OnTheEdge

Hi Adrian, nice flight report. I'm hoping to have mine done by the weekend. Question, did you use the stock spinner? On mine the hole to mount the spinner were off by about 1/8"! No way to use it without modification. Shame as it's a nice looking spinner. I have a T-turn I'll use. Thanks for the heads up on the elevator push rods. I'll do that mod tonight.

Best of luck with the plane.

........Mark

riot3d

Mark,

Yes, I am using the stock spinner.

Are you talking about the hole on the spinner back plate not center? If in the affirmative, you should contact Airborne (925)371-0922 for an exchange, they are real easy to deal with.

As for the push rod, it wasn't the best solution, just a quick fix. If you don't mind the work, I will suggest building your own rod. However, you have to cut open the bottom of the covering carefully, cut off a few section of formers and the push rod sleeves/ nylon rods, then re-install your own. I know it sounded like a lot of work for an ARF, but, you should be able to get it done within two evenings. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine in Hong Kong did the exact modification, and was very happy with the result.

Adrian

chris j

My Feedback: (22)

Hey Adrian, Could you use an MK elevator bell crank to operate the elevators? and wound the modifications be too extensive to do it?

OnTheEdge

No, two holes in the front of the spinner that mount it to the back plate. Those are off qiute a bit. I'll call Airborne tomorrow.

Thanks...........

riot3d

Yes, it can be done, but a lot of work.

Attached pix of my friend's Spot-On. Unfortunately, he crashed it two weeks ago due to dead stick. As you can see, you have to do quite a bit of work by removing both the formers and the nylon rod inside. However, it's definitely do-able.

riot3d

That's strange, mine fits perfectly. The only thing I have to do was to shave off part of the opening on both sides 0f the spinner cone to accommodate the pitch of the prop, I'm using a 15.5x12 wide. Are you sure it's not the prop that's causing the mis-alignment? What size of prop are you using/

Derek.Koopowitz

Your friends Spot On? Looks like a pile of balsa wood to me... Something that Hester would probably recognize!! [8D]

riot3d

Don't forget soemone else put it back together as well.

OnTheEdge

[/quote]



Are you sure it's not the prop that's causing the mis-alignment?
[/quote]

No, this is misaligned just trying to put the two together. No biggy, I'm sure they'll take care of it.

Question, were you able to assemble the wheels/wheelpants as per the instructions? On mine, there is no way to get two wheel collars and the wheel in between the wheelpants without breaking them. I just shimmed one side with a nylon washer and used the wheel collar on the outside only.

riot3d

Question, were you able to assemble the wheels/wheelpants as per the instructions? On mine, there is no way to get two wheel collars and the wheel in between the wheelpants without breaking them. I just shimmed one side with a nylon washer and used the wheel collar on the outside only.

[/quote]

No, I did not follow their instruction, too complicated. However, I did use the supplied M4x40 mm screw as the wheel axle, plus I drill two holes through the pants for a better anchor. Attached diagram for wheel pant set up, jope this helps.

riot3d

I put in 4 flights of P sequence on the Spot-On this morning, and I was thoroughly impress with the way the plane handled. It actually execute some of the maneuvers better than my 2 meter Astral XX, especially on the 1-1/2 snap and the inverted eight point. If World will consider incorporating some of my suggestion, may be even enlarge it to a 2 meter size, I think it will be a very competitive plane.

After a few flights, I'm still not satisfy with the cg. Therefore, I will relocate the tank. If I can get it done by tonight, I will post some pix and flight report tomorrow.

riot3d

I relocated the tank from right behind the firewall to pretty much where the cg is, will see whether that makes a difference.

riot3d

I had about 10 flights since I relocated the tank to the cg point. It flies great up right, straight up line, slight pitch to the canopy on the down line. However, it is still nose heavy, and still requires a bunch of down ele to maintain inverted flight. I'm going to gradually add some lead weight on the tail plus adding some negative incidence on the stab.

Will report again in a few days.

riot3d

Sorry, I meant positive incidence

Jeff_edge540

Sounds like a YS110 is a much better choice for this airframe as the YS140 is just too heavy for it (and it doesn't need that much power).

riot3d

You do need the power for those FAI vertical maneuvers.

Balsawings

Just got back from the field. Made the maiden flight on the Spot On 120. Over all I'm happy with the plane. It still needs a lot of triming to get it right. Need to adjust the incedince on the stab as well as move the CG back. The OS 120 has plenty of power for lower level pattern sequences (engine is still very rich). I agree, it would be a little shy for FAI. My plane also pulls to the canopy on down lines and has just a little bit of rudder coupling when correcting for the wind. Had a 10 mph wind stright across the runway. My biggest disapointment is the weight. The plane came out at 9lbs 8ozs. Still, it flew very light. (it's my own fault though. I've added a header, muffler extension and on board glow)

Running the OS 1.20 on 15% Omega with a 15 x 8 APC prop. Has lots of pull for the virticals. It does start to slow down a little but never came close to stopping on the virtical. Take off was a none event. It tracked straight down the runway with just a touch of right rudder.

