Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Here's a picture of the controls under the rear hatch.



I used a paint brush shaft to make the pitot tube. Nomenclature was applied using rub-on style graphics made from Decal-pro FX. They took a while, but worked out well and I liked the results.



The tanks should be dark grey on top, so I'm contemplating if I should paint them and re-do the graphics. The all grey looks a bit off. I'm not too concerned. I'll do the maiden without the tanks.

ljsoarinson

My Feedback: (45)

Nice work Todd, looks good! Looking forward to seeing it around the Midwest meets in 2016. Best of luck with the first flights.

- Larry

gav12

Has anyone been able to come up with a fix the front retract door partially closing and fouling on the front wheel during raising of the gear after takeoff??

Gav

Dave Wilshere

Slower take off....
The one I fly never had a problem.

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

I'm still waiting to get a chance to maiden mine. I plan on pumping the retracts up to 100 psi, and pulling up the gear during climb out. I think the nose wheel door will be able to stay open under those conditions. I can believe that it would push back at any kind of speed, so it's important to bring up the gear before it gets going too fast. We'll see. Expect a maiden report from me in the next couple weeks if the weather cooperates.

gav12

Hi Todd,

I have bought a used hunter, the front door had been removed as it partially closed preventing the front retract from closing on it's maiden flight. I would like to re-fit the door with better geometry and possibly a larger cylinder. I have not flown mine yet.

Gav

speed is life

I added a 2nd air cylinder to the front nose gear door (not a difficult mod) and have no blowback of the door at all.
The other mods were changing out the main gear cylinder O-rings to Viton type and removing one O-ring from each brake hub to stop the wheel lock up.
- Mike

gav12

Thanks Mike,

I hadn't thought of a second cylinder that sounds much easier to do. My wheels were dragging against the o rings without any air applied so i changed them from 2- 325's to 2-324's as suggested earlier in this thread and they seam to work very well now, wheels spin freely and don't fully lockup. Only 1 'o ring in each wheel on mine?

I have had to add 200 grams of weight to the nose on mine but I am wondering if this is necessary as COG would only ever be correct when out of fuel (with the front tank being forward of COG and emptying last?? I have everything as far forward as possible.

Gav

Gav

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Finally got a chance to maiden my Hunter.

The Jet Central Cheetah seemed to have plenty of power for take off. I held on the brake and spooled it up just to be safe. By about half way down the runway it was climbing out. I pulled up the gear right away, and my nose wheel came up without a problem. Not the mains though, I had the main gear a bit slow and the clamshell doors too fast. I cycled the gear a couple of times, but when I realized the mains would not lock up I just left them down.

It needed a few clicks of down trim, so I am not surprised it jumped into the air a bit early. Even with the gear down it seemed to handle well and was responsive on the controls. Roll rate seemed fine, and I left the elevator rate in high. I knew I'd be a bit nose heavy if I landed with a full front tank. I couldn't bring myself to risk flying too long on the first flight, so after 7 minutes I set up for landing. I came in a bit fast on my first touchdown, but it was not a problem. I hit the brakes a bit hard and noticed some skidding on the fabric runway. As I get the landing a bit slower I'll have to take it easier on the braking. Once the o-rings wear a bit they should work better.

I'm very happy with how it flew. Sure enough, I landed with a full front tank. I'll bump up the timer a bit, and should use more fuel when I get the gear up and can run more full throttle. It moved out well even with the gear down, so I'm sure the 31lb Cheetah will make it a fairly fast jet once I get it running clean. No in-flight photos yet. Here's a couple on the ground before the flight.

gav12

Well Done Todd,

Do you have any added weight up front?

Gav

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

No extra weight. I was able to get the batteries up into the nose to balance. I also mounted the bubble free tank up front and balanced with it full of fuel.

I got another flight on it last night. With some gear adjustments they all went up fine this time. Once cleaned up it is fast with the Jet Central Cheetah. It cruises very well at half throttle, so full throttle passes are not really needed (but are fun). I set the timer for 8.5 minutes, and landed with less than half fuel in the front tank. Much better than the first flight when the tank was full.

When I brake it likes to lock up the left wheel. I may need to check the o-ring out, and add some grease. Also I'll have to be a bit easy on the brakes until the o-rings wear in a bit. I sanded them down so the wheels would spin free with brakes off, but they still seem to have too much force when applied. I'm using a BVM Smooth stop, so I'm confident that I'll get them working right with a bit of time. I'm happy that it can get up and down on our 500' petromat runway without a problem. With full flaps it comes in very nicely and is easy to slow up for touchdown. It flies good enough that I'll be confident to take it to Warbird events right away.

dorset john

I have a Hunter fitted with the scale FL/Ripmax undercarriage, but I have snapped the aluminium part of one of the lower main Oleo legs flying off grass (Ripmax part No: Z-FL150/LMLP http://www.ripmax.com/Item.aspx?Item...00-010-040-050 ). Despite checking with all the known Hunter vendors in the UK, I am unable to source this part and Ripmax do not currently hold any stock and seem unable to advise if they can ever get any more!
If anyone has any suggestions where to source this part from I would be most grateful as I am currently grounded with no solution in sight.
Cheers, John

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Not a good situation. I would contact Shinden machine and see if they can make one for you. It may not be cheap or fast, but it could get you rolling. I'll be going to some events this summer that have grass fields. Hopefully I won't have the same problem. Was the grass really long?

http://www.shindinmachine.com/

mick15

Try emailing Catherine at Fei Bao jets.

m

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

You might check with Mike Lin at Global Jet. They used to sell this jet and Mike told me that he can get parts for Fei Bao jets...

Bob

dorset john

No, it was the first flight since purchasing the model second hand, and we came in with full flaps and about 4 litres of fuel still on-board - ran out of elevator, bounced and landed flat but from about 6' vertical drop.. Should have practised a few low passes first!

dorset john

I have contact Feibao as suggested, and yes they manufactured the aircraft as an OEM for Ripmax. They forwarded my request to Ripmax, so fingers crossed that this results in parts being found - otherwise I will be searching for a local workshop to manufacture this part. P.s is this part likely to be made from aero-grade aluminium, and if so which one?

mick15

Respect your sense of humour mate they're made of cheese!

m

Send a pic and the dimensions, I may just have one.

dorset john

Hi Mick, above are the parts I need - I have drawn on the fracture line which goes through the retract door screw hole (weak spot ?)
Haven't got the dimensions as I am at work now!

DenisFerrari

Which method do you use to do those nice and realistic weathering effect on the Hunter (and other jets bodies) ?

David Gladwin

Remember, not too much weathering!
Hunters as per this one we're all hangared overnight and the finish remained quite glossy, something between a satin and full gloss but very glossy when newly painted !

David.

DenisFerrari

Yes David, understood. Sure, I saw some real hunters and - even if old - appearance is quite clean and glossy indeed.

CR Tech

Could the Ripmax hunter owners comment on how accurate these specs are as released by Ripmax. Many thanks

SJN

Look at this thread: Flying Legends 1/6 scale Hawker Hunter - ....RC Jet Addiction....


" Here's a clip from today's successful maiden flight of my Flying Legends (Ripmax) Hawker Hunter.

The model weighs 31 lbs dry and carries 4.5L (1.2 gallons) of fuel for an estimated take off weight of 38-39 lbs.

After running for just over 7 minutes I used only half of the onboard fuel so I landed at about 35 lbs. "

furloughed ual

My Feedback: (31)