Bubi

Hi, add my penny's worth . . Did not relish butchering the vertical stabilizer. Looked at it from a different angle 🙄
Having thoughts on 2 ply skids either side of the tail wheel cylinder. Add side support . . ?? Avoid bent pneumatic shaft? Anyone had any ideas on how to not bend the tail gear?
how do I post photos from my gallery?

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

To attach photos use "Post Reply" not "Quick Reply" Manage attachments to import photos.

I was able to get the Sierra installed through the bottom without cutting into the vertical stab. Here's a couple photos showing what I did, sorry they're not more detailed, it's what I had. Not sure you'd have any lock stopping the bending by adding support. Just dropping the tail down from any height can bend it. It helped once I put a regulator in the line that only allows 60psi to the tail wheel. Then it compresses instead of bends.

Bubi

Hi HotRod, neat installation . . Makes sense . . At a 100psi it must be rigid. Where did you get the regulator from?
Thanks for feedback on photos . . Try again.

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

It's been a long time, but I think I got it from a local fluid power supplier. One of the type we got failed due to vibration. Don't hard mount them. You can get some with the small pipe thread that allows you to get an adapter for the Robart air line.

Looks like this.

Bubi

Thanks Hot Rod Todd, will try to see if I can obtain one locally. Had me thinking . . spring load the mount for tail wheel pneumatic cylinder? Just a weight issue . . .

Tommy_Gun

Got in a couple flights yesterday.
A friend at the field volunteered to use my video camera and catch some shots of the 190 in the air.
Thanks Clark!
You'll see that I have many less than perfect landings, but none of them are at "ludicrous" speed. No damage to gear or airframe.

Tony Gag Jr.

My Feedback: (124)

Nice flying Tommy. What gear and wheels are you using? Toe in or toe out on the wheels?

Thanks,
Tony

Hot Rod Todd

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ALWAYS use toe out on an FW-190. Toe in will not end well, it will increase the tendency to tuck under. Of course if you always fly off of grass, you may get away with it.

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Tommy posted the video to demonstrate Robart Electric retracts. His point is that at sufficient landing speeds the gear are robust enough to work just fine.
I was standing next to him during his landings, some were not "perfect". Yet the gear survives

Tommy_Gun

Hey Tony,
Robart Electric Gear with the mods I mentioned a looong time ago back on pages 74 or 75 of this thread.
I got rid of the stock wheels recently and went to appropriate sized robart wheels.
Also, as a rule, I run a slight bit of toe OUT on all my tail draggers.
If you think about the effect of weight transfer when the plane swerves from one side to the other, toe OUT will tend to be a force that helps to correct and arrest the swerve.
In the case of the 190, which has the mains already angled inboard, it also helps to prevent them from trying to tuck inboard even further under the weight transfer.

The MAIN thing I was trying to show with this video sequence, is that you can have less than perfect landings. BUT if your plane is properly balanced, you can fly it in at lower speeds with FULL control authority. The lower speeds at touchdown will prevent the higher energy transfer that happens when you drive it in at higher speeds.
Also, the plane flies MUCH better, when properly balanced. Not just balanced "nose heavy".
Hey BobH!,
I see we were on the same schedule. I couldn't have done it without you and Clark!

Tony Gag Jr.

My Feedback: (124)

Thanks for the replies. I will rebalance mine to make sure it is not nose heavy and swap out the standard foam wheels. Appreciate the info!!

J.V.

My Feedback: (56)

Another question for those who added the 3 extra degrees of dihedral. How does the plane fly with the extra 3 degrees compared to the stock plane with 2 degrees of dihedral?

ForcesR

I should have posted these photos a while ago for those who were wondering how difficult it would be changing the wing dihedral to 5 degrees. I found it quite easy to do and I'm very satisfied with the end result. The first photos show the two forward dowel holes re-drilled to their new location. The white paint shows where the original dowel holes were drilled for the stock 2 degrees dihedral. The FW-190 looks much better with the 5 degrees dihedral as is shown in the front view. I have Sierra retracts installed, using the Skyshark LG mounts, that was an easy installation too. As you can see in the two side view photos, the wing sits nicely in the saddle. I also opened up the side dummy exhaust outlets to allow hot air to be expelled from the engine bay to better cool the FG90R3. I also added the three louvers to make it look more realistic.

jagdpanther9

that looks much better than the stock dihedrial . here is my FW with the stock wing with sierras. i used the sky shark inserts and i added some hard wood blocks as well to make them bullet proof. i do not have any photos but i expect to tear out the wing section before the mounts will fail. i really like these sierras. they go up and lock and come down and lock EVERY time. why this photo came out upside down is beyond me i tried to invert it but no dice so it is what it is.

masteromodels

My Feedback: (11)

How much weight has anyone added to the nose of the FW-190 to get it to balance ?. I bought one from a friend and have 4 flights on it . it fly's great and is rock solid on landings , but last time i landed it when i picked it up the pin had bent in the lock. I read somewhere that Robart had a problem with that steel pin in earlier models . Mine has lead completely around the eng . box . I' will balance it and make sure it is not to nose heavy .It feels like a ton when I pick it up from the front. . appreciate any answers !

grumman-cats

the plane comes with two pieces of steel attached to the engine box to balance the aircraft. I know, it seems crazy to me too.

SrTelemaster150

I'm using a Saito FA-450 CDI/methanol engine and extending the nose 1/2" to mimic an FW-190A5. I hev removed the steel plates & with battery packs for the CDI mounted as far froward as possible, I don't expect to have to add much, if any nose ballast.

Tommy_Gun

Check your CG location. This plane flys great balanced at a point 1.5" behind the spot indicated in the directions.
See my video above for how mine performs.

Bubi

A lot of sound advice and building tips. Still building my FW190 . . . Started the Sierra install and wondering should I plug the wing for correct gear angle or not? Hot Rod has numerous landings and the Sierra retracts hold. Plug, correct digedral and gear angle . . . decisions ����

ForcesR

That depends if you are willing to accept the TF FW-190 incorrect wing dihedral as is. In my opinion, if one spends the money on Sierra LG, one might as well correct the wing dihedral to match the LG angle. The FW-190 looks much better with the correct dihedral, especially when in a banking turn coming towards you. All the TF aircraft I have owned, I have changed the wing dihedral to what it should be IAW the full size aircraft. It maybe just my way of thinking but I have never ever regretted changing the wing dihedral, especially when fellow club members comment on how much better the model looks.

AV8ATOR

My Feedback: (5)

+ 1

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

+2
I'll never understand why Top flite puts the wrong Dihedral in the ARF's any way?
In the kits.. the Mustang for example, the dihedral is correct.
Surely TF please get with the program please and just make the stupid wing look correct.

ForcesR

The TF giant Mustang ARF has approximately 2 degrees dihedral. The TF giant Mustang kit has 3 degrees dihedral as shown in the build manual page 16, step 18. The TF giant Mustang wing needs to be at 5 degrees dihedral to be correct.

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Ah maybe you are right. I do know that my TF Kit looked a lot better dihedral wise than the ARF's.

ForcesR

Bob, that's the same thing I noticed when I dry fitted the kit wing and compared it to the ARF wing, then measured the dihedral of both wings to confirm the difference. Changing the dihedral to 5 degrees on the kit wing is so much easier than changing the wing dihedral on the ARF. If TF would only offer their aircraft with the correct wing dihedral they would more than likely sell a lot more aircraft to very happy satisfied customers.

Roger