jet22b

Hi Guys,
Well the UPS truck left this on my door step yesterday and now I see why I had to pay $80.00 for shipping!! This box is "big"!!!!
This is going to be a fun build!!! Merry Xmas to me!!!!
Stay tune for updates!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

JoeMamma

Merry Christmas to you !!

Yeah.......I also remember that big ol' shipping box. Any shipping damage ?

I must have spent an hour just cutting up and getting rid of the outer shipping box, the inner container box and all of the styrofoam chunks.

Have fun with your build !

Joe M.

jet22b

Joe M.
The big shipping box was beat up bad. There was a small hole that went through the shipping box and in the inner container box!! When I saw that hole I just knew I had some damage, but, what ever made the hole miss the top of the fin by 2"!! After the scare, the rest of the ARF was all good. Like I said, this is going to be fun!!!
BTW: I just check Tower Hobbies and they are out of the Cessna 310 untill late June or early July. Wow I was lucky!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

cstevenpeterson

My Feedback: (21)

Mine was the same way - box damage with through hole, but no product damage. This ARF is very well packaged - you almost need to crush the box to damage it.

Steve

sailor05

My Feedback: (1)

I have been working away on my electric conversion of this plane for about 2 weeks. I am at the decision point regarding landing gear. I SO wish that eflite would solve the problem by offering landing suitable for this size airframe. While I wait the only options I see are to go with the stock gear or drop the more than $800 for the "Down and Locked" electrification of the Robarts air retracts. After the Robarts collapsed while my Hangar 9 B-25 sat on the tarmac I am officially DONE with air retracts.

What alternatives am I missing? What have you guys done?

Michael7810

Earlier on this thread was a electric conversion for Robarts that you might consider. the only cost involved is for three servos.

sailor05

My Feedback: (1)

I contacted Down and Locked. Really professional outfit and they answered email promptly. Unfortunately, the price of these retracts TRIPLES the cost of the airplane. The cost of the conversion ALONE is $500. The retracts http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPCH7&P=7 are $369.

$869 for landing gear! I just want to meet the guy who buys these!

n6iap

When the expiration date is reached on the version I have, I plan to remake the model as an electric with one or the other of these retracts. I have not had an issue with the Robarts but these would make it all electric.

25 – 46 size
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EFLG330

60 – 120 size
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EFLG430

just a thought....

jimm

jet22b

jimm,
Thank you for your last post. I just look at both set of retracts from your link and I just may go that way. For the last two days I have been thinking very hard about the Robart gear for this bird. Plus the price also making me think very hard. Now the only thing I have to find out if they can drop in without any major mod done to the gear bay. Like you, I have 3 planes that have Robart gear system in them and only one that I have a problem with.
Thanks again for the links!!
HAve a great weekend!!!
Sonny
aka
jet22b

sailor05

My Feedback: (1)

On the recommendation of a poster in a 310 thread I bought the eflite 60-120 size retracts; 85 degree mains and 105 nose gear. As these were being shipped to me the poster of the advice reported that he could get these to work with "some modification" and "gentle landing".

I would love to see the modifications. The mounts for the eflite retracts are at least 1/2" narrower than the fixed gear. I was so discouraged I never even took the gear out of the packages. They sit there even now, waiting for somebody to post some pictures of the modifications they made so that these electric retracts could work.

Hope somebody who knows how to do this will read this thread soon and post some pix and advice :-)

JoeMamma

Hi Jimm,

I have a few sets of the 60-120 size EFlites in various planes. They are way too small for this Cessna. Plus, the 60-120 size is only good for 15 pounds max as this Cessna is about 20+ pounds. On the EFlite 60-120 nose retract, the internal operating mechanism is located on exactly the opposite side of what is required for this Cessna.

Unfortunately, the Robart air retracts are probably the only large-size drop-in retracts available for this Cessna. During the winter I talked to Sierra Retracts about a large set of gear for my Cessna. He had something that was close, but they cost much more than the $369 for the Robarts which are made specifically for this Cessna. Plus, the Sierra's are still air operated, but I wanted electric.

As it currently stands, the only electrically operated retracts now available for this Cessna are a set of custom Robarts that can be converted to electric operation by Down & Locked company. As I stated earlier, the Down & Locked conversion is pricey[sm=thumbs_down.gif] but that's what I wanted so I sent them my Robarts and they did the conversion.

I'm glad I spent the bucks because now I've got a nice heavy-duty gear set without having to worry about leaking air lines, air pumps, etc.

Down & Locked also makes an electric gear door sequencer that ties into their retract system. Pretty slick !

Until Down & Locked gets some competition in the large-scale electric retract market, you gotta pay the bucks. It's the old supply versus demand game !

I sure wish EFlite would mass-produce a set of large-scale 20-25 pound retracts. Then maybe down the road a set of 30-40 pound retracts. Wishful thinking ?

Joe M.

