hipik634

panel lines seems very nice. I like the glossy finish. I will be at matt as I do not intend to put a serious amount of paint on it to get the glossy finish. it would also ruin my panel lines.
On the radio failuire - the memorial seems as a cool idea
What i have found about the failuire could have been these:
1) incorrect bind procedure -> made at home, where there could have been very different RF situation
2) incorrect input - i forgot my neckbase so i thumbpiloted that day, could have add a little rudder or whatever.
3) yesterday's flight was a success with no problem at all. I wasnt even able to get out of range in 90 secs of low power setting on trials. But the next model came broken anyway. The guy who just went over the runway for no apparent reason and caused me to break on last second not to kill him. Sorry wasnt much appropriate for me. We have flight territory and he just went there. It did cost me only a prop and a new engine mount, so nothing serious.
but have a look on idiot on the runway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtEUqdffCI&feature=youtu.be

BigTeeEldorado

First engine run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GApBna1AhA&feature=youtu.be Typical for me.....reason the engine quit......vent tube got a little too close to the muffler

G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

Curious Big Tee...any reason you left the od green anti glare off the area ahead of the windscreen?
Plane looks and sounds great. Ready to rumble!

acdii

whoa, hot stuff!

BigTeeEldorado

A couple reasons actually but hope I don't disappoint. I have seen historical pictures where there wasn't any so i'm using that as licence. Second reason is because I don't have any.

I would rather it be iron on to match the rest of the finish instead of paint and I am still asking around to see if I can scam a piece from someone so I don't have to buy a whole roll. You probably also noticed the red line is not there either which I would add if I put down the OD Green.

BigTeeEldorado

I thought you were explaining another airplane on the runway but it's actually a person!! Nice job avoiding him but Ya he or someone around you should have made sure you knew he was there before your approach to land.

Jealous of your flying field by the way. Nice set up!

G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

No disappointment...just curious. One thing about it, easy to add later if you choose. No matter, it's still a great job you did on it.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah I love it too!

BigTeeEldorado

Thanks Guys.....that is high praise coming from the experience you all represent. Much appreciated.

hipik634

Nice job, when will be the maiden flight? How much does it weight?
I am still building[ATTACH]2170071[/IMG]

BigTeeEldorado

I hope to maiden this weekend.... I've managed to run one tank of fuel on the new engine so far in the driveway.

It weights 11lb 8oz with full fuel

Of course I will post results if it happens.

hipik634

I am now roughly on 8 lbs with everything and it seems heavy

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Depending on what covering you use I think you will be fine. Top Flite shows: Weight: 8-10 lb (3630-4540g)

Mike

acdii

I got my second flight in on mine finally, well second since I put it in the soybeans in 2014. My confidence in flying it is getting stronger now that it no longer snaps over when I pull back on the stick. Interesting how little elevator it uses. I got up the nerve since my hands weren't shaking, to do a half throttle low pass at 10' AGL. Oh my lord does that plane look and sound saweet, and at half throttle she was moving at a good clip too. Its the first plane I have flown that has doppler when it flies by, and that is something! I still don't know how long that 125 will fly on a tank, I set my down timer at 7 minutes, or at least I think I did, but I must have messed up the settings since they reset to 0 when I turned the radio off. I was so excited when I landed I didn't look. The landing was pretty good, when I dropped gear, it nosed over unexpectedly, I forgot about the change in CG, and nearly lost it in the sun, but was able to recover and get it settled, then flew a couple laps with the gear down to settle myself down, then dropped half flaps and made an approach, but it was off center a bit and coming in too fast, so got some altitude again, went full flaps, made another go around and then did another final, and put it right down the center of the short runway, got just a touch of a flare before the wheels touched and was able to keep the nose up until it stopped. I finally got a flight in without putting the plane on its nose. Got close on taxi, one wheel got stuck and the plane turned a full circle trying to move it forward, so it got picked up and moved closer to the runway.

