fiveoboy01

My Feedback: (3)

Well, it's been over THREE years since I first picked up my UCD at the LHS.

After over 140 logged flights, a couple dorks and one moderately serious crash, I took the Saito out and let it sit in the corner.

I'm thinking about putting her into action again, and I can't believe how many pages this thread has gone. Good to see the airplane is alive and well in the R/C world

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

Got a little closer today. The plywood wing hold down plate broke when I put the wing on to check how level the horizontal stab was.[:@] I was going to re-enforce it anyway but I got to do it sooner than planned. Every thing else seems OK so far but I am far from impressed with the overall quality of the construction. I am having to put more glue on almost every joint I can find. They look like they were tacked together with a dab of hot glue each and left to rest. I'm confident the plane will fly so well that I'll forget about how much trouble the build has been.

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

Hi again guys.... It's been awhile....

Been busy trying to make ends meet and flying a bit less... The "Do" is still doing great!!
when I do get out to the field...

Any of you "Pros" use wood props on your 82?? was thinking of switching from the APC
13X4W to wood but did not want to buy an assortment of them.. :-) Not sure if it was the
lack of use, but the 82 seemed a bit lag-ish on spool-up on hangers.. She started right up
and ran great for the 5 or so flights...

AKFireMedic... It is unfortunate when you get a model like that, but it will happen...
And Yes she will make you forget your initial problems... She is a fun plane....

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

I'm having a hard time with the engine mounting. With my .82 and the stock engine mounts, I have to move it all the way to the very tips if the engine mounts to get the 5" recommended clearence from the firewall to the back of the spinner back plate. I'm thinking I'll just move the engine back 1/4" so that I can have a bit more meat at the end of the engine mounts where the screws come through. I know this will shift my CG back a little and I'll have to mount the cowl back a bit more but otherwise it shouldn't cause any issues right?

fiveoboy01

My Feedback: (3)

It shouldn't hurt, you do have some room to play with the cowl mounting, but not a lot due to the taper of the cowl.

Worst case scenario you can't use a spinner. I never ever had one one mine, but with the .91 if I remember correctly, I did get the recommended measurement and had enough room on the mount.

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

AKFireMedic,

There is no problem with the engine tabs mounted at the very end of the engine mount..
Mine is that way and the "Do" has many many many flights with no problems to
the engine mount... With the engine mounted as far forward(S-82) it will also help
with your CG, that tail is really long back there, and if you can help it you do not
want to add weight...

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

My U Can is still new in the box. I am getting closer to building mine. I am going electric. I am looking at using the 42-60-600 GP Rimfire and two 11.1 5000 mah packs in series.

Does the tail need flying wires?

fiveoboy01

My Feedback: (3)

I have flying wires on mine. Sullivan makes a nice kit that you can use. It has kevlar string or steel wire. I used the kevlar.

At the very least you should add tri-stock at the stab/fuse junction above and below the stab.

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, that's how mine is mounted. (Saito 82) Right at the very end of the engine mount. It works fine that way.
Another thing is, you don't have to use those little blocks that glue onto the firewall, and are used to screw the cowl into. I leave them off and drill and tap into the fuse side just aft of the firewall. There is some tri stock in there that works fine for that. [8D]

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

Brian.. Tail wires are not needed.. Just be sure that you trim ONLY the covering
Not the bulsa and you should have no problems.. Now/when I trim the covering
from the stab, I lightly cut down the center of my marks then peel back the
covering just shy of my marks, fold over and using just the blade laying flat I
trim it off.. If my center cut did make it to the bulsa.. no problem cause it'll
be covered with epoxy...

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, I'm on my 4th Do and never used tail wires on them.

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks guys. I'll just mount it at the end of the mount then. I knew about leaving the cowl blocks off and was planing on that already. With the .82 are you guys having to add much weight anywhere to get the plane to balance?

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

I haven't ever added any extra weight. I can't remember at the moment where the CG is but it has a pretty wide margin for the CG anyway.

Barry Cazier

My Feedback: (17)

I've had to cut a hatch in the tail section to mount the battery but haven't added extra weight at all. Mine balances at 5 3/4". Flys great and still easy to land.

Thanks
Barry

Toni Arte

I've got a 5-cell 2100mAh NiMH battery in the space which was intended for the throttle servo in the instructions, and I moved the servo a bit forward. This gives a nice back CG with Saito FA-82a.

I finally got a tachometer yesterday, and as an end result I was able to lean out the engine quite a bit. It now swings the APC 14x4W at 10200rpm, max. was ~10400. Reliable idle at 2100rpm, and it could probably go lower.

The funny thing is that I just got a new motor for my shockflyer (3DFoamy Tiburon), AXI 2208/34, APC 9x3.8 Slow Fly, 3s 700mAh battery. Now this thing really rocks, I wish I had Saito 100 on my U-Can-Do... The U-Can-Do really doesn't pull out from hover that strongly now that I can compare it to a powerful shockflyer.

