bassman

I am in the process of finishing up a Great Planes Fokker DR1. I have read most of the threads here and have used the advise the flyers experienced with this plane have offered. I am at the rudder set up. I have used pinned hinges and put three of them in line epoxied in. The question is has anyone set this up PULL PULL on the rudder? Is it necessary or does the plane handle well with the supplied push rod? I do have a high torque digital servo for both the rudder and elevator.

If anyone has a good set up for pull pull please get back to me with a description of how you did it. Pictures would be even better!


Thanks

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

I left the pushrods in mine. Been flyin it a yr now and no problems yet. Bill

bassman

Due to the lack of response I did the same. I investigated Pull Pull and found a lot of good info but as I looked at the fueselage it became clear that it wasn't going to be easy to make the conversion. I managed to get a nice slop free linkage with the push rod. It will fly in about two weeks. Did you have to make any changes to yours to get it to fly well?

Bassman

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Yes sir I did. Reduce the incidence on the landing gear wing to only about 2 degrees neg. (it has about 7 degrees neg). And give your ailerons very differential throw. (way more up than down). These two changes made mine fly very good. Much better than test flight.

bassman

Thanks for the input. The instructions have you put a Y harness on the ailerons. Is differential throw possible with a Y? Did you put separate aileron leads into your receiver?

I'll pay attention to the lower wing dif.

Have you had the landing difficulties that I am reading about in the existing threads? I hear alot about rocking and dragging wing tips.

Bassman

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

You can put in some differential with the linkage alone but not enough. It needs to be done by plugging servo's in seperate channels. The wingtip dragging you speak of , I believe is inevitable. I also read about it before I assyembled mine so when I took it out of the box I stripped the covering off the bottom wing and added a 1/2" spruce spar wingtip to wingtip. I have yet to nose mine over but I have dragged the wingtip more than my share with no structural damage so far. I wanted to personalize mine a little anyway so recovering the bottom I added black and white stripes.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Pics

bassman

Nice work. I am about week away from being flight ready.
How do you handle transport and set up at the field? Do you take all of the struts off? Do the screws that attach the wood struts stay tight? I was thinking about drilling out the holes and installing a piece of metal tube for the screws to tighten againt instead of crushing the wood. Do you remove the upper or lower screws on the center struts?

Bassman

MANFRED

My Feedback: (27)

Mine is my easiest plane to transport. Lift her up and set it in the back of my fullsize F-150 with shell. I pity the guys at my field that have to disassemble and cram their planes into vehicles designed to carry passengers only.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Mine stays together in my trailer. I take it apart occasionally for inspection though. It really only takes about 10 min to put it together. It's no big hassle since there are no flying wires and such to mess with. The screws do crush the wood a tiny bit but I haven't had one come loose yet. I do check the machine threaded ones that are in the metal to metal strut attach points after every couple flights. They will come loose.

midavide

Don't worry she will fly very well. You will be surprised. Just make sure everything is tuned and you follow the recommeded throws in the manual. I have been flying my Dr1 for three weeks now without incident.(Make sure your landings are flat and fairly slow) Here are some pics of the plane and the happy pilot!!

Dave

bassman

I have a Chevy Colorado with a cap. I could get it in assembled but I like to take three planes to the field when I go. I built a rack out of PVC for the truck and it works well. I can get four monoplanes in if I am carefull.
I will proabaly switch to longer screws on the struts so I can get a locknut on the back side as insurance.

I bought a Saito 91 for the tripe. Any suggestion on prop size for this combination? I was planning on a 15-4.
How well do the machine guns hold up. Did you do anything to fasten them on other than what the instructions say?

What pilot did you use? The one Great planes recommends looks a little under size for this plane.

I'm in the process or rewiring the wing so I can set up for alieron differential. What throws did you use for Up vs down?

I know, lots of questions but this is great information. The input I got on my Hanger Nine Texan was execellent and made my first flight on that plane easy. I know that this will be just as good.

Thanks

Bassman

midavide

Hi Bassman,

I am using an OS 70 Surpass in my DR1 so I cannot comment on prop size. I used the William brothers Scale pilot(forget the scale size right now as I am at work)

