Shaun Evans

Ah,

Looks cool. You're gonna keep the stock arm, though? That's the weak point of that system IMO.

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

They are not the stock arms. It is actually a new collar on the top tapped with 4/40 bolts coming out. I still see a potential for bending, so we are upgrading to 6/32 bolts now. We had to order some eye links to take the 6/32 bolts.

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Nice mod Joe! And Joe!
What's Mike's contribution? Staying out of the way? Lol.

Randy M.

My Feedback: (38)

here's my steering mod. direct drive. only downside is you can see it when the gear is down. but only from one side. the gear door hides it

tbrum1

Here's the same mod as yours Joe!! I bulked up the existing tiller arm with silver solder and it's significantly more stiff now. I'll see when I get it on the floor with weight to see if the tiller arm still bends... may go to 6-32 also. Thanks for all your help on this. Still likely some tweaking and mods, but happy with it so far.

More details found here....
http://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/show...45#post2057745

And a quick video....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9t790z-dAQ

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Trev,
I see that you understand this setup perfectly; well done!

Incidentally, JW and I have decided to upgrade ours to 6-32 SHCS for the tiller arms.

I should be able to get this done this weekend; I'll post some pics.

Joe D.

Shaun Evans

Good on ya. Clearly you saw the weakness in that, too. I've never had a problem with pull-pull (and actually like it) but those stock arms won't hold up to a really sharp turn let alone a bump or incursion. I hope to be able to find someone who can duplicate Sean R's steering arm that goes between the trunion and the strut. It lengthened the strut by 1/4", but that didn't effect anything. It gave me my pull-pull but with an arm that was up to the task.

Shaun Evans

Well I guess that's one way to do it!

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Joe I did a similar trick on my stingray to get the steering servo in front of the gear for better balance and mounting options, I call it a "push-push"

Did Mike get a quote to convert the P-180 to the P-200SX? I might do the same.

tbrum1

Thanks!! Pics would definitely be appreciated so I can continue the shameless copying, LOL

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

Bravo! The Y/A bug is a nice specimen but there is always room for improvement.

Also, after looking at your video, it just occurred to me that there might be one other issue to work out. As the nose gear is retracted there is a period when the push-push has a lot of slack and the nose wheels can rotate a bit. If the wheels rotate too much they could catch something on the way up. If that becomes a problem, we may need to get some sort of spring tension to hold them center on the way up.

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

Mike sold that 180 to me, and I sold it to Dirr and he sold it to someone else. It has been all over the place but still never been flown.

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

Or you could just drill and tap into the strut itself and place threaded arms in. Behotec made some really nice, strong ones.

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

I wonder if you could lengthen the strut and mount the nose plate deeper in the fuse? You may be able to hide the servo that way. It would probably mess up the retract path though.

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

Sean, I harassed Mike until he finally flew a turbine. That was about a month ago. It has been more than a year since he flew last. I just need to get him away from his Corvette and motorcycles.

Alright, back to work. FYI, the rear doors are no fun either. It took me 2 hours to get one large main gear door on. This will take me much longer than planned.

Shaun Evans

Hmmm....

That is not a bad idea at all.

Thanks!

eazyp

My Feedback: (35)

Hi guys reporting in from Columbus,Ohio. ,Ive been slowy building one of these,i will be takeing winter lay off in the next week or so.Ive also been silently watching this thread and its all great stuff. ive also have some upgraded parts to share,I have the complete upgraded nose retract unit witch includes machined retract rails and machined stearing arm. to be honest ive just set the shop up to get back on this,i got this a couple years back and don't even remember who made it. I will be fitting mine with a p200 witch I already have, detail for scale lighting kit just the pits cockpit kit reese lex fence and a few other odd and end,im about 70% built. Paul

Joe Westrich

My Feedback: (95)

Great Paul! Hope to see pics of the upgraded nose gear.

I am still fuss'n with the two large main gear doors. I thought the body work was going to be the drag of finishing the fuse.... turns out the main gear doors are worse.

Got to keep motivated!

tbrum1

Hey Joe.. What's the issue you are having with the main doors? Probably about 1-week away from getting into this stage so any tips would be appreciated!! The front doors are done on mine and all worked out well, so interested to see what the issues are.

Also.. Any luck so far on finding some replacement rear wheels to replace those foam units?

Shaun Evans

+1

Interested in what you come up with there.

Tbrum1,

Could you try giving me a call again?

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Trev,
JW suggested that we try modifying the BVM F-4 tire to fit the Yellow main rims.
The BVM F-4 tire measures 1.34" in width x 3.50" Ø.
For comparison, the original Yellow foam tires measure ~1.50" in width x ~3.77" Ø.
It's been difficult finding an off-the-shelf tire close to the same width and diameter to the Yellow foam tires; however, the shore hardness and weight of the BVM F-4 tire is perfect for this application.
I've got a video of the tire & rim modifications; I'm hoping I can upload them successfully here.

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Short of designing & machining a mandrel to hold the BVM F-4 tire, I found that the BVM F-4 tire fit tightly over a hole saw. I then used a larger (white) hole saw as a spacer / backstop to prevent the tire from being pushed off of the inner blue hole saw.

The cutting was done with the larger 2.00"Ø (blue) hole saw; to my amazement, the hole saw cut through the tire like butter!

I realize this approach is a bit unorthodox and if I were to machine lots of tires this way, I would invest in a properly designed mandrel to hold the tire etc.

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Here's a video of the tire on the lathe; I'm increasing the I.D. of the tire to 2.00"Ø to fit tightly onto the Yellow main rim.

http://youtu.be/6PXXPcFX81k

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Here's a video of the Yellow outer rim being modified to fit the new BVM F-4 tire.

http://youtu.be/N_PKv8YZ13s

Joe Dirr

My Feedback: (8)

Here's a video showing the fit of the newly machined BVM F-4 tire to the Yellow main rim assy.
http://youtu.be/63B_PNcGMdY