any one interested.. u-can do nib and a saito 91 nib all for
360.00 shipped.. [email protected]

For those of you that have engines with crankcase vents are you running the hose through a hole on the bottom of your cowl, or are you just running it out the back of the cowl on the underside of the plane?

Coomarlin,

When the paint is drying on your canopy you might want to set it right side up. The last canopy I painted I let dry upside down and some of the paint flowed "down" towards the low point at the top of the canopy and resulted in a thick area where it puddled. When I left it to dry it didn't look like the paint was moving, but I proobably used too much paint or didn't let it dry enough between coats.....

I set mine up with a JR 8103, 549 receiver (FM), 8411 servo's (mostly).

I was getting a lot of surface buzz and chatter, even glitching, altho the plane was flyable.

At JR's suggestion, I switched to a 649 receiver (PCM) and now everything's quiet and smooth. Even the gyro's work better.

Apparently the 549 receiver is not recommended with multiple digital servos. Beware.

mt

I'm putting together my U-Can-Do and when sighting the span of the horizontal stab (from the rear) to its alignment with the wing, one end of the stab is down slightly when screwed in place. Has anyone had and/or fixed this problem? I'm thinking of sanding or shimming the fuselage saddle (flat surface the horiz stab mounts to). What did you guys do? Or should I not worry about it?

kram,
GYROS, where the heck on a UCD can anybody benefit from gyro(s), you even have more than one!
DKjens

Just out of curiousity, I installed two gyros in my UCANDO. One stabilized the rudder and the second stabilized the elevator. I have JR 8411 servos with a 950 receiver.

Initially, I had the remote gain of the two gyros tied together into one channel so I could select high or low gain from a single switch. The gyros were very glitchy at any gain setting. I then moved the gain plugs into seperate channels and all was smooth.

I did not like the somewhat numb feeling I got with this setup. Even with the gains set very low, the plane responded poorly and the elevator crispness was gone. Precision and exactness was not to be had.

For my taste, I will remove both gyros.

Nothing ventured nothing gained,
- Searcher

My JR 700 receiver had the same trouble with the digital servos.

Searcher ; Did the gyros help you to be more stable in a hover? Always wondered about that.

Last night I finished glueing the canopy to my UCD. It looks great. I've seen people use thin 1/4" tape to clean up the outside edge of the canopy and blend into the fuse. What kind of tape is commonly used for that and where can I get it?

Thanks.

<finally> got my UCD yesterday!!!

Was worried about the breakage issues, but mine was perfect other than a few wrinkles in the covering.

Question about beefing up the landing gear: how did you guys do that? pipe tunnel angles all the way down to the block, and the former that holds the wing is directly behind the block. how do you get triangle stock down in there, the hole is awefully small?

Desertrat

Good luck getting your hands down in there. I was able to do it but it was very difficult. Still, I felt it important enough to do.

Been there, down that!
My elevstor alignment (to main wing) was off a bit also. All I needed to do was gently sand the high side of the saddle until it allowed the elevator to align with the wing. As flimsy as the elevator is (built-up), I also opted to screw the elevator down vice glue. If you glue it, you will have a very tough time replacing it in the event of a accident.

Had to lay another layer of fiberglass inside of the cowl. It was starting to spiderweb crack and flake.

Haven't actually turned the gyro gain up, so can't comment on effect. I was hoping this would be a good platform for learning how to use gryros without risking one of my "real planes."

Roadhor,

No, the gyro didnt help hold a hover. Actually I found that I am able to hover more easily without them. With the gyros in place, the rudder and elevator became seemed delayed and somewhat unresponsive making every maneauver more difficult.

So much for tinting my U-Can-Do-3D canopy using the Rit dye method! I believe that I did everything right. The canopy "just wouldn't take". I keep large "pieces" of previous canopies which I use to experiment on. A Top Flite canopy piece and a Goldberg piece. They changed beautifully - an very quick! The UCD canopy just tinted a little after several hours.

