Hey Marc,

Just do what I'm doing, build a pair of coroplast skis for it, so you can have a U Can Do 3Ski.



Hopefully mine will be up in the air this weekend, been too busy with wrappin up for the year at work to get out much.

Steve

That is funny!!!

I'd love to see pics of one of these with ski's and some lettering on the side modified "U-CAN-DO-3-SKI"

of course you gotta put a little mini ski on the tailwheel so it is "3" ski's

Would you guy's STOP with the next year and the winter stuff.

I have been out flying mine this afternoon and your making me feel really Baaaad.

Now seriously, what about the poxy GP tail wheel set up. Anybody pulled theirs out harrier landing ?

I had to pack up and come home because of it.
Going to a Sulllivan I think.

"When your hinges failed did they all rip or just pull out intact?"
Marc,
All of the broken hinges fractured at the hingeline, with each half still firmly glued in place. The rudder hinge broke after 2 flights, the elevator hinge after 5 flights, and the aileron hinges after about 20 flights. For more details on this subject, see the "CA Hinges on UCD" thread in the 3D Flying forum.

Man i am glad i asked the question on hinges i am going to check in to Central Hobbies 1/4 scale hinges any thing Central Hobbies sells works good i have experienced . Thanks for all the info guys it really makes this hobby great when you can get all the necessary info on this forum.

Tailwheels.
At the local field, nobody uses the wire in the rudder anymore due to hard landings trying to rip rudders off.
I have added a small basswood plug to the bottom of the fuse and used a simple regular tail wheel bracket (dubro or any other).
Instead of passing the wire up between the fuse and the rudder, bend it back right away so it passes under the rudder. (like the spring wire on the sulivan) Then bend it down into a hook.
A small eye hook is screwed into the rudder and then a rubber band wrapped between the hook and the eye. There is now no jarring to the servos and if you hit real hard and the tailwheel rips off, it breaks the rubber band and not your rudder.
Simple, cheap, and works from the little electric to the 1/3 scale IMAC stuff.

archer,

can you upload a pic?

BAS,
You don't really need 1/4 scale hinges for a UCD. The Great Planes "Pinned Hinges" work just fine.


archer,
I agree 100% about your tail wheel method! For the past 20 years, this has proven to be the absolute best way I've found to couple a steerable tailwheel/skid to the rudder. Here's a not so great photo of the steerable tailskid on my UCD.

Wow that tail wheel set up is definately in the "why didn't I think of that catagory"....I will definately be using that idea in the future !!!
Thanks
Brian

is the wood at the bottom of the fuse reinforced at all or are you just attaching the mount to it the way it is.

I have just completed my UCD and will begin preliminary flights on it next week (got to work this weekend -- ) I put the tail wheel on according to plans till I get more proficient at 3D.

I built mine with a ST 90 and a 14X4 prop......

Thanx to all you guys for the great info and assistance on this thread.

John

On the UCD, I just drilled some pilot holes in the bottom, soaked them with thin CA, then mounted the tailwheel bracket with sheet metal screws.

Dave, That is exactly the set up we are using except I use an eye hook in the rudder instead of just a hook. No grass catching then.

I tried the glue hardner method and it was not enough. the tail wheel pulled out if the grass was not cut well, So I cut a 1" by 3/8" slot in the bottom fuse and put a small hardwood block in and a thin 1/8th " ply plate on the bottom to mount the bracket to.
No pull out now!
By the way, I flew 4 more flights that day without the tailwheel and still had perfect ground control.

Another advantage to this tailwheel steering method is that the the bearing in the bracket doesn't necessarily need to line up with the rudder hinge line.

In fact, by selecting a forward or rearward location of the bracket bearing relative to the rudder hinge line, you can increase or decrease the ground steering sensitivity, without having to alter the ideal inflight rudder throw.

Need turn-on-a-dime ground steering? Mount the bearing behind the rudder hinge line. The farther back, the more sensitive the ground steering will be.

Need less sensitive ground steering? Mount the bracket bearing in front of the rudder hinge line. The farther forward, the less sensitive the ground steering will be.

great tailwheel tips guys...might put it in the rcu magazine as a "tip"! simple, easy and effective. nice job.

A fellow addict and I have built a coupla UCD3D's with identical setups for a team aerobatic routine (yes, there's a backup in storage, just like NASCAR).

New Saito 100's. Upright.

I've read several suggestions in this forum for APC 15 X 8 prop for this engine. Boy, does that ever look big. Are you really getting high enough RPM's and smooth throttle/power curves with that big of a prop? Would appreciate some tach reports.

Fer shur gonna spend a little on a Tru-turn spinner. Had to cut way too much off the kit spinner to feel safe.

mt

Tru Turn has a 120 cut 2.25" spinner. It's a long, Ultimate style spinner, and Tower has them. You shouldn't have to cut that spinner to fit a 15x6 ~ 15x8 prop.

How about it fellows.... will a 40 oz gas engine work very good on a U-CAN-DO Check out the G26 in Giant engine forum. Thanks CaptinJohn

Here's some:
Thread 1

and
Thread 2]

Thanks. I think I'll start with a 15 X 6.

mt

For those of you who had put standard servos on the elevators and ailerons, how are they holding up? I got to fly one of these the other day with Tower 65 servos (I'm pretty sure they were Hitec 605 knockoffs looking at the specs) and was very impressed with the plane. Is it worth selling the standards and getting higher torque servos or are the standards sufficient? By the way I was able to get great snap rolls from the plane using the same technique required with my DP Extra (high aileron, medium rudder, low elevator).

I just noticed this on the GP site...
Is this a new notice ?? Wonder if it is feedback-related ?

http://www.greatplanes.com/techsupport/gpma1270tech.pdf

Wow, that sure is an interesting notice. I wonder if they have had people try to return one that had a saito 180 in it and it exploded? LOLOL

Yeah, thats definately a new warning. Obviously some people are loosing their UCD's do to excessive speeds. I'm gonna use a Saito 100 which technically is beyond their specs (Just barely), but I have no interest in flying the plane fast. It's built to have fun at slow speeds with rediculous aerobatics, not pylon racing. lol

My UCANDO has a Saito 1.80 in it. I LOVE this setup. It does all the normal stuff great, but goes as fast straight up as she can straight down. I have had no problems with her whatsoever.

She is turning a 16x10 prop and hovers three clicks above idle. I havent seen any sign of flutter, even when doing a shallow dive at full throttle. She climbs vertical into the clouds without any sign of slowing. As a matter of fact, she will go vertical straight out of sight and I continue until I cant hear the engine, then drop her back to idle, put her into a spin and wait for her to show up again.

The firewall has not shown any sign of coming loose...yet. The only issue I have is the short flight duration due to the fuel tank capacity. I get 8 minutes of goofing around. It would be closer to 5 if I spent more time at high throttle settings.

Inspite of the fact that she still has great low speed stability and lands like a feather, I have reinforced the landing gear in case I have to dead stick her in at some point...she is a bit nose heavy afterall.

I will snap a picture of my setup this afternoon.

Holy Cow !!!!!!!

Thats a new one. I haven't heard of anything bigger than a YS 1.40! (which by the way is hugely overpowering). You are really pushing the limits on that plane. I can't imagine it will last much longer

If you end up tearing the plane up please call Great Planes and ask them for a refund. Make sure you tell them you've got a 180 in it and are running a 16x10 prop. lol. That might end up being the funniest coversation known to mankind.