didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Here is the inside of the fuselage. Only thing there is ignition stuff and fuel tank.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Wing mid-section has all the radio stuff as well as air tanks and sequencing valve for retracts, etc.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Here is the bottom of the midsection with one set of doors installed and closed. Also, picture of exhaust. Hope it works ok.

onewing

My Feedback: (27)

Hi Paul or Sam,

When you receive your landing gear parts, did you get the retract valve (UP-1), door sequence valve (UP-3), and 4 gear door cylinders? I probably will be using an electronic sequencer anyway.


Paul,

Your Corsair looks great. When do you plan to run the engine and fly this beauty?


Onewing

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Paul,
Nice paint job, dude: I like it.
Good idea on cutting a hole in the front of the wing spar to make room for the air tanks.
How did you modify the exhaust for the extra pipes?

Valves are not included with the retracts.

highgear

I USUALLY STICK TO TH R/C PAINTS LIKE PACTA FOR MY WAR BIRDS. WHATS YOUR TRICK WITH THE HOME DEPOT PAINT?

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

That is the stock exhaust exit locations on the RCS 250. I only added 3/4" aluminum flexible pipe available from D-Balsa (thank you Don M) and K&S elbows that I got from Desert Aircraft.

The paint is PPG base coat and PPG clear coat with an added matting agent to make it flat.

Paul

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Engine area (cont)

Pic 1/2:
Well, it's been around 70 degrees here in Ohio for the last two days so I spent Monday cleaning up my detached shop so I can move the Corsair out there.
It took awhile to get all that crap that I carried into the house over the winter back out to the shop.
It's nice to have room to work on this baby: it's way too big for my family room once I put the wing and fuse together.
I'm figuring during the winter, I'll keep her in the cold shop during the winter but put a large plastic cover over her and also put a 100 watt lamp in there to keep the batteries and plane warm. The plane is just too big to keep in the house unless I disassemble it.

pic 3:
Engine service door needs to be installed with the ignition/fuel service panel.
Same procedure as installing the service door/panel on the side of the fuse.
I used water base contact cement to re-enforce the door/fuse area with some 1/16" ply.
The door is 2 1/2" square.

pic 4:
Two cut off disks put together to cut the groove for the piano hinge and then secured with some #0 screws.

pic 5:
The other three sides were then cut with a thin cut off disk and razor saw.

pic 6/7:
The engine service panel made out of 1/8" thick ply and dry fitted into the fuse.

pic 8:
Never have too many clamps!
Some of the ply was separating from the fuse/door so thin CA used to fix the problem.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Spring PM:

Sunday was pretty nice so I did some PM on the yellow spit before going flying for the first time of this season.

pic 1/2:
After more than 150 flights, the tubing in the tank wasn't flexible anymore and all the connecting lines were just as bad so a new tank and lines were put in.

pic 3:
Much better!

pic 4:
The wood prop was tightened as wood usually will compress over the winter.
All servos and surface areas were checked and the engine mounts re-tightened.

============
After all that PM and I still almost lost my warbird.
On take off, after the spit was two feet in the air, she glided back down and both retracts were no longer on the plane.
Fortunately, the 5/16" steel rod holding the oleos to the mechanism snapped so the retract mounts were completely intact.
The rivets holding the oleo scissors were broken and the radiator covers were ripped off but very minor damage.
Today, I finally turned on the transmitter to check out the re-installed retracts and the transmitter only 'beeped' at me.
I tried charging the transmitter but the charger said 'too high of voltage'.
I put in an old transmitter battery and she worked great.
Fortunately, the battery went bad before the plane was 50 feet in the air.
Also, the defaults work: all moving surfaces went to neutral and the engine to idle.
I called JR and they said: 'sent the battery in and they'll replace it': cool.
I only got one season on the 2.4 transmitter battery but I do go through 25 gallons a year.
(After the 'crash', I assumed that I screwed up and accidentally put in down elevator).

plane repair:
pic 5:
I lost one of the oleo springs so I went to ACE hardware and found the right size spring but too short so I used 2.5 of the springs.

pic 6:
ACE also had rivets so I just mushroomed the other side of the rivet with a center punch after assembling the scissors.
ACE also has C clips so I put some new ones on.

pic 7:
The oleos back together and hopefully ready for another 150 flights!

pic 8:
Retracts test OK as well as all moving surfaces checked out.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

OK, I am getting closer to flying this bird. Maybe this weekend weather permitting. Had a picture session then I got about 30 minutes on the engine. Ran beautifully at the factory settings. Little to no vibration.

onewing

My Feedback: (27)

Paul,

Awsome. Good luck on your maiden.

