RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build  
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RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/2/2005 8:45:23 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline 		An update on the Rom-Air nose gear steering.

The vintage Rom-Air retracts that I’m using were originally installed when the kit was built in the 70s. I decided to stay with the Rom-Air retracts but I was not satisfied with the way the Rom-Air recommended the steering cable be attached to the nose gear steering tiller. Rom-Air recommends that the cable be wrapped around the nose gear strut just above the steering tiller and then each end feed down through the tiller steering holes and back to the rudder servo. Because of the way the tiller is made and the rotation of the gear you cannot connect to the tiller with a Kwik-link or ball link. For my first flights I installed the cable using the recommended connection but I was concerned that when the gear was retracted and the cable was slack that the cable could loosen where it was wrapped around the strut and change the steering centering or cause the nose gear to hang up on the cable as the gear extended. To remedy this possibility I changed the cable attachment method. I used two cables with a small copper eyelet crimped on the ends of the cables. I ran the cables down through the tiller steering holes and then back to the rudder servo. To keep the cable ends from moving while the gear was in the retracted position I put a small dab of Amazing Goop on the copper cable ends and the top edge of the outer tiller ends.

I’ve flown the Kwik Fli III with this update and it seems to work very well.

To be continued..


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_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

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       Post #: 276

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/2/2005 8:55:52 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline 		I hope all the RCU forum members enjoyed this thread and sharing in my experience of getting my old Kwik Fli III in the air where it belongs. Many thanks to those of you that took a time to make a comment or give me a kind word of encouragement along the building process. It has been awesome!

I also want to thank Tony Howard for all the incredible work that he must have done to get the Kwik Fli III back in production so we can all have a Kwik Fli III of our very own.

The end, I think!

8178


< Message edited by 8178 -- 4/3/2005 10:23:40 PM >

_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

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       Post #: 277

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/3/2005 12:38:35 AM   
impactiq


 

Posts: 800
Joined: 6/1/2003
From: genoa, IL, USA
Status: offline 		Thank you for taking the time to post all the work you have done. I even picked up a few new ideas. It is great to see these old birds still being built/flown.

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       Post #: 278

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/3/2005 3:27:43 AM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: impactiq

Thank you for taking the time to post all the work you have done. I even picked up a few new ideas. It is great to see these old birds still being built/flown.



Thanks, it’s been fun!

I’ve just spent the last two hours looking the kit parts over, reading the new assembly manual and reviewing the new CAD plans. It is all pretty marvelous!


_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

(in reply to impactiq)
       Post #: 279

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/14/2005 11:59:40 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline 		Couldn’t help myself, had to have more!

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_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

(in reply to 8178)
       Post #: 280

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/15/2005 12:12:43 AM   
McLeodAviation


 

Posts: 208
Joined: 7/7/2003
From: Austin, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Cool trick photography! How did you create the illusion of three identical motors? Wait a minute, that looks like an authentic picture! Where did you find those great old Webra motors? They look very clean, Have they been run?

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       Post #: 281

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/15/2005 2:35:00 AM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline 		I hadn’t noticed that but it does look like a triple mirror shot! The one in the foreground is new in the box un-run or mounted from RCU, the one in the middle is my original Kwik Fli unit and the one on the far end is a low run time unit from ebay.

< Message edited by 8178 -- 4/15/2005 3:04:37 AM >

_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

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       Post #: 282

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/24/2005 1:22:21 PM   
Stripes


 

Posts: 638
Joined: 5/17/2003
From: Orchard Park, New York
Status: offline 		This is a really nice thread. I see the control surfaces installed but what control throws did you wind up using for the Kwik Fli?

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       Post #: 283

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 4/24/2005 2:47:55 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Stripes

This is a really nice thread. I see the control surfaces installed but what control throws did you wind up using for the Kwik Fli?


Glad you like the thread! I started out with the recommended throws called out on the plans, but they are a little too much for the way I like to fly now-a-days. I haven’t been able to fly it much because of windy weather but I’ve been plying with the throws using my dual rates. When I get the setting the way I like them I’ll update the thread.

_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

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       Post #: 284

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 10/29/2005 4:08:01 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
From: _ , USA
Status: offline 		It has been a little over a year now since my friend sent my 30 year old Kwik Fli III back to me, UPS crushed it and I started on the Kwik Fli III rebuild project. It is hard to believe how fast the year went by. The Kwik Fli III continues to be one of my prized R/C possessions and I love the way it flies. The classic Kwik Fli III looks are pretty neat too! Over the last seven months it has logged a lot of flights but luckily it hasn’t collected any hanger rash or had any flight mishaps. I had to replace the bearings in the Irvine 61 because they started making noise and I recently I was lucky to find a NIB silver case Irvine 61 on ebay that matches other two I have. I think the bearing problem was caused by running the engine at high RPM using a pipe on another aircraft.

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_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

(in reply to 8178)
       Post #: 285

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 10/30/2005 2:32:33 AM   
rainedave



Posts: 5024
Joined: 7/21/2005
From: Greensboro, NC, USA
Status: online 		8178, that is a magnificent model. I especially like the simplicity of that flawless finish: solid on top and the checkerboard on the underside. Is there something significant about the number three? Three Webras, Irvines and in another thread three RJLs. Oh, and don't you mention that your new Kwik Fli kit makes three? 81 - 78 =... Hmmm.

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       Post #: 286

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 10/30/2005 9:03:27 PM   
8178



Posts: 2942
Joined: 5/25/2004
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quote:

ORIGINAL: rainedav

8178, that is a magnificent model. I especially like the simplicity of that flawless finish: solid on top and the checkerboard on the underside. Is there something significant about the number three? Three Webras, Irvines and in another thread three RJLs. Oh, and don't you mention that your new Kwik Fli kit makes three? 81 - 78 =... Hmmm.



Thanks for the complements on the Kwik Fli III. Tony Howard is a master kit designer and manufacturer. The quality is way above any kit I have ever seen.

Wasn’t there a movie about space aliens that did everything in threes. I have two Kaos 40s flying and one NIB kit. I’m looking for another Irvine 53 so I’ll have three of them too.


_____________________________

Builder and flyer of high performance acrobatic R/C aircraft and a proud member of VR/CS.
Made in China = no sale!

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       Post #: 287

RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 12/15/2005 10:39:35 PM   
windslore



Posts: 48
Joined: 1/11/2005
From: Broadwindsor, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		A superb thread! It brings back so many memories. You have given me the inspiration to build one. I have always been fond of these pattern ships as my Father taught me to fly in the 60's on reed equipment! Orbit 10 channel if I remember correctly? I seem to be unable to find Howard Engineering on the 'net,' can you help?

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RE: Howard Engineering - Kwik Fli III – Build - 12/16/2005 12:54:15 AM   
Jim_Purcha



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Joined: 9/18/2003
From: La Salle, MB, CANADA
Status: offline