Helijet

Fabulous! Thanks for the pics and videos. I don't know about anyone else but there were NO instructions in my kit.
I was told to go to the Skymaster site and I did find them....but really.....!!!!

d.w.



Dean W.

number27

Here are some more tidbits of Cassiemitch's work on the model

http://youtu.be/ue5ODiwSg1c

BillJ

My Feedback: (19)

OK...Moving to the Stabs.......Servos are mounted in the stab FACING INWARD....UGGG...So the what I've done is measured the depth from outside edge of stab skin to the mounting rib in stab...Mine was 5cm.....I measure the height of mounting tabs (with groment) to the middle of the servo arm thickness...I'm using the 1inch gold H9 arms,,,Real important to use the arm you intend to fly for this measurement ...or you'll end up with a wider than necessary slot... mine was 12mm to the inside edge of arm,,, 5cm(50mm) plus the 12 gives me 62mm.....Masking taped the stab and then drew a line 62 mm from edge.......eyeballed the servo arm placement and found a middle place to start on the grinding on the slot.. MOUNT the servo with arm into place... EASE your way out on the slot....Checking that you don't cut it extra long...Once you get a small slot cut..you can see the servo arm... I used a small dental pic to pull the arm up and worked my way out the 62mm line until the arm would poke out the slot......Then move to the other end...cut slot down the line until you reach max throw.......Whew..........Yes...there are many different ways to go after this....It would have been nice if there was a hatch cover there so you're only grinding a slot in a hatch cover and not the stab itself.....But...you play with what you're delt.... Now that I have this...Lets see whats in store at the working end .....Hard point ????? I'll let you know

cassiemitch

I used the intairco 115 mm wheels with there brake setup .
The brake disc is a really neat fit and designed well ,the wheels look trick and you also don't have to worry about tyres going down as they solid .
I sat the jet on its wheels for the first time and noted that there is a lot of weight the mains take .
The mains sat very low with no fuel onboard and that was with a pressure of 90 psi in the strut .
I will change the oil level in the strut to set lowest height and put more air pressure in to help .
I also increased nose air pressure also .
I will be doing cg tonight so i will be able to give more detail on setup for cg .
I do feel at the moment if i hadn't fitted the pilot and tubs i would be adding nose weight .

FenderBean

Cassie thanks for the info, I will decide on what to use when I can take a look at the stock setup.

cassiemitch

Hi Bill J , could you take a photo of the arm and ball joints that link the main door to the retract and post it on here ?
I didnt recive the part that attaches to the retract leg that fixes the pusrod to it .
i will have to make something up . Cheers

johnzqh

We suppose your friend is Felipe who received Hawk recently.Our record shows Felipe exrpessed satisfaction to us.
We didn’t receive Felipe’s complaints described by you.We did send flap linkage cover repalcement to Felipe.
Please ask Felipe to send photos to us if he has further findings about plane.
We will try our best to make customer happy

Best regards

John
skymaster/x-treme

In the Haze

My XXL is supposed to be shipped soon, I am shocked that after all this time they have still not got the hard points in the control surfaces right. I have built 4 of their kits, 2 small Hawks, 1 big Hawk and a BD5, all being an absolute nightmare with no hard points in anything either.

I would have expected more, at least after all these years.................

Man I am disappointed to hear this now......................

BillJ

My Feedback: (19)

It appears to be a simple clamp/strap

charlyjet

Will soon I finish mine, I have not had any problem discussed here,

FenderBean

In the Haze

Wow, these things are not cheap anymore, and look a the sloppy workmanship we have to put up with...come on Anton..............

BillJ

My Feedback: (19)

Maybe I'm not in the loop as to what would work better...But I can tell you that the retracts work great and doors fit nice....I'll keep plugging along...

DiscoWings

My Feedback: (76)

These work fine thats how they are on the viper 2.6 meter also

In the Haze

Quote:

If this is how my jets comes to me after being onpre-oder for 46 weeks I'm going to be sending it back along with a bill askingfor interest.

Don't blame you.

TJPro351

My Feedback: (8)

What size pilot does the Avanti take....1/5 or 1/6 scale?

cassiemitch

I have done cg , all i can say is put everything forward . I have the george bush 1/6 in mine .

DiscoWings

My Feedback: (76)

Hurry Up BillJ your taking too long to build!

In the Haze

Agreed, they do work. But my point (pedantic maybe) is does that sort of workmanship belong on a $5000 airframe???

Just asking.................

George

My Feedback: (57)

Only if your "pedantic"! (Which I tend to be most of the time.) lol




Good job Bill!

wfield0455

My Feedback: (7)

I guess that depends on whether or not you want it to turn into a $6000 air frame

I agree, that isn't the nicest looking arrangement that I've seen but it will work reliably. If you don't like the appearance, it should be able to be redone with a couple of spacers of the proper length, instead of a stack of nuts in just a few minutes. While Id like to see everything perfect, I also realize that the more time spent on these small details, the more the manufacturer has to charge. To be honest, for an air frame of this size, with the level of prefab provided and the overall quality, to me, it seems like a bargain at $5000. Just look at the prices of some of the European kits that are nothing more than raw fiberglass and plywood parts, which often don't fit all that nicely.

DiscoWings

My Feedback: (76)

it has nothing to do with craftman ship, the ring method works really well they could have done dual links though on both sides for an even stronger linkage.

In the Haze

, You make valid points, I am cheesed about the lack of hard points, which does not take much to consistently get right IMHO.

Oh well let's see what I get.

wfield0455

My Feedback: (7)

I agree. When I recently assembled my small Hawk 100, there were a couple of issues, one of which was some missing hard points. Since these things a pretty much hand assembled
at the factory there will always be the possibility of steps being missed. Still, missing hard points does seem to be an issue that they should be able to address. Personally, I considered
my Hawk to be of very high quality but there was still room for improvement and hopefully Skymaster will take steps to make things even better. It would seem something as simple as having
a co worker perform a quick inspection of wings and control surfaces before they are closed up could solve this issue. The bottom line though is that even when I build myself, I still forget things
at times and any manufactured product can have defects. We all make mistakes, but at least in my case, when I've had an issue, I've been able to contact John at Skymaster and he's alway
returned my emails promptly and has been very helpful. I've always been well satisfied with the products and service I've received. Best of luck with your Avanti XXL, I'm sure it will turn out to be an outstanding model..

Helijet

Had a few little problems with my kit when it arrived. A few emails and photos later Skymaster sent a package to replace some of the parts. There was no third degree and the parts in question have arrived safe and sound and then some! Overall, the plane is very impressive and compared to aircraft such as the Futura and BVM UB it is of very good value.

Lets move on and get these big girls in the air. When I have mine altogether on the bench it is one impressive looking bird!
BTW...my strut assembly is nice and clean and the clamp method uses though simple is functional and facilitates in easy maintenance of the doors is needed.

Cheers
Dean W.