Hey Barry, I got found some 25% nitro today at the hobby shop for $17.00 a gallon. It's Power Master 25% and 18% oil (synthetic / castor mix) Just wondering if it would work. 17.00 a gallon sounds cheap. What do you think?

Actually, that's not me flying, I was trying to show Gifers the nice set of 100' oak trees that line our field. The pic was from our big bird fly in, it's always fun to watch these guys land their 100" ws warbirds on our tiny field, plus they have to bring them mighty close to the top of the trees to "use all the runway"..... although I do believe we all have twins out there. Here is a pic of the plane, Brian, I think is his name, is flying. A Spitfire.

Mac

buy it Rob, and i can see that you and Mac are twins

im sitting here about to go NUTS trying to find those balsa mounts that you can mount fuel valves and the likes with and i cant find them to save anyones life, i know they were great planes and i got them on tower but i can use some help please[&:]

and yes Mac we have trees here but there about a mile from the field, thats why i have a tarp up for shade

lxme95------handy mounts[>:]

Just placed a Tower order, going to build another Sig Something Extra. Just a fun plane. Thoes handy mounts are great, I trace new parts from the die cut sheet on left over wood.....damm am I cheap sometimes!

Gonna look up Trona CA next, then finish thoes control horns on the F90, need to make space for the Sig SE build!

Mac

I just knew that someone would see the resemblance

WOW, this is a long thread and I wish I would have found it sooner ... received my UCD 46 last night. After reading 50% of this forum, I'm having regrets that this ship has just too many issues. Or, and I'm asking because I've been flying for only a few months, were people flying this plane too, too fast and it was simply destructing? Of course, that doesn't explain the main gear crunches ... After looking at the fuse internal, I believe my WM Mach II low wing trainer is more solid. Does anyone have any words/suggestions that will make me feel better about this beautiful plane I regret buying? It looks as if I need to begin by reinforcing the main gear area, and either CAing or epoxing every possible joint I can reach???

Nitro,

Settle down. This is one of the best planes made, people here, including myself have HUNDREDS of flights and with a little work, that landing gear will be as strong as anything. If you want, I can send you some photos and tips, PM me with your email.

Mac

First of all, I have had a total of 3 of these, flying both a 46 with a 70FS and a 60 with a 91FS right now and loving every minute of them! 3rd one had a mishap with trees and railroad tracks that was totally my fault (thought i was in predicament and wasn't). it went nose in right between the tracks and took the firewall out with one other piece from the top of fuselage and put one small hole in the wing. Gave it to the guy who owns the land where we fly and he is putting it back together for him and another guy to play with.

I recently bounced the 46 pretty good after going dead stick while inverted 10' off the deck, rolled it over and "almost" got a clean landing and it did not hurt anything.

These plane fly so easy they should be considered a trainer. They absolutley, positively go exactly where you point them. It amazes the guys at the field when I fly right down the runway "no hands". As for getting crazy, these things are in the air in 5', they keep wanting me to hand launch it. Landings are just as easy once you get it to come down. These things will float like there is no tomorrow.

I too have read all the postings about poor wheel attachment and etc... and I have come to the conclusion these are just caused by landings which would be too rough for any plane. In other words BAD LANDING "ATTEMPT"! Come on everybody has done it or will do it eventually. Lets quit blaming the mfr.

Anyway, put it together and fly the pants off it. You will be very happy if it is trimmed as shown in the manual. Also put a FS in it and you will be happier. I put a .46 2S in it for about a day. it needs more than that.

Nitro...Man, I hope we haven't scared you. This is one great airplane. There are many of them out there and with many planes and many pilots you get some problems. Some manufacture related and most pilot related.

The biggest issue with the plane is it is built very light. It has to be for 3D flying. Maybe a little bit too light in the main landing gear area. You might just put a little bit of epoxy glue to help in that area. Other than that just build it as the plans say. This is a friendly group here on the forum, ask any question you like and you just might get an answer. Take it with a grain of salt and when you get two or three confirmations then take it seriously.

You state that you are a new pilot. This is still a good plane for you. I would recommend setting the control throws up on a low level at first. You may give us info about your radio set up. Of course everyone will recommend a 4 stroke engine, probably a Saito 82. And a low pitch prop, probably a 14x4W. That will keep the airspeed down. That is the primary cause of failure on this baby. Too much airspeed.

I've been flying mine for the last 10 days and it is a beautiful thing. I love this plane. It will just settle down on landing so light you just won't believe it. Just like a butterfly. It is sooooooo easy to fly. And yet, when you're ready, it will light the sky on fire.

Don't give the purchase of this plane a second thought. You've got the right plane. Get it built and enjoy this baby. But it will fly slower than your trainer. And no full throttle. You don't need it on this plane. And again, if you can get one of them Saitos, you'll never regret it.

Keep us posted and updated. We'll help you all we can.

