Phaeton 90

I'm building a phaeton 90 I bought from balsa USA.Has anyone built this plane. The instructions are not very helpfull. they must be designed for a seasoned builder. I need information on CG, servo placement, fuel tank placement. I'm using a McCulloch wacker motor. Is this a good setup for this plane. Thanks.

BTW the box came packed with a slip to buy a video on assembling it for $19.99. Has anyone purchased it and is it worth buying?

phread59

Hello Phaeton:

The CG should be on the plans. It may not have a call-out(arrow with wording behind it).

However there should be a circle with alternaring black and white pie pieces on the plan. This should be the CG. Balance the plane there.

The whacker motor should be ok. I have never built one. But I think ity may come out nose heavy. I think relocating the tail surface servo's to the rear. And using a 1000 Ma pack placed far back in the fuse should do it.

Put the fuel tank behind the front motor mount fuse former. I would reinforce this firewall and the nose somewhat for the weight and vibration of the motor. Use your best judgement on how to put it in.

There are posters on this forum who have built this kit. I have thought of it many times. I just never did. Take their ideas as well.

I hope this helps

Mark Shuman

Jollidude

My Feedback: (39)

There were two flying in our area a few years ago. One was powered by an ancient Quadra 35 and the other by an old OS 120 FS. They both flew well with those engines although the 4-stroke one could just about stop in the sky without stalling. I have two sets of plans for the Phaeton 90. The CG is shown on the plan just under the top wing. It measures 6 1/8" from the leading edge of the top wing where the two wing halves join.

Cheers!

Jollidude

Rodney

I've built two of these, still have one about 12 years old with a Quadra 72CC on it and at least a 1000 flights. I had to move the firewall back about 4 inches to balance it with the big Quadra but it still will slow to a crawl on landing. A great flying plane, even at 17 pounds with the Quadra. On my first one, I had a 1.20 4 stroke, again a very nice flying plane.

Phaeton 90

Thanks for the help. I found the CG on the print

cfv007

My Feedback: (5)

Rodney, A 72cc engine on a Phaeton 90? WOW! I put a G62 on my giant aeromaster (23 lbs) and I thought I was overdoin it! That plane of yours must hover almost at an idle!

Chuck

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

A friend had one with a G-26 (1.6 ci) on it and it flew really well. No weight/power problems. Your Wacker engine should be in the 25cc range and will work great. The stock firewll location should work out fine for your motor.

I'm building one now for someone, and I agree, the plans/instructions are for seasoned builders only. The C/G is marked in a couple of places on the plans. Look for a circle with 2 black and 2 white tri corners.

The tank and servo placement is left completely up to the bulder. This is the way all the kits were planned out some years ago. At most, they would say something like, now install the fuel tank and radio gear. No pictures or descriptions. Ahh, the good old days.

Set up your tank in the forward section of the fuselage. Try to keep it far enough back from the firewall so that engine mounting screws don't hit the front of the tank. The #2 bulkhead has a hole cut in it that will act as a support for the tank. Use that bulkhead as a guide for the height of the tank. Add supports as needed, under and over the tank if required. I used a plywood plate with a hole cut in it for the fuel lines for a forward stop.

Explanation: Cut (4) pieces of 1/8" plywood (not supplied in the kit) 1-1/4 inches wide by the width of the fuselage. Place the tank through the hole in the #2 bulkhead. Decide how far forward you want the tank. Make marks on the fuse sides to note the tank location. Make reference marks on the fuselage sides to note the tank height (use the hole in the bulkhead for this determination). Install at each end of the tank a 1-1/4" piece of 1/2" balsa triangle stock 1/8" below the lines at the bottom of the tank, and 1/8" above the lines at the top of the tank, front and rear. Now install a plywood plate between the fuselage sides, using the triangle stock as a support. The triangle stock is not supplied in the kit for this purpose.

I'm bashing the kit I have to permit either the rudder servo, or (2) elevator servos to be mounted in the aft section of the fuselage. I haven't decided yet. I have extended the aft pieces of side balsa forward to stiffen the fuselage where the servos will be cut into the sides. You can install hardwood rails as needed inside the fuselage in the wing saddle area for conventional servo mounting. Two rails with tri stock under them for support would work fine.

Try to leave the top of the fuselage open as long as you can for installation access. The booklet tells you to close it up pretty early in the construction process, but with a little creativity, you will find a way to work around it with the top open. It makes it a lot easier to work with.

One of the nice things about kits is you get to put things where you want them, not where someone else decided they should go. The downside is it takes a little more work.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

I forgot to mention that TnT Landing Gear makes aluminum gear for the Phaeton if you don't want to make the wire gear. If you look hard at the wing plans, you will find that you can design interplane "I" struts for this plane and mount them using an easy to make angle bracket made from aluminum. Again, eliminating the "N" strut wires.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

I got one in the bones at a swap meet with a fair amount of hanger rash. Bought the plans and finished it. The original builder sheeted the aft section of the fuse which added a lot of weight, discovered too late to bother with. Total weight came in at 13 lbs., on the heavy side. I used a saito 1.20 in mine. Flys slow but with plenty of reserve. Also put ailerons on the upper wing. Huge difference in performace from others I've seen. Roll rate on high rates is very good. I set mine up at 0 deg. on all incedences. Flys great but I have to use quite a bit of down trim on the elevator. That should be fixable by changing the incedence on the top wing. But as it is now, I like it. Nice floater, lands at a crawl.
Edwin