Its probably a combination of being too far away and too high. If you draw an imaginary line through the tank centerline to the firewall, you'll see that it is well above the carburetor. That is conducive to an over-rich condition, and the added problem of the inverted plug just aggravates the situation.

For that reason, I chunked the kit tank and installed a DuBro ten ouncer in the space between the firewall and front fuselage former. It was quite a bit of effort to shoehorn it in there, while still leaving space at the front to avoid kinking the lines, but that was the only way to get the centerline of the tank reasonably close to the carb inlet nipple.

The photo below shows this installation. Sorry for the horizontal orientation, but I didn't feel like dragging out the off-camera flash gear, and this was the only way to get a decent shot. BTW, I'm changing the way the receiver is mounted, which is why you see the jumble of wiring hanging down. Everything will be tucked neatly away with nylon ties when I'm done.

The next shot shows the one-ounce strip of weight epoxied to the rudder post (don't forget to remove the covering underneath the glued area). There is an identical strip on the other side. If I need more, it will go on the bottom of the fuse, in front of the tail wheel bracket.

As for your on-board glow not working, remember that it must be grounded to the engine. The usual method is to attach the ground wire to one of the engine mount bolts, between the bolt head and mounting lug.

.

Hi Steve

I wasn't sure what the cowl was made with so I just guessed and used epoxy
finishing resin and it worked OK.

Hi Bruce

I also had a bad experience with wheel pants. I fly off a paved runway but on a
deadstick landing with my Venus had to land in the grass just in front of the runway
and it flipped over hitting the top of the vertical rudder hard and cracked the fuselage.
If I flew off grass all the time I might just take the pants off the Matrix and forget about
them altogether. I did enlarge the openings and used larger wheels but I don't know if
that would help in the grass around our flying field.

If the weather holds out I hope to get in some serious practice this weekend as next weekend
I'm going to let the Matrix play with the older kids. I'm flying it in the spring pattern contest in
Waco Texas at the HOT MACS field. Hope I remember how to do this , it'll be my first contest
since 1995.

tommy s

Well, it was too steenkin' windy today to really tell anything; 15-25 mph gusts, constantly changing direction. The airplane handled it well, but was getting tossed around pretty good.

I did observe that the APC 14x4W prop seems to be the one to go with. Not fast, but what a stump-puller. My UCD/YS 91 FZ combo with a 16x4W flew the same way; out-of-sight vertical, and when you chop the throttle (regardless of WHAT attitude the airplane is in), its like you deployed a drag chute.

Also, the supplied landing gear legs are soft crap. Due to really squirrelly winds, I plopped it down, not hard at all, and the left gear leg bent noticeably. I bent it back with gentle hand pressure.[:'(]

.

Monday morning report on Matrix.

OK here goes. Can't complain about the flight characteristics. Did put two ounces inside the hatch by elevator crank. One ounce on each side. Very well balanced now.

I used a standard 4.8 battery pack for glow ignitor which was one of the choices that came with it but it instantly burns out the glow plug. Need to go with different battery choice. Any recommendations? New to the glow ignitor business.

If I let the engine warm up on the ground and take off somewhat gently and fly a little bit I then have no problems. If I yank it up at first it tends to power up slowly. I do agree that it appears on the rich side. Since the engine is new I'll give it a chance to work in.

It rolls like it's on a rail. Inverted is smooth, snaps, tumbles, etc., are wild.

Since I'm on grass all the time I'm leaving the wheel pants off for now. Really does a nice drop in landing with just a tad of throttle at the last second. I'm using a 13/4 prop. What do you think I'd gain with a 14/4?

Good flying. Bruce

Bruce,

Your power for the on-board glow must ONE cell; 1.2v or 1.5v max.

.

Hey guys,

I got in some serious stick time with the Matrix this weekend even though the wind
wouldn't let up. I like it better the more I fly it. Added a little expo on all flying surfaces ,
a little differential on the ailerons , and about 1 1/2 ozs on the tail to straighten out the
pitch to canopy during knife-edge and that's the way I'll fly it this weekend in Waco. It feels
real solid.