Onewing

butlern

My Feedback: (15)

Wow that looks great, Paul! excellent work, and good luck with the shake-down flights.

Paul, I have a question for you: I am trying to stuff a Moki 150 radial into an Avenger that I am building, and I have decided to mount the engine to a false firewall (a removable firewall that bolts to the front of the plane). Attached to the front of the false firewall is the engine, of course, and on the back I have attached the choke and throttle servos, as well as the ignition module for the 150. The servos and the ignition are all within ~3 inches of one another. Do you think the proximity of the servos and the ignition module will cause problems? I have searched high and low, and every time I see a Moki radial installation, it looks like the users have installed the choke servo, the throttle servo, or both, very close to the ignition module.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Noah

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Noah:
I have not heard of any problems. My throttle and choke servo is within a couple inches of the ignition and my range check is ok. I have not had one problem since swithing to 2.4. I have a Cessna 336 that has a receiver and several servo's between 2 ignition modules, 2 to 6" inches apart. Once again, no problems with the 2.4 system.
LOL
Paul

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Paul,
Is that a Mejzlik 31X12 3-blade and what RPM's are you getting?

butlern

My Feedback: (15)

Good news. And thanks for the rapid reply, Paul.

There is so little room in the Avenger that I'm being forced to get creative with the motor installation.

Good luck with the Corsair!

Best,

Noah

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Yes it is however I have only run the wood break in prop so far. Will let you know when I run the Mejzlik....
Paul

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Tail Feathers (cont)

Gear Former (cont)
pic 1:
I finally epoxied the tail gear former into the fuse.
Initially, I moved the bottom edge of the gear former back towards the door opening so I could spread some zap-a-dap along the inside edge and bottom of the gear former and then pushed the former into place and then added some epoxy and micro-balls at the top of the former where it meets the rudder tray and also some along the sides of the fuse.
After that dried, I added more zap-a-dap between the former and fuse as there was about a 1/16" gap between the former and fuse.

Tail Gear Doors (cont)

pic 2:
Besides two bolts/nuts holding each hinge to the door, I put some zap-a-dap over all the hinge base/doors to insure all stays permanent.
The small screws/locking nuts that come with the robart large door hinges were also installed.

pic 3:
The tail gear doors are air operated by robart 165 (1" throw) air cylinders.
I attached the air cylinders to some 1/8"X1/2"X3" pieces of ply.
I had to drill two small holes on each side of the air cylinder mounting plate on one side in order to allow the air cylinder to rotate parallel to the 1/8" thick ply.
I used #0 screws to hold the plate to the 1/8" ply.
The ends of the air cylinder shafts are 2/56 threads to 2/56 threaded rod was used to connect the white ball socket to the air cylinder.

pic 4/5:
The air cylinders ply plate is screwed to the gear former so they are removable for future maintenance.
I first drilled some holes into the air cylinder ply plate so some hex head servo screws easily slides through the holes.
Next, I attached the air cylinder ball socket to the door hinge, I then aligned the doors so they point straight down (thus not touching the sides of the fuse), I then extended the air cylinder to max open and then drilled a hole into the gear former and attached the 1/8" cylinder ply to the gear former. This will give the excess air cylinder movement on the CLOSED door side and will keep the doors firmly closed.
I also used a 1/2" adjustable kwik klips (home depot #GKK-1550) to hold the rudder/elevator servo leads to one side of the fuse.

pic 6:
As mentioned previously, I used some thin wire to compress the oleo so the wheel aligns properly when the doors are closed.

pic 7:
1/4" thick ply used for a 'door stop'.

pic 8:
I used a hand pump to check the gear and door movement.
Doors open and gear down.

pic 9:
Gear up.

pic 10/11:
doors closed.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Hoosier dawn patrol video (2008)
Seventeen 1/3 scale WW I planes showed up and a gaggle of 'em in the air:

http://www.ohiodawnpatrol.com/

page down on ODP link and click on :

'2008 Hoosier Dawn Patrol video link'

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Engine area (cont)

Retracts (cont)
pic 1:
Besides testing the air pressure with the gear in the down position, I also test to insure no air leaks for the retracts in the UP position (which is more critical!: at least 15 minutes).

Engine service door (cont)
pic 2:
#2 screws (button head) used to mount the engine ignition/fuel panel to the fuse so it's removable for any possible future maintenance.

