The weight I listed was done with a digital scale. One correction though, I did not have the ignition on the scale only the mufflers. This would add 4 oz, sorry. FPE did lighten up this engine from the prototype. As for power, I have anther in a plane I flew last summer. Its power is nothing short of fantastic. It turns a 28-10 Mejzlik 6400 RPM. The best part is how smooth it runs along with a very nice power curve. Form idle to full throttle the response is consistent.

With the FPE I will need to do the same on the left side. It would have been so easy to mold the cowl 1/2" wider and not look out of place. Its strange because Marcello's has a 3W 106 in it and the left plug is cut out. If you take a good look at the cowl it starts to taper in from F2 (back of the cowl) other planes like a Carden taper out until you are about 3" from the front. Maybe I'll e-mail Marcello about this. It most likely will not do us any good but you never know.

Thanks ronk1, I have the Sig 33% Edge on back order and may pick up this engine for it next summer. It looks like a nice engine.

Steve

ronk, the reason the CA cowlings are tapered toward the front is so they can produce them in a one-piece mold (no seam). Personally, I'd rather have a more 'scale' cowling with a seam...matter of fact I'm producing a plug for one right now...two-piece mold...but before you ask, it's for a 30% Edge 540 that I'm scratching (possibly kitting).

-Tom

Thanks for that info, I personally prefer a two piece cowl with a top that is removable. You can cut the muffler holes to size and makes it nice for maintenance.

My CA 34% has a two piece cowl!

Did it come that way or did you cut it?

Ryan must have cut it... Mine came stock with a one piece. The BME 105 in mine fits inside the cowl with no cutouts for the plugs. It is a great combination, but if I was going to buy a new motor for this plane is would have to be a 110 extreme. It is only like $50 more than the 105 with a pretty good power increase. Not that the 105 is a slouch by any means, but the 110 has an amazing power to weight ratio. I had no problems getting mine to balance with the 105, and that is a super light engine too.

I cut it myself. I can give you a "how-to" if you are interested. It takes a little time but believe me it is worth the effort! Not only is it two-piece, but it is fluch with the fuse. It looks a lot better than the "slip over" type.

Ryan

Ryan, can we have a "how to cut the cowl" please?

I’ll try and not include too much detail here. First you must clean the inside of the cowl very good. It has some sort of compound on it. I used lacquer thinner & a toothbrush. Otherwise the epoxy won’t stick! Next make a cowl ring. I made mine by sandwiching two pieces of 1/8� plywood. It should be about ¾�-1� in width all the way around when finished. Next, mount it to F1 (I used (4) 6/32 bolts & blind nuts from the inside of the cowl) and trace around the fuse. Remove & cut the access off. Now is the time to decide how much you need to trim off the rear of the cowl. Make it a rough cut leaving 1/8� extra to trim later. Next remount the cowl ring onto F1 but put some scrap 1/8� ply between the ring and F1 to act as a standoff. Now center the cowl and epoxy it to the top portion of the ring. Now you can epoxy all the way around the sides leaving the bottom free for now. This could take many epoxy sessions.

Because the cowl is designed as a slip-over, its perimeter is larger than the perimeter at F1. Therefore you will have to cut a pie shaped wedge out of the bottom of the cowl for it to match F1. Once this is down you can epoxy the bottom to the ring. Remove from fuse. Next, using some strips of fiberglass cloth, epoxy them in the corner where the ring is glued to the cowl (on the inside) to reinforce the ring to the cowl. Once that has cure you can sand the rear of the cowl flush with the ring. Now you have a flush cowl!

