dubs1946

Hi Ram great idea for the hatches i will be using it.
i have been a lurker of yours for a long time and appreciate your build talents.
I am in the process of making a canopy lock for a ME109 mine works just, but looks a bit messy, the centre section lifts up on the 109.
Any ideas?
Dave.

ram3500-RCU

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Thanks Dave. I'm kinda pumped about this hatch thing. I have been thinking about hatches for a long time. Glad to be able to contribute to your building. I'm anxious to get these things in the air and test them out. My only question is how well I did on choosing the magnets. I think they are powerful enough and I am using 4 on each hatch. With the strength of the push I get from the cable, I can go a little stronger if I need to. I have a plethora (the three Amigos) of sizes of magnets on hand.

Can you post a picture of the ME109? I'd like to take a look.

ram3500-RCU

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Did I show this? If I missed it (too lazy to even go back over my own thread) this is the way the door openers look, for the tail doors. The nut on top is the niffty way you adjust the open stop. A cable pulls them shut. Again, very very simple.

The wire you see goes to the nav light in the rudder.

ram3500-RCU

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The full scale doors are open farther than you see on most models, except this one of course.

Also notice how the door cutout is slightly off center of the gear. This is because the seam in the fiberglass is not quite the center of the fuselage, but the door cutout is centered on that seam. not a big deal, but it did cause some imbalance in the cable system which I dealt with in the following video on the closing system.

pitsspecial

Hi Gary,

its its a Martin Surginson P47, 98" glass fuz, foam wings and tail plane, I had a King 100cc in it, but guy who bought it off me put a DLE111 in it, I agree with you on the razorback, my Meister will be a razorback. Thanks again for the info😉

ram3500-RCU

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One thing you may have already realized, the Meister has a large following, and a wealth of info on it is available to the builder. We are glad to be in that company.

ram3500-RCU

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Tail gear doors are all hooked up and working great. Here are a couple pictures of the system. Video to follow with more explanation.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is that video on the tail gear doors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVPw...ature=youtu.be

ram3500-RCU

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Here is a video of the large main hatch release working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBg...ature=youtu.be

ram3500-RCU

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This is the throttle / choke unit. It mounts to 2" maple posts that are screwed in through the front of the firewall. More time and I would have these made from stainless steel for some more nose weight. I'll see how she balances and if i need more nose weight, that would be a way to get some useful weight.

I'm using JR DS821HV servos here. Nylon gears for both choke and throttle. These happen to be the high voltage ones, which simply means that you can use a 2 cell LiPo with them without a regulator. They are the same price as the standard servo at our local hobby shop, $29.

TonyBuilder

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Gary I have a couple questions for you, first I am thinking of using the CARF cowl for my Meister build. I think it is a little bigger then the Meister cowl and this would allow for a 120cc twin to fit. Do you think it would be to big?

Also what torque servos are used on the controll surfaces?

Thanks

TB

ram3500-RCU

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Interesting TB. The Meister cowl looks so good. Just not sure on this one. I have seen Corsairs with slightly oversize cowls, and they didn't look too bad, but they are round and that probably makes a difference. The CARF is 8" larger which is not a huge difference. If you did a checkerboard cowl, it might not be that noticeable. One of those things where guys might say "something is different, but I just can't tell exactly what" kind of thing. (although I think I would notice)

On the servos, Here is what we use. I tend to go strong on the control surfaces. Cheap insurance IMO. The tail steering takes a beating and you want metal gears on it so I don't cut costs there. Also, the travel and rate will be different than the rudder, so I use a separate servo on it, always. The flaps are large and heavy, so you want metal gears on them as well. They need to be strong to hold the air they catch.

elevators - (2) MG 350oz or better. I use JR 8611 or 8711
rudder - (1) MG 400oz or better. I use JR 8711
tail steering - (1) MG 220oz or better. I use JR 8411 or 8611
ailerons - (2) MG 350oz or better. I use JR 8611 or 8711
flaps - (2) MG 350oz or better. I use JR 8611 or 8711 (Do not use the torque rod system on the plans. Set them up as direct drive. They are big and catch a lot of air)
throttle - (1) nylon gear 88oz or better. I use JR 821HV (HV is the one that will handle 7.4 without a regulator)
choke - (1) nylon gear 88oz or better. I use JR 821HV
inter-cooler doors - (2) nylon gear 88oz or better. I use JR 821HV
cowl flaps - (2) Hitec HS 5685 MH (these can be programed for reverse and speed)

For now, it is still air on the main inner gear doors (only air on the plane). We tried several models of servos and burnt them all up. Down and Locked is about to unveil a door driver and I will be all over that when it is available.

Opinions vary. I picked up an unfinished Meister P-47 for a friend and we will be finishing it in the near future (it will be in this thread). The servos NIB that came with it, all Hitec 645s! Not on my build! Maybe on the inter-cooler doors, but they are not even any good for the throttle and choke, being metal gear. He was going to put them on everything. The servos are the muscles of the plane, with the receiver being the brain. Just like the body, not all muscles are of the same strength. Can you imagine driving your legs with the same muscles that move your eyeballs? Crazy, but guys do the same thing using standard 60 size servos on these giant scale aircraft.

I'm just sayin.

TonyBuilder

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Thanks for all the info, I did not think the CARF cowl would be that much bigger as it is only 110" and the Mister is only 102 so I may look into that. I want to use the EME120 on this build so a little extra room for the plug caps will be needed.

I am planing on going with the same setup as my 40% cub, all HT-7954 and the HT-7980 on elevator. Smart fly EQ for the Futaba 14ch reciever. The other option is to do two servos per aileron and flap on a matchbox to spread the load. Lots to think about while I plan this build, thanks.

