Could anyone tell me what the control throws should be used for the SIG Spacewalker II .40 ARF. I purchased one last week and as you may know, the instructions are really bad. The suggested settings seem to be really low and I am thinking about using the High Rate settings for the normal settings.

Does anyone have any suggestions.

Also, I am being told that I should install either a Saito .72 or .91 on this baby. Has anyone tried this application?

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

2,

See my reply to your other post. I did up the throws slightly. Dial in some Expo to keep from getting too much action around neutral.

My .46 FX is nice. Don't over-power it. It's not a burner!!

Chris

Just outfitted one of those for a friend. All the controls were rigged, outer hole on the servo arm, second hole up from the hinge line on the flight controls. The throttle servo was a Hitec HS81MG.

Set the dual rate for 50% and dialed in 40 for the expo all around. He preferred the high rates. Claims it handled more like the Spacewalker on G2.

We installed the Saito 72. I believe the .91 would be to much. If you use, the included motor mount, you'll have to use the front mount holes for the rear mount of the .72 and drill the mount for the front holes of the engine. You can't use the factory mounting and have clearance for the engine carb. Or you can simply use a different mount. We also rotated the carb.

You'll need a couple of extra hands to align the cowl. With the .72, the cowl does not fit over the front of the plane to well.

To get the CG, 1 oz. of weight was added to the tail. The receiver was mounted at the rear of the wing cut out. The battery pack was mounted between the two cockpits with the elevator and rudder servos's holding it in place.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thank you VERY MUCH for the info. Especially about the location of the Battery and Receiver. Did you have any problems with Torque Rolling after Take off? I have read the forum from Skribnod and he was having quite a time with getting it in the air but I think he found that it may have been insuficient airspeed.

Any help with the flying charactoristics would be appreciated.

Again thank you for reply and I hope that you are as happy with this plane as I am sure I will be. Especialy with using the .72.

2mistakeshigh

The plane has only been flown three times, thus far. Take off was great. Just build the speed up before you pull up. He's running a Master Airscrew 12 x 6. The prop works great. If you use the Tru-Turn spinner, get the 4-stroke prop model. The regular slot won't fit an APC prop. The Tru-Turn adapter requires a 1/2" x 3/8" deep hole to be drilled in the prop hub.

Will,

Thank you again for the very helpfull information. If you don't mind, I have a few other questions to ask of you.

1. Would you have any pictures of your battery and receiver installation?

2. What angle did you mount you 4-stroke .72 engine. (Was the head mounted to the side of the fuse or at 45° where the original engine mount is positioned)

3. Did you have to adjust the engine thrust angle?

4. Did you hook up you Ailerons using a "Y" Harness or did you hook them up to use them as Flaperons.

I really appreciate your help and hope you don't mind all the questions.

Thank you again,

John

Sorry, didn't take any pictures. The receiver was installed right behind the wing mount bolt plate. Get some Velcro that sticks to itself. The kind that's smooth on one side and rough on the other. This type of Velcro uses no glue and is normally used to secure things like garden hoses or extension cords.

Work with fuselage upside down in your work cradle. Attach one strap to the wood cross piece at the rear of the wing opening. I use an ice pick to punch a small hole in the Velcro. Install the strap with an allen head servo screw. The forward strap is installed under the rear of the servo mounting plate. I took a piece of 1/8" ply and cut out a rectangular piece about 1.5" x .5". In the center of that piece, I glued another piece of ply about .5" long. Drill a 1/16" hole in the center if the mount plate on the vertical face and install the other piece of Velcro. You'll end up with a Velcro strap attached to the rear of the wood mount. Epoxy the mount assembly with the strap facing the rear of the plane, just under the rear of the servo tray. When the glue is done, wrap the receiver in a wrap and Velcro it in.

I put a piece of foam on each end of the wrap and used a small nylon wire tie to keep them in. That'll keep the receiver from slipping out of the wrap.

Wrap the battery in 1/4" dense foam and push it down into the space between the cockpits. Install the rudder and elevator servo's and you'll find that the servo's will keep the battery from falling out.

The engine was mounted to the stock mount at the original location. So far no engine thrust angles have been changed. The model flies fine.

The ailerons are hooked up as flaperons.

Don't mind helping at all.

Will,

Thank you for the additional information. I will install the receiver as you have described but as for the battery, my pack is a 4 cell square and it looks as though it may not fit between the cockpit area as you described. I am going to try to install it just forward of the servo tray and then see how the CG looks.

Thank you again and I will let you know how things worked out. I feel this forum will maybe help others trying to complete this airplane.

John

Good luck John and have fun!

Will,

Have one additional question for you. Did you change or do anything special with the Fuel Tank installation? I tried to assemble the fuel tank per the manual but I think I may have not set it up correctly due to the plastic fuel tubes supplied with the kit and having to heat them up in order to bend them.

I was just wondering if you would suggest changing the fuel tank to another type and how you secured it in the nose. I was thinking of installing it using foam on the FWD side of the fuel tank between the fuel tank and the firewall. Then also adding foam between the tank and the top of the nose.

I have not figured out how to secure it in there to keep it from moving around. The manual suggest that you epoxy a support brace just above the fuel tank to keep it secure but that seems like a permanent installation and I would not be able to remove it if needed.

