Dynamo

May I ask which of the Rustoleum range of paints you used for the cowl. Is it fuel proof by itself or did you have to have a fuel proofed clear coat over it?


Tony

beepee

I used spray can yellow, red, and black. All are fuel proof around gasoline. Not good around LockTite solvent, but that shouldn't get in the way.

Bedford

Wnuk

All Rustoleum paint is fuel proof to the best of my knowledge. I did use a clear coat over the paint, but that was for a better looking finish & not for fuel proofing.

Jim

mikeboyd

Finally flew it this weekend. Had engine run problems, so have to work on that, but no suprizes.

ekir

My Feedback: (1)

Mike

Your Super Decathlon looks great. I like the colors and I am sure it is very easy to see in the sky.

I have a G-38 that I could use on this aircraft. I need to get one on order.

Ed

Richardrc

It's a beautifull plane Mike. I noticed the cowl vents either side of the prop don't appear to be open. Do you have enough cooling? What engine are you using? I used a G38 with spring starter and Bennett muffler. Came out to almost 19 lbs. I think if I did it over, I would us the G26 with electronic ingition to save on weight. My plane flies good, but it is plenty fast with all that weight. Also, I don't like the Bennett muffler because it doesn't muffle anything. It's too loud. I wish that there was something to quiet it down and still fit with the Bennett cup mount.

mikeboyd

The engine is mounted inverted, opening the cowl above the bottom of the crankcase would be counter productive to cooling. The opening is directly in front of the the head, carb intake and top of the crankcase. With the stall strip on the bottom and the hole on the bottom three times larger than the inlet, I get optimum airflow over and around the head, where it is needed the most. Mine came out a little less than 15 pounds. It has a Magnum 1.80 cu. inch two stroke swinging an APC 18X6W prop. The engine is very low time, so needs some break in. The pictures were taken at our annual Cub fly event yesterday at Kingsbury Texas. This was the maiden flight. The engine was going lean on the top end. I may need to install a pump and may go ahead and install onboard ignition system.

I started this project almost 4 years ago, have built about two dozen other planes in the mean time. Almost lost interest, until the maiden flight yesterday. It seems a little nose heavy with the battery mounted dead center below CG and receiver and servos in the rear per the plans, CG is dead on the recommended amount per the plans.

I was feeling guilty about not getting pictures out for many months as promised. I had a major injury a couple of months ago that laid me up and prevented me from doing any work or flying. I barely got healed up in time to CD the event this last weekend.

I also put a Pheonix SD arf for the event, so my helpers and friends would have something to fly. It has a .91 4S and weighs a little over 7 pounds. Six different pilots got to rock and roll with this little hot dog. The weather blew us out on Saturday, but Sunday (Father's Day) was absolutely beautiful, as the pictures depict.

If the Fuji 43 would have been available when I started this project, that would have been my engine of choice. At the time, that size gas engines were so heavy, that the big glow was the engine of choice to keep the weight below 15 pounds.

I still need to trim fly and adjust operational CG, lateral, thrust line and so on. I copied the mixes from my little decathalon and the aileron differential and aileron/rudder mixes seemed to be very close.

Once I get everything worked out, I will post the details. This is a great kit and I proved you can make it light, though not very scale, with the monocote covering. One of the best builders in the country (Les Moore) is building one and putting a Moki 1.8 in his. Can't wait to get pictures of his. Mine will look like an old hag compared to the work he does. Hope to get pictures of his to share with you all.

Happy Landings,
Mike Boyd
AMA 7197

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

Looks nice Mike! Maidened mine Sunday and all went well. I did lose one of my stars on the stab but that's no biggie. This was a 2 1/2 yr. project, on and off.

Richardrc

And another great looking Decathlon, Troy. What engine and weight?

Richard

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

It's powered by a Brison 2.4. Had to add a 1 lb. up front to balance it. I haven't weighed it but it seems pretty heavy. Also has a smoke system in it.

Wnuk

Troy

What smoke system are you using and where did you put the tank? Mine has a TME pump but it's back at TME, not priming right. I never did get it woking properly yet. I use a 16oz fuel tank for my G38 & am able to squeeze another 16 oz tank for smoke fuel next to it up front on the tank floor. That gives me about 4 minutes of smoke per flight. Was wondering how you have your's setup.


Thanks

Jim

hy flyr

My Feedback: (27)

Hey Jim,
I use a b&b supersmoker. I have a 24 oz. fuel tank installed in the nose, per plans, and a 16oz. smoke tank over the cg. It balances fine with them both full and I run the smoke fuel out before the fuel tank goes dry.

Homepylon

My Feedback: (1)

Flew mine for the first time yesterday. A bit tail heavy, but otherwise no real surprises. I was impressed with aileron effectiveness, and ease of take-off and landing. Power is an OS FT-160 twin. Nice sound and more than enough power.

mikeboyd

Brad, I like your color scheme. Did you copy it from an actual SD or is it original?

What was your final weight, with the glow engine. It has got to really sound scale with your engine. What a great combination!!

Congradulations on a job well done.

Mike Boyd

Homepylon

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Mike: Thanks for the kind words.

I used the star sunburst patterns from the plans on the wings and tail, and laid out the rest with what I thought would look good. Still need to get some N-numbers on the fuse.

The 160 has more than enough power and sounds great, but I had to add 16 ounces of lead to the firewall to get the CG right. All up weight is 16.5 pounds.

