RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys  
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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 3/29/2007 2:56:53 AM   
PlaneKrazee



Posts: 3537
Joined: 5/15/2002
From: Westerly, RI, USA
Status: offline 		Wind junkie,

What cowl is the one in the middle?

Does the fuselage look full like a fat little Pitts should?

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 3/29/2007 3:44:12 AM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline 		They're all the same cowl. The middle is looking at the inside. (click to make it bigger and you'll see). I haven't painted it white with flames yet.

The body looks the same as James' and other pics on the RC Guys web site-- yes, it's a nice round and fat little bipe-- pot belly and all.

I covered my wings white now, and I've just started the fuselage. Then comes the flames, and I'll finally have an "ARF" like the kit, only with some mods of my own underneath.


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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/2/2007 1:26:19 PM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline 		Hey James, did you get out to fly this weekend? How about you ReefHawg? How's it coming?

Progress on mine is slow going, but I'm not rushing things.

Here's what the ARF guys are missing:


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< Message edited by wind junkie -- 4/3/2007 6:04:57 PM >

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       Post #: 53

RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/4/2007 1:43:35 PM   
reefHawg



Posts: 68
Joined: 4/29/2005
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Nice flames Wind Junkie.
My ARF version only needs final placement of the batteries for balance before it flies.
Our RC club had the spring show last night,.. here it is all shinny.
Should be flying in a few weeks.
geoff

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< Message edited by reefHawg -- 4/4/2007 1:44:16 PM >

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       Post #: 54

RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/4/2007 3:18:29 PM   
jtsails


 

Posts: 146
Joined: 5/18/2005
From: fayetteville, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Hey guys,
sorry I haven't posted, been kinda hectic here.
I did get the maiden done on Friday. Ground handling is about what I expected, very touchy, but once she gets a little air over the tail it settles down pretty well. Just be very light on the rudder. Once airborne it needed very little trim, don't think I even touched the ailerons, just a couple of clicks of down elevator. Made a couple of slow passes then gave her a little throttle, yikes she really climbs with throttle. Eased her back in and made some adjustments. I added some travel to the ailerons, went up to 1" up and down with about 30% expo. I added a little travel to the elevators, about 1 1/4" and dropped the expo back down to 30% and added a bunch of expo to the rudder for the ground handling. I'll set up a second condition or rate for the ground handling before I fly it again. Tried to make a second flight Fri but my onboard glow died, it was an old McDaniels unit. I made a second flight Sat. with no cowl so that I could get glow drivers on it. Had to fiddle with the carb setting to get it running right and then took off. Made my first mistake, didn't refuel after spending 5 min tuning and I ended up dead sticking it when I ran it out of gas, dang I forgot how much fuel a Saito 300 burns. Wasn't a problem though, just keep the nose down and she comes right in. I even landed it on the runway and stopped right in front of myself. Couldn't have done better with power. Handling was better on 2nd flight but I mixed too much down with the throttle and now had to hold up when I gave her the gas. Reset that and added a delay to the mix to elim a little purpoising and refueled and made a third flight and I have it pretty close. Still needs a little adjustment. New onboard glow should be here today, I'll get that installed and hopefully get back to the field Mon. since I'm going to the beach for the weekend. On a side note, the maiden was a little nervy as I had just lost a 30% Yak to a radio problem, total loss of airframe.

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/4/2007 3:48:43 PM   
jtsails


 

Posts: 146
Joined: 5/18/2005
From: fayetteville, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Wind,
Beautiful job on those flames, how are you doing them and what covering are you using?

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       Post #: 56

RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/4/2007 7:26:10 PM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline 		James,

Glad to hear your maiden worked out with no major problems-- Good work saving her on that deadstick! I be the Saito sounds awesome.

Have you considered adding some more down thrust? I plan to do my first flight without the cowl to fully nail down the thrust line before mounting it. I figure such a short coupled bird would really benefit from minor changes in thrust line adjustments, and mixing can be used afterwards as needed.

On my bird, the base color is white Ultracote. The rudder is red Monokote-- chiefly cause I have paint to match top flite "missile red" which the cowl will have. The other colors are Ultracote (midnight blue and bright yellow).

I just take my time using sketches on the plane with markers and then paper templates which I transfer the snapes and cut out over the covering with a hobby knife. For the flames which must be mirror images I fold the covering over itself before cutting so I don't need to cut everything twice. I like the small trim irons that Top Flite sells. I learned that tip watching Faye Stilley in one of his demos-- he uses those itty bitty irons on nearly everything, resorting to a heat gun onlly rarely for large compound curves. One iron is on the high setting all the time and the other on low. The low setting does a pretty good job of sticking covering over covering without causing bubbles, and the high seals it up on the edges.

