RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Building light is great advise!!... Though, my advise adds a little bit of
weight, But I think well worth it... When building, Strengthen the landing
gear block area, even if it's just added epoxy!! And though a few has no
problems, I would seriously consider adding tail wires for added help in
that area...

Another great day at the field:-))))... Did have a close call, I was hovering
down low, took my eyes off the plane less than a second to see where this
other plane was, when I looked back my plane was inverted heading for the
runway... Sure glad these Can Do's float and recover so quickly:-)))...
Always watch your own plane:-)... If need be get a spotter... Oh Have Fun!!

Liberator.... Great Job!!!!

gjeffers... That truck show up yet???

kokamo... Nice field!!

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

you aint skeered to fly that ucd are you Kokomo?nice field, now lets get some pics of you out there:D

bh307, that mag 70 should fly it nice!

Liberator, without those women we would have lost wwII, and she is pretty;)

CeeGee, i will post pics and comentary as i build of everything that is not in the manual and that ort to keep me busy, will be hard not to build-build-build, but i will try hard[>:]

Ron, i just called Tower and she said my plane and most of my goodies shipped monday(YEA!)could be here in a minuite:D

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

gjeffers.......I ain't skeered. I fly dat ting round da wurld........just not before I have my AMA card. DANG-IT!!! I should have thought of that a long time ago. Oh well, I got all summer to fly this UCD. I'll prolly get on the Slo-v again tonight.

Joe

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

just pullin your chain Joe!;)and it still works!!

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey Gary, I agree about posting ideas that aren't in the manual. Great idea. I tried twice earlier to post something and it wouldn't post. Both times I had it all written up and it wouldn't work. Something wrong with the web I guess. I'll try again once I know it will work

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Well, Here's where I started on the new UCD. I'm starting with the fuse since it's easier to do the fuse build before putting on the tail feathers. Last time I built one I followed the manual and the tail got in the way everytime I needed to roll it around. Anyway, my first UCD nosed in on the 3rd flight and one of the things that happened was it broke out a section just aft of the firewall, the section that looks like a ramp. Fortunately when it broke it out it gave me perfect access to the landing gear section and the inside of the firewall so on this build I cut out that section. Here's the pictures............

It takes a little doing to get it cut out but it allows really good access to the landing gear block to beef it up and the firewall. I use Gorilla glue to beef up the landing gear area and also to strengthen the firewall some.....Also you can change the T nuts to re-configure it for a different mount or even change the "ramp" configuration for a larger fuel tank. ;)[8D]
The last picture shows it ready to be re-glued back in with epoxy...........:D

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

I have found that using the Testors Transparent colors on the inside of the canopy work best for colors. It gives you a canopy that you can see through like your car and see the inside guages, pilots and other scale effects you might want to use inside. Some plastics won't take the Rit dye. Lexan is one of those type of plastics and that is what the U can Do s canopy is made of. So try the transparent paint and darken to the desired depth.

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hello CeeGee,

I had belonged to a club in Akron, Ohio for a couple of years in 86, 87. When started flyingI had a used H Ray with a 40 size engine and taught myself to fly - plenty of repairs to the plane. I didn't know about AMA or the club when I started. I then found a guy who had about ten planes and all the gear for sale in his basement and he was hurting for cash. I think then sold a few of them and had my money back quickly, joined the AMA and the local club. When we moved to Lancaster in 88 I sold it all and didn't fly again til last summer. I started with an old trainer - got bored quickly, bought a used Ugly Stick and had fun with it, then a Thunder Tiger Fun Tiger Profle with the Saito 91. It was OK but not great.

Then a new Matrix with an OS 70 FS. Twisted it into the ground - very nasty not rebuildable. I then bought a Magic, crashed it into a barn roof, and bought a CG 10-300 with a TT 120 which I want to sell. It came with a Magic. I put a new OS 30FX on the Magic and love it. I have a Twist with a 40FX and lots of nose weight. I don't like the way it changes cg when the fuel gets low. It wants to stand on its tail making landing uneven. I'm not crazy about it.

