v6goose

Hey guys...

Short story: I dumb-thumbed my Aeroworks 50cc Ultimate during a cross wind landing a couple of weeks ago. I am saving for a replacement AW Ultimate but now I needed a plane to fly for the rest of the season that met the following criteria:

[ul][*] Aeroworks plane.[*] Readily available.[*] Gas powered.[*] Affordable.
[/ul]

Enter the Aeroworks ProX260 Sure this is nothing like I have flown before but looks like a lot of fun and has the added bonus of fitting in my car for flying after work! I broke into my aeroplane savings fund and bought:

[ul][*] Yellow and red Aeroworks ProX260 ARF.[*] DLE-20 gas engine.[*] Spinner.[*] Carbon landing gear (AW)[*] Canister muffler (MileHighRC)
[/ul]

I decided to replace the kit landing gear because of concerns with prop clearance but the guy at AW said the carbon gear is long enough. I was also concerned with noise from the DLE-20 because the supplied muffler is more of a deflector as there are no baffles inside and there is less than an inch between the exhaust port and deflector port.

I found a nice canister muffler at MileHighRC which should be here in a few days.

So here we go...

v6goose

Day 1: 2 hours...

Pic 1: The box is quite small and well packed.
Pic 2: Everything is well secured in the box and wrapped in bubblewrap or separate plastic bags.
Pic 3: All parts identified and arrived in perfect condition.
Pic 4: The first 20 minutes are spent tightening the covering and sealing the seams followed by hinging the ailerons (CA hinges) and installing the first aileron servo into the wing (Hitec HS5625MG)

Cont...

v6goose

Day 1 continued...

Pic 1: AW hardware is all excellent however the supplied Phillips head screws for the horns are soft and one stripped while I was installing it. I replaced them with 2-56 cap screws (RTL fasteners)
Pic 2: I used the servo horn and ball links from my Ultimate along with the supplied 4-40 pushrods and metal clevises. I put the side force generators on to help set the pushrod lengths per the kit addendum.
Pic 3: Check out the depth of the wing airfoil, its 74mm thick!
Pic 4: The DLE-20 out of the box doesn't fit in the fuselage and my kit didn't have the DLE-20 install templates so thats the next job.

Also the throttle servo cutout in the fuselage is only 22x12mm, way too small for anything I have in stock so I will have to pick up something that fits tomorrow.

Thats it for tonight.

Cheers

Goose

soclarke

Cool plane buddy. Can't wait to fly it

v6goose

I guess that's one bonuses of being my buddy and flying mode 1 (eh Doug?)

Sounds good.

Still waiting to get you round to sort out the heli now that I know you're still alive

Cheers!

soclarke

Alive but not sure how many more incidents with the big Extra my heart can take! [&o]

v6goose

Day 2

Engine installation.

Rather than continue with the manuals suggestion to install the tail & servos, I decided to modify the fuselage for the DLE-20 while the fuselage was still a slab. This made it much easier to work with including drilling the engine bolt holes with my drill press.

Pic 1: Mark out the areas that need to be removed so the DLE will fit.
Pic 2: I used a variety of tools to finish the mod and closed two holes with 1/32" ply. All the bare wood was sealed with thinned epoxy.
Pic 3: Figuring out the postion of the fuel tank and ignition module.

AW suggests installing the fuel tank on the same side as the engine cylinder with the ignition module directly opposite but I have a problem with this because I plan to install a canister muffler that pretty much takes up all the space where the fuel tank goes.

I have decided to install the tank on the C of G so the balance of the plane doesn't change with the fuel level. The ignition module might fit on the same side in front of the tank and not interfere with the landing gear.

I also spent time making some reinforcement plates as per the DLE installation kit (that I don't have).

Thats tonight...

Cheers

Goose

v6goose

Well it seems no matter how hard I try, I just can't assemble stuff out of the box

Having to move the fuel tank to the other side of the fuselage because of the muffler meant that the bottom of the tank extended below the bottom of the fuselage which would cause issues when I try to restrain it by pulling the back of the tank upwards which as you know will have the clunk sucking air towards the end of the fuel.

All of that to say I needed to extend the fuselage down a little and ensure that it is parallel to the aircraft centerline. I built the little skid and covered it.

I have read issues with the supplied zip-ties that hold the fuel tank on the fuselage being too brittle and snapping in flight. I decided to use velcro straps looped through the fuse so had to cut slots in the appropriate place as per pic 1.

Pic 2: Back on track with the manual and gluing the stab into the fuselage.

Cheers

Goose

v6goose

Day 3

Weekend and I put in a huge day...

Pic 1: Vertical and horizontal stabilizers are epoxied in and rudder/elevator hinged.
Pic 2: Tailwheel installed. I like the AW tailwheel setups and have never had any problems with them.
Pic 3: Elevator servo and pushrod setup, nice short links and all the hardware is 4-40.\
Pic 4: Rudder setup is the same. There is a tube running the length of the fuselage to carry the servo wires to the wings.


Cont...

v6goose

Day 3 continued...

Pic 1: I liked the servo cutout in the fuselage that was supplied for a glow install and decided to use it. The HS65S fits perfectly in the hole. Yes I chose a karbonite servo over metal gear as I have lost two high end Hitec's when flying gassers and decided to give this a shot. Don't be fooled by the tiny size, the 65 will pull 30+ oz @6v.
Pic 2: Carbon gear assembled and first stand on its feet. AW wheel pants are just excellent and so easy.
Pic 3: This is how the fuel tank and ignition module was installed. Don't know if it was a good idea yet...
Pic 4: Fuel tank plumbing... It's very naked with no fuselage to hide stuff in, so you have to do a tidy job.


