CGRetired

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Update.

I replaced the original tank clunk with one of those Dubro bubble-less ones then put the thing back together. I started the engine and ran it at full throttle watching the fuel line very closely. No more air bubbles. I also insulated the tank with foam. I guess the combination of the two fixed the fuel flow and air bubble problem. The engine now runs up to full throttle and holds nicely. I am using a 14-6 prop and I get around 10,650 rpm with it. I was thinking of going to the 15-6. The only problem now is that it is rather cranky at mid range, acts like it is a tad bit lean... but I am not quite sure how to check that. The idle is set at about 2300 RPM (to slow for a new engine, will change that a tad bit, bring it up to around 2800 for now).

I used a nylon strap as a restraint while running the engine in my front yard. The nylon strap was wrapped around fuselage just forward of the vertical stab and ran across the top of the horizontal stab to a stake in the ground. I did a 'pseudo' range check just to see how things would perform (will do a for-real one at the field before flying, don't worry about that!!!). Anyway, after I was done with the engine run, I put a full tank through it, I cleaned up the plane and when I picked it up I noticed that the rudder was flopping from side to side. Well, when I took the wing off I saw that the right side pull cable was broken at the servo. Strange.. but I think what happened was that the rudder was restrained also during the range check held straight by the pull of the engine at full throttle and when I wiggled the rudder during the range check, I broke that cable (Sullivan Kevlar). I guess that high-torque servo is truly high torque!! Anyway, it took me all of about 10 minutes to replace that cable. Lucky for me I had a spare set. The more I use this pull-pull system the more I like it.

It's now ready to fly. All I need is some nice weather. Yeah.. the prediction for this weekend up here in NJ is for real lousy weather including some snow this weekend. Ah well, Gordie, I'll get it out and up in the air soon.. and get a report out as soon as I can.

DS.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Progress report.

Today turned out to be a great day after all. The weather was cooperating so I decided that I was going to fly the Excellerion 90 today. So, I packed up the Subaru and headed to the field.

It was about 48 degrees and there was just about no wind. What wind there was quartered the field so it was not a difficult day at all.

I fueled up, checked the throws, made sure everything was in the right direction, did a range check, then started the Evo 100. I had a bit of a time getting it to run, then getting it to run right, but I finally got it runnig ok. Time to fly.

I took off, straight and smooth. It climbed very nicely and had a bit of a left bank to the otherwise straight climb. I gave it about three clicks of right and then about three clicks of down, then put it on a straight pass, hands off.. just beautiful!!!

I did a fe orbits getting the feel of it, then did a few very basic maneuvers, then landed it. It went dead stick on landing, though, but the landing was absolutely smooth and right down the centerline.

I played with the idle trying to get the mixture right, and refueled. Put it in the air and, this time, went through the Sportsman routine. All maneuvers were straight and very smooth. With the 15-6 prop, it climbed straight up and just about hung on the prop at the top. Nice.

After about what I guessed was about 3/4 of a tank burned, I decided to land it. Again, dead stick on final, but no big deal, landing was smooth and straight. I guess I gotta work on that idle.

That was it for today, though, it was getting colder and the wind was starting to pick up so it was time to pack up and go home.

All in all, a great maiden flight for the Excelleron 90.

Thanks to you all for the hints and input for the build. I really appreciate it. This is gonna be one nice flying bird.

DS.

GM1

Excellent. I have about twenty flights on mine and the motor is finally getting adjusted to the model, I can get the motor to idle low enough to land correctly without having to shut it off. I truly have unlimited vertical with the YS 110 and 15-10 APC on Wildcat 30% YP heli fuel. I still have to spend some time doing final weight and balance and getting aileron differential set up for optimum performance but for right now, for the time I have spent working with it, and for the total investment I have in it, it may be the best overall model I have ever owned. By the way, the 14MZ makes radio adjustment trivial for models like this. We truly are getting better and better equipment as we go.
Gordie

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Gordie. The Evolution 100 gives me pretty much great vertical with the 15-6 prop, but since I only have had it up for two flights, and I was rather timid at that, I did very little in terms of aerobatics. Mainly race-track pattern with a few maneuvers (actually did all of the Sportsman maneuvers but not in order. Aaaaanyway, I got the high-end engine running well, but anything below mid-range throttle and it begins to choke up. Definitely running to rich, but, as I said, I was playing very timid with the flying yesterday, and besides, that, the temp was quickly dropping from the mid 40's to the mid 30's which was getting below my threshold for cold fingers..ha..

