bhouin

My Feedback: (106)

how is your build coming along? I have one that I am contemplating how to arrange the internals on myself. I might get back to it this fall.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

All of you...........I have the original Falcon120 and have 3 questions!!!!! I never finished it.... but I'm about to put it back on my build table for this winter. (hey, is only been 4 yrs).

1. ***So is anyone still making the improved canopy and cockpit mold? \
I may have the Noray canopy and I have a heavy cockpit that doesn't fit the canopy quite right....looking for faster/easier option

2. ***Where do I get a CF wing tube from?
Last time I looked into it I thought a heli boom might fit but it looks like now there might be more options.

3. ***Where do I get the fuel tank from?
I've seen a nice conformed one, also where do I locate it. I removed all the bulkheads to CF glass them (along with the gear area)

Things I did before storage

-I poly glassed the surfaces/booms and primed them, still need to do the wings though
-I got the HK bomb drop system and added it to the wings
-using an original JC Rabbit for power
-plan on ordering the Dreamsworks 5dgeree turbine mount (is 5 degrees what I need...I've seen posts all over about 0,5,6 etc)
-already have trailing link gear from DreamWorks (air)


I'm excited to get this plane finished (along with my waiver) since I can fly it out at the WPAFB here in Dayton Ohio.

edwarda10pilot

My Feedback: (3)

sweetpea01:

For a new and stronger canopy try Keith at Park Flyer Plastics (http://parkflyerplastics.com/cart/in...roducts_id=694 )

Not sure what the wing tube diameter for the Falcon 120 is but might try:
TNT Landing Gear (https://www.tntlandinggear.com/welco...ne_catalog.htm )
or
Graph Tech (http://graphtechrcshop.com/category....5?categoryId=7)

For a fuel tank, might try contacting some of the guys on RC Groups. I did an assembly thread over there in the Turbine section (user name is a10pilot). Look in the Turbine or EDF threads. Lots of guys bought the Navy Cat (almost identical to the Falcon 120). Make a post on the threads and ask for the Navy Cat CF version fuel tank and see if anyone has one they will sell. It is about 80 ounces.

FYI. The Dream Works machined motor mount might not work. If you buy it see if they will let you return it if it does not fit the engine mounting "platform".

The airframe needs 5 degrees of down thrust. With this you will get no trim changes from idle to full throttle.

Ed

Dr Honda

My Feedback: (4)

1) Contact the guys at RCJetWorld.com. They may be able to get you the newer version of the canopy. They sell the NayCat, and it's just the evolution of the Falcon 120.

2) Don't worry. The heli booms are thin, and not recommended. AND... no one has hurt the stock aluminum tube. (you will break the wings first)

3) You can get the NavyCat tank... or the super expensive Kevlar tank that dreamworks sells. OR....... just use a 64 oz juice bottle like most of us used.

hobbyaire

My Feedback: (1)

A1) as been noted by others, Keith of Park Flyer Plastics would be the best 1st try, as Mr. Hammel has passed .. I believe Keith has taken that part of it over.
A2) whatever wing tube you get (I just turned down a wooden dowel, and epoxied it in the stock aluminum tube), make sure it's length is an EXACT fit all the way in the wing .. mine was about 5/8" short, such that it wasn't quite seated in the end blocks .. others have reported failure. in addition, I removed the sheating around the retract mounts and did lots of reinforcement, both for the mounts and wing structure, then resheated/painted the area. I confidently fly mine at 135 MPH.
A3) Gary Mueller of Jet Tech http://www.jettechusa.com/collection...-120-fuel-tank IMHO, he makes the best tanks available .. you'll have to remove the rear formers custom fit the tank .. be sure to put in both wing tubes so your tank clears them (especially the front one), then hysol ALL the formers in.
PS you'll also have to beef up the front landing gear mount - I doubled the formers and joined them together with wooden chop stiks (looked kind of like a cone shaped birdcage) .. I then hysoled the assembly in the nose section.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Thanks for the info on the canopy. Not a fan of alum wingtubes, seen them bend too often, plus they are heavy. I was hoping since its been awhile there was a good source for the exact wingtube. I'll probably call RCJetworld and see if maybe they sell that separate.