Cont...

v6goose

Day 3 continued...

Pic 1: With no fuselage to hide stuff, everything goes in the wings. There is more to go in here, just finding a tidy way to do it. I am using a regulator as well as a Smartfly optical cutoff so it took a while to figure out how to wire all that into the plane.
Pic 2: Got it all in, closed the hatches and cut the spinner for the Xoar 16x8 prop.

Tomorrow will see decals, throws and balancing and early next week my muffler and switch should show up.

Cheers

Goose
*sleep*

soclarke

Bolt the stock exhaust on that f*r and let's go bore some holes in the sky!!!

v6goose

Day 4

Here it is with the decals on and now working on throws.

Pretty happy with that... can you tell?

litterbug

The plane looks great.  Just got mine and have to find some time to put it together.  Did you run into any issues and if so what did you have to do to resolve them?

v6goose

Hi Litterbug...

Thanks!

The only issue as mentioned above is the horn screws are soft and strip easily. They are not AW product and easily replaced. Cheap piece of mind.

I made some work for myself by choosing to install a cannister muffler which meant moving the tank and ignition to the opposite side of the fuse. Didn't take too long to figure out and I'm really happy with the result. It's a little tidier than some other installations I have seen.

This ARF is the same high quality from Aeroworks and without being a suck-up, If I can find an AW plane to suit my needs, I will always choose them over other vendors.

Good luck with yours and post your results!

Cheers

Goose

Pylonracr

I noticed in your photos that the carb inlet is very close to being obscured by the back of the fuselage cut out. Will this pose a problem with air intake into the carb? Maybe a little tapering of the cutout to allow air an easier entry into the carb.
Nice looking plane

Scott

v6goose

Hi Pylon...

Thanks for your post. Yeah I looked at that for a good while and considered the effect of the cut out being so close. I also took into consideration that the entire engine is sitting out naked in the breeze and concluded that it will probably be ok as far as consistent pressure to the carb and sufficient airflow is concerned.

I guess I will find out this week when I fire it up!

Cheers

Goose

v6goose

So my cannister muffler came in...

Why does there always have to be bad news with the good?

Ok, first observation... it's huge!

Good news the quality of the cannister and header itself is pretty good for what I paid for it ($60USD).

Bad news is the supplied hardware is awful... cannister brackets are good for half the diameter and the hose clips feel like they are made of lead (read very heavy).

Second bad news... the header doesn't fit the DLE-20 despite talking to the vendor on the phone and being assured that it does. Oh well...

Pic 1: Parts as supplied. You get what you pay for and this was cheap. I didn't for a moment think that it would be a drop-fit

Pic 2: It needs an additonal 8mm of drop (header face to outlet centerline) and 24mm shift to one side. Here it is bolted to a steel plate for bending with a blow torch.

Pic 3: After slotting the header mount holes and bending it, it kinda fits. This is a test and not the final installation.

Wednesday I will pick up some high temp silicone to protect the airframe where needed. Thanks Scott for the advice.

Cheers

Goose

v6goose

Well I'm gonna call that finished

A couple of hours tonight saw:

Pic 1: The electronics squared away and working. I did have to move the battery packs to balance the plane but didn't add any weight. Notice the slick Miracle switch.
Pic 2: Revised the muffler restraint including protecting everything with silicone rubber sheet.
Pic 3: Hanging on a balance jig with no additional weight.
Pic 4: Done.

Ready to fly weight is 3.5kg (7.6lbs).

I'm really happy with the setup too, mechanically and electronically everything is exactly how I wanted it. I programmed triple rates on my 12z and included various expo's depending on the rate.

Tomorrow I will run the engine up and give it a tune on the ground and maiden it this weekend.

Thanks for following along and offering your comments and encouragement.

Cheers

Goose

ameyam

We await your results to jump into the water ourselves

Ameyam

v6goose

Jump Ameyam!

ameyam

Primary difference- You are using a DLE 20 and I would a FS91SII 4C. Thats why I am waiting

Ameyam

v6goose

I have seen them powered with both (online).

The DLE is 5cc larger than the specified range and subsequently has gobs of power.

There are a couple of clips on u tub.e of DLE powered ProX260's, have a look. These clips convinced me to go the same route.

Good luck.

Goose

v6goose

Well... I really thought my luck had changed on this one, but it seems not.

Everything went so well up to and including the [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x8PqgGGFGg&feature=youtube_gdata]engines first run-up[/link].

Then while defueling... *click*

Guess what that was ?

Fuel nipple broke off the carb.

Awesome. ONE day left until I am on holiday for two weeks with a new plane and f(*&^%ing Murphy steps in.

Yes, it was my fault but come on... gimme a break!

The DLE has a Walbro knock-off carb and feeds fuel in through the side of the carb housing which is different from my DL-50 and the fuel nipples are different sizes (of course).

I removed the remaining black plastic to find a brass or bronze press-fit fitting that sticks out just a couple of mm. I have some brass tube that fits well into the hole but can't braze it in there.

I think my only options now are to:

[ul][*] Replace the fitting ex overseas god knows how long that will take if you can even find a supplier.[*] Replace the whole carb. Better option except for cost and LHS doesn't stock carbs.[*] Destroy the press fitting to get it out, tap the hole and screw in a standard fuel nipple.
[/ul]

Option 3 makes most sense right now I guess. I'll have to source parts tomorrow but have to sleep now because I'm so angry [:@]

G

grosbeak

Goose,

Following your thread with interest. Bummer about the fuel nipple! I hope you find a solution that works for you.