WacoNut

Thanks Ken,
My niece wanted a deer for Christmas so I just finished processing the meat and she is headed home with her Christmas present. She could use the meat more than me.
The gear should hold up really well, I think the whole tail would break off before the gear breaks loose. I am going to work on installing the controls now.
Anthony

WacoNut

I did manage to mount the servo for the rudder and tail wheel,
The tail strut is hooked up and operating fine, the strut compresses and there is no detectable change in the tension of the pull/pull cales. I went to install the heavy duty Pull/Pull rudder horns that I purchased Friday and the package is missing 2 critical pins. I will have to take it back tomorrow and exchange it for another package. The funny thing is the 1st package I picked up was missing 2 other pieces and I pointed it out to the guy behind the counter, shame I didn't look even closer at the one I bought.
Looks like Dubro needs to do some quality control in the packing department.
Anthony

SoCalSal

My Feedback: (16)

For Gods sake man, she wanted that deer alive!!!!![X(]

WacoNut

OOOOppppsss!!! My mistake

WacoNut

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all,
I will spend a good portion of the day working on the Waco, my goal is to get the rudder horn mounted and install the pull/pull system. I echanges the rudder horn package and found that all 3 packages they had were missing something and we had to combine the contents from the 3 packs to make one complete one.
We had an ice storm hit here at rush hour yesterday and it took me 4 hours to drive home from work yesterday[:@] You southern boys don't know what your missing.
Anthony

king_arthur1953

I lived in NJ for 24 years before moving to Texas then Arkansas. We don't get to much here but when it happens like last week is is simply scary.

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Anthony, I think the difference is Ohio gets a lot more ice and snow than we do but we do get it. Last week we had freezing rain and glazed over bridges with black ice on the roadways. Sand trucks were out in force on the major highways. Temperature was in the mid to low 20s at night and did not get above freezing in the daytime. My truck stayed parked during that time.

WacoNut

We had 1/4" of ice on everything, I did OK in my 4x4 truck but most were having problems.
I finished up the control installation for the rudder. AS much trouble as I had getiing all the parts for the Dubro Heavy Duty control horn I really like the setup. It is very strong and slop free. I am going to work on installing the elevator servo's next. The plane will use a total of 7 Hitech HS-645MG servo's for the flying surfaces and standard servo's for throttle and choke.
I found that by crossong the wires I had a better angle to the control horns with no interference. The rudder and tail wheel operate very smoothly.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

That looks really good Anthony.

WacoNut

Thanks Ken,
I am really pleased with the setup. I can't wait to get the fuse formers on and get the fuse framing complete. At that point it will start to look like something.
Anthony

WacoNut

Inbetween taking the wife to the store and helping her around the house I managed to get one servo pocket completed for the elevators and the other one half done.
I was really looking forward to having 17 days off of work over the Holidays to get some work completed on the Waco but things have gotten crazy at work and I have to work almost every day for the next 2 weeks. I do get 2 days for Christmas and New years eve and day off. I am going to try and complete the servo pockets tomorrow and hook up the elevator linkages.
Anthony

WacoNut

I finished up the elevator servo pockets and I have the elevator control horn plates epoxied into place, once they cure I will mount the control horns.
I have family showing up here in a few hours so not much building time today.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Anthony, if I don't get in high gear you will have yours finished before I have mine finished.

Merry Christmas

WacoNut

Maybe and there is no excuse for that with you being retired and all
I have one servo hooked up and working on the 2nd one. With any luck I will be hammering away at the fuse next week.
Anthony

WacoNut

I finished up the servo pockets and elevator control hookups. Turned out pretty good. All that is left for the tail surfaces is to add a couple filler blocks and finish sand. I also need to add hardwood block over the wing tubes for the set screws to hold the tail feathers in place.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Are you going to Swiss cheese the horizontal stab and elevator? If not, why not?

WacoNut

Yeah I am just have to decide where and how much, I wanted to wait until I had all the controls hooked up and decide where I can swiss cheese it without hurting the strength. It looks like I can go to town on it without hurting the strength.
Anthony

RICKSTUBBZ

Anthony,

The size of this bird is a little deceptive when looking at pictures. But when you can mount and hide a servo in the stabilizer.........
Out of curiosity what is the span of the Stab-Elevator assembly?

WacoNut

Rick I will check that for you and let you know,
I took the stab and elevator halves into work today and weighed them on a digital scale at work. one set weighs 13.00 oz and the other set weighs 13.22 ounces. I have mapped out the ligtening holes and will go to town on that tonight and weigh the parts again tomorrow. With the stabs and elevators weighing 1lb 10oz combined any weght savings will be useful. This weight is with the servo's,control rods and hinges installed.
Anthony

docadams

My Feedback: (1)

HI guys,

I hope you don't mind someone new joining in on your discussion. I am just starting an AMR 33 % waco. I have had the kit since last fall. To date I have the fuse box basically constructed. I had to start with the fuse because I had some wing parts missing. Basically all the lite ply ribs were missing. I also did n't receive the blue foam parts for the belly. The last contact I had with Dany he said he had the parts were ready to ship, he just needed my shipping address. So as soon as the ribs arrive I will be starting the wing. I also noticed last night that the firewall is to small. Not sure how this could happen but it is not a big deal I will just cut another. This is a question for Waconut. You made it sound like the 7 " wheels came with your kit. Is that the case or did you order them seperate? Does anyone have any idea about nose weight required when using a DA -150? One more question and I will shutup. Does the firewall need to be set back into the fuse any when using a DA 150 or is there plenty of room to get the motor box on and still have enought cowl to cover everything. Now that I think about it a better question would be what it the demension from the front of the firewall to the back of the prop hub? Thanks for allowing me to join in. I will also keep you guys posted on my progess as well if you are interested.

Docadams Lexington, KY

WacoNut

Hello Doc,
Please feel free to join in. The wheels are extra and I am not sure about the engine box placement as I do not have my engine yet and I have not looked at setting the engine box yet.
Rick,
The Stab/elevator span is 42". I have built planes with less wing area than this thing has in the tail.
Anthony

WacoNut

I have started the diet for the stabs and elevators.
As you can see from the pics below I Swiss Cheesed it pretty good as Ken would say. I am not concerned about the strength as I think I left enough meat between the holes and the ribs will add alot of strength not to mention the fabric covering and the rib tape as well. I will finish up the rest of the pieces and weigh all the parts at work tomorrow. I am expecting to see approx 3 ounces off each stab/elevator half for a total weight savings of 8-9 ounces which should save 2.5lbs or more out of the nose.
Anthony

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

That should do fine. You are right, the fabric will add a lot of strength.

WacoNut

I think it will be fine but just in case I am adding a disclaimer
If anyone decides to do this to their own plane you do so at your own risk!!!!
There is a noticeable difference in the weight of the elevator now.
Anthony

germrb

My Feedback: (3)

Anthony,

That's a pretty aggressive move. The grain orientation is optimum and the ribs will provide the cross grain shear strength. The weight savings sounds about right, if you can get 8-9 oz. out of the assembly. Are you planning to do the horizontal stab as well?

One caution, be careful not to over shrink the fabric or you may end up with warpage in the surface. What you have sacrificed is torsional rigidity. Fabric is not going to add any torsional rigidity; quite the contrary.

By the way, I like your tail wheel pull/pull arrangement. Although, the short moment arm would seem to make it somewhat sensitive. You're going to need a fairly aggresive rudder for any roll manuvers, which may translate to touchy ground handling. I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere.

You're doing a great job!