Got the U Can, put the Saito 91 in it and admit that it's the best flying plane I've ever owned - so stable. I'm using a 15 X 4 prop. No fancy electronics. Just a splitter on the elevator harness and it works fine. :)

The best to you as you do your new build. I"ll keep watching the posts. I'm really not a builder but don't mind the ARFs.

Bruce

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Koko...can't you use the receipt from the order? Does your field need to see them? Post some pics for us!!! Hope it goes better than last time..are you doing the honor's this time?
GOOD LUCK!!!
John

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey CeeGee... Great idea on a new build report... The work
you have shown looks good!! Keep em coming... It will help
new and repairs of a Great plane even better!!!

Left the UCD home this morning, And took my 4*60 out to
let the wind blow out the cob webs:-)) She ran great, still
hovers easy.. But no way could I get it to flat spin... On my
take off I got in the habit of doing a double roll after lift off
which almost got me in trouble as the 4* does not roll as
fast:-) Land as good, Well heck does nothing as good!!..
But I still like it..) And I love the UCD....

CeeGee wrote:
"Both times I had it all written up and it wouldn't work.
Something wrong with the web I guess. I'll try again once I
know it will work...."

I've had that happen to me a few times... So now no matter
how short or long my post may be... I always highlight it and
copy, So that if it happens to not post, I just pasted it back...

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Swiftflyer, Sounds like you've had your share of experience with planes. Great isn't it? I have had 5 planes now and find the UCD to be the best of the bunch. Very fun flyers. I use my U. Stick as a trainer now. I just doesn't keep my interest for long. Hopefully the Twist will be fun to fly and not too much of a pain.

Raideron, What! No inverted flat spin landings with the 4*? I'm shocked! [:-] I haven't flown my 4* in quite a while. I was thinking of taking it out for a spin but my neighbor is interested in buying it so probably not.
Yes, I should have copied the post I was writing but forgot.......... [:o] Next time.........

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hockey.......It's no problem without the receipt, if you type in your ama # it will tell you if you are a member or not. They can tell that way.
The feild does need to see them. I know it sucks but when there is about 70% of the club being older peolple (50-65 years old) (NO PUN INTENDED TO ANYONE!!) :D they want everything to go their way. We put up out AMA card with our membership card glued on the back, LAMINATED for protection, and we hang it on the frequency board. I have seen people go to the board and look at all cards to see if they are up to date. And if any of them are out of date......you sure as hell don't want to be that person. They make a BIG deal about stuff like that.

HECK YEAH i'm duin the honors this time. I ain't gonna let no-one get close to this one. I have too much money in this one for someone else to screw it up. I counted up how much I have in this plane and with all receitps put together. I get $756.43 WITHOUT transmitter and fuel.

WHAT ABOUT YOU OTHER GUYS.....HOW MUCH $$$$$$ YOU GOT IN YOUR PLANE????

HEY THANKS FOR THE LUCK......I MIGHT NEED IT!!!

Joe

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Here's an update on the build modifications....... Another one of the nice things about taking out the "ramp area" aft of the firewall is being able to fit the fuel tank easier. Mine had a misalignment in the bulkhead where the upper part of the tank goes into the compartment. Once I trimmed it out I was able to fit it in nicely...... You can see from the pictures that at this point if you wanted to modify the compartment for a larger tank it would be easier to do. Next I'll postion the throttle linkage and I'll be able to see the fuel tank and avoid it..........[8D] After that the "ramp section" is ready to glue back in and I'll get on with mounting the engine.............;)

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey CeeGee it looks good!!.. Nice tight fit... Are you adding foam to the saddle
bottom and back of tank? What did you use to seal/cushion the front of the tank?
I just used silicon adhesive.. Works great..
With the ramp out it also makes getting the throttle linkage nice and stright if
any adjustments are needed.... All's looking good!! Keep it coming...

