thnilsen

Keep at it Mike! Your Ultimate is looking better and better by the day.

I had a re-maiden of mine today - at least maiden with the cowling and Pitts muffler. Did plan on doing the re-maiden yesterday, but the ultimate cought a bit of a hangar-rash while packing the car to go to the field. The elevator took a beating and had to have some minor surgery. Anyway, flight tonight went well with the exception muffler loosening up during flight. Ihalf expected this to happen. Will to the gasket seal method on it now. One thing Ihad not planned for was the glow plug position. Once the muffler is mounted none of my existing glow plug clips will attach very easily as the pitts muffler is in the way. Will have to come up with something smart.... Suggestions anyone?

As you can see from the picture my eldest son came with me. He is the only one of two that is interested in flying. Bought him a Fun Cub year and a half ago for his 7th birthday which he now tosses around on his own. The last few weeks he has more or less only been doing landing practice, as is evident by the angle of the landing gear on the Fun Cub. :-).

maukaonyx

Maybe you need something like this:
http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Def...ProdID=HAN3025

While I have not used one, I have seen others do so, and they make it easy to get your inaccessible glow plug energized. BTW your Ultimate is looking great! Jon

bigtom802l

My Feedback: (1)

Hello all, 

I am in need of some advise and pictures if available.  I was out flying my ultimate this past weekend which was a blast by the way and when i was cleaning it up at the end of the day i noticed that the forward left side cabane on the top of the fusalage seemed loose.  When i got it home i put it up on the bench and found that the screw had come loose and been liberated from its location.  So i need to go in and replace that which in it self is not a big deal except its not in the easiest of place to get to.   So i ended up removing fuel tanks and stuff to get at it.  I got to thinking that i have a nice smoke pump in need of a home and a smoke muffler for the YS120 i have on this plane.  I would like to add the smoke system to this plane but not sure were to put everything.  I can find a place for the pump but i am not sure what to do with the smoke tank.  Any advise would be greatly appriceated.  Thanks Tom

peternj

My Feedback: (5)

i mounted my tanks side by side. i think the size is 8 for fuel and 6 for smoke....  i get about a 15 minute flight

thnilsen

Ihave mounted both of my smoke and fuel tank around CGnext to each other. I'm using Dubro 12 oz tanks. It's a bit fiddly but works well and I have plenty of room in the "original"tank area to mount RXbattery and smoke pummp. My seup is not to disimilar to what you can what you can find at RCDON

Idon't yet have the smoke pump mounted so Idon't know how long the smoke will last, but I fly around 10 minutes with theSaito 125Awith some spare fuel left on the tank.

mikmerl

OK since you are not bored with my attempts. <o></o>

Here goes some more.<o></o>

Now that the wings are aligned I can finally construct the interplane struts.<o></o>

Using the faint outline on the plans I rough cut two struts from 3.5mm Lite ply allowing some extra material on the top and bottom ends. <o></o>

Then the wings were brought to absolute parallel between them,they were fixed in this position using wood props and clamps.<o></o>

At this point I temporarily positioned the struts on the wing tips as they will be in their actual position. This allowed me to mark the final cut line along the wing rib contour on the top and bottom of the rough cut struts.<o></o>

Having cut the struts to their final shape I replaced the clamps and props between the wings with rubber bands and placed the struts in their positions to check how they fit.<o></o>

Thankfully they fit to a hairs breadth , now to come up with a method to attach the struts to the wings.

mike<o></o>

mikmerl

I did not build the wing with strut mounting wing ribs so I’m committed to a different route than the original design.<o></o>

There are thick hard balsa ribs at the strut mounting locations. These will be drilled to accept metal threaded inserts where studs permanently mounted to the struts screw into. <o></o>

The Great Planes ARF Ultimate use this method so I am trying to replicate it.<o></o>

I had cabinet inserts that were handy with a 4mm internal thread. The head was cut away and the remaining exterior was given a rough texture to insure permanent fixing in the wing.<o></o>

Then I fabricated the knurled nuts on one of my lathes from 12mm solid alu stock.

mike

alfredbmor

Impressive Mike, couple days ago I was trying to figure out the way you would need to choose to attach the wing struts taking in mind that you used a balsa rib, now I just can say that you are doing in an impressive way, I am learning a lot and I want to learn more so please keep posting, by the way, congratulations for your drawings and photos.
Alfred.

mikmerl

Thank for your positive input Alfred.<o></o>

I was thinking about those beautiful models we built back when this Ultimate first came out. Very few people go to the trouble of gluing two pieces of balsa together today.<o></o>

You go to the field nowadays and all the discussions rotate around who bought which ARF from China. I have a few ARF models that quite honestly I feel no sense/pride of achievement in owning them.<o></o>

The new generation of modelersis in my opinion missing out on a huge component of this wonderful hobby. Opening a box to revel a model that requires five – eight hours of work before you fly is akin to buying a refrigerator. Other than choosing the make and paying for it there was no personal involvement.<o></o>

Most kit builders have their own personal ways they go about building and the results are almost always different from a fellow modelers who build the same kit. <o></o>

I have attached photos of another Goldberg kit I built about 20 years ago that I still have in mint condition and flies like a dream. It has a 72.5” span, 950sq” area and YS 120 four stroke.<o></o>

I also have a 20 year old half built Extra 300 from Goldberg.<o></o>

mike<o></o><o></o>

mikmerl

Using my drill press to ensure “squarnes”, holes were drilled vertically in the thick balsa ribs for the threaded inserts. The inserts were cleaned with acetone and given a good coat of epoxy before being forced into their respective slots. These were set aside to allow the epoxy to cure completely.<o></o>

The wings were attached back on to the fuselage and the threaded studs were screwed into all of the inserts. Then the plywood struts were carefully placed in position so that the locations of the protruding studs could be marked for cutting.<o></o>

My trusty Dremel jig saw made short work of all the lite ply components required to complete the assembly of the strut attachment systems.<o></o>

I think that it’s going to work. <o></o>

mike<o></o>

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

You are really gonna like that wing attachment. that is how the SFG's mount on a Showtime.
Good jog!


