LtMash1A

Never mind, I got using the arm that came with the HiTec servo. Thanks for the tip, it made a big difference.

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

LtMash, I wouldn't worry about the down trim as long as it flies well. If it does not change trim as you vary speed you're in good shape. There are quite a few things that can cause the issue. One could be your initial set up. Sometimes it appears that the elevator is level with the stab, but the shape of the airfoil can mislead. When you look at your elevator after you trimmed it, does it appear that its down more than normal? Also, if your trims are set very fine a lot of trim on your transmitter may get a small amount of movement.

The wing incidence and engine incidence as compared to the horiz. stab incidence can also make it need some down trim. As I said, not really a problem unless you're getting trim changes as you fly at different speeds. About the only side effect you'll get from flying around with down trim is a slight amount of extra drag from the tail surface, nothing to worry about.

Waiting for some good weather to maiden mine.

nsyracuse

Hey Guys, just wanted to drop by and share my experience. First off, let me say that I'm not an excellent builder. I do ok and can make a plane look nice, but usually I will mess up something along the way. I'm not very patient when it comes to building as I enjoy the flying part of the hobby so much better. With that said, I did not have to spend a whole lot of time building this plane and it looks great! I get nothing but compliments at the field. My favorite one was "Wow, people spend a whole lot of time trying to make one look like this" in regards to the panel lines. I wish I could take credit, but it's more of an assembly process than an actual build. Very straightforward. Now on to the fun stuff. She looks great and flies even better! I did have to add a lot of nose weight with the EME70 (almost 3 lbs), but I think that sounds about normal. Here is a video of flight number 5. Sorry for the distance...GoPro strapped on my head. As you can see, I've become pretty comfortable with the model after just a few flights doing very low figure 8s. It's a blast to fly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWZD0MjMrZ0 -Nick

jimkron

Hey Totto,
I got my Saito FG84 and starting fitting it to the firewall. No way the engine will fit in my cowl.
The Saito is 250mm around. My cowl with the wood frame attached is 250mm across. Plus the cowl narrows a bit in the front. The engine won't go in far enough for the prop to be mounted. How did you do this? is your cowl bigger? How big is your wood frame measured across? Did you grind your cylinder fins?

Signed,
Confused in California (jim)

DeeCee 57

Just finished reading thru that thread, many thanks to all the good contributions!

Ordered my Zero from one of the local LHS, unfortunately it was damaged whilst the box got dropped on its head on my doorstep... The rear of the fuse spoke thru the box and some of rear fuselage got crushed as well as the canopy frame got cracked in a couple of places... Repairable, but still awaiting a settlement regarding some refund from the LHS.

Same as Jim, my FG84R3 doesn't fit into the cowl... It being kinda conical I can insert the engine about 5cm and then all cylinders contact the FG. Totto, here's another puzzled builder...?

totto

Hello Jim,

Its very strange that the engine does not fit in the cowl.
Please have a look at the pictures i just took so you can see. All is the same as with yours. A bit difficult to measure the wood frame since all are in place. I did not use any kind of grind of the cylinder fins.
I guess the mold they have used is the same all over from the producer....



Some points:

1. Use the engine drawing cut out paper mal that came with the engine, and carefully place it exactly at the front X-Y lines on the front of the model and cut out the shaded area that is on the paper for the carburetor etc so all of that are inside.

2. Attach the engine without any extenders, not even those 4 that came with the engine.

3. I used a small fuel tube (for glow engine - not tygon) and made a ring of that around the 3 cylinders so i knew that the cowl would rest without come in contact with the cowl.

4. Then i attached the cowl and all fell into place after carefully adjustments so the propeller/spinner was close to the front cowel area.



I simply don't know why you have problems and i wish i had the solution.

Some pictures

totto

Hello DeeCee,

Very strange, pls have a look at my reply to Jim.

Jota pe

Hi , I test yesterday Evo 7-77 with Gas conversion kit in my Zero .

look at the video https://youtu.be/S5gzu4AQGsY

regards

Jose .

TimD.

My Feedback: (207)

I was considering doing that to mine. What did the conversion cost you? Last time I checked they wanted $700

jimkron

The plot thickens. Totto's cowl measures 820mm...My cowl measures 785mm in roughly the same place. How is that possible? DeeCee57, can you measure yours?
Totto has the "magic" cowl.

Note: math confirms my measurement.
3.14(pi) x 250mm diameter = 785mm circumference.