Elevator trim needed 5 clicks of up and the Ailerons needed three clicks of left. Elevator trim indicates that the stab incidence needs another .5 deg. neg. All controls felt very possative. Control throws are:

Ailerons: 20mm
Elevator: 20mm
Rudder: 35mm

For me the Ailerons were perfect while the Elevator could use another couple of millimeters but I'll move the CG first and see how it feels then. The wing over was lacking some rudder athority but I might have been waiting a little to long to apply rudder. Will work on that before changing the rudder throw. Did not try knife edge so can not comment on that.

Landings were typical pattern landings. After three attempts to slow it down I finally had to kill the engine on final approach. I'm flying from grass, so I've changed the wheels to 2 1/2 inch Dave Brown foams with no wheel pants. I didn't try taxing. I had a helper carry the plane to the runway. The landing felt like the wheels where hanging up a little but did not try to nose over. I hate to add the weight but will try 2 1/2 inch skylites next time. I don't want to damage a plane because it noses over and flips on landing.

The OS 1.20 has an OS header with a 6 inch muffler extension. This set up worked quite well. Was very quite (almost too quite for a guy coming from IMAC planes with gas engines) and looks better than a muffler hanging out the side of the cowling.

All in all the plane handles well and will only get better with some trim work. It goes where you point it and had no problems with the wind, just normal wind corrections. I did notice that I had to be very gental with the rudder for wind corrections. If your not careful it will crank 30 deg. to the line of flight before you know it.

I would give this plane the following rankings.

Kit quality: 4 out of 5 stars
Flying: 4 out of 5 stars (could be higher after final trimming.)

Bob
#172378

riot3d

Congratulations, Bob. Keep us posted.

Adrian

OnTheEdge

I weighed mine the other day. 9lbs 3oz. YS120 with stock muffler. 2800 mah Li-ion with 5-8 V regulator. Otherwise pretty much stock with the exception of relocating a 480cc tank to the CG. Not sure how they come up with the 8lbs 13 oz figure on the specs. None of of so far have got in under 9lbs. Oh well.........


I attempted to fly it the other evening at an Imac contest but couldn't get the motor to start. No fuel flow. I took the regulator apart yesterday and the pluner was stuck. I'll run it in the yard before I put the cowl back on. Hope to fly it sometime this week. Looking forward to it more after Adrian's and Bob's the flight reports.

Thanks........Mark

tomlee

My Feedback: (1)

As you guys can see, I live and fly at 5500 ft. I have a ST G-2300 and I am wondering what your thoughts would be about using that endgine in a Spot-On?

I turn a Graupner 15x8-3 blade around 9500 rpm using 5% nitro with 18% oil.

I have one of these engines in a 1/4 scale Laser and one in a Bridi Big Chaos which is a couple of pounds heavier than what the Spot-On would weigh.

I also have an old YS-120 which turns a Graupner 14x7-3 blade quite well.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

OnTheEdge

Definately use the YS. The 2300 is too much motor (weight, power, vibration etc) for this plane. Not sure how you'd fit a 2300 in this airframe as it comes with a soft mount. Save the 2300 for larger plane that's more designed for that type of large glow.

Balsawings

I totally agree. The 2300 will be physically too big to fit the Spot On. The YS will be a perfect match for the plane. After I mounted the OS 1.20 with the header and muffler extension the plane was nose heavy. I will be VERY nose heavy with the 2300. Not only will you have the extra motor weight but the weight you put in the tail to counter balance it.

Bob

OnTheEdge

I got to fly my Spot On tonight. I don't have any real experience with other pattern planes but the plane tracks VERY well. Definately needs the CG moved back a bit for my liking. Too much elevator to hold inverted flight. The YS 120 has good power for this plane. One thing I noticed is the plane flies faster, much faster, than my Imac planes. This will take a while to get used to. It's been a while since I messed with glow fuel (by the way, it's just as messy as the last time I used it .....some things never change). The plane is a breeze to land, albeit faster than I'm use to. Snaps are not quite what I'm use to but I hear patten planes snap all together different than Imac.

I think I might need little aileron differential but I'm not totally sure. I'm not use to the lower wing as my Imac plane is very axial with it's mid-wing. It just might look different. Still have a lot of tweaking to do as with all other precision planes but I'm sure I'll like it more each time I fly it. (Now I just need to fing the time)

..........Mark

riot3d

Congratulations on your maiden flight. What size of prop are you using, and which 120? The SF, NC, AC or the SC?

As for the snaps, I normally use very little throws on all of my moving surfaces. However, I do have a snap condition on my ele stick. When I apply full ele, it automatically increases the ele and the ail throws, but decreases the rud throw at the same time. I also lead with ele before cranking the ail and the rud. As for the amount of throws, you have to adjust to your liking. However, I like the way it snaps so far.

Adrian

piroflip2

hi riot3d.

that is one beautiful model.
may I ask what the build/covering quality is like?
my Groovy 90 f3a was the worst built artf that I have ever seen, absolutly dreadful.
I bought it to break into f3a comps but could not complete a practice session without something cracking, splitting or falling off.
In the end I got an Infinity X, different class.

regards piroflip