I'm not sure how many are/will be using pressurized fuel systems.. But I have
gotten into a habit of putting drain holes, Then C.A.'ing or painting it where I think
the low spot is at in case of a tank problem which will make it easier to spot...

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Raideron, I'll be adding some receiver foam (I think that's what it is) to the front end of the tank and above the tank and in the saddle. Thanks for reminding me.......:D

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

CeeGee
the pick may help me in putting in new blind nuts for my larger motor mount for my 100, i didnt realize that the nuts were so close to the corner braces, i may have to go in and remove some brace, install blind nuts and replace brace, will also put in some light stock to brace fuel tank as well as beefing gear.

Kokomo
its a blessing not knowing how many $$$ i have in this craze[sm=greedy.gif][sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

CeeGee
to open it up did you just cut it out with a hobby knife?

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Gary, Yea. I just cut along the side lines where it curves from the side to the bottom. It's soft balsa there. To cut the aft part side to side, measure 1.1" from the back bulkhead (the bulkhead where the wing dowel plugs in). To cut the forward part of the ramp just cut where the seams of the plywood bond into the forward bulkhead. I just used an exacto blade and carefully scribed into it. You'll be able to tell where it is detaching, then just carefully pry it out with a small screwdriver or something. Try not to pry on the sides where the balsa is. Forgot to mention, if you take the monokote off you can see the seams easier.....;)

Rob

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Koko ..just let me get the calculator going here..brb..[X(][X(][X(] wow!!I have almost 800 dollars into it..I knew I was up there but I did'nt think it was that high..oh well ...flew it tonight...need to get some more stick time ..but with the wind here lately..and the new plane jitters...it flies soooo slow and doesnt get spongy on the sticks at all...there was a guy out flying his 60 size tonight and that was impressive to watch ...tomorrow night is going to be nice again so hopefully ... I 'll try to remember to grab some pics...
As far as your flying field ...that sounds kinda odd..some people have nothing better to do than see if others AMA is up to date? lol oh to be old and grouchy!! well at least I'm not old lol!
Later
John

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Gosh I can't hardly wait to maiden this thing!!!! I got to taxi her out on the driveway this afternoon and it seems that the tailwheel needs a little adjustment but nothing major. About three or four clicks to the right and it goes strait. I dont think this will be a major problem in the grass tho. Other than that, it seems she is ready to fly!

gjeffers....my girlfreind has been pretty supporting with my UCD project. Even more after the first one bit the dust. BUT........when I told her how much I had in the plane ALONE....she fliped smooth out! [sm=bananahead.gif] Now she thinks I am crazy. Oh well. Maybe I am. Heck I'm with her!!????!! :) (just kidding linda)

Hockey..... That price was with an almost new saito.72. It was in fact used. I picked it up for 150 bones. A new one is, what...200 somthin?

The people at my feild are pretty hash somtimes. Every once in a while I will forget my AMA card and hang my drivers license on it to be sure nobody else gets my channel. Every single time I do it, someone always bi**hes. Thats not the only thing they gripe about, they don't like us 3D'ers very much. They think that having some silly a** hovering airplane flying like a helicopter ought to be over on the heli pad. Now, how the heck are you supposed to do that? They cant see their pattern plane because ours is distracting them from their "competition practices". I think we are currently having a discussion thru the board about designated days the 3D guys can have the feild. I don't think it will go thru but hey, it's worth a try I guess. (sorry....I'm venting here)

Wish us luck!

Joe

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

kokamo... A few fields are like that on 3D flying... Can't we just get along:-)
Most the time it can be worked out between the pilots with "a lot" of talk
and consideration for eack other... My field is pretty good about it:-) Right
now I'm about the only one that's 3Ding. On the Freq. pin and I.D....
Some fields are really strict on the rules... And for good reason, if you ever
lost a plane because of it.... Our's was the same on AMA or Club card, which
worked at times, But now we made up cards with our names on them, which
we leave in the freq. box and it seems to be working great, But our
membership is not big..
I have about 360 on my plane & setup, The UCD/YS63 was used but in great
shape I did repair/recover the wing tips with 4* red..