I am slowly picking up experience with this sort of flying and am beginning to see the subtle changes in various adjustments I can make on the control surfaces. I would imagine that with the Excelleron, those subtle changes will become more apparent to me as I gain experience and time with that aircraft. After all, my last pattern plane, the GP Venus 40, is really my first intro to pattern. I do have other aircraft that fly great, but are not near as complex and precision as compared to the Excelleron and the Venus. (I was going to use the term 'clunkers' but realized that I really love my Tiger 60, Aerobat, and Four Star 40 and don't want to insult them..ha).

By the way, I also picked up this oriental Cyclone 90 via the internet (RCU buy&sell) still in the box. Pretty interesting model, wider than the Excelleron, but has a carbon fiber tube to hold the wing into place as the larger Focus 2 meter aircraft has. The model did not come with build instructions, but after the experience I gained with the Excelleron, I believe I could build it with no problems.

Aaaanyway, thanks for the input. Once I get that idle - mid range problem cleared up, I will let you know how it performs... but as of now, it really impresses me and flys like a dream!!

DS.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

The weather yesterday was cold but otherwise nice. No wind so there was no wind-chill factor except behind the plane when first starting it up .

I played with the idle setting, removed the low-speed needle limiter (Evolution 100) so I could further lean the thing out and it started to run pretty good. So, up she went. This was not the maiden, altough it felt like it because the maiden and the one subsequent flight had me flying at more than 1/2 throttle and dead stick on landing because it would not idle.

The club pro, Ron, flew it and said it was one of the best 90 size pattern planes he has flown. Nice words of encouragement for me. So, I refueled and put it back up. Now, I have never before flown a 90 size anything, let alone a 90 size pattern plane, although my Venus 40 is a pattern design, and flys just great. Well, this Excelleron goes exactly where you point it. No nonsense. Very nice, smooth and, I might add, very comfortable plane to fly.

I went through the Sportsman sequences, although not in order, just to see how it would perform. It is still in need of some minor tweaking but all in all, did all of the maneuvers gracefully and with a very clean line.

Now, time to practice.. practice.. practice.

Thanks to Gordie (and others) for all the input, suggestions and help. They certainly made things a tad bit easier during the build process.

DS.

GM1

I don't think the minor tweaking ever ends but this is a very nice model. The single most appreciated feature by me is the landing. The excelleron is honest, it never tries to fool you. It lands exactly the same every time so you get very comfortable with it very quickly.
I was reading a recent post by Jason Schulman about setting up differential and his models are backwards from mine. I may copy my model program to another and reset the differential as per his suggestion and see what happens. He has been moderately successful (yeah, right, moderately!) sp he may be onto something.
Gordie

mprediger

My Feedback: (11)

Gordie, remember that if Jason is speaking of his differentials he may be speaking in regards to his Impacts which usually have top hinges and usually require the opposite differential than center hinged surfaces. Your Excelleron should require about 8-10% less down than up for axial rolls. Also for pattern 10-11 degrees of aileron travel should be good (season to taste)(several hundred flights this summer on my Exc 90/ST2300). Not that I'm an expert but a very competent Masters Pattern flier is attempting to whip me into shape. I think he must have been a DI in a former life.

Best regards and good flying.
mike

Dick, I should have pics and procurement info tomorrow (will PM you with data).

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Thank you, Mike.

Regarding the Excelleron: It is truly, by far, the best flying aircraft I have flown, but my experience is very limited to sports planes, slightly above trainer level, although I do love flying my Venus 40 as an intro to Pattern plane. It flys very nice, but nothing compared to the Excelleron. My instructor, Master level, flew it for the first time this past weekend and absolutely loved it. His comment was that he wished he had something as nice as that when he started out learning Pattern! So, BIG smile here.. for the Excelleron 90.

I mis-installed the control horns on the elevators. One is slightly behind the other and neither are exactly on the hinge line. Good news is that there are adjustable horn connectors that I can get an put my own holes where they belong to put the clevis attach point on the the hinge line where they belong. I notice that there is a slight bit of slack in the pull-pull cable when the elevator is deflected. The Rudder is nice and straight with the connections right on the hinge lines.

One thing that disturbed me when I was building the plane is that one of the ailerons was slightly warped. I didn't notice it until I installed it and hinged it in. At neutral position, the center of the aileron is about 1/16" higher on the top (protrudes above the wing surface because of the bow) than the other one. Do you know of any consequence to that?

Thanks again.. looking forward to the laser info.

