt head and collet on show on the outside of the spat. So I put a captive nut in one side of the piece of wood (you may have to shave it down a bit) then took a 4mm allen headed bolt with a suitably long section of unthreaded shank, cut off the excess thread and ground the head diameter down to the minimum that was needed for an allen key still to work. I then drilled through the spat and wood on the opposite side to the captive nut to the diameter of the ground down head of your allen bolt, this needs to be a tight fit between the head and ply (note that you don't need to drill a hole in the spat on the captive nut side). Now the modified allen head bolt can be inserted from one side, tightened up and a piece of white adhesive placed over the hole. If you need to remove, peal off the tape and remove the bolt.

It could be that they now expect you to put a captive nut on each side of the nose spat then screw a bolt in each side, which nearly meet in the middle and act as the axle. Sounds a crap method to me and I would try and do something hidden like my method above....

Easy - well at least I thought so but reading back through my instructions makes it sound much more complicated than it was! Would take a photo for you but it is not very accessible in my garage at the moment.

One other point, make sure you get the main legs on the correct side as they are handed!! Study the pictures!

Hope that helps????

ianrussell

Hi

I am on the last leg of finishing mine, (pardon the pun ) the last leg being the Nose Wheel. I have the same problem as you, the kit I have does not resemble the instructions.
I am looking at ways to fix the spat on the nose wheel,and as yet have not come up with anything good.

The suggestion in post 173 from akroblade954 sounds a good idea, and unless a better one turns up I might adopt that idea.

Happy Building

profmb

Hi Ian
Akroblade's suggestion is certainly worth exploring. In studying the instructions early on and looking at the bits I came to the same conclusion - that one needs to go in from the sides, and so I oridered some threaded couplings of different lengths from Pete Tindall. But as Akroblade says - this means hacking into the spat and potentially weakening it. Placing a patch over the spat is an issue for me - perhaps one could make an 'access point' type fitting with fake rivets?

Another thought has been to split the spat in two along its length - then use self tapping screws to fix the plywood locating blocks to the fork legs. I would then epoxy a a plastic card strip along the join so that I could bring the two halves back together with epoxy on the plywood blocks as they come up against the inside of the spat. This would then means a respray of the spat.

But all of this means - how was it every envisaged that the nose wheel would be fitted with the parts that have been supplied - I think a call to Ripmax is in order...maybe an essential component is missing?

If I do not get any joy out of Ripmax, then I am inclined to go for option one and make up an 'access point' detail.

What are your thoughts?

Cheers