TF FW190 GIANT ARF
#3927
My Feedback: (1)
I finally was able to get a few flights on my glassed FW190 A-9 conversion . You may recognize it as the plane early in this thread built by Ramstein44. It went through a few hands before I acquired it. Despite a weight of around 32 lbs, it flies well. The Sierra gear are strong enough to handle the extra weight (and actually contribute to a lot of it).
As I mentioned earlier, there are some issues with putting Sierra gear in the Top Flite. The dihedral on the Top Flite is not scale, and the Sierra gear is built to match up to the scale dihedral on the SisT 190. This means they lean in even further than stock. This causes the axles to not be parallel with the ground and adds even more stress than normal. The toe-out is not easily changed, I had to re-drill some split pin holes to adjust it. With the added angle of the gear the toe-out becomes even more crucial to prevent the gear from tucking under. I also had to add bearings to the wheels due to the added stress caused by the angle.
I put a DLE-55RA in it pulling a Xoar 22x8 prop. I like the 22x10 on my lighter 190, but with the extra weight I thought this one could use some extra thrust. It pulls the 190 around nicely at a good scale pace. Wide open it moves out OK, but still much slower than my 25lb 190 with the 10 pitch. Takeoffs and landings have been no problem, although I think I'll stay away from cross wind days. Even though the gear is very strong, there is only so much it can handle. A harsh ground loop would likely rip it out of the wing. I hoped to have more in-flight photos, but my photographer had some issues and lost the images.
As I mentioned earlier, there are some issues with putting Sierra gear in the Top Flite. The dihedral on the Top Flite is not scale, and the Sierra gear is built to match up to the scale dihedral on the SisT 190. This means they lean in even further than stock. This causes the axles to not be parallel with the ground and adds even more stress than normal. The toe-out is not easily changed, I had to re-drill some split pin holes to adjust it. With the added angle of the gear the toe-out becomes even more crucial to prevent the gear from tucking under. I also had to add bearings to the wheels due to the added stress caused by the angle.
I put a DLE-55RA in it pulling a Xoar 22x8 prop. I like the 22x10 on my lighter 190, but with the extra weight I thought this one could use some extra thrust. It pulls the 190 around nicely at a good scale pace. Wide open it moves out OK, but still much slower than my 25lb 190 with the 10 pitch. Takeoffs and landings have been no problem, although I think I'll stay away from cross wind days. Even though the gear is very strong, there is only so much it can handle. A harsh ground loop would likely rip it out of the wing. I hoped to have more in-flight photos, but my photographer had some issues and lost the images.
#3929
My Feedback: (1)
Some of the issues are due to the design. It won't be easy to get drop in gear that's much better. There's really no way to design a gear that has the lock-out braces and works with the offset design. I would recommend to century Jet to cheat a bit and have the gear rotate out further than the scale angle. Not vertical, but far enough to help out with the tuck-under issue caused by the angle. Darryl as Sierra says he will never make a drop-in replacement. It wouldn't hold due to design limitations.
#3930
My Feedback: (157)
Congrats Hot Rod Todd on the flight. She looks good in the air. Originally due to the weight, she was flown with the wheels designed for the SIST which are better then the Williams brothers I set her free with and because of the instant wear due to weight. Strangely, my 1/4 scale Meister D13 weighs less then your TF. These ARF's are just hogs when glassed which was one of the reasons I let her go.
#3931
My Feedback: (1)
I'm sure the glass contributed to the weight. It's a nose weight challenged plane even when the tail is light. The heavy duty Sierra tail wheel retract is also quite heavy, and requires a bunch of nose weight to compensate. The smaller 1/5 Sierra tail wheel is lighter, but because of the small 4-40 shaft size it will bend if there is a side load applied to it.
Surprisingly it flies fine at that weight, but that's usually the case when you do everything perfect. It will be very unforgiving if I make a mistake. It makes it even worse that I'm used to the lighter 190. I have to keep in mind that Tank's Tank (as I call it) will not be happy if I slow it down too much on landing. It sure looks sweet on the ground. Hopefully it will last a while.
Surprisingly it flies fine at that weight, but that's usually the case when you do everything perfect. It will be very unforgiving if I make a mistake. It makes it even worse that I'm used to the lighter 190. I have to keep in mind that Tank's Tank (as I call it) will not be happy if I slow it down too much on landing. It sure looks sweet on the ground. Hopefully it will last a while.