CeeGee.. Yeah foam does help, I did not use foam when I started on my Avistar
and had no problems, But I use foam now... On my Dazzler, It had foam around
the Tk./firewall.. But after a while it got soaked with fuel.. Then members told me
about using silicon to seal and hold the front of the tank..

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Koko ..150 bills for a 72 is a good price!! I paid 265 for the 82GK. Was the 72 fully broke in? My 82 will pull vertical but not with much auth. however its still running very rich due to the low number of flights on it...maybe after this weekend I can lean it out a bit..where did you pick up the motor?

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

boy, ive always had good luck with ups, and now they hold my ucd in vernon ca. for some unknown reason they cant answer and tell me it should be here monday, what a crock of &$%). NOT ON A FRIDAY PLEEEEEASE![:@][:'(][>:][:o][X(][&o]

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

gjeffers.. Makes you wonder sometimes on what their doing.. More so
when it stops pretty close and it's Friday:-(((

UPS Yak' ed on me... And even tho the deal came out sweet.. If I can
help it, I'm using other carriers...

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hockey......The saito wasen't quite broke in yet. The owner said that it had about half a gallon thru it. So I ran another half gallon thru it and started leaning her out. Then I put it on my alpha 40 trainer plane to test it and it would go verticle without any problem. So with that done I mounted it on the UCD and....well, you know the rest of the story.
The guy who I bought it from went to all OS engines because he all of a sudden had bunches of problems with the saito's kicking back and throwing props. He sold about eight or nine saitos that day at the feild. He asked how much money I had on me and I had 150. He would have prolly taken less because some guy kiddingly offered 50 bucks for a saito 100 and he took it. He was soooooo P-O'ed at saito engines. This guy is a nut anyway. Wish I had more money at the time so I could have bought more. I havent had any problems with my 72 throwing props at all. I don't think that guy was holding his tounge right while he was trying to start it.:) He must have had too much nitro in the fuel or it was too lean or somthing. Dunno. I later found out that he mixes his own fuel.....maybe?
>
<
>
<
Flew my little slo-v again today. Also took my fishing poles down to the pond and cought about ten or twelve largemouth bass. Flew the slo-v around while I was fishing. This has got to be a first......fishing and flying at the same time!!!! What A combo!
Seems like I saw a video some time ago where a guy was hovering a plane over a pond and he caught a little perch or somthing. Anybody seen it?

HAPPY FLY-FISHIN'!!! (ha ha....get it? fly....fishin'??) ok I'm a moron.

Joe

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Gary, Sorry to hear of your greif with UPS. ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!! [:@] I hope you don't have to wait untill Monday to get your plane........ That is so frustrating.......[&o]

Kokamo, I saw the video on the forum here about the guy catching a little fish while he was hovering. I think it was at one of the larger national fly ins..........

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey Kokomo, I used to fish at Belton lake at Fort Hood and never caught nothin but a buzz fish:D

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey everybody, me and bh307 got to do some flying Friday and got some video of it!. Just have to figure out how to get it to the computer. Very good day flying. I was going to maiden the monocoupe, loaded everything up went and got my park permit, made it to the air Field, but forgot the wing tube!!!!!!!!!! Perfect day for the first flight and I blew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Here's an update on the build so far........ I was able to route the throttle linkage, set the fuel tank, beef up the landing gear block, and install the cowl since I had taken off the "ramp" in the forward fuse. Thanks to Kokamo's advice about omitting the blocks for the cowl it saved quite a bit of time and almost 1/2 oz. of weight. I positioned the screws more toward the aft edge of the cowl and you can see from the second picture there is corner braces aft of the firewall that the screws go into so the blocks really aren't needed. Thanks again Kokamo. Genius idea.[8D] Be carefull to drill the cowl screws in that area if you have the fuel tank in there.....[X(]
With all that done the "ramp" was ready to be re-install and the monokote was put back on. [8D] The build is going faster this time since this is my second UCD build.........;)
I added the forth picture since either Barry Craizer or Raideron mentioned that a loop in the fuel line could prevent the fuel tank from leaking/siphoning. I think that they way it was mentioned. Correct me if I'm wrong............