Next is to split it. I epoxied a strip of 1/32� (1/16� is good too) plywood ¾� wide from the cowl ring to the front of the cowl on each side (on the inside of course). Next cut the cowl in two cutting down the center of that ¾� piece of ply. I used a hand saw. A dremel would work fine, just be sure no to remove too much material. Once it is in two halves, glue a second piece of 1/32� ply ¾� wide on directly over the piece on the bottom half. Now you have a lip for the top half to bolt to. I used 7 #2 sheet metal screws per side to mount the two halves together. I also put 2 screws on the lower half at the leading edge to eliminate the ply strips from breaking free due to all the high vibration/buffeting that occurs at the leading edge of the cowl. Not a single problem after 160+ flights.

Doing this is a bit of work but well worth the effort. It makes for a clean looking model because of the flush cowl. It also makes life easy for putting the cowl on when using any twin engine. The split cowl also offers better options of cutting out for mufflers, carb intakes etc. because the cowl does not have to be slid over the engine to be installed.

Hope this helps.

phew...sure is a lot of work. But im sure its worth it. I will go thru this process with a smaller cowl first before trying it with the the 34%.

Thanks for the info. I have the cowl ring installed and will be working on splitting it after a time out, maybe two[sm=bananahead.gif]. Fortunately I did the same thing to a GP 330L a couple years ago.

Hey guys,
anyone know the wing area of this plane? Also how much are they weighing in at?

Also what servo's you all using in this plane? I have the option to buy with or with out servos. It now is setup with 9 5945's 4 in wings, 2 in elevators and 3 on rudder. I wonder if I would be better off with the new 5955TG's one per wing half and one or two on rudder. Any thoughts?

The wing area is 1925 sq in., weight should be about 26 Lbs with a 100cc class twin. As for the the servo's, I would go with four 5945's for the ailerons, not so much for the torque but having two per wing helps reduce the risk of flutter (big surface). The Three rudder servo's though is overkill. One 240+ or two 150+ is plenty(one 5955 would be great). I'm using 5945's on the ailerons and elevator a JR 8611 on the rudder, all on 6 volt. I may add a second 8611 on the rudder but I'm going to try it first.

Wing area on mine is around 1750, not 1925. Mine weighs 27 lbs w/ a DA-100 and (8) 5945's I have (2) per aileron, (1) per elevator half and (2) on rudder pull-pull. Any thing more than that is overkill IMO.

Ryan

I'll get more accurate with the wing area. The way I'll do it is how the model airplane manufactures have done it for years. They take what the root would be at the CENTER OF THE FUSELAGE (for comparison only, on a full scale they don't count what is under the fuselage), (root + tip) ÷ 2 x wing span. 24.5 + 11.5 = 36 ÷ 2 = 18 x 103.5 = 1863 sq in. Why Model manufactures use the center on a low wing or mid wing planes I don't know but they all do [:@]. My wing is ½" longer then standard. The reason I mention fuselage width being used for wing area being misleading is what if you had a 24" wide fuselage? Your usable wing area would be greatly reduced.

I have a zdz 80 in my 34% and it does a great job!!!!!!

What is the weight of your 34% with the 80 toddh?

My Extra is close to being done. I will post some photo's and finish weight. To bad it's snowing here I would like to see how she flies.

Here are a couple photos of the finished airplane. I have always liked the Fighter Combat scheme so now I have one. To bad its winter here[:@] so if you notice I'm putting it to "bed" until spring. Finished weight is 26Lbs 2oz not bad! When the weather is better I'll post more pics.

Looks awesome! I see you split the cowl too.

Ryan

I send an e-mail to Marcello about most 100cc class twins not fitting in the cowl. He sent back info about a new 34% Extra that will be basically the same plane with a cowl that is wider toward the front, counter balancers marked on the elevator, higher main gear and some other minor mods. It will be called a 330L and should be out soon. To late for me but it sounds like he pays attention to the ideas people have to offer. If I ever need one, the new cowl should work on the 300.

CA 330 ! Sounds like next winters build.


Randy

Took here up for the first time plus two more on 4/10/2005 without any problems! This plane flies great, no bad tendencies and lands like a feather. I think It's going to be an excellent 3D plane.