What do you guys think about the workmanship on the firewall?
Beef it up a little?
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Think I'll fuel-proof back there and add some glass to edges of the firewall.

Be careful installing the wing hold-down hardware. I stripped mine and switched to 1/4x20 Nylon wingbolts.
They are so big, I'll have to make the belly-pan removable.
(In case I need to remove them for repairs etc).
The ME will fit in my car with the wings installed, so they may stay on all the time.

The plane looks smaller without the control surfaces installed.
Here's the before pic.

Thanks for the progress reports. I don't expect I'll be able to start on mine until christmas (assuming that my order is filled by then.) But I really do appreciate your updates.

Does the Magic Extra have the same flat-bottomed airfoil that the Magic 3D has? I have a lot of fun with my Magic but the outside maneuvers do suffer a little bit.

The covering job is better than my SIG LT-40 ARF.

Very large control surfaces and a fat 'fully-symmetrical wing' is going make flying this baby a blast!

The only real problem so far is the pre-installed motor mount bind nuts and bolts are soft metal. Too easy to strip.
Same soft (butter bolts) on the wing hold-down. Replaced them with Nylon.
The pre-installed main gear bind nuts and bolts went in just fine.
Got the fuel tank tested. No leaks.

Now that the snow is here, maybe these wheel pants could be used as skis..?

I wonder if there will be a problem installing the larger sized engines in this plane.?. I'm using a TT Pro .46
Take a look at this photo and you will see there is not 1mm of extra space on either side of the engine mounts. They are almost flush up againts the cheek walls.
The mounting holes where pre-drilled and blind nuts installed, but the spacing is off just a tad. I plan to get new hardware and enlarge the lower mount holes a bit.

Notice that the notch in the cheek is cut for a rear mounted needle valve. I'll have to do some cutting! (My Carb isn't installed in this picture).

I've just got to the stage of installing the rudder pushrods.

Mine are too short (by about 1 inch, even though they are 16 5/8 in. as mentioned in the manual) and don't reach the horn from the servo arm.

Anybody else had this problem?

David C.

Is the output shaft of the servo towards the tail?
Do you have the Clevises installed? (They add some lenght).

I'm still messing with the engine mounts!
I had to cut down the left cheek for the Carb, now it looks like the other side is too high for the muffler!

Here is the replacement hardware.

How much clearance do I need to keep the wood from bursting into flame?

Yep, the server is the right way round and the clevises are as far unscrewed as I can risk it.

The rods are still around an inch too short, so I have just replaced them with stock rods that I have cut to length.

Looks like you might have to cut a bit of the cheek away to provide some clearance under the muffler. Is an extension needed?

David

I've just discovered that mine has the elevator servo tray glued in upside down, which means, since the servo isn't mounted centrally, I have to run the push-rods on the other side.

Just a small point, but an annoying quality failure, in an otherwise high quality product.

David C.

"extension needed? " No, but I think the TT 46 Pro is about the largest engine that will fit on this plane.

My throttle servo tray wasn't glued on the left side and almost fell out when pushed on it with a pilot drill. Tightbond all night.

If my push-rods are too short, I'm going to see if I can use a P-P cable kit.

PS: My elevator servo tray glued in upside down too.
Maybe they are all that way and the manual has it wrong.?.

I cut down both sides to the white line and put some monkote over it.
Worked out great!

pic 2

here's a pic of my wing blot setup. I used nylon blot threaded into the ply plate worked out great!

pic 2

I met a guy at my field today, who had one of these and flew it. When cleaning it after the flight he discovered that the leading edge of both horizontal stabs were broken just outside of the central solid balse base. To avoid this, either reinforce with triangles glued in, which means removal of covering and recover, or run flying wires all the way around the tail surfaces, top AND bottom.
DKjens

What caused the breaks? Too much speed?

Do u know what prop size he was using?

I didn't see him fly, so I don't know if he was doing WOT dives. He had either an OS46FX or a Magnum46 on it, so it's not like it was overpowered. What prop I don't know, but probably a 10x6or7 to 11x6. The break happened in flight, and if you take a look at that area it's really not that hard to imagine. The leading edge of the horizontal stab is very thin, and the reinforcement does not go out very far from the root/fuse.
DKjens

Given the size of this plane, I don't think the LE is too thin.
Mine measures 0.23" thick x .49" wide.

If mine breaks, maybe I'll replace it with Coroplas

Does anyone else think the aileron push rods are a tad on the short side?

I have not installed the horns yet, but right now. In this pic, the rods are only into the Clevises about 2 turns.

The aileron pushrods certainly look too small to me (just as the rudder rods were).

I've just got to the stage of fitting the aileron servos now . . I'll keep you informed!

David C.

Thanks David. I'll be waiting to read your post.
My rudder rods are a little bit short, but can be used safely.
I set the horns back a bit (1/32) in case I wanted to dump the rods and use a Pull-Pull cable kit.

I'm going to install the aileron horns tomorrow night, If the push rods are too short, I'll have to visit the LHS.
There is no way I'll fly this plane unless those rods are in there solidly.
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Is this canopy made from Polycarbonate?
Plumber's Goop might work. I'm testing some scraps now.