- I screwed the machine guns(under the main blocks and directly under the gun sights) in place as I did not trust glue. Had to do alot of grinding to get the machine guns to sit right, watch that they are not too low as you cannot fit the attachment plate onto the fusalage as the tip of the machine gun hit the fusalage when trying to install.
- I also screwed the machine gun plate that attaches to the fuselage instead of using glue.
- Added rear horizontal stabilizer struts like the real Dr1
- Used Blue locktite on all strut screws
- Installed battery box on the Firewall top/front - this was important using my OS 70 but might not be necessary with your larger Saito.
- I installed two servos with separate pushrods for the back elevators, did not trust the recommended system. Elevators on my DR1 work independently(bit of a pain getting them synchronized but worth it in the end)
- Added support balsa blocks under the bottom and middle wings- drilled holes where the screws fit through.
- I installed battery on/off switch and charger under the landing gear, and out of sight, for a more scale look
- Painted all tabs on control horns matching colors(red and black) to add a more scale look.
- I am not using differential, I am mixing rudder and Ailerons.
- Installed sqaudron leader ribbons on the bottom wing strut. Used a leather shammy tanned with shoe polish. (looks very cool in the air)
- Again watch your throws on takeoff. My Dr1 tends to make one bounce(like the real one) and then lifts off in a nice steady climb rate., I am very easy on the elevator pull.... Get use to the plane before attempting loops etc.

Good luck and take some pictures....

Dave

murwat

Gentlemen, I hope to be getting a Dr1 asap. I currently have a OS 52 4 stroke surpass. The write ups suggest this would be big enough, however, I note your comments about using a 70. Do you think a52 will be sufficient?

regards,

midavide

Murwat, The FS-70 Surpass II was the right power plant for my Dr1, it's very scale like on takeoff. I would say the OS 52 would be a tad underpowered. It's always good to have reserve power when you get into a situation.

This from a DR1 review... at web page :

http://www.greatplanes.com/reviews/gpma1380-rcm.html


"The O.S. Max 70 Surpass provides solid scale-like power for this model. The Dr.I flies well when ailerons and rudder are coordinated but is quite manageable using just ailerons for turns. Loops with a 50' diameter were easily accomplished although at 75' it struggled at the top of the loop. Rolls had a "barrel" shape to them. Knife-edge flight required a fair amount of effort but was achievable. Spins were not snappy. The Dr.I was solid during inverted flight, requiring just a little down elevator. I also tried the Dr.I with a pumped O.S. Max FS-91 II Surpass swinging a 15 x 6 prop. Although it flew considerably faster than scale speed, there was a quantum leap in aerobatic performance. If you choose to go with a larger engine, don't forget to throttle back lest you encounter flutter"

Dave

deljon

My Feedback: (4)

I used GP's pushrod setup for the elevator, but soldered the collar for extra insurance. Went with the OS 70 with an 14-7 prop. Seemed to be a good combination.
I added onboard glow, so moved both battery packs as far forward as possable, it only took a few ounces of weight epoxied inside the front of the cowl to balance it out. Didn't think about putting a battery box on the front of the firewall till I had it finished, so didn't change it.
A friend of mine that was about a week ahead of me putting his together discovered that you do not want it to be the least bit tail heavy. A tad of nose down worked fine. So with the knowledge I gained from him, my first flight went perfect.
As light as it is and with all those wings, it don't like crosswinds even a little bit, but with some practice you can manage it.
The lower wing is very fragile, seems as though they designed it to fail. (They get 50 bucks for a new one). They break right at the fuse. and it doesn't take much to do it. After repairing it twice, bought a new one and stripped the covering and reinforced both spars, know more trouble.
Really a fun plane, flew mine for two years.
Have fun, let us know how yours does.

Del Johnson

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Bassman, Sorry I haven't responded. I went to Indiana for the Dawn Patrol fly-in. The 90 is a bit too much power. I have the OS 91 surpass on mine now after my Saito 80 came apart on me. That's what throttles are for though, right? It should swing the 15-4 fine. I'm running a 15-6 on mine. Differential throw is (I'm guessing) about 1/4 to 3/8 down and 1/2 to 5/8 up. The pilot in mine I got from DGA. (Sig sells them). I think he's just right but that's my opinion. Let me know if I can be of more help. Bill

bassman

Thanks for the info. Mines almost done. I am looking a first flight over to course of the next two weeks. I'll let you know know how it works out.

Sport_Pilot

No need for aileron differential. Just mix in some rudder with the aielerons. Aileron differential will reduce the roll rate somewhat.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Roll rate on mine is fine. But whatever.

bassman

Hey Guys. I got my Fokker into the air yesterday. The Saito 91 broke in well with a couple of tanks of fuel. It is one touchy beast in the air. I manged to adjust out some of the sensitivity though Expo and ATV. The 91 is far more power that this plane needs but I would have had to add the weight anyway. I did encounter a vibration issue. It was enough to vibrate my needle valve extension loose. I checked the prop balance and it is near perfect in both directions. I am woundering if the unsupported fake radial could be causing it? Any ideas?

Bassman

deljon

My Feedback: (4)

That could be the problem, it is kind of flimsy, mine broke off a little bit at a time.
Try running it up on the ground and watch everything closely and see if you can spot the problem.

Congrads on the first flight. Mine was a little squirrlely, I tamed it down by setting the low rates at about 75%. It was fine then.

Del Johnson