TB

ram3500-RCU

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No need for two servos on each aileron and flap IMO. They are sheeted and glassed and very rigid. The acrobatic planes are largely covered and surfaces are given to flexing. Not so on these birds.

ram3500-RCU

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Thought I would post this for fun. It is the new Meister 1/4 scale 122" P-47D. Fiberglass fuselage with built up wing, stab, and rudder. Sierra gear, (down and Locked already working on the electric conversion). I expect Dino to be just as passionate about it as the 102", eventually with many accessories.

On my radar for a future build. I would hope to use a Moki 250 or the 7cyl. 257 in it.

Video of prototype. No Sierra gear, gear doors, and is all wood, unlike the production fiberglass version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbB_whN4-QY

ram3500-RCU

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Throttle and choke servo mount in place. Three screws to remove the whole thing for service if need be.

ram3500-RCU

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Lookin Thunderboltish. Little body work, a sliding canopy, a few odds and ends, and this puppy is out a here.

TonyBuilder

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Looking good Gary, hope you will be building one when I am building mine so we can tose ideas around.

TB

ram3500-RCU

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BTW, Meister gives you a pattern on the plans for the front of the turtle deck. That is what sets the height of it in the front, and this is critical for the canopy to fit properly. I install this (FIRST) to the front of the turtle deck. It is accurate in shape, so if you trim your turtle deck to fit the the shape of this former, you will come out just right. The former will need to be tapered to fit tightly to the front of the turtle deck, and may need very slight trimming to fit the fuselage as well. After you have it well glued into place, wick some thin CA into it to stiffen it. I'll explain this later. The trim lines on the turtle deck are very accurate. They will only need slight adjustments, and then a good tapering to fit tightly against the fuselage.

BEFORE you epoxy this all together, remember to drill some holes in the top of the fuselage (remember those wires you may have run through the fuselage) so hot air does not get trapped in the turtle deck on those hot summer days. This could cause some warping, or worse.

Location of the turtle deck.

Here is where Meister might do a little better for us. The manual they give you is the one they have been using for years, based on the all wood construction. A spcific one tailored to the fiberglass version might be helpful and save us some time at the building end, but then I well know how time consuming writing manuals is. Very very tedious work. If you miss something, you may very well have an unhappy builder.

Anyway, I regressed to rant a little, sorry. The turtle deck needs to start 1 1/2" in front of the vertical stab. Draw a center line of course. I mark the center on the former glued to the front of the turtle deck as well. Very easy to line this all up. Considerable force is needed to push the turtle deck down into place. Totally normal. This is where the CA wicked into the former comes in handy. So much force is required that you can even crush this former and spread the front, and after you have all the edges coated with epoxy, this can become a gigantic mess, with epoxy setting up, forcing you to learn that second language like you always wanted to. I use 20 minute Hysol. It gives a guy plenty of time to get all this lined up and fastened down, even if you have a couple bumps in the road. Have several 24"lengths of 2"masking tape already cut and at arms length. I coat all the inside edge of the turtle deck (it will run down and make a fillet on the inside quite nicely) and lay it in place on the (rear) mark, then I tape the rear down very good. Next I begin compressing it down till the front former makes contact. Again, this WILL take some force. Then I tape it down right in front of where the inter cooler doors are. This is where the most pressure to squeeze the sides out is. Check the front alignment on the center line, and from here it is just adding tape to insure a tight fit all around. Piece O cake, right? It really is pretty easy. Procedure is everything though.

If you have done this correctly, the canopy will lay right in place perfectly. Hope this helps.

ram3500-RCU

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I have another one sitting here that another builder did most of the work on. The repairing / finishing of it will be added to this thread later this spring. It is the reason why I just took the time to write a manual of sorts on the turtle deck. Some builders apparently could use a little more help with this in the Meister manual, as stated. Looks like I will be cutting the turtle deck off and starting over on that one...........

Here is the thing, and this comes from years of building houses, you always need to be thinking ahead, every step of the way. When you lay a foundation for a house, you are already thinking of the roof, and what it will require in bearing, etc. Models are no different. Everything you do on a model effects something else. You just need to stop, think about what those impacted things are, and make sure you have accounted for them. For instance, you don't use that former as a guide on the turtle deck, and get it squeezed too high in the front, it may look great until you go to put the canopy on, and then your heart sinks. Just one example.

ram3500-RCU

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Here are some pictures of the process. You will also notice why we never ever rely on seams for the center lines.

TonyBuilder

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Glade I'm doing the bubble canopy


TB

ram3500-RCU

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Ooooo......... Not the solution. Just sayin. :-)

TonyBuilder

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Gary I'm sure I will be spending many evenings readying threw your builds and taking notes but I tend to build as I go and rarely follow manuals and recommended building. The Meister seams a good platform for bashing and developing a unique build. One question, how does the flat bottom non scale wing far in competing? I know this kit has won some events but it just seams a disadvantage in scale competition, unless no one is looking at airfoils. I will take a more stable flying modle at this point so I'm ok with the flat wing.

I am curios to how this will effect the depth of the wing for the gear as it must loos some depth with the flat wing. I would like to use 6.5" wheels.

TB

ram3500-RCU

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Well, in static scale competition, our own experience is, (1) 1st place, and (2) 2nd place finishes in the three we entered with Zombie. The Meister has taken many awards at places like Top Gun as well, in the Pro / AM, because it is such a good stable platform, that can be flown in a very realistic way. I would say that the air foil does not hinder you because of the very authentic profile of the fuselage. The compromises for flyability can be overcome in other ways. And remember, in static, it is all about the documentation. Document the things that ARE correct, and don't draw attention to what isn't.

On building, I will gladly tip my hat and say have at it because I well know the satisfaction in the process for some of us. Post your build if you like. I'm sure I will learn something.