#3932
My Feedback: (157)
Yeah, my D13 was very light until I glassed it. Still pretty light at 30lbs. My Meister Fw190A was the same (yet to be weighed).
Glassing IMO is over rated unless you want rivets. You sacrifice weight for scale which the TF model lacks.
Should handle the wind better being heavier.
Glassing IMO is over rated unless you want rivets. You sacrifice weight for scale which the TF model lacks.
Should handle the wind better being heavier.
Last edited by Ramstein44; 07-08-2015 at 07:38 AM.
#3934
My Feedback: (2)
Just returned from Warbirds over Delaware. My bud picked up a TF 190 and fitted it with Sierra gear... NO PROBLEMS! The gear really looks fine and he said the install was pretty simple.
It performed extremely well with No issues what so ever.
Just wanted to give ya'll that report
It performed extremely well with No issues what so ever.
Just wanted to give ya'll that report
#3935
My Feedback: (3)
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: near Innsbruck, AUSTRIA
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Right, on the tenth flight I managed to bend my pin too. That is so darn... $&%@)!!
What a great looking bird and I am having so much fun flying it but this gear is ridiculous.
You can see it bend at 2:10 and honestly, thats a bump it should be able to take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5g-VKahloE
What a great looking bird and I am having so much fun flying it but this gear is ridiculous.
You can see it bend at 2:10 and honestly, thats a bump it should be able to take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5g-VKahloE
Last edited by Reverend; 07-19-2015 at 12:49 AM.
#3937
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: hagerstown, MD
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Right, on the tenth flight I managed to bend my pin too. That is so darn... $&%@)!!
What a great looking bird and I am having so much fun flying it but this gear is ridiculous.
You can see it bend at 2:10 and honestly, thats a bump it should be able to take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5g-VKahloE
What a great looking bird and I am having so much fun flying it but this gear is ridiculous.
You can see it bend at 2:10 and honestly, thats a bump it should be able to take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5g-VKahloE
#3938
My Feedback: (3)
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: near Innsbruck, AUSTRIA
Posts: 615
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V2 Rider,
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
#3939
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: hagerstown, MD
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Thanks Reverend. I had to make a few changes to mine as well. This gives me an idea of how much to cut off the ring though. Don't want it hanging to far out just incase of gear failure. Hate to have it catch and start ripping other things apart.
#3940
My Feedback: (13)
V2 Rider,
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
#3943
My Feedback: (7)
V2 Rider,
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
The Plane has many flights on it without issue. This was the first rough landing though. I did recieve an email from robart today telling me they are working hard on resolving the problem with these pins and that they will get back to me in about a week. In the meantime I am planning on drilling out the soft pins and welding in some 1/4 Inch drillshafts. they should be hard enough.
I cut the Keleo at 33mm, measured on the side. It stands out about 3,5mm. But please check with your plane, I changed the mounting of my cowl conciderably so there may be some tolerance in there...
rgds,
Philipp
#3946
Grind out the pins using a dremel on the weld-seam, put in a steel bolt instead. Just glue it in with epoxy.
If you want it out again, just heat up the unit, and it will fall out.
If you want it out again, just heat up the unit, and it will fall out.
#3947
Senior Member
#3948
My Feedback: (14)
Electric or Air?
I bought a set of Robart electric FW 190 retracts that were advertised as like new. Turns out one motor doesn't work. So I'm going to have to repair the gear and and am debating whether to replace the bad motor ($70) or buy two air cylinders ($65) and do away with the electrics entirely.
I have had problems with Robart electric gear in the past and don't really have a ton of confidence in them. What would you do?
I have had problems with Robart electric gear in the past and don't really have a ton of confidence in them. What would you do?
#3950
My Feedback: (3)
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: near Innsbruck, AUSTRIA
Posts: 615
Likes: 0
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I bought a set of Robart electric FW 190 retracts that were advertised as like new. Turns out one motor doesn't work. So I'm going to have to repair the gear and and am debating whether to replace the bad motor ($70) or buy two air cylinders ($65) and do away with the electrics entirely.
I have had problems with Robart electric gear in the past and don't really have a ton of confidence in them. What would you do?
I have had problems with Robart electric gear in the past and don't really have a ton of confidence in them. What would you do?
I have the hardened 6,3mm Drillshafts welded in Place now.