Thank Rich , The info you have offered is comprehensive and so I will work through your ideas and report back.
Its shame that what appears on the surface to be a great rendition of a fantastic concept is a complete *****.

I started the bear.....tail is installed, all the wood inside the fuse installed ,and the engine is enstalled. I read here before where someone using the thundertiger retracts couldnt get the tank in............so what did any of yall do with the standard retracts? Im not buyin no robarts.
Heres my first major probleemo, beside rebuilding the tail....
The right wing tube hole is about 3/16th lower than the left wing, thus leaving the right wing lower than the left. Im gonna have to cut the hole higher, and istall more ply inside under the hole. Anyone else had that problem? cant remember readin about that......
Im using dowl pin meathod for installing the whole canopy hatch, with two springloaded latches at the rear, similar to bomb drops in design.
same with under carriage. I cant stand all those screws.
Im also mounting the cowl with a hidden mount that will remove easily with a ball driver. Anyhow...any comments?
Thanx
d

Hey, where's all this stuff go?

Here's some pics of my nearly complete RB..I found a place for all that stuff

The uncovered stab is now coated with Gorilla Glue inside...the other stab was done with epoxy to make sure everything holds together in there....kind of an experiment I guess to see if one side holds any better than the other..

The cowl was only cut to allow the heads of the engine to poke through. Is that going to be enough cooling for the Saito 1.80??

I still need to find a good way to attach the wheel bay doors to the struts in a nice and sturdy way so that they stay on in flight! Any ideas with that would be appreciated.

hey i just bought a RB and will it perform well with a OS 1.08 FSR with a tuned pipe? how fast?? im pushing for over 90mph.....please advise

Thxs,

Kevin

Frag,

Depending on your gear size, Robart makes gear door brackets for all different size struts. Example at bottom of page: http://robart.com/RoboStruts/440_Series.aspx

DT

frag its lookin like a bear.
Did you have any wing alignment problems?
thanx
d

so will it be fast with a 1.08 FSR or not, me thinks it will be fsat.........just want advise from veterans.....

Bignasdy:

The only wing alignment problem I had was that there was a gap beteween the body and wing on one side. I added white epoxy to the wing to take up the gap, then recovered with white Ultrakote to match everything. It was kind of a pain but it worked.

Desert Toad:

Thanks for the link, but I think that method of attachment is for hinged doors. I'll come up with something I'm sure.

bignasdy,

I didn't use the stock TT Retracts, I had a set of Spring Air 85 degree -3/16" wire that I used in place of the stock mechanical junk. The 5/32 wire in the TT retracts isn't stiff enough to provide decent stability during ground operation. If I was to use mechanical retracts, I'd go with the new units Spring Air or Robart offer as direct bolt in replacements for the cheap plastic Hobbico and TT stuff. If one could acquire a REAL set of MK Model Products Supra mechanical retracts, they would do the job as well.

I used a slightly different method to attach the canopy. I used BVM Canopy Hooks and a BVM Canopy Latch. The hooks engage into notches I cut into the upper fuselage lip in the canopy/cockpit opening. I have the canopy latch in the top center of the fuselage right behind the canopy opening. The pin of the latch engages a small maple block held to the back of the cockpit with two BVM Polyscrews. The only problem is the removable canopy section has some outward bow and doesn't grip the fuselage as tight as I want. I'll probably pull the hooks and go with alignment pins and two dowels in the front.

I used 6 BVM Polyscrcews, 3 on each side to attach the rear tailcone panel. You don't remove this panel often so screws are the best way to attach it. I completely modified the retract mounts and wheelwells. Basically I only used the wheelwell liners and cut off the narrow portion that extends towards the retracts. I trimmed them to fit under the wing skins and they are glued in place with RC56. I also cut out the openings in the Oil Cooler openings. This is simply for aesthetics, but in my case it resulted in a cool whistling sound at certain airspeeds. I haven't mounted the Strut Covers, I'm wanting until I have all the bugs worked out before investing the time on these. If the plane survives, I might install sequncing wheel well doors. I have some scrap fiberglass pieces from one of my Ducted Fan kits. These scraps match the curve of the lower fuse perfectly and I could easily build wheelwell doors from them. Sequencing doors and a retractable tailwheel would look Sierra Hotel in flight. I might even consider installing the correct military canopy and repainting the RB in a colorful military scheme.