By the way Bruce , after I got home and was cleaning it I noticed the left wheel pant was
starting to split at the front edge so I took them both off and reinforced them with glass
just like I did the cowl. Same problem you had and I didn't have any hard landings !
Decided while I had them off to paint them silver. Looks better in my opinion.

Continued good luck guys , I'll let you know how I do in Waco.

tommy s

Good luck in your contest.

That communist wind showed no sign of letting up by noon Sunday, so I took the Ultimate with me that day.

Naturally, by 1600 it was simply lovely; MAYBE 5 knots of wind...

BTW, I decided to go back to an APC 13x6. That 14x4W boat paddle, while great, really slows down the engine acceleration when you bury the throttle. It just weighs too much and has too much drag. We saw this on the YS 63 (both mine AND my pal's), but it is very noticeable on the 70 Surpass. Seems to take forever to spool up...

.

Hey Steve
I have been using a 12x6 APC prop which seemed to be about right for the ST 60 but
Sunday switched to a 12x6 Top Flite Power Point wood prop which let the engine rev
better and seemed to help in the verticals. The SuperTigre seemed to be lugging
with the APC in the up-lines but spools up real quick with the Power Point and holds its
rpm's better.

tommy s

Got the 1.2 volt and it's wired properly now. I've been out of town this week so I hope to have it ready for Sunday flying. The landing gear won't take a stiff landing very well. I may have a friend weld a piece of stiff rod on the inside to allow it to spring better without bending.

The plane does buffet in wind but I think it's because of the light weight and the huge rudder. I can hardly get mine to knife edge without climbing. I may calm the throw done a bit. My radio won't let me put expo on the rudder so I'll have to adjust some other way.

Weather here in PA is still iffy. Can't wait for that first nice sunny warm calm day.

Bruce

Well the Matrix and I survived the contest all in one piece. Great bunch of fliers in Waco from
all over Texas, Oklahoma, etc. and we were blessed with perfect weather for two days.
District 6 is a real hot bed of pattern with some very good fliers. I did manage not to finish last !
It didn't take me long to figure out pattern today is a lot different than it was when I was
doing it back in the 70's and 80's. No more high speed passes , but slow and graceful with very
large maneuvers. The Matrix did better than I did and with a few changes will make a very good
entry level pattern ship. The main problem I have is the old Bluehead 60 SuperTigre is the wrong
engine for this new type of pattern. It develops it's power at high RPM's and does not have the low
RPM torque to perform the very large vertical maneuvers. It was sagging badly trying to pull the
Matrix over the top and with an across the field crosswind made for some interesting rudder corrections ,
or should I say attempts at corrections. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way it flew , and the engine
problem will be an easy fix.
One thing I will mention is the Ultra-Cote covering after being in the 80 degree sun for two days now has
more wrinkles than grannys stockings. Looks like crap. Will take considerable time to reshrink , if it will.
I heard from a lot of the fliers in Waco this is a common problem with Ultra-Cote and now I understand
why Monocote is so popular.

tommy s

Sounds good, guys.

Good job on your contest, Tommy. The 13x6 APC did well for me.

Hang in there Bruce. Hope you didn't fry too many plugs....

After a dozen flights, I just cannot warm up to this airplane. Other than the zilch gear legs, I have no valid complaints; I guess I just don't LIKE it.[]

I'll fly it until I get something else built for the 70 Surpass.

.

Was flying my Matrix tonight when disaster happened. From about 200' up I was coming down at a pretty good speed when all of a sudden the plane shock violently and then POW!!!!! Borke up in mid-air, not much left. Saito 91 had some damage, so I guess that's off to Horizon. Ordered new Matrix from Tower. It was my own fault for not sealing the hinge gap. FLUTTER, FLUTTER, FLUTTER. What a mess. Other than that, the Matrix flew great.

John