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Good job Rob. Looks good. I wish I would have thought of taking that part of the plane apart to reinforce it. Oh well.

I know, I know...I'm a genius. It runs in the family. :)

What motor are you using again? I didn't catch that. I hope the "loop" in the fuel line works. It did for me.

P.S. in pic #4.....be sure to put in one more screw in that motor mount!!!! ;)

gjeffers.......BUZZ FISH!!!! You wouldent happen to be kickin back with ole grampa's cough medicine now would ya?

Joe

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Joe, The biggest thing I found to reinforce there is the landing gear block. The firewall actually looked pretty good. I'm using a Saito 82. The pictures were taken before I had completely bolted it down. I had to take the motor part of the way off again to put some locktite on the engine mount bolts. This one is going so much quicker........;)

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey CeeGee... All is looking good, For sure... The fuel line tip was from Barry
But... I could be wrong, I would think the top of the loop would have to be at
least equal or higher then the outlet of the tank???? Like I said, I may be
wrong but that's how I think it should be...

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

CeeGee, are you going to put the flying wires on the tail? I could not remember if you did on the last one.

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Raideron, It looks like the loop is about the same height as the tank lines. It didn't leak before so hopefully it will still hold. If not I can put a longer line it to make the loop higher.

Goldenclan, I didn't install a tail wire set up on the last one and didn't have any problems with it. I may get around to it on this one but I'm not sure what type I would use. I have about 1000 feet of kevlar cord / string that would be perfect so maybe I could use that somehow. Hmmmm....... [:-] I'll have to think on that one.

Oh Man!![8D] I'm just about done with this one. Just have to hinge the control surfaces and a few other simple things. I'm trying to decide if I should use pinned hinges or the CA ones. I've never had any problem with CA hinges failing and I not sure how to install the pinned hinges. Any suggestions?? :eek:

I might get to maiden my Twist today. Yesterday the monsoons were upon us. Who's ever praying for rain can stop now. [>:]

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

CeeGee... If it worked before it should work now.. That's on the fuel lines!!
I have seen a couple UCD's (.60) and they did not have tail wires, And that
was not the cause of there demise... But reading of "some" of those that had
stab. failures, It seems like it's just a light weight insurance...
On CA hinges... I was starting to think that they could be a problem for high
"big surface" movements.. But now I'm starting to wonder! I would hope that
the pinned or robart type hinges are better.. But I have been putting the CA
hinges on my used UCD through quite a lot with a lot of full throw movements
and no problems to date!! So I'm really starting to believe it's how there
installed for our sized planes... I think CA hinges with the proper gap between
the surfaces with good CA penetration and maybe the crayon method on the
CA hinge line to assist in it not getting as hard on the hinge line, should work
great on our sized planes... If you do go with pinned hinges, cover the slots
and the hinge with epoxy and also pin them and cut the excess of the pin off..
Make sure to use grease or the likes on the swivel part to prevent any gluing
of the hinge and they should last forever....

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

CeeGee
i use dubro pinned hinges because ive almost lot a rudder and a aileron, and they were installed right according to instructions, they were on my 60 size so i cant see using them ever again on anysize plane since the pinned hinges are so easy to install and i cant see them ever wearing out on the NORMAL life of a plane.
to install, i use 30 min epoxy and do all the control surface first by using a piece of ca hinge cut out to fit nicely in the hinge slot and dip it into the epoxy and insert it into the hinge slot to get the epoxy down deep into the slot (dont get to messy,just a little into the slot) and then put a little epoxy onto the end half of the hinge flap and insert. let these cure good before you epoxy the other end into the wing, this way they are stable in the surfaces and when you insert them into the wings they will stay straight and even! once you use them you will like them im convinced.
also on the horizontal stabs flying apart with no apparant reason is something ive been thinking about and imo i think that it may be due to using a hobby knife to remove the covering from lthe stab to prepare it for glueing into the fuse and in the process of cutting the covering off they put a small scribe into the balsa and it wouldnt take much for it to give out and break, what do you guys think, there has to be a reason! i personally use a soldering iorn to cut all my covering from any surfaces that it needs to be removed from.