...I think that's right

jimkron

Hey Mike,
Can you check with your supplier and see if there is a bigger cowl? Some of us will need the bigger one like Totto has...not sure where he got his plane. This is a mystery....and we are desperate for something larger...help us please.

jim

totto

Ok, that says a lot ...fault found.
I was wondering...
Seems the producer TopRCmodels have different additions on the market.
I bought mine here (Netherland) http://www.bigplanes.nl/contents/en-...Composite.html
If you cannot get help locally, try to give a call at biplanes.
Good luck !

jimkron

Totto,
Good suggestion. They even have a picture of the cowl with the larger dimension on their website.
I'm hoping Mike, our USA supplier, can check for us. Size matters.

jim

Jota pe

Hi Tim ,
the cost is around $ 630 fob , but I agree because the fuel is more cheap , the idle is more stable and exhaust more clean than glow .

BR .

DeeCee 57

Totto & jimkron, here's a couple of pics, taken from my Swiss LHS version. As stated, the cowl is NOT cylindrical, but conical...
Solutions?

PS
@ the moment till have to pull my LHS's ear to get my damaged Zero issue settled...

jimkron

DeeCee,
You need to get the larger cowl from the Netherlands...see if they have an extra for me.
Totto's cowl is not magic like I thought...it's just bigger.

jim

DeeCee 57

Well, another way would be to buy the Saito FG60-R3, though I'm not sure about the power...

kinverflyer

This mine with the Saito FG84-R3, My kit came from YT International about two weeks ago and the engine arrived today from Kingslyn Models so it is all current.

Jota pe

Hi Tim,
how many RPM do you have in High and wich pro pelear you use .

BR .

Jota pe

Sorry propeller you use .

TimD.

My Feedback: (207)

I bought a couple of the " moor power" props a few years ago and that is the best prop I have found so far. It is an adjustable 20" prop can go from 8-14" of pitch

totto

Hello DeeCee, I had a FG60R3 in a Topflite Zero and was very good. The difference between a Topflite and a TopRC Zero is not that much.

Here a short clip of mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgR7yFqsIvw

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Maiden Report

I documented much of my build on this thread, and now I finally got a chance to fly the Zero and see if all the work was worth it.

I got the EME-70 running good and didn’t waste much time with break in. It was spinning the 23X10 prop at 6400 on the ground. I’m sure it will pick up some RPM when it gets some time on it. I noticed right away that it is much smoother than my single cylinder gassers.

Takeoff
Conditions were decent with about 10mph wind down the runway. I taxied out and pointed it into the wind and powered up. It tracked pretty straight with a bit of right rudder. It didn’t take long and it lifted off. I kept the nose down until I picked up more speed. The elevator needed quite a few clicks of down trim, explaining why it jumped into the air a bit early.


Flight
After a couple circuits to trim it out I took it up high to check out the stall characteristics. I applied a lot of elevator and kept the nose up, but didn’t really stall it. It felt a little mushy at very slow speed. This plane is so light I don’t think I’ll have to worry about how it stalls. The elevator and ailerons had plenty of authority. I ended up using low rates, and dropped the low and medium rates down a bit after the flight. I did some full throttle passes and was happy with the speed and sound provided by the EME twin. At full wick the prop has some noise that makes for impressive low passes.

A photo pass shows the great lines of the Zero


Landing
After flying around for 8 minutes I did a gear pass. The electric gear is slow, so I have to put it down earlier than I’m used to with my pneumatic gear. Wind was 10-15, so I only put in about half flaps for the landing. It came in nicely, but was a bit floatier than many of my heavier warbirds. The elevator and ailerons both had good authority even at landing speed. I went a bit long on the touchdown, and was heading for the end of the runway (idle was still a bit high). I was able to turn before it went off the end, a big change from my FW-190’s. Ground handling is excellent. I ended up with more than ½ tank of fuel, so I’ll need to use more throttle or fly longer in future flights.



I did another flight and it went even better. This is a good flying bird, with no bad habits that I could find. Wing loading is a bit lighter than what I’m used to, so I’ll have to keep that in mind when I bring it in to prevent it from floating and using up too much runway. For most people that’s a good thing, since it will be forgiving if the pilot gets it too slow or gets too ham fisted on the elevator. I’m very happy with the plane and can’t wait to get some more flights on it, and take it to some Warbird events in the midwest this year.

TimD.

My Feedback: (207)

Once it is dialed in it is a GREAT airplane. I have 20-25 flights on mine now.

I am putting full onboard telemetry on mine this weekend. Complete with video feed. I finally found the right prop for the 7-77 radial. Have been through 6 so far and by far the best match for this plane/engine combo is the Mejzlik 22x12-3blade.

mups53

My Feedback: (41)

Here's the pictures Todd was trying to post.
Great stuff Todd can't wait to see it in action this summer.
Thanks you for taking the time to make the building posts online. I learned a lot from it.
Dennis Crooks my business partner has flown all 3 Warbirds we sell. The Spitfire, P-51D and the Zero. His reports are that all 3 fly really easy and light.
Light is a good thing as you can always add if t=you feel the need.
I hope you have many years of fun with this plane.
Miike Mueller