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

Warning - Shredded U Can Do....... While at the field yesterday one of the guys was flying his 46 Do and ripping around in the air, most of the time at full speed, and was diving down pretty fast when his Do just exploded! Never seen anything like it! [X(] From what I could tell the tail came off and then the wing ripped off. There were pieces scattered about 100 feet. I told him it looked like the Shuttle disaster. When we went out to pick it up we found that every control surface had blown off. The tail was completely stripped off the plane and the only the left side of the wing was left on and the left aileron had blown off. Never seen such a mess. He asked what could have happened and I told him he was flying it too fast. [X(] Anyway, living proof that these planes are not made for speed.

Barry Cazier

My Feedback: (17)

rclement,

It happens. I think I've seen that warning at least a thousand times yet people continue to fly this plane at speed. Such a shame really. It is such a great slow flying plane. No need to fly it fast. Low, slow, show. That's my motto.

Gary does those great slow/low inverted passes...the infamous inverted flat spin landings...hover with tail touching...rolling circles...landing at walking speed with 5' roll out...tight flipping waterfalls...that's the stuff the "Do" is about.

This is one of the most fun planes I've ever flown. As I've moved on I still love the UCDs, regardless of what else I fly. I keep coming back to them because of what attracted me to them in the first place...fun factor and ease of flight.

Good hearing from you again...

Thanks
Barry

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Barry. You're a good man. My Do is out of commision at the time but only because I've taken the engine out for another plane. I'm going to get it going again soon though. Have you seen the H 9 Frenzy that's coming out? Looks like a Do in some respects and is bigger than a 46 and smaller than a 60. [X(]

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

I finally have my do just about together. I'm hoping to finish the last few things up today and get it maidened this evening. I'll snap a few pics when I get the chance.

Barry Cazier

My Feedback: (17)

I haven't really looked at the Frenzy. I'll go to their website and take a look. Maybe it'll be worth trying. Do you have one? What engine?

AKFireMedic...

Good luck with your maiden. I hope you have good jaw muscles. You'll be smiling so much it'll make your jaws hurt.

Thanks
Barry

rclement

My Feedback: (1)

No, They're not out yet. They should be available next month. I would probably put a Saito 125 on it though.

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

Well, I finally maidened the do today after more than a year of having all of the parts for it. I would like to say it was flawless but it wasn't quite. The do came home in one piece after two separate attempts today to get her flying well and 3 total flights. The first time it was a bit too windy and I believe the plane was a bit tail heavy as well even though it was set at about 5.75". I had a scary few laps and was almost out of control a few times before getting her on the ground again. The second time the wind was clam and the cg set forward quite a bit but we were having radio hit issues at the field! My buddies Mayhem was also getting hit on a different channel than me so I don't believe that my plane has a problem. Our field is in an industrial area and there is no telling what type of interference is present. A few people have had problems in the past but never like this. So, in retrospect I think the first flights in the wind were seeming worse than they really were since the plane was glitching then as well I just wasn't able to tell at the time. OK, now for the questions:
I have a JR receiver, hitec analog servos, and a 5 cell, 2000mah hydrimax flight battery. With the plane turned on the servos seem to jitter just a bit. Almost hunt for center it seems? I have heard that it is possible for the 6v battery to do that? Anyone have any ideas? Maybe a small regulator?
I am running an Expert brand servo reversing Y for the elevator servos. It seems to need to be adjusted to equalize the elevator halves without an reason? It isn't much..but enough to make the plane spin a bit as it climbs vertical. Any ideas on this one?
The last question I have is I was wondering if anyone has ever had radio interference problems while accelerating with their 4 stroke, or more specifically their Saito. The plane was having other radio hit type problems but it seemed to almost make the tail servos glitch when throttling up to make another landing attempt. I have no metal to metal parts as far as I know except the gears in the rudder servo and the parts in the Saito.

I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow after flying one of my other planes that I know works just fine at the field to see if the radio problems are at the site or with the two planes we had there today. Here are a couple of pics in the mean time. Thanks for the help!

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

I almost forgot to ask: Is most everyone running the suggested high and low rates on their planes? And if so, what percentage of expo is everyone running. I know the expo is a personal preference type thing but I was just curious. Thanks again

AKFireMedic

My Feedback: (2)

I flew again today and although the radio hit/ glitching didn't seem as bad it was still present. I'm going to try to fly at a different field on Friday and see if that eliminates the issue. I'll keep everyone updated.

Bladejunkie

Hey All I am just about done with my UCD 46 and I'm thinking of putting a Saito FA-65 in it.Any thoughts?I have a FA-82 but I don't want to pull it out of another plane the 65 has never even been out of the box.

Thanks Jim Club Saito #509