I'm glad to have the compound curves of the tail fairing are out of the way. The rest of it will just lie down mostly flat on the fuse, tail and wings, but I have a long road ahead and a couple more projects that will intervene due to travel and work schedules.

Joe

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/4/2007 7:29:21 PM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline 		Looks Great Reef Hawg! I didn't realize the canopy had purple trim on it. Mine doesn't. Yours looks good! Is that black paint underneath?

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/7/2007 6:40:10 PM   
kochj



Posts: 1444
Joined: 12/5/2005
From: Victoria, MN, USA
Status: offline 		Is that covering or paint? If covering do you cut the flame shape
out once on the plane or before?
Justin

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/7/2007 8:39:04 PM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: kochj
Is that covering or paint? If covering do you cut the flame shape
out once on the plane or before?
Justin


It's all covering so far. Only the cowl, pants and maybe parts of the canopy will have paint.

I cut the flames using paper templates before ironing them on the plane. I draw on the plane first, then I lay paper over the drawing and tape that in place, then I transfer the lines to the paper because I can see through it. Then I remove the paper, and tape that (template) over the covering and cut through it using an exacto and self healing cutting mat.

I leave the magic marker lines on the plane at first to help position the design, but then wipe them away with acetone just before I iron the covering down. (start at one corner and work my way across the whole thing, being careful to iron away bubbles and wrinkles).

People say you can paint over covering, but this is easier for me, more durable and less messy. Plus I always get a sharp line and don't worry about overspray or paint creeping under the masking tape.

< Message edited by wind junkie -- 4/7/2007 8:41:19 PM >

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/9/2007 10:27:38 PM   
reefHawg



Posts: 68
Joined: 4/29/2005
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Wind, yes it is black paint. I used Tremclad rust paint. I've used it successfully on my U-CanDo-3d. All last summer in the sun and it did not come off. I sand with 600 water paper on the inside of the cowl, alcohol and then several thin layers of paint until I cannot see sunlight though it. When painted form the inside, the glass effect is still there, making the canopy look super tinted.

On another note,. Wind you mentioned it earlier. Thrust angle. The manual calls for 3 degrees of down and right thrust. Based on my engine mount dimensions I came up with about a 4.5 mm rise on the top left engine mount. The top right and bottom left mounts are just little less. The thing is I calculated the 3 degrees going diagonal from top left to bottom right. So technically I have a little less than 3 degrees down and right. Will this make a huge difference in flight or can I mix it once up. I suspect I can fix it later if it is way off.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
geoff

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/10/2007 2:43:03 AM   
wind junkie



Posts: 964
Joined: 11/16/2002
From: N. Syracuse, NY, USA
Status: offline 		Geoff,

I would relay that question to James. It will be a while before I get mine airborne.

With most planes I find I really need to fly them anyway to get the final adjustments the way I want. This bird doesn't have any washout in the wings and they're all symmetrical so I'll approach it like a pattern plane.

I'll be careful to get the wings zero/zero with the tail, then get the CG so the plane doesn't pull to canopy or belly in a long vertical dive with no power and then work on the thrust angle to see what it needs in vertical climbs. Then I'll mount the cowl and see if anything changed. After I get that dialed in I'll revisit the CG and compare with any elevator trim settings to try to get everything as neutral as possible before I start mixing to correct aerodynamic rudder induced imalances.

It took me about 2 weeks to do all that with a Funtana 90, but I kinda enjoy the process. This will be more of a challenge I'm sure.

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RE: Andy Sheber's Pitts ARF by RC Guys - 4/18/2007 2:15:20 PM   
reefHawg



Posts: 68
Joined: 4/29/2005
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		I emailed Dan Spears of RC Guys regarding the thrust angle. He does not think the way I set it up will make a huge difference. Certainly not enough to affect a maiden flight,...
So now I expect to maiden either tomorrow or Friday.

I did test run the Fugi 43 last weekend. Once gas is in the carb, it fires right up. After about 5 minutes of run time I used my fish scale to get a rough static thrust measurement. The engine new, with 5 minutes run time pulled just over 18 pounds. I do expect that to increase each tank through it. The plane came in at 15.5 pounds. If this engine gets over 20 pounds thrust,... it should have a pretty good vertical.

Stay tuned,...

geoff


Wind,... any updates on the covering job,...

< Message edited by reefHawg -- 4/18/2007 2:16:22 PM >

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