rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Hi All,


Got myself an Herr Pitts Special at the LHS on sale today on sale for $42.00. I thought about putting it on the "Bay" but I want to build it. The box says .061- .074 at 27 oz. I know alot of builders put .15 - .20 engines in this plane, not me! I'm going for the .074 lighter is better version. I can't go to work for the next few weeks so this will kill the time. Let's see how she turns out, any and all input will be appreciated.

Darren

Mr67Stang

Looking forward to following this one... How long do you think it will take? <--- loaded question, I know

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Sitting at home all day......shouldn't take more than 2 days, including a test flight or 2. Darren, just pretend that you were Shanghaid to a Chinese ARF sweatshop and you gotta work like mad.....or else!

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Ohh god I'm laughing so hard my guts hurt. But that's a little too much pressure CP, give me 3 days

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Darren, nice find.....this kit looks to be worth twice what you paid. kits like this don't move off the shelves like the ARFs do. That is a positive thought for at least as long as do it yourself kits are still available.

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Well I got the rest of my "building supplys" last night. Three DVD's (2 James Bond and a Clint Eastwood) and a growler full of stout from a local brew pub. Spent a couple of hours reviewing plans and instructions I'm going to try to get the wings built. Hopefully I be able to post some results later today. There sure is alot of wood and plastic in this kit. I can see why many of these things come in at over 30 oz.. It kind of remindes me of the House of Balsa kits.

Darren

Sneasle

i'll give you that. My stang had an all up weight of about 33oz. Not too bad with the La.15 in it, but still heavy.

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Got the wings done today, will start the fuse tommarow.

Bipe Flyer

Looks good Darren. I notice that Herr has changed the recommended engine size to ".074 to .15". My Mini Bipe Stik has only a 2" shorter wingspan and if flies great on a Norvel .074. It'll be interesting to see how yours turns out. Are you doing anything special to try to save weight?

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Bipe,

As far as weight savings goes I'm not going to do too much to the structure. A few holes here and there, and some sanding of the sheet stock on the parts that I can get away with. As you know this really doesn't save you much weight. The instructions call for 3/32" sheeting on the fuse by the cabin struts and the stuff that came with the kit is H-E-A-V-Y-! I may use some 1/16' contest grade there but again it won't save much weight. I'm mostly woried about the thing being tail heavy. I do not want to have to add any weight to ballance so I'm going to try to shave weight off the tail. It would be nice to be able to rig pull/pull for the rudder and elevator to keep those heavy pushrods out of the tail but there just doesn't seem to be room and I'm not sure I want to go through that much brain dammage. I have a bad habit of going into "analysis paralysis" sometimes when building.

Most of the weight issue will be addressed with the engine, onboard radio gear and covering. I hope this is enough to keep it light. If this thing comes in at 30 oz. I'm going to be bummed[]

Darren

Edit- By the wat anyone know where I can find some Penzoil decals/ grafics? I have some covering ideas.

Bipe Flyer

Would you be looking for a Cox logo too? Are you going to do it in the colour scheme of Art Scholl's Pitts?

You can find lots of low to medium resolution Pennzoil images in Google. Are you looking for the straight horizontal logo, or the one where the text is angled and it's on a yellow oval?

To make decals, I use full sheet clear mailing labels and print them on my laser printer. You can be able to get it done at a photocopy or sign shop.


EDIT:
I just found a really nice high resolution Pennzoil logo.
[link=http://tinyurl.com/yb745k]Click here to download.[/link]

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Bipe,

Dude are you dialed in or what ! Yes a cox sticker would be nice too, I have a couple but they are real small. Excuse my ignorance but, did Cox design this after Art Scholl's Pitts? Thanks for the tip and link, looks like I'll be using them.

