rcpete347

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HI all, the math does not add up, what about the shipping.
Rcpete

CFII1974

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RCP - Like I said in the one post, I saved a little when I ordered 2 at one time and if you read the first post I only ordered Struts wheels and brakes. I have a set of 635's that I plan on using.

FalconWings

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I don't know about $650 being a bargain for the retract set. OK price but not a bargain. Y/A costs about the same.

jeff sewell

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For me it's a bargain - here in the UK the retract units alone may cost $300+ So to get scale oleo's and wheels and brakes is very good. My YA F15 scale retracts were really expensive here.

My F18 kit including oleos and retacts etc. will cost $1750. Not been hammered for tax from first order at all!

jeff sewell

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That's delivered BTW...

J. Campbell

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I have seen the skymaster version of this plane fly on a 120 and it did not look like it did that well, so an 18lb engine is definatley out...Why are you using the 160?? Do these planes really not fly that well on a 120 or was it just a case of THAT pilot on THAT day??? Plane did not look as fast as the F-15, or as stable, landed well though... How many people are flying that plane and what do you think of it.. I Have been considering getting one but the prospect of haveing to put an engine in there that is bigger than 28lbs turns me off a little.. Russ

seanreit

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Russ, I've seen the SM F-18 first version (or at least first one I saw almost two years ago) fly on a P-120 and it was nuts fast. Had all the power you could ever want. A 160 powered '18 of same size will be that much better. The one I saw would have flown on 18lbs but would have been anemic. The Yellow '18's fly on 27'bs all the time. This airplane is much smaller over all and weighs less.

CFII1974

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Two words on why to use a 160 .. POWER and SPEED..

J. Campbell

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May have been an isolated case then, i was thinking possibly one of the New modelbau 950's or 900's Whichever one it is.. 28lbs...will do nicley then. Maybe i will order one... F-18 that is.. Russ

Falcon 64

Planning to start building soon?
Pics?

Gudmund

CFII1974

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Well I had a little time tonight between trips so I started test fitting and going through the formers. Overall cut and fit are good. About half the formers are laser cut and the other have were done by hand. The parts cut by hand are not a perfect match to the plans but they are not off enough to make a difference.
I only ran into one question but I think I have it figured out. Maybe some of you folks who got the ARF can answer this.
I have two landing gear rails (F17 and F18) per side that are marked on the plans and have tabs to fit into the formers, easy to see where they go. I then have 4 unmarked rails (or what I assume to be rails) that are not on the plans. I am thinking that these are doublers for the landing gear rails since they line up with the same just without the tabs.

I also got out the carbon fiber and started lining up the parts I want to reinforce. Time to break out a new roll.

Here are some more shots.

Dave

CFII1974

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and the landing gear rails with the ?? doublers ??

CFII1974

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Well I have gotten started but I am not as far as I would like yet. My schedule has been busy and with the holidays I only put in about 8 hours of work time and a lot of time waiting on glue to dry. I have reinforced all the formers as I planed to do. I have installed all the formers in the nose section and the key formers in the rear fuse. I have the wing rails in and everything drilled for them in the fuse. I also have the vert stabs mounting work done.
I will say that in kit form with only plans to look at you can really do things your way but at the same time you do spend some extra time head scratching on the order you should do things and how to be sure it all lines up right in the end. I have enjoyed the process so far. Really all I have left to do to get the plane to ARF form is glue in the rest of the rear formers the intakes and setup the horizontal stabs.

I will say that I am still a little uncertain of the exact position vertically on the side of the fuse for the stab hole. Measuring a rounded fuse and looking at flat plans is harder then you might think but after doing just that and looking at pictures I have found on the web I am very close and the hole will either be centered on the fuse seam or just above it. If anyone wants to take a look at theirs and let me know that would be appreciated.

