lee292

My Feedback: (9)

Hi all! I'm in the process of finishing up a Sportsman Aviation Waco 60 ARF. There are 18 spots on the cabanes and N-struts that require screws, nuts and lock washers. That's 54 hard to manipulate, easy to lose small parts. Does anyone have a better idea of attaching the top wing on a bipe?

iflircaircraft

Not sure of the set up, but are they using blind nuts?
If not, Glue the nut(s) with epoxy to the opposite side of the strut(s) mount. Glue the washer(s) to the screw head(s), you shouldn't need the lock washer(s), then you have only the screw(s) with the washer(s) attached to lose!! LOL
I hope they are socket head cap screws.

I hope this helps.

Happy Flying

Tom

parrthd

i dunno, my only bipe to date is gp super skybolt. (still in final assembly. all i've got to have is a flat tip screwdriver to attach the bottom wing. cabanes, struts, and everything else slips in and locks inplace.

Skinny Bob

My Feedback: (12)

I have two bipes in the 70" span range. I don't take the wings off. I use a full size van to transport, some guys use a trailer. You will ware out the nuts and bolts in a short time if you fly much.

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

I have one of these planes, I love it, but I never take the wings off unless I have to work on the inside. There's a lot of "slop" in the screw holes in the tabs that the struts fasten to, and you have to reset the top wing incidence every time you replace the top wing. It can vary as much as two degrees on my plane, makes a lot of difference in how she flies, and in how you have to trim it. I threw out all the "factory" screws and used hex head screws and ny-lock nuts. Leaving the wings on limits how many planes I can take to the field without a trailer, but it fits in the bed of my truck with the wings on, so I leave them that way.

How are you powering your plane? I started out with a .80 Saito, had better than average performance. I replaced it with a 1.00 Saito and now that I have a couple of engine issues fixed, it hauls butt and has almost unlimited vertical. Snap-rolls to the left so hard it makes me black out on the ground watching it

lee292

My Feedback: (9)

Tom, it doesn't use blind nuts, and your idea sounds like a good one.

Skinny Bob & Khoges, I did plan to transport the plane assembled. Unfortunately, it won't fit in the bed of my Ford Ranger without the possibility of damaging it. It'll go in crosswise and upside down, but the rudder rests on the fender well, which is begging for stripped servo gears. Putting it in some type of cradle raises it to where my fiberglass bed cover hits it. However, I can take the top wing off and it does fit. Shoulda measured the bed before I got the plane! And no, I don't think the missus would allow me to trade in my truck because an airplane won't fit in the bed! [] I think I will chuck the metric screws that hold the top wing on and use regular 4-40 socket head screws. I've found that a lot of the Chinese stuff does wear out/strip out rather quickly. I wonder if you get the incidence lined up and then glued the nuts in place if that would take care of the slop problem? If not, I guess I could take my incidence meter to the field.

Khoges, I'm powering mine with a Magnum .91 4-stroke. Did you mount yours inverted? Snap rolls are what bipes do best!

lee292

My Feedback: (9)

One more thought -- It's a shame that more manufacturers don't use the wing attachment method found on the old Sig Skybolt. The cabanes had a couple of rings that went up into the wing, and a metal rod slid back through the leading edge of the wing and through the rings. The rod was held in place by a setscrew. If I didn't have to tear off the covering to do something like that, it would be very tempting!

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

If you can get the nuts to bond to those tabs, that would probably work. I mounted my engine sideways, made it easier to route the exhaust out the bottom. When I had the .80 on it, I was using the Saito flex pipe. The 1.00 fit in the same engine mount, so I left it sideways.

There's a very long thread on this plane elsewhere; you might check it out for some other ideas. I found the factory c/g to be a bit aft of what it should be, as did some others, and mine flew tail-heavy until I moved it forward about 1/2 inch from the forward most limit of the stated c/g.

I've also re-covered mine in yellow Solartex and painted the trim in black latex.

lee292

My Feedback: (9)

Yes, I've read the thread "Waco 60, no bashing, just honesty" and it does have some good info. My engine is mounted about 130 degrees from vertical to run the exhaust out the bottom. Mine balances about 5" from the leading edge of the wing.