I completed the fin/rudder, stab/ elevator today and started the fuse. My Duracells went dead on my camera, I'll post pics tommarow. I have a ton of different rechargabale batteries for my RC aplications, you would think I would have some aaa nicads for my camera. I am embarased[]

Darren

Bipe Flyer

Yes, the CL model is done after Art Scholl's Pitts. I beleive that Cox was a sponsor for Art Scholl. Their logo was on his full scale Pitts and one of his Super Chipmunks.

somiss1

My Feedback: (5)

Darren, I've only seen one Herr Pitts fly and it was with a .15 and it smoked! There's a picture of a Pitts in the new MA. He said the he started with an .074, went to a .10 and now has a .15. He used Monokote, though. To get it fly with an .074, you are going to have to use the lightest covering and radio. You are still going to have to overcome that drag of a bipe. Good luck and enjoy your build! That's what it's all about anyway! Keep us posted.
Frank

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Hello,

I completed the fuse, motor box and empennage over the last couple of days. Now it’s time to dink with the 2 piece plastic cowl and wheel pants. I’m also going to try to test fit the plane together and try to get a line on my radio component locations for CG.

Darren

Mr67Stang

Looking good... Video the maiden????

paulsen

My Feedback: (2)

Hope to hear more on the build. I am building one of these myself. I am putting in a magnum .15, taking out at least half the dihedral on the lower wing, adding ailerons to the top wing, mounting my hs-81 servos under the horizontal stabilizer ( I hear with the .15 size engine this servo mounting method puts the CG right were it needs to be with out adding weight ) and alot of little structural modifications, some using fiber glass like on the landing gear and elevator. I'll have to come back and post some pic's on this thread as soon as I get some time to get something built .


Oh yeah and I plan on doing a traditional pitts finish ( Charlie Hillard style red w/ white star bursts ) but with transparent red, normal white, and 1/16" dark blue trim tape.

rrragmanliam

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Paulson,

Here's where I am on the one I'm building. I kind of got involved in another project so the Pitts came to a grinding halt. It looks like we are going in different directions on the build as I'm trying for minimal weight. It will be interesting to compair notes on how they fly. I'm sure your .15 powered ship will be a monster at sea level. I'm hoping the .074 a 5280 feet will be enough. I think it will but ya never know. Good luck and please post your pics in the thread.

Darren

build light

Indeed a really nice price but one must consider that Sig Mfg has this same kit everyday for $52.49

http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmar...um_02HRR507_01
And the plans are $2.99 per sheet (3sheets) among other peices from the kit.

There is also the 24" Herr Pitts (for Rubber) that would do nicely for 1/2 A without having to go with the much heavier engines but the 30" would probably be a nicer flyer.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Looking great, Darren. I've enjoyed watching this build so far.

paulsen

My Feedback: (2)

I'll post some pic's as soon as I have some of the airframe built. Maybe we should post some videos doing a list of maneuvers to see how the two setups perform. Either way I'll try to get some footage.

paulsen

My Feedback: (2)

Here's the top wing with ailerons. I have not cut any lightining holes yet but I'll post it again later with all the cut out's. I had a pic of the ribs before and after modification but I lost the friggin photo, I was basiclly able to use the lower wing ribs as a sort of template and added 2 aft spars and aileron stock and WALA.

paulsen

My Feedback: (2)

I found the rib modification pic. On the top left hand side you can see the ribs after modification the ones on the right are stock.

paulsen

My Feedback: (2)

I can't deside on how I want to setup my aileron servo (servos) Here are some of my options and thought's on them.

1.Single HS81 in center of lower wing. I have never used these servo's and with the .15 magy I don't know if 1 will have enough power at high speed. Another thing about having this setup altough the plane is small is the obvious chance of flutter due to the geometry of the setup at high speed.

2.Duel HS81'2 in the center of each lower wing half. Obviouslly double the weight of a single servo setup. I also don't wanna move the weight so far away from the fuse causing added roll inertia, the pitt's already exits a snap roll unpredictably so I don't wanna add to this problem.

3.Single standard size servo in center of lower wing. This would insure plenty of power to run all 4 control surfaces at high speed, but I still got the funky geometry setup to allow flutter.

What do you guy's think? I would appreciate any suggestions or other options you guy's have.

Bipe Flyer

A single HS81 will have enough torque but I would, and usually do, go with option 2.