Rich

Fitting the supplied tank was not an option for me, I wanted a bigger tank (750ml) for some time in the air. I made a cradel for the tank to sit above the retract servo with a quick release catch .The tank then sits higher and improves fuel flow for starting . I tried the standard Thunder Tiger set up and it didnt do it for me. Pulling the fuel up pipes to the engine was a pain , so I fitted a pump from weston models and it worked. Flight time flat out with a TT91 Pro was approx 7 minutes with the stock fuel tank . She runs for 15 minutes easy with plenty left ,I reckon about 18 to 20 minutes flight time can be achieved ,but I find 15 minutes is just right with a comfort zone.

Id love to see the end result , Iv been looking on Airliners.net at the F8F Bear Cat with the same thing in mind , I just need to get the canopy sorted, I dont know how to go about that one. Keep us posted if you plan to go ahead with military look.........[8D]

thanx for all the info fellas. Im really excited about getting it done.
Just waiting on the stock junk retracts to get here, and a carb for the ST 90.
Il take pics of the attachment method I use for canopy and cowl.
will probly use the screws for the undercarriage attachment.
Im sure a 1.08 will be fast, but Im not sure fast is what ya want with this plane. Now if I built it myself, and the tail wasnt so cheezzy, I may want speed. Im gonna use the three blade prop to slow her down a bit as it is. Speeds not my thing at all, tho sometimes I like to rip.
I just like a plane to fly like its on rails, and perform any manuvere I want to do....and that usualy makes me happy.
As it stands, Il have to fix the wing problem, install the radio gear, canopy system, and all that stuff...then itll be off to the feild.
I agree the kit coulda been better built, espesialy the tail section.
I do love the thing tho. Im sure itll be a hanger queen quicker than most of my planes.[X(]
That said, keep em flyin!
thanx
d

Your Rare Bare Look great. I am getting ready to set up a KMP Super Sea Fury with a satio 180 in it was wondering what 3 blade prop and spinner your using on yours and if you have any data. Thanks Ron

Damaged my Bear this afternoon on take-off. The mechanical retracts failed . [i](The retracts recomended by Thunder Tiger. )[/i] To be fair they have lasted , but they are not good. The cowl is a right off and the spinner too. Thats all thats suffered ... it could have been a lot worse. Im going to overhaul it and fit robarts. All the mods you have mentioned have been sorted.( SIDE/DOWN THRUST)..its a shame because i would have liked to seen the difference.... Once its all done I will shout from the roof tops and report back with the improvements.....

Biggles2,

Sorry to hear about the retract problems. I've had probelms with my gear, but not due to the retracts. I couldn't keep the junk factory mounts in the wings for more than two flights / day, even after beefing up the mounts. I've since built proper mounts from 5 ply aircraft ply. I just haven't gotten around to finishing the repairs and painting underside of the cowling.

Rich

Thanks for that...its food for thought on beefing up the mounts. What kind of retracts have you got installed? When the Americans do something like the Rare Bear or Miss America they do it in a big and proper way.....with style.....Thunder Tiger have really cocked this one up....[&o] I will not give up on it ,I will sort it.

Can any one tell me how they got the right C of G. Did you balance the aircraft upside down . Thats common practice here in the uk.
My Bear is carrying almost 600g of balast in the nose.

My Bear have 750gram of extra weight in the nose. I use saito 180.

That explains a few things for me. It seems mad that it should carry all that dead weight. Did you set the the balance while the aircraft was upside down?

yes, i set CG when the plane was upside down

Thanks I may well need another 100g..... to bring in the right cg........

well after 2 full build ups of my friends Rare Bear he has finally given up on this ARF. We both went ofver the kit and made all the mods and even after that she still loved the side of the mountain better than the air. For what its worth it flew great. when she did fly. We are not sure what the real issue was other than I believe the Horizonal stab still malfunctioned for a second time. I posted a video here http://media.putfile.com/Rare-Bear
of his last flight. Right after he took off for a second time he came down wind and the elevator stopped responding. After we collected the wreckage the horizontal Stab was still in tact but both halves of the elevator were separated from each other leaving only one half the surface working. But then again.. it could have been a radio hit. Nevertheless.. She looked great in the air and on the ground. The video also has some 2005 rare bear footage on it too.

Jeff

Fantastic footage of the real thing...thanks for that....

sorry about yalls problems. Hopefully the mods I made to he gear mounts wil work fine.....
All I have done is mount the tail, the engine, put the gear in the wings. Im currently adjusting the wing tube as one side is 3/16th lowe then the other.....duh...
Il post some pics when the progress gets far enough.
Anyhow, good luck with the mods fellas.
d