shoud get my plane tomorrow hopefully and then i can get started:D

oh, ,and dont forget to oil the hinge at the pin to keep the glue from screwing it up!
later

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

gjeffers, I thought the same on the hobby knife cut, I do like the idea
of the soldering iron, But have never used it... On my Avistar and 4*
I got a bit of the bulsa, But I put some thin CA in the area, before
epoxing, Don't know if that helped,,, But there still on:-)

Hey, since you have used pinned hinges, Do you install push pins(2)
on each side of the hinge for added insurance?? Members at my field
say it's good to do that.... I'm still not sure what I'll use for my
Yak repair.. Robarts or pinned hinges... So I'm just trying to gather
more info:-)

Well hope that funky Brown truck shows up early and all are safe!!
Have fun with your build!!

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Well, I flew my brand new U-Can-Do 3D .46 for the first time today! This is my first tail-dragger and I was expecting it to want to ground loop, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it handled extremely well on the ground.

Things didn't start off real smooth this morning because I couldn't get the engine to idle well. It was obvious that the idle mixture was way too rich and no matter how I leaned the carb, it wouldn't settle down. The engine is a Super Tigre G.61 from my now-defunct Super Kaos and I had equipped it with a Perry pump and large-bore Perry carburetor. When my Kaos crashed last year, it broke the Perry pumper carb, so I dragged out an old back up. Apparently, something is wrong (or missing) in the idle circuit - it just wouldn't lean properly during idle. So, I pulled off the cowl, bypassed the pump and installed the stock Super Tigre carb (glad I had it with me). Viola! The engine fired right up and settled into a study idle. All I had to do is richen up the main needle two clicks and then I was ready to go.

I took the UCD to the hold line, ran it up one more time and then taxied out to the runway. Immediately, I could see that the ground handling is excellent. I didn't even feel nervous. Next, I eased in the throttle and it became airborne at about half-throttle. After gaining some altitude, I put in two clicks of aileron trim and about 5 clicks of right rudder trim to tame the left yaw (I'll talk about that later). After cruising around a bit to get a feel for the controls, I did my complete aerobatic routine. Wow, this if fun!

After about 5 or 6 minutes I decided to land (not knowing how much fuel might be left. Turns out, it still had half a tank left). I set the throttle for a fast idle and made a descent landing. Again, ground handling was amazingly easy. The landing was so slow that I easily made the turn out to the pits at mid-field.

So now my question: is it normal for this airplane to fly with a bit of right trim in the rudder? My one and only flight so far was made without the cowling (wouldn't fit over the field installed replacement carb), so I'm wondering if the added drag/turbulence might've amplified the torque problem (?) I'm not really complaining, just curious. I'm thinking of mixing some right rudder trim with the throttle on mix switch (RD8000).

Kaos

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Kaos.... Great job... Yeah the UCD is a real floater, Landing and
ground handleing are great and she flies so easy...
On the rudder... My used (one crash/repair) UCD flies true, no
rudder trim needed for stright flight, Same with or without the
cowl... Maybe for some reason the engine thrust is off or
something else is out of alignment??? Or maybe it was just the
wind???? I'm sure you'll get more answers from others..

RE: U-Can-Do 3d 46?
 

Hey Guys;

I am at the point of mounting an engine in my Ucando. I have a near new OS 50SX and an older OS Surpass 91 that has very little time on it. Which one would be the better engine for this airplane?

Northwing