DS.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

More progress on the Excelleron 90. The engine is giving very good power, but am a tad bit disapointed with the way it performs between idle and mid range. I've messed with the idle needle, and think it's as good as it will get. When going vertical, stall turn, it remains at idle for a few seconds while headed straight down, more often than not it will just quit. It seems to be running better now that I have run some fuel through it (have about 10 - 12 flights on it now). I am hoping that it will clear up as it gets some time on the engine. It also pops at slightly under half throttle, sounds like it is breaking up, which would seem that it is running to rich (?) ? It may have been a poor choice for inverted engine operation, but I am going to stick with it unil the weather gets warmer and see if it's just the cold weather that is a contributor.

If any of you have a suggestion as to how to get this engine to run right at anything but idle, please pass it on to me.

DS.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

CG,

You might want to get a couple of gallons through it before you get worried. I'm sure you already know this, but, if it just hesitates before it runs up, going from an idle, it is lean on the low end. If it burbles and then runs up, it is rich.
I've seen engines that ran with the low end needle in so far, you would have thought it wouldn't run at all. All it takes is a little flaw at the tip of the needle, and it will cause you to drastically change the setting.

Good luck, and I'm glad you like your Excelleron, I know I love mine.

Ken

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Ken.

I flew it three flights this weekend, had a devil of a time getting the engine started, but that was mainly the cold and the cranking power of my electric starter. Works just fine on the .46 and .50 but does not have the torque to turn that evo 100 over very well when it's cold (was hovering around 40 degrees F on Sunday). I re-arranged my starter motor, set it up with a parallel hookup to a larger lead-acid battery backup that I have. The setup I have now is one of those smaller combo gel-cell batteries on the bottom of the starter motor gizmo's. Just does not have the torque to turn that evo over.

I put a post in another area with regard to the running of the EVO 100 below mid-range. It seems to be getting better as I fly it (as you presumed in your post). But, I have an awful lot of fuel running out of the carb with the engine not running. Not sure what that is all about. My Venus 40 did that too with the OS 50 on board. I don't know what causes it thus how to fix it. Suggestions anybody?

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Dick,

A couple of things, if you have a check valve in the exhaust pressure line, the tank is holding pressure, causing the fuel to run.

If the tank supply outlet is above the center of the carb, that can also do it. Try running a loop in your supply line, similar to the loop in your dishwasher drain line, it breaks the vacuum and should stop the flow of fuel, when you shut the motor off.

As for your starter, try running 2-7.2 volt RC car batteries in series and run your starter off of that. They should fit in the case that held the 12 gel cell, and gives you 14.4V to run the starter. I use 3000mAh NiMH for mine, works great.

Ken

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Ken.

Thanks for the quick reply. When you mean loop, you mean a loop in the fuel line between the tank and carb? Just loop it ?? Hmm.. how awfully simple!!! ha.

Also, check-valve. I just run the pressure tubing from the muffler nipple to the tank. Should there be a check-valve in there or something? (See.. I AM new..ha).

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

no need for the check valve, I just asked because some types of plumbing use them.

By loop, I mean, form a loop in the line that will be above the fuel tank at some point. Maybe when you come through the firewall, you can loop to the top of the cowl and then back down to the carb inlet, it doesn't always work, but is worth a try. Also see if there is a way to lower your tank so the outlet is even with the center of the carb.

Ken

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Ken: Please see crude drawing with regard to loop.

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

Move that loop to the top of the cowl and make it 3 to 4 inches in diameter and you got it.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi again, Ken. There is not a lot of room in there to lower the fuel tank. As it is, the tank rests in a sort of compartment.

Take a look at the picture attached to this one. It is a photo I took while in the build process. The tank just fits in the compartment when the front is in the firewall hole. I could move it lower (higher cuz it's inverted) but that bar you see there is a part of the former just forward of the radio compartment. You don't see it in this picture, but the battery is located below the fuel tank for CG purposes.

Dick.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Ah.. ok.. will give that a shot to see if it works. Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Anything to help it run better and stop that fuel from flowing when it isn't supposed to.

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

Yep, I'm with you. I have the tank on the CG, but I'm running a YS-120 FZ, which is a pumped motor.

Try the loop trick and see if it works for you.

Good luck,

Ken

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Okey doke. Will do. I will set that up tonite, maybe flying tomorrow (Wed) if the weather improves.

DS.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

Remember, big loop, flat abainst the firewall, top of loop touching the top of the cowl area, fix in place with wire ties or similar.

Hope it helps,

gotta go to work,

C'ya

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

One more quick question. Won't the length of the tubing effect fuel flow pressure?

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

It shouldn't matter if you keep the length under 12 inches or so.

Ken

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

HI Ken.

Ok.. done. Now to try it out. Maybe tomorrow.

Dick.

kennyandannie

My Feedback: (2)

Good luck, Dick.

Let me know.

Ken