Here are a few pics of some of the carbon work I did as well as the nose formers. I will post the rear fuse shots when I am finished gluing it all in. (that could be a few days since it is getting real cold here and I build in 1/3 of my garage)

Thanks

Dave

CFII1974

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More

CFII1974

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last batch tonight

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

What kinf of resin are you using?

really neat job by the way!!

Keep it up. [8D]

jeff sewell

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Hi Dave,

That looks like a really nice job your making of your F18 - I would appreciate any feedback so I can pass it to JL to improve the quality of their products. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Thanks

Jeff Sewell

john agnew

Dave

Second what Jeff has said, looks like a straightforward build and excellent work from yourself. Those formers are glued in for keeps!
Presume you are using Hysol or equivalent.

John

SJN

Looks neat.

Did you sand the inside of the fuselage before gluing in the formers ?

CFII1974

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks all I appreciate the feedback.

FW - Most of the lamination was done with EZ LAM but I ran out with a few pieces to go so I picked up some WEST at the local boat shop.
SNJ - Yes, the whole fuse got a good bath and scrubbing as well as a light sanding before I started gluing anything in.

Jeff and John - So far I only have two gripes and they are not really build affecting but they could have been if the issues were worse. 1st a few of the formers wanted to twist a little within about a week of the kit getting here, I just stacked them and put a weight on top, end of problem. second and I posted this in another thread was the cuts on the band saw parts. I was off from the plans in a few instances, nothing so off that will be an issue but I think I would like to see all laser cut parts to take out the human factor.
I am happy with the kit and I do not regret going this way. I am really enjoying the build.
Jeff any chance you can look on one of your ARF's and let me know about the hole for the h-stab.

Dave

KFalcon

My Feedback: (18)

Glad to see everything is going well.

This is about how long I thought it would take to get here. I had all the formers in my Yellow F-18 Twin in a night. Make sure to continue keeping track of the time spent getting it to ARF form.

Keep up the good work!

jeff sewell

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Leave it with me Dave and I'll get back to you. Waiting for some stock to turn up in a few days so if you can hang on till then...

Jeff

seanreit

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Dave, after what you are seeing I have a couple of questions, would it be worth the extra 4 or 5 hundred for the ARF.

The quality you are seeing, if someone did get the ARF would there be any fear of quality of work, in other words are you glad you did not get the arf and are more easily able to beef things up.

CFII1974

My Feedback: (5)

Sean,
Worth it all depends on if you like to build or not. I am guessing I will spend 10 to 12 hours of work getting it in ARF form. I really don't think you would have any workmanship issues with the arf, I bet they put the formers in right away in the same climate and if I did not have the plans to hold the cut pieces up to you would not know they were not right on.
As far as beef it up, yes I think it is easier to do that with the kit and that was why I got it since I am putting the 160 in it.

Dave

CFII1974

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Well I have put in about two more hours of work and I have most of the rear formers in.
I am on my third tube of Hysol now and I think this one should finish the job of getting the plane to the ARF stage.
I few tips that could save some head scratching time,
When you are ready to start the LG section of the fuse glue the center LG former into the fuse first, you will need to have finished the wing and have the holes cut in the fuse for it. This way you can insert it, tape it into place and place the guide on the wing rails. Once this it done you can just butt the former right up to it, make sure it is square and glue in the former.
Then after that is dry the forward and rear LG formers will line up using the LG rails and the turbine mounting rails.

Also when you get ready to glue in the forward LG former in you need to place the intakes in the plane as they will not go in after you have the former in, and in turn you need to place the former in that goes in front of the intakes. (note I glued the two formers that join the two fuse halfs in early in the process so they were not a factor here) I also used a flat duragrit sander and clamped it to the turbine mounting rails to be sure that they were level with each other.

The H stab blocks were a snap after you drill the holes and make the blocks just use a long piece of brass tubing the same size as your H-stab rods and run it all the way through the fuse to line it all up and hold it in place while you glue in the rear most former and attach it to the blocks.

I think I will be able to finish up the formers in the rear of the fuse tonight if I get to work on it.

For now here are some pics of my progress.