I agree with you on the servo use for all the control surfaces. I had no idea he had installed hydraulics. That is pretty cool though that Tommy was able to engineer that type of system. It's the 1st time I have ever heard of an R/C model using hydraulics. I would ask Tommy if the plane can be flown with servos or does it have to use the hydraulics.

As far as the canisters are concerned, as long as air is passing over them, you don't need to cut holes in the fuse as long as you use the type of canisters shown in the pics. All most half of the canister sits ahead of the firewall so it is being cooled by the air passing out the bottom of the cowl. If additional cooling is needed all you need to do is create some holes in the firewall just above the canister opening. With those canisters shown in the pics most of the hot exhaust is exiting out the front of the canister. The rest of the canister is there simply to deaden the sound. It is my understanding that with those types of canisters you really don't need to provide extensive cooling there-by negating the need to carve up the fuselage.

Keep in mind that if the Austar 182 is not set up for cans you will have to to a lot of mods. More & more R/C fields are requiring pilots that have planes w/ gas engines to take steps to decrease the noise levels. At least the TMMY 182 is canister ready which will speed assembly. Furthermore, it is evident that the aircraft was designed for cans & this is important to keep in mind because planes that are not designed for cans & have to be modified to accept cans become nose heavy which ultimately affects flying characteristics.


Saul