Ok... I have FINALLY ordered mine and am going back and reading the entire thread again. Currently on page 20... whew... and trying to answer that same ole question of which engine. I'm only considering 2 - Y.S. 91AC (already have but never used) or the Saito 100. I read quite a few differing results on the Y.S. ranging from "it hovers under half-throttle" to "it hovers pretty well just above half throttle" and pull-outs seem to vary too. Looks like most have settled on the APC 15x6 prop for both these engines so the variables seem to be sea-level and original weight of plane and final weight of plane (based on electronics used). I've considered the weight difference of the YS to the Saito, and have even read where the YS balanced just right. I do like the pump factor of the YS as several are experiencing the loading-up of the non-pumped engines.

Sooooo.... does anyone have updated info after all their experience with these two engines? I've got the YS but seem to be still on the fence whether I should install it rather than a new Saito 100. Help... ha!

-s

I'm a relative newcomer to the forum, also. I take all those estimates about "how much throttle to pull outta hover" with a grain of salt. The actual percentage of full power being used varies so much with needle settings, lingages, compute throws, and pilot perception that I'm not sure "half throttle," or "third throttle" really means anything.

I will say that after a grand total of 3 flights on the UCD3D with new Saito 100, I really love the engine, and there is PLENTY of power. And that's coming from a guy who's been very brand loyal to O.S. for >15 years.

mt

Hey there, Kram -

Thanks for the input. Indeed there are so many things that vary "how much throttle" is. I guess in fact it's not really "how much throttle", but actually "where is the stick". Not always the same thing. Apples to oranges, I guess.

I think both engines will do well, but I would rather only install one. I too have used O.S. and really like it, but then tried Saito for the .72 4-stroke and love it too! The Y.S. came as part of a trade, so I've not used it at all.

Are you personally having any loading-up with your 100 inverted?

Thanks!

-s

I have an irrational phobia of inverted engines (too much tweaking, too little flying), so when I went to buy my plane, I made sure the Saito would fit upright, and it does. I blew the extra $30 for the gold lids, and it doesn't look bad. No modifications required except flip the carb around on the Saito to match the pre-drilled firewall hole for the cable. There's a picture I posted on another thread of the final appearance.

mt

Ok... I DID see that photo in another thread (trying to read through them all again... ). I somewhat agree with you about the inverted engine thing... although plenty of folks run them, but you do see some tweaking going on.

I've not yet received my plane. Is it not possible to alter the tank level? I noticed that after people posted about the loading-up, they also mentioned the tank level, but nobody mentioned actually changing it. Is there room for that?

I did see photos from one of the Y.S. users who put their tanks on the c.g. That looked good too.

So, when judging the power your 100 has, would you want the plane to have anything less? But of course then it makes me try to compare the power of the Y.S. .91 to the Saito 100... ugh!!!

Thanks!

-s

I've gotta say that I've been pretty disappointed with my UCD so far - I've got an OS91 FS Surpass on it, CG at 6" and it won't hover - I'm wondering if it's underpowered. Anyone tried an OS91FX on it?

What propare you using on the OS91 Surpass? I have that engine in mine and at altitude of about 500 feet. I am using this plane to learn acrobatics, but even mine will hover and pull out slowly on only 5% nitro. I am using 15x6 wide blade. I just picked up the 14x6 standard (both APC) to see if the engine will spoil up faster to pull out better, but hovering is easy with this plane.
Our 3D flier uses the same set up and has no probelms at all, but he is using more nitro.
Unless you are at high altitude, you should not have a problem hovering. Pulling out instantly with the surpass is another story.

I have to agree, seeing that I have a similar setup. My OS 91 Surpass w/pump pulls the UCD along quite well. Hovers are exceptionally easy, and I stil need to tweak the C.G. a bit (I'm still at 5-1/2). Granted, it does not "rocket" out of a hover but it does pull it out. I'm using a 15x6 APC, running on 20/20. Although I've never liked inverted mounted engines, I must say it runs incredible. I'm certain the pump helps too.