Wow, what a blast. I look forward to flying it some more, and will be more comfortable knowing how long a tank lasts so I can get the down timer set correctly. Last thing I want is a dead stick now that I can fly it. Putting the Robarts struts on made a world of difference too, I think it helped with ground handling a little, but even better, no more bent gear and stuck retracts. The plane tracks very well on the ground, at least when the pilot can keep it straight. I have to work on the takeoff a little, but considering I haven't hit anything yet taking off, I am doing good.

radfordc

My Feedback: (14)

That's light! Mine flew great at over 10 lbs.

BigTeeEldorado

[ATTACH]2170932[/IMG]Seriously jealous acdii. This was the weekend planned for my maiden and this is what my field looks like

acdii

Put some pontoons on that baby!

RCAIR

My Feedback: (43)

Great thread I have just started back building my Stang after letting it sit with the wing just framed up. I was having all kinds of issues with installing the retracts then life got in the way so I put her on the back burner till a few days ago. Now need to order some parts so the build will slow down but I am going to get her done. A lot of great ideas to help get this baby going in here. Looking to go with the LOU IV scheme. I picked this as I felt it would be very easy to see when flying. Plus love the way it looks on the Mustang. I need to find someone to get me the pilot signature off of her or at least a close up picture so I can make it myself. I saw she was involved in a fatal crash back in March 22, 2007. It was being restored after that. I just could not find any update on it after 2012 to see if it was flying again or still a work in progress. Pics of where I am at below as well. Just click the .JPG.




[ATTACH]2171183[/IMG]

BigTeeEldorado

Welcome I remember those parts, wasn't that long ago I had those exact parts on my bench. I do like yellow in the air too. I was actually thinking of putting it on the foredeck of mine but it didn't look right with the black and white checkers.

Good luck....we like pictures ��

BigTeeEldorado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfnEbxfx4ws&feature=youtu.be First flight and more than satisfied. The plane handled better than I hoped even with the extra weight. I expected the tail to come up quicker on take off but once airborne and trimmed it tracked perfectly. It is fast, as expected and I plan to try to wring a little more speed out of it later, but surprisingly the landing was softer and slower than I expected with about only 15 percent flaps. You hear Bob say "too high" because I expected it to sink faster than it did and I had to push it over to loose altitude. Most surprising of all was how sharp it pulled through the turns without even a hint of a stall. I had an electric P38 that I really had to be careful of in the turns or it would snap. I pulled one turn in the video that felt like it turned inside of its own length!! Not really but it did deserve a WOW

Second flight (not in the video) had an issue on an extended downwind. I had a camera set up to try to catch the gear coming down so I was lower and farther downrange than the first landing so i could fly a long final back towards the camera. For no reason I have yet discovered the fan stopped. I also had the flaps in already but no gear. My first thought was that without the engine to keep me moving forward I needed to get rid of the flaps. After that I figured I had enough time to put down the gear and hit that switch. Not knowing how she would handle a low and slow turn I elected to land straight ahead (going away from me about two football fields away). As best I could I judged the flare, saw some dust and recognized a tail section pointing the wrong way (up). I left the radio on got in the car and went to survey the damage.

Where I put it down the tracks in the dirt show I hit level and straight but she nosed over. I'm guessing a combination of not enough time for the gear to fully extend and I judged that flare too late. Long story short here is the damage;

Those struts are bent two different directions, even after all the hacking I did on the ribs in that wing to make the gear fit she held solid enough to make the struts bend. THAT'S IT!!!

I remember it getting a little squirrelly when I started throwing switches but hindsight has me thinking about another possible theory. As I mentioned there was no reason I have yet found for the engine to quit. I am using an optical switch on the ignition through the receiver. Coupled with the plane getting squirrelly I have to wonder if my receiver didn't get hit and caused my ignition to shut off. I use a data reader after my flights and on the first flight the reader showed normal hits in the 30's. After this flight the reader showed in the 600's on all antennas. Could have been caused by the distance sitting on the ground and the squirrelly part just my shaky hands looking for switches in a hurry. I'm just sayin!!

Overall I'm feeling happy about the performance and lucky I only have a few parts to replace. I'll let you know when I get her up again and confirm a few theories.

