RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Erazz,

Do you leave the tail pipe attached for flying or just during start-up? If you leave attached for flying, how did you attach it to the bottom of the horizontal stab? It shouldn't be necessary for flight.

Jeff

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Hi Sara,
For some reason my friends decided to watch instead of take pictures... Go figure. I'll have another go next Friday. Hopefully we'll get better pictures then.

Jeff,
The tube is only used for startup. The stab is rather delicate and any flames during startup torch it immediately. It's simply a rolled up strip of aluminum that has legs attached with a clamp. These legs are pushed into the sand and hold the tube in the air.



BTW,
I've since come to the conclusion that the spin was due to the float reducing spiral stability. I'll be adding subfins underneath the existing fins to improve this.

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Has anyone found a matching orange paint in a spray can for this bird ?

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

What are you guys doing to attach the canopy. Feels kind of flimsy, whats the best way to secure it and have easy accses to the inside of the fuse.

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

This is from page 33 of the forum... (there is a photo of a canopy)

When you get a new one, Build a solid frame formed to the top of the fuse. used 1/64th inch play top and bottom and sandwiched 1/8th inch balsa between it. Make a paper template first. Its a little tricky but it will make the canopy alot more ridgid.

Attachments
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RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

I'm using 10 pairs of magnets with a tooth at the front for safety. I'll try and post pictures tomorrow.

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

[:o] Orange paint match please ? ? ? [:o]

...... Zak

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Look back earlier in this thread. There are pictures of several ways guys have done it.

Joe

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Well I have mine all ready to fly tomorrow and have a question about the flaps. themanual says the flaps should be set at 20mm ior 3/4" No matter How far in on the sevo arm I go, I can't get less than 1" Will that be ok. Also, are you guys using the same 20mm for take off and landing?

Thanks!

Tumbler

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

No flaps are needed for take-off. If you want the flaps to be effective for landing you need a lot more than 20 mm. I first set mine for 25 mm. and the plane wanted to float forever. I now have half flaps at 35 mm. and full flaps at 75 mm. (about 40 degrees).

This bird lands like a trainer. With full flaps you can drag it in under power and set it down anywhere you want. No kidding, it can touch down at 10 mph. The only time I've used half flaps is in a strong head wind.

I have about 3 mm. down elevator compensation with full flaps, and 1 mm. with half flaps.

Joe

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Where are you boys putting the extra glue, and reenforcing that's needed ?

... zak

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Thanks Joe. I set up the flaps for about 3" of travel like you said. My last turbine was a Kangaroo, so it did not have flaps. It will be nice to have a plane that slows down for a nice landing.

Well I have her ready to go but it rained today. I will have to take her out after work one day this week.

Tumbler

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Velcro! Fifty flights without losing so far.

Jeff

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

nice job tumbler watch you don`t lose your canopy , you don`t seem to have front wheel cover and the wind will get in and blow the canopy off, not very easy to get another iether. happy landings
new2jets

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Thanks man. Actually I did make a deeper wheel well, but still need to glue it in. I moved the retract up about 1 1/2' from the bottom so the stock wheel well does not work.

Tumbler

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

hey new 2jets-she looks nice,
how many flights has she had now-20,30 maybe?:D
how come yor wing has a flag on it-and as if by magic its gone-or is it just my eyes

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

I put the wheel well liner in last night. I carved a foam plug, wrapped glass around it and popped the foam out. It's 3 1/4" deep and allows the wheel to fully retract into the fuse.

Tumbler

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

What's the best solution to prevent the Stab from getting cooked ? Wrap it in aluminum foil, or the old stove pipe trick for starting ? Is it absolutely necessary ? And if aluminum foil, what brand is it, and where purchased ?

[:o] ........ And also, where does this bird need additional glue, and beefing up ?

Thanks.

... zak

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Yes, it is absolutely necessary. I didnt need protection for the first 30 flights then she got a little flamey before the fuel ramp. I would have lost the covering if I hadnt had aluminum tape on the stab. It only takes a second to ruin your day.
I got the aluminum tape at Ace Hardware. It has an adhesive back and is good to like 600 degrees or so. Dont worry about the weight, it weighs next to nothing. You will be glad you used it.

cody

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

This took less than 5 minutes to work, it's light, compact, and best of all no ugly tape on the bottom of the stab!

2 hours to test flight for me!!

Tumbler

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Zak



Tumbler and I think alike. See my post #1134.


Jeff

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

OK ................ Then it's the stove pipe over aluminum tape 2 to 1 so far. Any other opinions ? ? ?

And how bout spelling out those high stress points where I need to pour in some extrta glue ? { epoxy ? ) :eek:


... zak

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Starzak, All the formers in the fuse need to be reinforced. BVM aeropoxy works perfect for this. I strongly recommend going back to page 20 or so of the thread and pick up where Joeflyer starts his build. Some good info in there. The lack of glue on the formers is a good thing. That way you can remove them and get a larger fuel tank in there. You need to decide which ones to keep and which ones will go and which ones you will modify. What is left in the plane will need a bead of aeropoxy around it or polyester resin and glass cloth. Check the shear webing on the wings through a hole at the root and make sure the wood grain is vertical. Apply extra CA and epoxy to the main gear mounting blocks Joints and surrounding areas. Enjoy the build. Read the thread completely. All the decisions have been made by other builders, just go with their ideas. Need an engine mount? Let me know. LOL Have fun.

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

Following a bounce that damaged my L/H main gear mounting last month, I had a really good inspection around the airframe. I noticed a slight hairline crack around the side of the fuselarge at the front of the engine mounting structure. I found that both sides of fuse had in fact cracked right through and after loading the engine mounting, i opened up the hairline cracks to show the extent of the damage. The structure in this area is adequate, but if the large balsa block (which is fitted inside the extreme rear the fuse during manufacture) had been extended say a couple of inches further fwd, it would have increased the strength in this area considerably. It is a nasty area to have to work in and there were many different ways to repair and strengthen the area, but I used simple engine bearers each side, bonded to the top of the engine mount area and one bolt fitted trough for extra piece of mind. The bearers are glued to the wind root ply formers and a 3/4 inch balsa block was shaped to fit inside the fuse right at the back and two additional balsa/ply blocks bonded to the rear but one frame to carry the ends of the bearers. Seems to be nice and strong now and bear in mind, my home built engine is a lot heavier than a comercial engine and to be fair, the plane has endured quite a few less than perfect landings and all on grass.

RE: Bob Cat Copy Falcon 120 Jet
 

I think everyone who has this plane with a jet engine will come up to this issue sooner or later. I decided to go with a simple-but-ugly fix. I added 2 CF patches to the outside of the mount. This will be filled, sanded and painted. The result will look like 2 small bumps on outside of the fuselage. Not pretty but not very visible and very effective.