Building the Pitts Special Challenger 40  
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> ARF or RTF >> NitroModels Support >> Building the Pitts Special Challenger 40
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Building the Pitts Special Challenger 40 - 3/16/2007 9:18:47 PM   
opjose



Posts: 5830
Joined: 11/26/2005
From: Poolesville, MD, USA
Status: offline 		I'm a bit more than half way through the build of this plane.

So far I like it.

Things that I've found...

- This ARF does not come with the pictured wheel pants, it uses trailing wheel skirts instead.

- You can use larger wheels with the skirts.

- It is a relatively small plane, more like a .30

- It is lightly built making it perfect for electrification (see next point).

- There is a LARGE easily accessible area behind the firewall that is perfect for batteries.

- The area behind the firewall can be equipped with a door, so you could remove batteries from under the cowl.

- There is ample room in the cowl. It practically swallows up my TH .46 engine and Pitts muffler that I'm using.

- I've cut the covering behind the cowl/firewall to fix a botched blind nut. This provides easy access for fuel proofing and reinforcement.... I'll replace the covering when done.

- The manual shows many build steps out of order, if you purchase one of these planes keep this in mind!

- The manual shows micro servos used for the wings, you can get away with sub-mini servos for increased performance.

- The covering is fairly decent, and wrinkles disappear with a sealing iron.

- FUEL PROOF everything, this helps strengthen many of the former joints

- Use CA on the hardwood slats to which the carbanes are attached, to harden and re-inforce.

- With a .46 this plane IS going to be subjected to a lot of "G" forces... thanks to it's short tail.

- I'm using a Dubro anti-vibration mount on the firewall. This seems to fit perfectly.

- As previosly noted there is a 1/4-1/2" offset on each wing strut mount from upper to lower wing. This may cause bending on struts.
I don't know yet if I am going to install spacers or not.



_____________________________

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Build em'', fly em'', crash em'' and build more.
       Post #: 1

RE: Building the Pitts Special Challenger 40 - 3/17/2007 9:55:18 PM   
opjose



Posts: 5830
Joined: 11/26/2005
From: Poolesville, MD, USA
Status: offline 		More points:

- It's easier to mount the carbane struts by first drilling the forward or rearward holes from within the canopy, outward.
- Then temporarily mount the strut with the single screw and drill the other hole from the top.

- Start by fuelproofing and reinforcements, then tackle the engine mount and cowl. It is far easier working the cowl area without the tail getting in the way of propping the fuselage on the floor, etc.

- A 2 1/4" white or aluminum spinner looks great on this plane. A 2 3/4" spinner is too big.

< Message edited by opjose -- 3/17/2007 9:56:18 PM >

_____________________________

-
Build em'', fly em'', crash em'' and build more.

(in reply to opjose)
       Post #: 2

RE: Building the Pitts Special Challenger 40 - 3/21/2007 9:58:44 PM   
opjose



Posts: 5830
Joined: 11/26/2005
From: Poolesville, MD, USA
Status: offline 		I finished my Pitts, but I have yet to maiden it.

- As noted in another thread the center carbane is a bit too high.

I cured this by afixing the carbanes as far out as safely possible while still getting the retaining screw to go through the hardwood strip inside the fuselage.


- I did not install spacers to fix the wing strut offset. Instead I installed the struts as is. Once everything was in place I applied a couple of drops of thin CA to the baseof the wing "tabs" to which the struts screw. This causes the tabs to hold the angled shape, and harden in this position.

- The kit provides extra screws and hardware (this is always good), but lacks washers. Anywhere a screw head is being used to hold down wood, washers should be used to distribute the force load. Pick up a couple of packages of small washers before you begin.

- I am going to replace the aileron sub micro servos with high torque MG Micro servos.

- I used a white spinner left over from one of my NP Ultimates on the Pitts, which matches the Pitts perfectly.





_____________________________

-
Build em'', fly em'', crash em'' and build more.

(in reply to opjose)
       Post #: 3

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