G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

Excellent! Congratulations, great job.
As for the engine cutting out...it sounds a little like the engine was sputtering from time to time. Bubbles in the fuel line perhaps?

acdii

Add more cooling? Maybe not enough exit area? I would agree that an RX hit could kill the engine. That's the theory I have on the Something Extra when I had a Spectrum RX in it. I would fly to a half tank, and the engine would quit, every time. On the ground, Never had a problem at half tank. I replaced everything including the engine, and it still did it. Switched to a Futaba, and never had it happen again. This is with a glow engine, and I setup the failsafe to kill the engine, or should say thats where it set the throttle when I bound it. The plane would also be a little squirrely during that time, so you could very well have had a RX issue.

hipik634

hi, nice flights. i have read something about my hitec aurora, that stated something about optiswitch issues, so maybe it can be something like that...:
meanwhile i would stick to old ordinary closing of carburator to kill the engine ...
[h=3]Optical Kill Lockout Update[/h]After extensive research and testing it has been determined that the unexplained lockouts, experienced by some users of the Optima receivers, were caused by RF interference generated by ignition modules used in gasoline engines and not the optical kill devices as original believed. As a result of this testing we have now released firmware version 2.01 that effectively eliminates this problem. While the majority of these issues were related to gasoline engines, Hitec strongly recommends that everyone update their Optima 7 and 9 channel receivers to firmware version 2.01 no matter what type of model you fly. Owners of Optima 6 receivers can have their receivers updated free of charge by the Hitec RCD USA service department.For more information on updating your receivers click HERE.

[HR][/HR][h=3]2.4GHz System Optical Kill Warning[/h]2.4GHz AFHSS System locks out whenused with an optical kill switch.
Hitec USA's service department has received reports that some users of our 2.4GHz AFHSS System have experienced system lockouts that have resulted in the loss of control of their aircraft. While there are several factors that can contribute to this, including poor power distribution or improper equipment installation, the increased volume of these reports has prompted an
investigation in order to determine the cause. Our preliminary observations have suggested that the use of Optical Kill devices in conjunction with ignition engines is somehow causing our system to fail.
In light of this discovery it issuggested that users of our 2.4GHz AFHSS system discontinue the use of Optical Kill switches until a determination into the cause of these failures is made and a solution is found. We sincerely apologize for this situation and to anyone that has been affected by this issue.

BigTeeEldorado

HItec actually reversed it's position on the Kill Switch possibly being associated with receiver lockouts and admitted it was their own system problem by issuing the following;

Optical Kill Lockout Update
After extensive research and testing it has been determined that the unexplained lockouts, experienced by some users of the Optima receivers, were caused by RF interference generated by ignition modules used in gasoline engines and not the optical kill devices as original believed. As a result of this testing we have now released firmware version 2.01 that effectively eliminates this problem. While the majority of these issues were related to gasoline engines, Hitec strongly recommends that everyone update their Optima 7 and 9 channel receivers to firmware version 2.01 no matter what type of model you fly. Owners of Optima 6 receivers can have their receivers updated free of charge by the Hitec RCD USA service department.For more information on updating your receivers click HERE.


I still think I had interference there are too many coincidences to ignore and I am going to re-bind with the engine switch in the "on" position this time.

Struts re-ordered and potentially here in time to fly this weekend!

BigTeeEldorado

I ran about a tank and a half on the ground in short (maybe 5-10 minute runs) and did a lot of needle adjusting over the course of about two weeks, waiting to get a good day for the maiden flight. Long and short of it, I'm running the longest recommended prop for the engine and initially even the slightest needle change had dramatic effects. After about the 4th or 5th run it started to get better and I settled on the spot it's at now. Of course when it gets up in the air and the prop unloads everything changes. I agree it sounded like there was some missing on a couple of passes but it was getting progressively better during the first flight. During the second flight I don't remember hearing it at all. I'm going to leave it set where it is and see what I get next time. As a potential reason for the engine quitting, my gut says no. Same for potential overheating, (acdii) there were no warning signs typical of fuel starvation or overheating neither of which happened in any of the ground runs or first flight. The temp gun showed 160 when I shut it down on the first flight and I was getting around 150 with the engine running in the ground runs.

Time will tell and I'll put it up here as I go.