David

peternj

My Feedback: (5)

THAT IS SUPER SLICK!!!  I'll have to add that to my spare Ultimate I build last year, glad it's not covered yet...

nick1881

alfred,

you sent me a pm about two years ago when you started the "brotherhood"......well after a long time away i just came back and found your message.


I need a #!!!!!!! i was hoping 8 or 18....but let me know whats available


Nick

alfredbmor

Nick, it is not too late to join, unfortunately, the numbers that you already mentioned are given but I hope # 93 is going to be fine with you, if so, then you are officially number 93 member of our great Brotherhood, I believe you will have a great time here, there are very interesting posts with pictures that I am sure you will enjoy, I also want to invite you to post any comment or question regarding the Carl Goldberg Ultimate biplane, and last but never least have fun.

Welcome to the Brotherhood.

mikmerl

It’s always great on paper but sometimes in reality ………………….. <o></o>

Put it all together this morning with tongue in cheek to see how it works. Thankfully everything literally fell into place. All the holes lined up with the respective screws and it came together well.<o></o>

The knurled nuts screwed in very easily and hold the struts firmly against the wings without needing much tightening.<o></o>

All measurements are equal and the wings are both at 0 degrees. <o></o>

I tried “jiggling” the model and it is rock solid.<o></o>

Overall it was more work but I am very happy with the result. <o></o>

<o></o>

mike<o></o>

thnilsen

That is such a sweet way of attaching the struts. If I ever rebuild my wings I will definitively do it your way.

With the original 4 screws per side I just tend to leave the struts attached on one of the wing during transport and save the tedious work of 4 screws at the field. Does make me take a bit more time when moving the wings from the car to the hobby room...

mikmerl

thnilsen I hope that you never have to rebuild your wings.

This started as a simple wings rebuild and it has snowballed on me

mike

alfredbmor

Been a hard to find model since it's out of production, many of us want to have it forever. With your help here, I bet that we all will fly our Ultimate with more confidence, knowing that, in a bad scenario, a rebuild can be done with great upgrades, thanks Mike!!!, keep sharing for the brotherhood.

J.Paul Saure

Ok, today I have a small window of shop time.
Here's the trigonometry for the off-set of an engine mount and the shortening of the fuse side.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...2&l=7808cf6fb9

With that I can build the firewall and shorten the right fuse side.
After some head-scratching I decided on 2.75 degrees right thrust for my Saito 1.25... I hope I'm close enough!

mikmerl

Gentlemen, I will be back soon with more info regarding my Ultimate rebuild. <o></o>

About 10 days ago I crunched my everyday flier a YAK 54 and I am currently repairing that bird. <o></o>

The reason for the crunch was not paying attention during assembly of the model for flight, I omitted to screw one of the wing bolts in place and the starboard wing went bye-bye.<o></o>

The remainder of the flight was an adrenalin pump to say the least.<o></o>

mike<o></o>

J.Paul Saure

Ouch! That looks pretty repairable for a one-wing flight.


Here's the cut for the right thrust:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...6&l=3f7853da2d
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...8&l=f5dcd81dff

J.Paul Saure

Firewall squeeeezing... ...gets most of the epoxy out!!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...7&l=45629b3aa6

Formers and firewall, notice the firewall mod for "45 degree" down engine mounting.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...0&l=0ca0679733

My solution for the double elevator servos, as seen from the inside of the fuse sides:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...6&l=1f914f9859

We got lousy weather this weekend, so no flying...
...today monday morning we have puffy clouds, shiny sun and no wind. The R/C gods are laughing at us again!

nick1881

What reciever battery has everyone been using. I have a 5 cell hydrimax 2000mah battery I have been using, but I'm getting worried. I charged it for 40 hours at 50mah and all seemed well. After sitting for a couple hours I came back to it, switched the plane on and the on board voltmeter went straight to red. (red is dead, green is good) its a Hobbico voltmeter. Not sure what I'll do yet, but wanted to get an idea of what everyone else is using rx battery wise thanks

Nick

alfredbmor

I was away for a few days, now I am back and trying to be up dated:
Mike: I am sorry to hear about your Yak but I am sure that it will be ok soon.

Paul: I am glad to see your building process is on the go, I will be keeping an eye on it.

Nick: I currently use Hobbico Hydrimax Batteries on several models, as everything, nothing is perfect so I had to change them from time to time, my Ultimate uses a 4.8 (4 cell) 2000 maH, battery, and it had been doing great the only deal with those Hydramax batteries, is the initial setup, what I use to do, is charge for the first time with a wall charger making the equation time, maH, capacity and it equals more than one day charging, this system avoids to overheat the battery which is very bad four those batteries. I also have heard that a regular 4.8 volts wall charger is not enough to charge a 5 cell battery (I don't use 5 cells), I would use instead a different charger with an electronic setup so I could be able to charge the battery at a reasonable rate taking care to avoid overheating the battery. On the other hand, if the battery has been in the wall charger for about 40 hours it surely had got some charge in it, so it's a must to use voltmeter and check out the charge, I wouldn't say that the battery has an issue but I could not be blind on the issue.

Best regards.

J.Paul Saure

Fuse is squared, fitted and glued.
Pic is before glue, with rubber bands and tape.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...2&l=9bb00901ab

I'll try to epoxy the firewall and wing blocks before going to sleep...
Time will be scarce next few weeks...

Saludos,
Jean Paul