tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

15 days till Top Gun. I still have to attach the canopys permanantly and attach the lower antenna fairing and secure the tail fillet panels. I should have all this done today, then time to run the engine and get the first flight done. I have run the engine on the bench, but since then, I converted it to electronic ignition. I completed the wing servo access panels, made a lower antennae fairing and did a bunch of other odds and ends. I am getting very close to beginning the painting as soon as the cowl is completed. Not much use posting pictures till I get it fltying or get some paint on it. I began cutting and bending metal for the leading edge wing fillet sheeting, that and the wingtips are the last sheet metal fabricating I have to do. I will be going to MacDill wood hobby shop to use their belt sander. I decided that to make the wingtips, I needed a form of the wingtips. I went to Home Depot and bought some Oak wood to cut to shape, then I will use the belt sander to shape it so I can use it and a hammer to shape the wingtips.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

WOW, the days go so fast, 14 days to go. I have the lower antennas permantley mounted. Now I can take it somewhere and do a reciever test, I probably should do that tomorrow. We will probably take it to TRAC tomorrow. I put the canopys on, I still need to do some framework for the turtledeck. That shouldnt take too long. I cut and sanded some oak wood to serve as forms to make the wingtips. I will do that after the first flight most likely. The major things I still have to do are, sheet aluminum the wingtips, sheet aluminum for the leading edge wing fillets, the cowl with dummy radial and the rest are all kinds of details, details and more details. I took a few images of the fuselage on the workbench to prove I have been working on it.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

We did the reciever test today. Sean drove aboiut 1/2 mile or so away, farther than we would plan on ever flying it and everything worked great. Both recievers worked the whole time. We didnt run the engine but will very soon. I did take time to get a few pictures of it out at the field.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

I ran this motor on the stand and it ran great, since rthat time it has decided not to run. The carb pulls gas to choke it, but it wont pull it to run. Just what I needed. I ordered a new carburator and I will just work on other things untill I get it running. I hate to do it, but I may pull the carb off my Sopwith Pup and get this engine running sooner. I will try a few other things first. I have the top of one wingtip done, I just need to trim it , put rivets on it and attach it. The oak form worked great, even the piece I had cut off came in handy making the wingtip. I have two pieces of the leading edge wing fillet shaped, now time to do the rest of the fillet. The mosquitos are getting bad out, I guess I should bring the plane inand work on it on the table till its time to work on the carburator issue. Well, Sean has his first job. He starts monday at Radio Shack, gonna be tougher to make the time to get the first flight done. I am beginning to worry that we are running out of time based on the carburator problem. I wont stop working on it, we still have a good chance to have it done in time.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Well, the third carburator and finally it runs. Kinda odd when I have two engines both run recently and neither carb works. I ended up taking the carb off of my 1/3 scale Pup, that did the trick. I have beeen back working on the leading edge wing to fuselage fillets. I believe I have the hard part of that job done. I have the left side complete except for the trimming and securing of the bottom wing part. I still have to do a piece for the right side, but after doing the left side, I now know how I am going to go about it. Once the fillets are done, I can focus on the wingtips. That is the last visible balsa or composite portion of the plane. It still amazes me how much better the plane looks each time there is more aluminum and less other stuff showing. It should only take me 2 days to complete the sheet metal work, will be glad when thats all done. Not sure when we will get the first flight done, but the plane should be ready with just an hour or so work securing some panels. I am using canopy glue on all the screws to prevent them from vibrating loose. I have to go back and put glue on those screws. Looks like later this week, I can begin painting. I have one more cowl mount I need to move and reattach, then I can begin putting rivets on the cowl in preparation for painting.
Denny

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Found nothing in the crap traps?

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Nothing in any of the crap traps. I am not gonna worry about the other carbs for now. I have one working and a new one on the way. In a sense its a non issue since I cant run/tune it without help anyway. This plane is so big and bulky, I cant really even move it from in the house to outside or start it by myself. I will keep working on it till Sean is home in the evenings to run the engine and move the plane around. It looks like time to do the wingtips and get the chin scoop going today. The plane is upside down on the stand so I will do the bottom wingtips. I will try to turn it over later but am afraid I will damage the antenna on top or snag and bend the sheet aluminum corners. Just not worth damaging it.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Starting some of the painting. I want to do the walkways before I put the wing back on the fuselage. I will do some test painting, if that works good, I will paint the walkways tomorrow. I did start on the dummy radial from Frank Tiano. I drilled holes for the pushrod tubes. I cut aluminum 3/16 tubing for the pushrods and cut some 7/32 tubing and notched it to make the pushrod tube caps that secure them to the crankcase and the heads. I also made the ignition system ring and drilled for the spark plug wires. I guess soon it will be time to make the oil sump so I can get my cool looking Pratt and Whitney emblem on the engine. I recieved the prop, it looks great. The guy that made the 1/5 scale Hamilton Standard prop is a retired engineer from Hamilton Standard and he did a great job. He advertises here on RCU, search "scale dummy prop" in the for sale section and you will find him. Not only does he do great work, but he aslo is very pleasant to deal with. I finally have the final cowl mounting provisions in place. I will start on cowl panel lines and rivets tomorrow. Looks like Friday or Saturday for final engine tune and possibly first flight Saturday afternoon. Depends on the weather mostly. I am resisting the very very strong urge to paint emblems and put on the dry transfers, I need to save them and do them the first of next week.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