Thanks on the fuel tank options.

hobbyaire

My Feedback: (1)

The wing tube OD (if I recall), is 20mm. I happen to have a wood lathe and turned down a 3/4 dowel just a bit .. the epoxied it in the stock tube .. yes it just a but heavy, but has proven to virtually indestructible, as well as the addl length correction.
PS .. I also added fasteners to bolt the leading edge of the wing to the fuse, and tied the leading edge points in the fuse together by gluing in wooden chopsticks across to each wood backing.. this gives a very solid mount at the front of the wing .. no worries about ripping off the wings in forward flight.

jetflyr

[QUOTE=sweetpea01;12283768]Thanks for the info on the canopy. Not a fan of alum wingtubes, seen them bend too often, plus they are heavy. I was hoping since its been awhile there was a good source for the exact wingtube. I'll probably call RCJetworld and see if maybe they sell that separate.

Try RC Foam (rcfoam.com) for carbon fiber wing tubes. It's what I used :-). That way you can cut them to the exact length you need.
Greg

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Hope to start back on this bird soon. I'm kinda waiting on my Bday and Xmas incase anyone gets me some items on my list (not likely though).

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Well guys i have finally got my Falcon 120 almost finished have my original Ram 500 on it with a few Wren upgrades. Set up for Spectrum DX18 with spring air retracts and Topgun TopCat struts. trim main wheels/ brakes with BVM nose wheel and smooth stop. All metal gear servos mostly JR and 440 pushrods. Wood dowel in the stock correct full length Spar. Modified the wings with bumps on the top side to clear the beefy TGA struts. Full cockpit tub with 3D instrument panel. Still looking for a pilot. LOL I may add a nose gear door and still have to line the wheel wells.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Could just be your picture......but looks like a large gap on the front of the canopy. Wouldn't airflow get under that and try to rip it off?

Second, from posts I've read it seems the dreamworks mount will fit the original Falcon120 but not the newer versions. I have the very old version that I'm fiberglassing with Poly to keep it lighter

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Good eye Sweetpea, That is because the picture was taken before I finished the tub, and the canopy and tub are just setting on the fuselage. It is not glued to the tub yet as I am still trying to find a pilot. My local HS can't get a jet pilot anymore and I have looked at Wallyworld and a bunch of toy stores with out any luck.I am of the opinion a jet looks wrong if it flies by without a pilot under the canopy

SECRET AGENT

My Feedback: (18)

Use this guy, HA!

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

HA HA......... Dead Terrorist, " I KEEEELL YOU". LOL Where can I get this guy? I love it...

SECRET AGENT

My Feedback: (18)

Unfortunately the guy who used to make them back in 2008 quit doing it. They were pricey too, like around $60.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

GI joe Figure?


I have a cockpit with a pilot in it, but its a heavy material. I'll probably still use it though. Can't recall where I got it.

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

I don't think they make the Big GI Joe Figures any longer, at least I haven't seen any in my search.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

So I did some mock installations and sanding of the wings this weekend. This project has been put on the shelf for over 5yrs and 2 moves....WA to VA to OH. I noted in some searching the threads along with looking at my progress a few things:

A. This is the Original Falcon 120 I got for $179.99 years ago. So no updates on the wings or fuse etc.
B. I am glassing this with 1/4 cloth and Poly instead of epoxy to keep the weight down. Wings have lightening holes in them I must rebalsa for glassing
C. Custom Painted Scheme of a Twin Fighter jet (even though its a sport jet). This is practice for me in doing more scale stuff (rivets/panel lines/lights etc).
D. Original JC Rabbit 90 will be used with zero time
E. Retracts are trailing link from DreamWorks (Airpower I think?) Many years ago I got them
F. I have most of the internal guts, but I'm sure I'm missing a few parts (like I have not seen my UAT yet)

Problems:
1. Seems I posted I bought a new CF wing tube many years ago on RCU. I found a 20mm thick CF tube in my shop but it wasn't long enough and was rough cut. Me thinks I have the correct length tube somewhere????

2. I lost my small diameter metal wing tube. I have one box stuffed up high in storage it may be in, but its probably gone. I wanted a CF tube here also anyway.

3. My canopy and cockpit is missing. I am pretty sure I put it in my JL 1/8 F-16 box for transport in the moves which again is up high on a storage shelf. I don't recall if I ever got a Noray or if I just have the original.

