bigmacbkr

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Hey guys, by now I'm sure you've seen the Model Airplane News article profiling the big BH 1.20 T-28 and you can easily view the picture on the Hobby People website. I just received mine and it is drop dead gorgeous! It's at least as big as the old Pica T-28 and it appears to be a quality built aircraft. It's shipped in a box as big as a coffin! Unlike the plane in the magazine article, decals do not come factory applied...thank goodness, since they include some unprotypical decals that I didn't put on mine, and they show the decals for the Star and Bars and NAVY that goes on each side of the fuselage incorrectly as well as a few others; NAVY should be at the back near the horizontal stabilizer and Stars & Bars should be forward, just the opposite of the manual and the plane in MAN. So far I haven't started the build as I'm still acquiring parts, but I've already decaled it. I've purchased all 10 servos and an OS 1.20 engine but still have a few items on order, including a 250mm air tank, prop, etc. I like to have everything in hand before I start a build. I'll be glad to post a few pictures of the fuselage with cowl and rudder (and decals attached) if someone can tell me how. One caveat, I paid the introductory price of $449.99 just a week ago and now it's shot up $70 more to $519.99 so you'll have to pay a little more to get one!

balsabuster2003

Do you have any pictures of the proper location for the decals? I put together the 60 size T-28, and did it like the pictures on the box. Working on the 120 size one now. Haven't put any decals on, yet.

bigmacbkr

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Balsabuster check out my pictures under the RC Gaint Scale link. The decals shown on the top of the main wing are the same on the bottom of the wing, only on opposite sides of the wing. If there are any other question just ask.

balsabuster2003

Bigmac - How did you find the places on the wing to put in the screws that go into the aluminum tube? Are they marked in any way? Are they necessary? Is there any other way to keep the wings from spreading on landing?

Thanks.

bigmacbkr

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The top of the wing(s) have small pin ***** indentations that locate each place to drill. Instead of using the wood screws provided, I used 6-32 1" hex bolts. Buy the Du-Bro 6-32 Tap & Drill set (cat. no. 362), and a set of one inch 6-32 hex bolts and several washers. The Tap set comes with the drill bit and the tap bit. I installed the tube in one wing and wrapped it tightly with painters tape to the wing to keep it from turning while drilling. I then very carefully drilled the hole through the wing and through only the top side of the tube, careful not to go further. I then pulled the tube out and put it in my vice to drill through the top hole to drill the bottom hole. This assured me that I couldn't drill through the bottom of the wing and it helped me drill the two holes in alignment with each other! With the tube still in my vice, I carefully tapped it with the tap bit and a small wrench. The tap bit is just long enough to go though both tube walls at the same time. Do not tap the bottom hole from the bottom of the tube or you'll reverse the threads. Once I had a hex bolt securing the tube to the wing, I then mounted it through the fuselage attaching the finished wing and mounted the other wing onto it's half of the tube. I screwed both wings into the fuselage at the wing tabs to assure perfect alignment and so as not to be able to move them, then repeated the above drill & tap process on the opposite wing. It's rather time consumming but the finished product is well worth it.

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

Balsabuster I left out one very important thing....securing the tube to the wing(s) is very necessary as the small tabs are not nearly strong enough to secure and support the wing halves to the fuslage. I wouldn't even attempt to try some other way since BH surely has provided the best method for the job. Do not skip this step or you can surely kiss your airplane goodby with the first flight! Good luck!

balsabuster2003

Bigmac,

Thanks so very much for the very detailed pointers on the wings. (any time they mentioned wood screws or sheet metal screws on other parts of the plane, I used T-nuts (blind nuts) or brass wood inserts.) I didn't see the small pin **** indentations on the wings the last time I looked. Will look again. Keep us up-to-date on your assembly progress (unless you're done with it already.)

I had to do MUCH sanding and fitting on the vertical stabilizer mating surfacess to get it to fit right. Also had to sand, fit fuselage for horizontal stabilizer, and a bunch of other stuff because things didn't line up right.

Again, thanks.

Balsabuster.

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

That's odd that you had to do any sanding at all, much less so much! My kit was as good as any I've ever built and every part fit perfectly. My T-28 is finished and ready to fly but I got in late last night after riding 620 miles from the Smokey Mts yesterday on my Goldwing, so I wasn't able to fly today, too tired, plus we've had 15 - 20 mph North winds blowing all day today. Let me know if I can share any other info with you.

balsabuster2003

Bigmac:

I'm taking pictures of my assembly of the plane. I may end up doing a "build" thread.

I went through my pictures and have identified 13 problems with the plane, so far.

1. One of the pilots came decapitated.

2. The flaps servo hatches didn't line up with the holes provided in the wings. I had to plug provided holes with toothpicks, and re-drill new holes.