General stuff:

pic 3-5:
I made three new extensions: two to connect the folding wing power switch from the fuse to the wing and a different colored wire for the binding wire.
Looking back, it would have been best to put the folding wing battery pack in the fuse versus where I have it, presently, in the wing.
This battery pack in the fuse would have eliminated one extra wire running from the fuse to the wing.
It also would have been nice to have a 'binding' outlet in the service panel but I didn't make any room for it: I'll probably run it to the cockpit along with one of the remote receivers so I can visually check the 2.4 status via looking in the cockpit.
I used some more split wire plastic covering to keep things organized: one cover for the air lines and one cover for the wires.
With air operated tail doors, there's five air lines going between the fuse and wing.
I was thinking about a separate air tank for the fuse but that would mean another fill valve/pressure gauge/ air valve and servo.
This plane is too big for me to use the 'regular' method of laying one end of the wing on the fuse, holding the other end with my head while I connect all the wires/air lines up so I just made them all very long so both fuse and wing can easily rest on the floor while all connections are made. I'm now glad that my receiver tray is practically empty as now the two sets of covered air lines and wires can lay on the receiver tray without snagging any servos.

pic 6:
More kwik klips used in the fuse to hold/organize all the wires.


Cowl (cont)

Cowl mounts.

pic 7:
The kit comes with three aluminum plates plus 1/8" ply cowl mounts (and another 1/8" thick ply for the blind nuts).
I was short one aluminum plate so I cut another from some 1/8" thick aluminum.
I also cut an extra aluminum plate and extra ply cowl mounts in case I want to have four cowl mounts plus a few extra in case they are broken (in the future).
The cowl is to be mounted by putting in bolts from the back of the cowl.
The kit has some metric bolts and blind nuts for this but I went to ACE hardware and got some #8X32 hex pan head screws and blind nuts (easier for me to replace if lost).

pic 8:
I first drilled a 1/16" pilot hole in the aluminum plate and ply and then used a 3/16" bit on the aluminum plate for the #8 screws and a 15/64" bit in the ply cowl mounts for the blind nuts.

pic 9:
After a little epoxy to glue the two 1/8" thick plys together, I put the blind nut in and pushed it into the 15/64" hole using a vise.
Two pieces of 1/8" thick ply are needed to match the thickness of the blind nut.

pic 10:
Parts all cut and drilled (with spares).
I used a band saw to cut the aluminum (non-ferrous metal can be cut with a wood band saw blade).

pic 11:
Presently, everything will be attached with screws ONLY until the engine arrives. I have no idea if these mounting locations are ideal so no epoxy until then.
I first mount the aluminum plates and ply cowl mounts to the cowl in order to determine how thick of standoffs will be needed to properly located the cowl in relation to the fuse (those not having functioning cowl flaps won't have this problem).
I used hex head servo screws to hold the ply cowl mounts to the cowl flap ply support.
As can be seen in this picture, the three #8 bolts face backwards so the cowl can be attached to the fuse without any visible bolts along the side of the cowl.

pic 12:
It appears that I need stand offs that are 3/4" thick (two 3/8" thick pieces of ply) to properly position the cowl.

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

Engine area (cont)

Cowl (cont)

pic 1:
I cut some 3/8" thick ply into 1 3/8"X2" and used two per 'standoff' to hold the cowl onto the fuse.
As mentioned previously, everything was just screwed on for now using some 1 1/2" wood screws.
Since the cowl flaps are functional, the two servos at the top of the cowl determined how far forward the cowl is in relation to the firewall.

pic 2:
There is easy access to the three button head hex bolts from the rear to remove the cowl.

pic 3:
When the cowl flaps are open, there should be no problem in ever having the engine over heat!

pic 4:
Even in the closed position, there is plenty of 'air' space between the cowl and fuse.

pic 5:
It appears that the firewall is off set at the factory: The starboard side of the end of the cowl flaps are 1/2" in front of a panel line on the fuse whereas the cowl flaps on the port side is 3/4" in front of the panel line on the fuse.
I'm getting 8 3/8" from the fire wall to the front of the cowl.
Since I had to allow room for the servos, I'm guessing that this is about a 1/2" longer than normal (figuring the back edge of the cowl flap should be near that panel line on the fuse.
I don't mind having the engine out a little farther on this bird: I'd be more than happy if she comes up nose heavy (which would take much less tail weight to make CG).

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

First time on her feet.

Gonzalo38

Sam:

Your plane is looking great.

What kind of painting are you planing to do ? If you need the decals for this plane, you can take a look at http://tailormadedecals.com/xtc2/pro...1f225b39dde55c I already ordered a set for mine

Do you have a video of all the retracts working ?

samparfitt

My Feedback: (43)

thanks, Gonzalo,
I'll be using exterior water base paint from Home Depot.
I make my own insignias using Badger's frisket film to mask off the area and paint them on, and I use decal paper to make my nomenclature.

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Here you go Sam, this should get you going. Flew great......
Paul



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpB0bj-ZXmY

didiwatt

My Feedback: (38)

Here is a couple great stills that John took...............
Paul