JoeMamma

Here's a link for a review of the Down & Locked conversion for the Top Flite Cessna 310
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1294

Joe M.

jet22b

Joe M.
Thanks again for the info. I think I will be going with the Cessna 310 Retract from Robart and Tower Hobbies. I am a member of their Super Saver Club and should be receiving their 7 way to save email deal for this month. That way I can save some money on the gears. I do like what Down & Locked did for the conversion. The same speed as the full scale bird. Well this weekend here in the Great Northwest we will have some very good flying weather. One guess what I will be doing!!! Next week I will start the lay out of parts for the Cessna 310!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!!
Me, I am going flying!!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

JoeMamma

The conversion to O.S. .72 4-strokers was pretty straight forward.

The only downside was having to cut up the cowls for clearance. In the past I've had overheating problems with 4-strokers so I tend to cut the clearance holes a little on the large side. The one big upside is the sound of those two 4-strokers running in sync !

Joe M.

jet22b

Hey Joe M.
Your Cessna 310 looks good. I see you fly off of a grass field. How is your Robart Gear system holding up??? Monday I will start on my baby!! Like I said, this is going to be fun!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

4sylvester

After nearly 2 years I finally got my 310 in the air today. All went well until i had to drop the gear. I had a bind in one of the main gears so I landed gear up. Only damage was a cracked propeller.. otherwise not even scuffed. A little luck never hurts. Here is the video of the landing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP0VyKlAacQ

P-Y

My Feedback: (1)

Nice slow landing 4sylvester !

JoeMamma

Nice landing !!

Your landing reminded me of the dead-stick landing of that big passenger jet into the Hudson river in New York City a year or two ago. I believe what took it down were birds or ducks that were ingested into the turbines. Great pilot skills got her landed.

From what I remember, nobody got hurt, they just got a little water-logged.

Joe M.

jet22b

Great job on the landing!!!!
That one was by the book!!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

n6iap

I may have spoken too soon on the E-Flite electric retracts. After JoeMamma’s post I rechecked the box on those retracts. Even though they say “60-120” size aircraft, in the manual it says 8 – 15 pounds.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo...0120lowres.pdf

I hope no one purchased those on my recommendation, I forget that even though this airplane is only a 45 size twin it is really a 60 size twin and a heavy one at that. Mine comes in at 21 pounds (9.5 kilograms) probably because I have all the twin sync with glow electronics and a Sky King bust. The Robart air system has worked fine for me and I fly off of a grass field visited by armadillos and sand hill cranes. I don’t remember doing anything more than strengthening the wings per other post recommendations.

I will hold future comments to what I have done, not what I think I will do.

Later….

jimm

JoeMamma

Hey jimm..........don’t worry about it. It’s the good intension that counts !


Speaking of retracts, I really hate using cables for nose gear steering and prefer using a fat 4-40 pushrod instead. A pushrod always seems to give me much more of a positive steering control.

Unfortunately, the Robart nose gear designed for this Cessna does not allow for using a pushrod, so you are stuck with the twin cables. Also, due to its design, the cables with this particular Cessna also seem to have a more than usual, and a substantial amount of free play (or slack) when the nose gear is retracted.

I spent a lot of time setting up my nose gear, and when retracting the nose wheel, 9 times out of 10 both of the cables would curl up into nice little consistent curves. But....... on the tenth time, one of the cables would always seem to curve into a new direction and then get hung up on something. This would cause the steering servo to go into a dead stall. It would then buzz like mad as it was attempting to strip off all of the servos gear teeth..........arrrggggghhhhh !!![:'(]

It was driving me nuts. I wanted them to work 10 out of 10 times.

I came up with a simple fix that will take up all of the slack in both cables.

I cut a rubber band and then CA’d it to the bottom of the plastic cockpit floor. The band is simply draped over the two cables. You can see in the two pictures how it works. One picture shows no slack in the cables when the nose gear is down and locked. The other picture shows the rubber band has pulled and removed all of the slack in both cables with the nose gear retracted. Just a slight tension is needed on the rubber band to remove all of the cable slack. I figured I’ll need to replace the rubber band once a year or so..........no big deal.

Now she’s working consistently 10 out of 10 times !

Joe M.

4sylvester

Thanks!! I was really suprised I was able to slow her down as much as I did. Here are a few shots of the flight.

[

nioa

BRILLIANT!

Great suggestion.

jet22b

Hey Joe M.
Very nice setup. I think I will do the same in my Cessna 310. Now that Tower Hobby is out of stock on the Robart Gear that is made for this bird, I have to wait on the retracts!![][] The EVO .60NX's are on their way. Today I am laying out all the parts and going over my build check list. This is going to be a very fun build!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

sailor05

My Feedback: (1)

Joe, it looks like you are running a seperate servo for your rudder? From the looks of the image here the rudder servo in the factory mount only controls the nose wheel??

Damian