4. I did finish one wing with Hobby King Quantam Bomb Drop system prior to putting this up for later construction. The wing is still open on one side, the other has holes filled by balsa and spackle.

5. My DreamWorks gear are not quite below flush (they are all trailing link). I have some more work to do there as I want gear doors but may not be able to if they are not below flush.

6. Wingtube phenolic ends before the gear. I'm going to open the wing up some and extend it to gear and CF glass the wheel mounts.

7. I still have no fuel tank......Is 64oz juice/windex bottle enough for 7-8min flights on the early JC Rabbit? Or do I spend the money on the DreamWorks 85oz tank?

8. All the control surfaces where found!!! Every thing is glassed, primed, filled etc....except for the Wings. They still need interior work with Poly, CA, Hysol, CF etc. Then I'll seal them up and glass.

9. I noticed one wing is not flush to the fuse. Easy fix once I figure out if its the wing or the fuse that is the issue.

10. Installing Nav lights in the bird. I have both ElectoDynamic and Turnigy lights...will see which I like better for this bird.

11. Missing some hardware like the control horns, control rods, boom screws etc. I may have parts I can use in my shop from other builds

I'll post some pics tonight. I am really pumped to finish this up and get my Waiver

alasdair

I made my own fuel tank, just over 2.2 litres.

I carved a big block of blue foam (builders' insulation), the closed cell kind. I cut a large hole in the fuselage bottom and removed one former. Once the blue foam block was a loose fit through the hole and in its position, I covered it with plastic film. Then I built up several layers of glass cloth and chop mat using epoxy, over the bottom half. When that set, I removed the foam plug and trimmed the glass.
Then I added a line of tape around the middle of the foam and recovered it with film. I laid up the top half of the tank, and the line of tape gave me an overlap that fitted the bottom.

To add stiffness and rigidity (a lot) after the first 2 or 3 layers of glass, I added some pieces of thin (2 mm) polystyrene foam, then left the epoxy to set, then smoothed and tapered the edges before adding another 2 or 3 layers pf glass. I did this on the bottom and rear faces, and also across the top.

The tank was a great success (but not with the clunk pickup in the photo. I changed to a pleated paper pickup).


Sorry guys, this is a repeat of post #4246 on page 170. I forgot that I already posted about the tank.

Anyway, the good news is that it has lasted for years.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Thanks, but i'm not going to build a tank at this stage.

Updates.

1. Found my main CF wingtube, but I must have cut it to fit the original length years ago. So there that is.
2. I have a Noray canopy!!! And the original. So that is good,
3. Found my cockpit. Heavy but will work out as nose ballast
4. Found my UAT and some odds and ends fuel/smoke/air connections. most of my air and fuel items are in a tray in the F-16. So I need to remove them from there

But no luck on the small wingtube. Looks like 10mm x 305mm is about the right size based on some rough measurements. Thanks to the Quads being popular I found some nice CF tubes at 10mm x 8mm x 500mm low cost. Should be good to go now

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

edwarda10pilot

My Feedback: (3)

sweetpea01:
I am flying a Navy Cat (very similar if not identical, to the Falcon 120) with the Navy Cat 80 oz. fuel tank and a 4 oz. UAT. With my old 18 lb. Jet Joe I can get about 5-6 min. with moderate throttle management and have about 10-12 oz. left. Recently I flew the plane most of the flight at full throttle and ran out of fuel at about 5 min.

Let me look around and see if I can find one of the OEM tanks from my first Navy Cat. If so, I will PM you. Probably will not be till this weekend or early next week.

Ed

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Sounds good, let me know.

figured my first flight would be in the 4-5min range to post flight things and check fuel consumption.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Can someone post a detailed picture of how they did the nose wheel steering?

I'd prefer with the stock former and mounts. Been racking my brain tonight trying to figure out how this will work and not have wires in the way or binding on things.

I saw a Youtube video that I think might work....but it will be easier to put the servo under the strut instead of infront of the gear.

Setting up nose wheel retracts - YouTube

edwarda10pilot

My Feedback: (3)

sweetpea, here are a few photos of my nose gear install. The threaded pieces that screw into the nose strut have been shortened to clear some of the nose gear mounting block.

Ed