Again, thank you for your help and hope to hear from you soon.

John

We installed a 12 oz. Du-Bro tank. It's held in with a piece of balsa and foam at the back. Use a little CA glue to hold the piece in. If you have to, it's easy to break out. Use a little foam padding around the tank where it comes in contact with the structure. The Du-Bro bronze fuel filter is great for the tank. It'll help prevent fuel foaming problems from affecting the engine.

You'll have to enlarge the tank opening to install the tank. That's easy to do with a Dremel tool and flexshaft with the sanding drum attachment. The supplied tank is just about useless. If you needed a new stopper and plumbing, where would you get it?

Didn't like the control horns either. If you you try to use normal clevis, the holes in the arms are to large. We used the Du-Bro left/right horns. The 2mm control rods were hooked up with the Du-Bro Safety lock kwik links.

Will,

Again....THANK YOU!!!

Your information is very helpful and I will do as you suggested with the fuel tank installation.

I will let you all know how it all turns out.

John

Will,

Could you help me with one issue I am having problems understanding. You stated earlier in this forum the following.

{QUOTE} "Set the dual rate for 50% and dialed in 40 for the expo all around. He preferred the high rates. Claims it handled more like the Spacewalker on G2."

I have a JR X-347 computer radio and have adjusted the control surfaces to 0° using the sub trim adjustments on the radio as I was not able to get the surface set exactly by adjusting the clevis at the control horn. You said in the quote above, to set the Dual Rate at 50% and the Exponential at 40%. Was the Dual Rate set at this percentage in order to obtain the correct throws as recommended in the manual or am I getting the wrong idea about all of this. As I understand it, Dual rate settings allow you to dial in the desired throw of a given control surface. (ie. 1/2" throw for Elevator, etc.).

I guess what I do not understand is what you meant by dialing in 50% Dual Rates. In addition, could you explain the 40% dialed in for Exponential.

Sorry for the ignorance on my part but I am trying to understand all that I can prior to actually flying this thing for the first time.

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

John

I'm trying to figure out if I got a lemon. I built mine according to the lousy directions. I changed to dubro tank and mounted the receiver and battery between the fuel tank and the servos. I'm using an OS46 for power. My problem is the darn thing wants to fly sideways. On its first flight I had to add 1/4 inch of up to keep it level. Since then I added some wood under the trailing edge to push the wing down. I also add 1 washer under the lowest motor mount. My trim is now set at 2 clicks of up. My next step to fly it level is to lower the each aileron by 1/2 turn. But, I doubt this will solve the sideways problem. Anyone have a clue what I could try.

Thanks

Sounds like your CG is off

John,

I use the sub trim to get the servo's dead center. You need to do this before rigging the flight controls. Using the linkage placement, in reference to the control horn and servo arm, the throws should be close to the max throws in the manual. From that set up, we set the low rate to 50% of that throw. The 40% expo was set for high and low rates. The expo smooths out the control inputs.

I don't really worry about the max throws in the manual. My objective is to test the handling of the model in flight and adjust it to fly the way I want it to. The settings I've listed, is just a starting point. The 50% low rate was set to protect the owner of the plane. Just in case it was too frisky for him. The test flight was started in the low rates. Once airborne, the high rates were selected, for comparison. He liked the high rates better. Now he can reprogram the low rate switches. As he teaches the plane what to do, he can increase the throws and cut down the expo.

pdansalvish,

If the model is flying sideways, yaw is being introduced. Check the alignment of the horizontal stabilizer to the wing. The stab should be parallel to the wing. Looking from the front or rear, of the fuselage, the tips of the stab should be the same distance above or below the wing. A good visual is all you need here, don't grab the ruler. Of course, the vertical fin should be 90 degrees to the stab.

If the horizontal stab is not aligned, you can add filler to the low side of the wing saddle.

Hope this helps a little.

Here are some pic's of the plane although the engine and cowling has not been installed. Also, the wheel pants need to be completed and installed.

Anyway, hope you enjoy them and I will send more when it's complete.

John

Will,

Would you have any suggestions on how to route and attach the Receiver antenna to the Vertical Stab. I have seen a few other A/C and they have used a T-pin for securing it to the stab but I was wondering if you had any other ideas.

Thanks,

John

John,

Looks like it's taking shape pretty good. Nice job.

I ran the wire out through the fuselage and attached it to the vertical stab with a "T" pin and a #32 rubber band. I don't tie the antenna with a knot. Loop the band around the wire and attach the band to the pin. Works for me. Put a piece of heat shrink tubing on the wire where it exits the fuselage.

Hi 2mistakes I had the Seagulls model 40 size which is a lot smaller than the Sig plane. The Seagull model just couldnt take the .72 saito so i put the 40 back in it and it flies great. Its just a tad underpowered. Sorry about any confusion.

Hi,

Would OS FP 40 engine(previous model of OS LA) good enough power for this plane ?
Thanks.

My spacewalker rolled to the left real bad with the Saito 72 too much torque and not enough airspeed. I did re-install the magnum 40 engine and it flew real steady but just not enough power. I am in the proccess of installing a Super tigre 51 and hope this will cure the power needs. Also with the 40 it did mush a lot and flew a little sideways like your model. I havent quite figured why yet but as soon as the weather clears it will be airborn again.