A week from tomorrow the plane has to be static judged. The weather forcast is looking a lot better. I am planning on getting the first flight in on Saturday or Sunday. The new carburator arrived today. I will use the one I have installed and tune it tomorrow when I get some help after Sean and or Brian comes over. Sean works till 1PM Saturday, we will be ready to head to Bay City to fly as soon as he gets home. I will have the wing on before tomorrow evening. Wow a busy day, started around 2AM. I have the rivets done on the cowl. I am ready to paint the anti-glare panel on the fuselage and the cowl. I hope to get that done this evening. I painted the "212 on the side of the fuselage, paint just doesnt want to stick to polished aluminum. I sanded it with 320 grit emery cloth but its not easy to get around the edges of the paint masks without making the edges rough. I did put two of the dry transfers on the rear of the plane. they lookn great, I have to be careful not to scratch them. I wish I could put some clear over them but it just wouldnt look good. I also painted the walkways. I mixed flat black, oil based paint with some sand and used a small roller to put it on. It came out OK. Better than any other way I know of. I also made the hubcaps and the brake backplates, I have to finish them but I have the aluminum cut. I started on the static prop, some primer, a bit of spot putty and a bit of sanding and it is ready for some paint. I painted the yellow tips and tomorrow will paint if black before putting on the Ham Standard decals and the dry transfers.
Denny

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Black paint mixed with micro balloons works great and can be shot through a gun. Not that their is anything wrong with yours, they look good in the pics. Same idea pretty much.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Yours look great Chad, it always nice to know different way to do things. Well, painting polished aluminum is much tougher than I thought it would be. I put the paint mask on the fuselage to paint the roundel. I sanded where the roundel was going to be with 320 grit as suggested by the etching primer manufacturer. I had a tough time sanding close to the paint mask, especially when I sanded the big "212" numbers that I was going to paint on the side of the fuselage. I primed them both, then a coat of color paint. When I pulled the masking off, the pait was rough around the edges because the paint came off with the mask because I hadnt sanded close enough to the mask. I spoke to Ike at Charlies Hobby shop, he recommended using baking soda and a mask to blast/etch the aluminum, doesnt sound like a bad idea, but too late for that. I bought some roundels made by SIG and put them on today. They will have to work. I will use vynl to cut and stick on for the "212" for the fuselage. I used dry transfers for the first time, I did lear a few lessons the hard way. I have attached the aluminum handles and the step on the left of the fuselage. I also have made the antenna post, it just needs painting. Tomorrow I plan on putting the wing on the fuselage and getting the engine tuned. The plan is to head out to Bay City for the first flight when Sean gets home from work. The first of the week, I will make the wingtips and install them. I have a bit more work to do on the cowl and it will be ready for the red paint.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

I am really looking forward to Top Gun, and having this project completed. Maybe then I will stop having night mares and get some sleep. I wioke at 2:30this morning with the plane on my mind. I realized after a hapf hour, I might as well get up and do the things I was thinking of. I had already done them inmmy mind several times, I might as well go ahead and really do them. I cut out the "212" out of the vynl the guy at the sign shop gave me, it could be better, but its there and will stay there for now. I also finished securing the turtledeck. Oh, I ann I put on the last roundel. I stood back and looked at it with the colors on it, and I am happy with the look of it. Cant wait till I get the wing on it and the cowl. I guess I should start on the cowl, there are several steps to complete it with drying time in between so I better get started. Same with the turtledeck framework. That canopy glue takes a while to dry so I need to get the first piece on and drying soon. I am going to remake the leading edge fillet panels for the wing/fuselage, they are just so ugly. As far as flying it for the first time, today looks like the day. As long as the weather cooperates, we will go for it. Brian is coming over today to help me tune it, then we will pack it up into the Van and head to the field when Sean gets home. Wow, a lot of work, sure is nerve wracking to get it into the air. I hope I havent spent 2 years building the most realistic looking plane crash ever! If that happens, mayvbe I will just make a diarama out of it
Denny

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

I'm looking forward to meeting you and seeing your plane in person. I've followed your build and admire your skills and innovative approach. Have a safe trip and best wishes on the competition.