3. The control rod for the nosewheel steering was bent.

4. When the cowl trim was lined up with the fuselage, the flap that covers the nosewheel retract area was way off to one side. May just cut it off, or re-locate it.

5. The servo locations in the manual picture did not reflect what was actually there.

6. The fuel tank plastic tubes did not survive installation. Had to replace with brass tubing.

7. The plywood shelf where the servos get screwed into was too thin and weak to hold the screws. (stripped out) Added some aircraft quality plywood.

8. The control valve servo location was not deep enough for the servo. Had to add plywood so that the servo would clear the fuselage.

9. Horizontal stab required sanding. (warning in manual)

10. Air control valve leaked. Replaced with Robart.

11. Had to hog out the wings where the retract tubes entered with wings. Holes in wings did not line up with the cylinder nipples.

12. One of the nosegear cylinder nipples interferred with the floor of the retract area. Removed wood with dremel tool.

13. Vertical stab required MUCH sanding. (warning in manual)

(not a problem as such, but just a note - rudder pull-pull system took all day to install to my satisaction. Maybe it's just me.)

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

Balsabuster I am totally shocked at the problems you've encountered with your airplane. Except for item #12 where I had to do a little grinding on the bulkhead to make the nose retract seat correctly, I had none of the other problems you describe. Of course the instructions are the worse I've ever seen which doesn't help at all, but I can't imagine why there is such a huge discrepancy with your model versus mine? That makes me question the integrity of both our airplanes and now I'm going to be as nervous as a thirteen year old bride on her wedding night when I make my madden flight. Keep us informed of your progress. [&o]

balsabuster2003

Location for wing bolts. Is it possible to drill closer to the fuselage where there is more wood?

Chuck.

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

I'm a believer that the manufacturer probably knows more about the construction of the airplane than I would venture a guess, however, you might consider an additional bolt in each wing if you felt strongly about it.

balsabuster2003

I think I'll try to move the hole a little more inboard and see how it works out. I'll let you know the results.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Chuck.

balsabuster2003

I think the instructions to drill through the top of the wing into the wing tube are in error. There are laser-cut holes on the UNDERSIDE of the wing exactly oppostie the dimple int the top side of the wing. I will try to go from the bottom. (the wing tube is up tight against to bottom of the wing. There is a big space between the wing tube and the top side of the wing, and would not be as strong an installation, in my opinion. See picture of location of laser-cut hole in bottom of the wing.

Chuck.

Picture upload didn't work - will try later.

balsabuster2003

Another try.

(so much for that - still not working.)

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

Now you're starting to give me reason for concern! I don't know about the top vs the bottom, but a fellow named Klaus Ronge built and flew the model in the October issue of Model Airplane News and he put the bolts in the top of the wing as the instructions call for. The pictures confirm. Apparently it flew pretty well that way, or so he said it did, but why not contact Black Horse and ask them about the laser-cut holes in the bottom of the wing. If there have been failures or if the bolts should in fact be in the bottom instead of the top of the wing, surely they will know about it by now. Please let me know before I fly the thing ! [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

balsabuster2003

I installed the wingbolts from the bottom today. Probably either way will work. Trying to upload the picture again.

balsabuster2003

Here's another try.

balsabuster2003

Just been informed by RCKen that they are working on the picture upload problem.

balsabuster2003

Here's an attempt at uploading several pictures at a time. We'll see if they got it fixed yet.

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

Balsabuster, how are you coming along on your T-28? I suspect you're probably finished by now? Let us know your progress.

balsabuster2003

I have to fit the cowl, cut the holes in it, cut the beheaded pilot out and glue him back in, remove wrinkles, break-in the engine, apply decals. Can't think of anything else.

I have taken 175 photos of the assembly, so far. I may only post pictures of the problem areas I have run into.

balsabuster2003

Marked wing @ 110mm back from the leading edge. Turned plane over. Added weight in area of firewall. (wrenches, etc) Took 1-1/2 lbs added weight to balance. (yes, that's 24 oz!) Gonna have to think about this.

balsabuster2003

Plane weight: 11 lb, 1 oz.
Cowl weight 7 oz.
Canopy weight 14 oz.

Total weight without adding any weight: 12 lb. 6oz.

The last time I tried balancing the plane, it was without the cowl. The cowl weighs 7 oz., with most the weight at the front. This will reduce the added lead weight required by at least 1/2 lb.

balsabuster2003

Actual weight of the cowl is 7.97 oz. At 8 oz cowl weight, if I use a 5-cell SC battery (2 oz. per cell) at the firewall, my required added weight will be 5 oz.

60% of the weight of the cowl is at the front, 40% at the rear, so my lead requrement is down to probably less than 5 oz. Now I'm getting somewhere.