Bordo

Hey Guys,

I am sold on this kit after reading this thread, mine comes tomorrow. Has anyone added a scale pilot figure or know where to get a 1/4 scale full figure pilot? I have done some searching but have found nothing yet.

thanks,
Chris

mikeboyd

I found a rather busty female, upper torso pilot figure for mine at the LHS, but have not used it yet.

I had purchased the interior kit, but lost the nice dash (after it was completed) in the clutter of my hangar. I also bought some GI Joe sized action figures from the dollar store and considered cutting the plastic shoulders off, and the hands and feet, then stuffing the clothing with poly fill and gluing them to the seats. My grandson talked me out of them, so end of that story.

Since my SD weighs 15 pounds 10 ounces dry, I decided to forget about cockpit detail in order to have a much lighter, more aerobatic plane. I went deadstick last weekend and came up very short of the runway in deep grass, bending the landing gear and other minor damage caused by the thick deep grass. I will straighten the landing gear, then reinforce it with music wire and J-bolts, before another flight attempt is made.

I may be going to a Perry Pump/Regulator pretty soon, if I can't figure out why the deadsticks. I will pull the tank out later on and re-plumb everything, this is something I guess I have to do and really do not look forward to, since the tank is pretty much built into the fuselage. With the current 100 degree days here in central Texas, I may wait for cooler weather and work on this plane in the fall. I already took over three years, goofing off mostly, in building it, so what's another six months or so.

I really didn't get to fly it enough to find out it's potential. It does have a fairly decent glide slope on dead stick, though, so look forward to flying some more this winter, when it's cool enough to work in the garage, I mean hangar.

Good luck with yours, It is not a difficult kit to build, just covering, with all the details I put on mine, caused me to procrastinate so much in finishing it.

Mike Boyd

RemoteJets

Hye There,

here a model builder from the Netherlands and a owner of a ARF Modell-Expert Super Decathlon

This Super Decathlon I`ve bought from a fellow model flyer who wanted something new and sold this one to me[8D]

The specification are:
wingspan: 2430 mm / 95.6"
weight: 5500-7000 g / 12-15 lbs
engine: MVVS 35 - 35cc petrol

Here some pictures:



(moren on www.*************** => Berto`s modelvliegtuigen => Super Decathlon

I saw this article and seen some very nice things on this Super Decathlon that I also want to add on my plane.

So keep that photo`s and info posted so we all can enjoy it.

Greetingz,
Berto.

Build-n-flyer-RCU

My Feedback: (4)

I just found this thread and read through it. I picked up a used Dynaflite Super Decathalon a couple of weeks ago for my Saito 200Ti inline twin. The plane has seen a good bit of air time so it needs a little work to get rid of the hangar rash, but it was locally built and flown and the guys that have seen it in the air tell me it is a great flyer.

I already mounted the 200Ti using a Keleo Pitts-style exhaust and it fits and balances the plane perfectly with the servos in the tail. The engine will spin a 17x8 APC near 9000 RPM which I hope will be enough to make me happy. I am working on fitting the new cowl and wheel pants from Fiberglass Specialties and also have a new windscreen and side windows on order from Dynaflite. The covering is actually in good shape and the few repairs I had to make were easy because it is Ultracoat. Once I get fresh paint on the new fiberglass parts and the wing struts the plane should look almost-new.

I searched for a good airplane for my 200Ti for over a year before happening on the Decathalon. So far it seems like a perfect match. We'll see how it does in the air in a few weeks!

Walt

RemoteJets

Here a video of my maiden.

Sadly the exhaust I builded myself cracked and fell off, with it the engine made a nice sound without it was a little hard []

This was my homebuilt exhaust:


And this is the maiden video [8D]
[link=http://www.***************/video/2006/superdecathlon1.wmv]Super Decathlon maiden 10-08-06[/link] 3min 51sec / 9.8mb

Because of the lost exhaust I couldn`t test the airplane to the maximum, but as I feel now it`s a great flyer

Richardrc

Here is an in-flight of my Dynaflite Super Decathlon. I have had many satisfying flights, even though it is a little heavy at 19lbs. I did post static pictures before but wanted to bring this thread to life again.

IronCross

Great thread.. Love the pictures of the SD"s... Please keep them coming...
I have a couple of the Smaller SD ARF's and love the planes.. I would however like to build the Dynaflight SD... The largest Saito I have is a 1.20... Do you guys feel this would be enough engine for this plane ?....

Build-n-flyer-RCU

My Feedback: (4)

I maidened my "restored" D-F Decathalon this morning. The Saito 200Ti is a good match, not quite unlimited but close enough to be very comfortable flying. I was glad to find that it fired right up and ran perfectly after sitting on the shelf for 1-1/2 years. I tried both 17x8 and 16x8 APC props. I like the 16x8 a little better but there was not really much difference in flight performance.

There's no way I would try a 120 Saito on this plane. It would probably fly but wouldn't be any fun. A 180 Saito would be OK, similar to my 200Ti. If I were buying a new engine then I would probably go with a YS 140 sport or a small gasser.

My plane weighs exactly 17 lbs with the big Saito in it.

The plane flies like a huge aerobatic trainer. Very easy and low stress to fly compared to the big warbirds and multi-engine planes that I have been playing with the last couple of years.

Walt

IronCross

Thanks, I was afraid the 1.20 would not be enough... Nice looking photos of yours...

Richardrc

Anyone know how to silence my G38 on the Super Decathlon? I am using the Bennett muffler, which only diverts and doesn't silence the engine.