sincerely,
Gary Prince

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Cool, Come on by and say hello. We get static judged friday and fly Sat and Sunday. I look foreward to meeting you also. We took the BT to the field for the first flight but it start4d running bad again. I saw a crack in the carburator insulator. When I got it home, I found a big chunk of the spacer was missing. I looked in my engine parts box and I had 4 brand new spaces!
The bad news was that none of them were the same as the broken one. Ithe spacer was broken and missing material between the "puff " port and the outside. I cleaned the spacer and then used a piece of aluminum coated with dishsoap and wrapped it around the outside securing it with safety wire to give it the correct shape and keep the JB weld from running out. I then found a piece of aluminum tubing the right side and inserted it into the "puff" port hole, I also coated this with dishsoap. I fund a piece of balsa sheet the right size to fill the channel to keep the JB weld out and as you might have guessed, I coated it with dishsoap. I then inserted a soap covered bolt into the threaded insert to keep the JB weld from running into it. I filled the void with JB weld and shaped/ smoothed the gasket surface with a razor blade and now time to let it sit and harden. I am positive this is what the problem was. I will remove the filler items in the morning and install teh carburator. We plan on heading to the field and be ready to fly by 8AM. I hope the weather will cooperate. Sean took a few pictures today. We did learn one thing, We need sunglasses when we take it to the field. We even had to make a new word... we try to never stand downsun of the plane, it is tough on the eyes.
Denny

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Really nice work Denny. I hope it flies even better than it looks, and it looks good! Best of luck in the AM.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Thanks Chad. we got to bed early ansd woke early. Did everything we could think of to prepare, charged batteries, packed spare parts, the van was full of extra "just in case" stuff. We got there and found the setscrew that holds the right wing on had vibrated out!
Well, none to be had by us or anyone at the field, note to self; start keeping 10-32 bolts in the flight kit. Its easter Sunday, we are over an hour from home where I have drawers of 10-32 bolts. By 9 AM Brian drove about 5 miles to the nearest store which was a truck stop and sure enough they had a pack of assorted bolts. We installed it, tuned the engine and after running out of excuses not to fly it, Sean taxied out and off he went on the first flight. Sean was visibly shaking, he values this plane and the work that has gone into it. He did a great job in the gusting crosswind and flew it around 4 laps and made one of the nicest landings I have seen. He floated that big heavy plane in like it was a glider. Those big flaps really do work well. He only had to add a few clicks of aileron trim and it flew great. We made several flights today and all went very weell. It turned out we made 6 sucessful flights and I must say I was very pleased. I would have been happy with just one good flight for the day. Next to get the cowl, wingtips, leading edge wing fillets and get some good scale pictures of it.
Denny

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Congratulations. 6 flights the first day is outstanding. I don't think I have ever had that many on maiden day.

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Me either, after all the issues I have had, I didnt expect for things to go that good. But I still want several more flights before Friday. Sean will be off work on Tuesday, we will try to get in a bunch of flights then too. The most I could get was 6300 RPM from the engine, I will try to get a bit more RPMs and try a couple other props to give it a bit more pulling power. I suspect the sharp bends in the exhaust are limiting the RPMs. I also have to redo my pull-pull tailwheel steering, the articulated steering and compression assembly is not working exactly as it did in my imagination. It shouldnt be too hard to re-engineer, but I dont need more things on my to-do list.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

We were able to get 2 mopre flights in today. Sean performed his maneuvers both times, not a lot of practice for a new plane and such a big event. we used the Pro Zinger prop and it was just plain amazing at the performance difference in it and the Zinger. If pulled like a fighter today. The plane sure looked a lot better with the painted cowl on. I still have a lot of work to do but I will keep working till its time for the judging on Friday. After that, we fly what we brung.
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

I accomplished a lot of small things, I have the rollover bar installed along with the rear instrument panel glare shield. They are the most visible things in the cockpit, I just had to have them. I completed the framework for the turtledeck and I added the step for hand cranking the engine, the outside temperature probe, and did a bunch of other odds and ends. Painted the red on the flaps by the walkway and completed the antenna and mast also. I just finished glassing the bottom of the wingtips so they can cure overnight and will prep them for covering with disposable baking pan sheet in the morning. After that I can make one of the top wingtips and fine tune the other one and get them installed. I will probably show up at Top Gun with the wingtips still taped in plane on Friday to make sure the glue is completely dry before I remove the tape and or rubber bands. I am not sure if I will be able to get the dummy radial completed and installed in time. I will save that for last. 35 hours till it has to be static judged!
Geez, is anyone else at this event still working on their plane? This is just insane!
Denny

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

From what I hear, after the first day of competition in the direct cross wind, and the many not so perfect landings, several guys are working on there planes.[]

tenacious101010

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Thanks for the update, I was hoping someone would post some pictures. I havent found any yet. I would love to drive over there to the event, but I have to finish building this thing.
Denny

tunakuts3d

r.c. Ken is posting some pics on scale aircraft forum http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10...m.htm#10489572

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

Thanks for letting me kniow. Just what I was looking for!
Denny

tenacious101010

My Feedback: (97)

well, here we are just 20 1/2 hours till the plane is to be static judged. I am taking a quick break as I work on getting wingtips on the project. The glue wont even be completely dry as the judges do their thing. At least it will be another day before it flys to give the glue time to dry. I still have to finish the wing fillet panels, hubcaps, brake backplates, brake lines and backplates, landing light lenses, cowl, dummy radial, and a few other things. No sweat, plenty of time...
Denny