Thanks,
Barry

Oh, almost forgot...I can report that I now have 16 flights since I've last crashed a UCD. I'm happy.

thanks
Barry

By the way...How come I don't have an avitar? What's the deal? Most people have them. But one never comes up for me.
Thanks,
Barry

Barry,

You have to go into your account and set that up.

Nitro,

Saito 72 or 82 and 30% heli fuel w/ a pinch of sea salt One of the first UCD 46's at our field had an OS 50 SX, 2 years later it still doesn't run right and they never put the cowl on because they are always fiddling with it. I take my cowl off to change the plug once a year and check valves twice maybe.

Mac

Just got two more flights in with my Do in wind gusts up to 20mph making things somewhat interesting and frustrating at the same, attempts hovers wound up 300 yards down wind, and harrier attempts would be attempted in reverse.
Was still great though - only stopped cause i started running out of light[:-]

Yeah Nitro Dew. No worries about this plane. The landing gear is an issue but very easy to fix. You can either pin it like some have done or take the "ramped"section of the lower front fuse out and beef up the glueing. Either way you'll end up with a substantially solid front fuse area. The rest of the plane, don't worry about. It will hold up just fine and won't break at all unless you really doink it into the ground and just about any plane will break then. If you think you might need something way more durable get a Duraplane and fly the heck out of it untill you've really gained some confidence, then move up to the UCD.
Oh, my personall preference is the Saito 82 over the 72. More power and less weight[8D] Hmmmm..... Sounds like a beer commercial...

Well ... thanks to you all, I'm enthusiastic about the UCD again. I probably won't build until deep winter and move onto it next spring. My Christmas gifts are usually my source for this addiction. But, Yes, I'm leaning toward the Saito 82, which will be my first FS. Which leads to another question - I've read about inverted engine fuel leakage, can anyone ellaborate? Mac, I sent you my e-mail. Thanks again guys, I'll continue to monitor and slowly get equipped and build for the spring. Right now, I'm wearing out my Mach II with an OS 46AX, although new, this engine is too easy. And ... I'm considering a TH Uproar. Later!

GJEFFERS heres that mount assortment: Great Planes Handy Mounts -Manufacturer Stock#
GPMQ6000, Tower hobbies Special Stock# LXME95 Cost $3.49. Get a couple of them. Ypu can't make them for that.

Doug

Nitro...No worries on the 46 tank location. Mount your engine inverted, the Saitos and other 4 strokes are ok inverted, most 2 strokes don't like it. The 60 size has the tank too high and it leaks fuel. The 46 is fine. No mods at all. I just put a brand new 82 in mine. I had bench run it for 40 minutes and installed it. No leaks, perfect, very slow idle, great transition, great power. No problems. I use 30% fuel...you should also. The Saitos love it. They'll work on less, (gjeffers) but at least at my elevation the 30% is clearly better.

Thanks
Barry

Nitro, some folks don't know how to land, okay? And the Can-Do is built to break where it does--so it's easy to fix. If you DO break the landing gear, THAT'S the time to reinforce it, not before. I've done it with a Twist and with a Can-Do 60--my bad, not the plane's.

Generally, when an airframe fails, look in the mirror to find the weakness.

Jack

The other thing i have done with my do is use plastic bolts for mounting the LG and remove the spats, at least then the LG will break off with minimal damage in the event of a slightly miss guided landing, also then the spats dont poke holes through the covering when the LG breaks off. My 2c.
My OS91 does not like the tank height on the Do but i have managed to fix that with an on board, more weight but it does work.

TheMacdaddy...Ok I found in my account about the avatar, but when I go to load a picture it says it is too big. I get that a lot. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Barry

Oh yeah, flew my Do 2X during my lunch hour today. I knew the weather wouldn't last and I'm on such a short timetable that I just couldn't resist. It was raining lightly but not too cold, mid 40s. No wind. Very fun.

Evel...I've been in some of those wind flights. Not that fun, but sometimes I do it too. I guess when ya gotta fly, ya gotta fly. I broke one of my UCDs in half in the wind. Did a KE landing. Not that fun at all.

Anyways, now I can say 18 flights without a crash. Did some great flat spins and wonderfull hovers and waterfalls. Waterfalls are my new favorite trick. I love doing them with this plane. I can just get it fliping in one place with our losing elevation. Pretty cool. I brought it down to about 20' and did waterfalls for 10-15 seconds. Very nerve racking, especially when it goes into a KE spin and I barely save it about 5' off the ground. What is it with everybody trying to do maneuvers right on the deck? Gjeffers is doing 2' inverted passes, and many are touching their tail, what gives. They look just a cool a couple of hundred feet up. Don't they?

Anyways, having a great time with the repaired 46. I figure I got maybe 2-3 weeks before snowfall or cold. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

Thanks
Barry

Barry,

You have to edit the size of the pic to get the kb size down to the limit...... cant rember how I did it....[&o]

Mac

Hi People!!.... Well Guess my "Do" will be ready for our fun fly))
Just need to recover and mount the 100 and balance...
Should be fun... K back to the Game))