It seems that RCU is back online. I was attempting to upload some snaps of my build so far to no avail.

Greg,

just a minor comment. Bill Elliot's company was called WK Hobbies (see top of your instruction sheets). As far as I know there is no HK hobbies associated with Tipo's. HK is often used to denote HobbyKing so I just didn't want readers to get the idea that you could buy a Tipo at HobbyKing! Not possible folks.

Joshua,

glad to hear that the initial comments are useful. The instructions Greg posted were copied verbatim for the GP kit - actually they just stuck a GP logo on the front page. So those are the ones to use.

The plans Eureka has were pulled from the scaling thread I started (see my post above) as Don (from Eureka) was interested in producing short kits of the reduced scale versions as well as a 60 size wood short kit. I believe the 60 and 40 are available but not sure about the 10 and 20 - perhaps cores only. No plans for glass fuses were ever in the works but Don (Frequent Flyer in this case) I believe is planning to produce fuses of the 60 size Tipo and/or Illusion as well as foam cores. I don't believe either has been done yet but it would be best to check with him.

The fuse bottom fairing is the typical piece of wood that is somewhat annoying to produce. Basically it's a matter of pulling the airfoil from the wing and transferring it to the balsa block. The plans help with this. You then gradually carve it out until the fit is good and you are satisfied. The block should be oversized so that once you have carved and sanded the airfoil shape, you can then fair the top part into the fuse bottom and sides again by carving and sanding. Note that the forward wing bolt goes through this block reason for which there is one instead of two bolts - easier. When you install the front 1/2" dowel to support the bolt in the wing, make sure it is long enough so that it protrudes from the bottom of the wing about 3/8". The idea is to have a flat base that you can tighten the bolt against and hide it by the balsa block which will be bored out to accommodate the dowel extension from the bottom of the fuse. The rear bolts are different and just tighten against the typical 1/16" ply plate. The front bolt is vertical while the rear bolts are angled to conform with the airfoil of the wing bottom. Getting the wing retention plate for the front bolt in the right place in the fuse is a little tricky but again the plans help there. Once the fairing is done, you'll want to fair it in further with epoxy and microballoons to make some fillets along the sides and perhaps a but from the end of the block into the wing. Use little epoxy so it sands easily.

Before you build or install the block in its final form, align and mount your wing and stab - the two crucial parts of the build. This way you don't end up with a block which is a little offset after wing attachment. I plan on painting the wing center section as I don't like the way covering goes over those compound curves. It also avoids the bolts from wrinkling the covering when tightened and makes for a durable center section and good fuse paint to wing transition. Of course, this only applies if you are planning on covering the wing and stab (a tad lighter).

Regarding the pipe, I've seen Tipo's with inverted RE engine installs but they were later gen Tipo 825 models - larger. Personally, I don't think an inverted engine installation on a T720 would work that well as it would result in a large gash in the bottom of the nose which is a bit of a signature of the Tipo design in my view. This would be lost if the engine were installed inverted. Also, routing the pipe inside a fuse which doesn't have a removable pipe deck sounds like a headache in maintenance to me not to mention heat issues as well as space issues if you plan to use retracts (a must [8D]) - especially pneumatics. Finally, the header might give you some further headaches when it comes to get the nose gear installed and operating and the fuel tank would probably have to be moved back further compounding the issues. On a non-pumped engine (like the VF) I'd keep the tank up front where planned for in the design. In short, on a T720, I'd stick with the standard external pipe setup and run it along the fuse side with the VF. If you have a SE engine, then you could use the more standard under the wing configuration to keep the fuse lines clean.

The photo you are referring to of the Tipo with the fuse groove is a T825. The fuse was actually molded that way. I don't know of anyone who has done that mod to the fuse of a T720 but again this would likely cause you problems with tank space and other gear install. I wouldn't do it - save your glass work for a project that needs it (like your DB). The T825 is a larger model so it worked better there - not my favorite design I must admit.

A tail dragging Tipo is just plain wrong! It works with some designs - that is the converting from trike to draggin' but on the Tipo I find it just looks really awkward. Do the plane justice and build it classic style - trike retracts. You can't say that guys on this forum are not biased! [8D] I don't think anyone here will concede to the idea of a draggin' Tipo.

Attached is a pic of a Tipo with an OS RF (I believe) showing the fuse side pipe setup. He used a fuse top header but I think a 20 degree angled header can be used too for a more snug fit with some minor mods to the FW area and some reglassing to pass the header in a groove.