RC Jack,

When you are ready to drill the engine mount next time maybe you could find someone in your club who has a drill press with a vise. That's one tool I can't do without. It makes drilling holes in engine bearers so much simpler. I usually mark and drill the first hole then mount everthing in the plane, make sure it is square, mark the last three holes, then remove the mount and drill with the drill press. If you use a hand drill it is almost impossible to get it perfect.

When I'm laying out the engine mounting holes on the rails, I set the engine in and cock it about 2° to the right, then mark the holes by reaching through the holes in the engine lugs with a scribe. Then I remove the engine and using the scribe, poke a punch mark in the center of each inscribed circle. Then I drill my pilot holes with a pin vise and a 1/16" bit. The final holes are the next drill size larger than whatever screw size I'm using.

I personally use a Bic or other lighter to heat up a piece of control rod,, then press it into the motor mount with the engine on it to get my indented little holes then its just a drill bit away.

DownT, I've tried fishing twice maybe 3 times in my life, the 2 Times I actually hooked a fin tailed varmint, was by the tail,,[:-][:-] No,,, I don't know how,, Now I just throw a hook line and sinker with no bait attached into the water and sit there pretending to fish whilst I get hammered on sudsy beverages.

Downtrodden,

Could you post some pictures of these fish you are catching? I don't even know what a Coho looks like. I am hitting the St Croix river for walleye this weekend. It is suppose to be nice weather.


RC Jack,

I also heat a control rod to mark my holes. I keep a torch on my work bench for when just such a need arises. It not only marks it, but also provides a pilot hole. Just be sure you keep the control rod in the center of the hole so that you get an accurate mark.

I just ordered 2 sig mounts straight from sig. The old one was definately not workable, dont ask me how I didnt catch it, but they were COMPLETELY off from one another. Before, I was using a felt tipped pen, but I will now use the control rod idea. My butane lighter will be put to use . Thanks all for the quick replies. Great ideas too.

Here are a couple more ideas....

First, I'll second what PropSpinner had to say. I was able to get a small benchtop drill press for $100, with a small bench vise included. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but it will work well enough for what I have to do.

Secondly, perhaps you might want to get a collection of extra long drills. I use mine to 'spot' the holes, then remove the mount and drill them out. These are known as "aircraft drills" and are available from any industrial supply house... I get mine from McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) in 6" or 12" lengths, english or metric sizes.

Hey, you spend more than that in a year on stuff that you throw in to your junkbox and never use!!

Bob

RC Jack, there is a tool out called a "dead center hole locator". It is a tool I use to make the holes with for my engine mounts. You should check it out. It is inexpensive, but very usefull when mounting an engine. Tower has it..just my .02....

well Folks I hope I'm not boring ye'all with these updates, but the T_ _ _ T I smashed into pieces last Saturday, Has taken the shape of a T_ _ _ T again, yes tiny particles of balsa have been laid out into what used to be actual sides,[:-] and I was able to get the shape back by bolting the wing back on the piece that was still connected to the tail section, and then piecing all the parts back together from the wing bolt forward,[sm=71_71.gif] it was amazing how it all came together, allot of epoxy forms and straight stick supports have been added to the inside for strength, I think it might be straighter then when it came from the factory,,, LOL,, NOT,,,, but its definitely a fuselage and wing again, I may have to order a 1.20 to go on there with all the extra weight, but I'm sure the OS 70 with handle the task without a problem, it may be a tad slower now but she will fly.

so with a few more hours of work she will be air worthy by this Saturday, Sorry to report such things, but I'm just bustin at the seams and had to tell someone, she is going to need a new paint job for sure but that will come over this winter, Have I mentioned how much I love this hobby???? God I love epoxy.....

Waldo Pepper,,,,,,,,, over and out

Waldo, just curious, after all them teeny balsa pieces are glued back together, do you run a belt sander over the finished product?

Waldo...do you have stock in EPOXY??
I'll bet ya the Dow Jones will go up after your repair...

Has anyone put a 120 on a Twist yet?[X(] I like the heating the control rod idea also. I never thought of that but I guess motor mounts are made out of plastic and it does melt. You could start your own garage hobby business and mount old control rods on soldering irons and sell them as locater tools. As long as you put the word hobby on the package you can sell them for $50 or more.

No stock,,, no belt sander,,,, LOl,,,, You guys,,,, lol,,,, the object is to put the pieces back together and make a whole new piece out of what doesn't seem strong enough,, 10 small pieces makes one piece and 15 small pieces make another piece, then you can fit them back together and make a whole new piece that fits back where it belongs,,, I do this in some locations, mostly all you have to do is put up a sheet or stick in between the broken halves and make a piece to fit, the T_ _ _ _ T though,, isn't made up of sheets,, its made of sticks mostly, so lots of sticks together makes a nice strong piece of epoxy steel.

I only had to put all the pieces back together first because the damage was so severe I couldn't get the shape of the original fuse back by just creating new pieces, which of course would have been the easy fix. Luckily for me, I have been involved in this hobby for so long I have an abundance of Balsa, ply, triangular, and sticks of wood, needless to say a million parts of control horns servo arms, and anything else you could probably think of,, For every time I smash a plane I save all the hardware and sometimes even the control surfaces and good parts of the wood, one of these days I'm going to build a house,,, that can fly,,, LOL.[8D]

And only went through a half a bottle each of resin and hardener. no Zap required, I love a challenge anyway.

I know this is not a T---T but i wanted to show you guys the H9 P51 my son & I built.

Don't you Believe me. Oh Come on. Trust Me .

Hey guys I lost about an inch and a half of JR R700 antennae. How much will this affect the performance of my receiver?

Thanks
Joel

I've been told by our LHS that it makes a big difference. If you e-mail JR I'm sure they would be happy to tell you how long to make the wire so that you get the best reception. There is also a RCU JR forum you could post on and someone from JR should respond.

Joel, I don't think 1/2" would make much difference. The length should be 39". It would be easy to solder an over long extension on and trim back to the correct length.

191557.....Is that an ARF??I would like to see the box that one came inGuess it takes about a 50 servo's or so...

Jlank, be cautious...I am also informed that if, for one or the other reason, your receiver wire get's shorter, it can influence your transmission with the plane. I sure would contact your LHS or JR to find out, before you loose a plane over it...

I have witnessed another pilot flying with 6"missing from their receiver antenna with no ill effects. Granted it was a 3D plane and was always kept relatively close and we don't have much in the way of sources for interference up here in the sticks. I've also watched the same pilot fly with the last two elements of his transmitter antennna hacked off. (Prop accident, what else!) In that we don't have a formal club with rules et al...flying with these characters is an exercise in self-preservation. Some of these guys act as if you've hastily removed ten feet of duck tape that was throughly stuck to every sensitive location that has hair on it when you question the soundness of their flying equipment. Usually, I just make sure I can dive into my minivan when it's their turn in the air.

The fall colors are at season's peak and it's supposed to be a balmy 70 degrees today with gentle breezes today and I'll be stuck inside! There ought to be a law! I hope some of you folks get to fly today..........

Peace,

Downtrodden

Think of a shortened antenna as being the same as turning down the hearing aid on your airplane. It can still 'hear' the transmitter, just not as well. I don't think that 1/2" will make a huge difference. But, as TimC said, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring it back to full length.

You can lose that 6" that Downtrodden mentioned, but as he points out, that plane was flying close in. It would probably fly further out, but again, it would be more 'deaf' than an airplane that had a full antenna.

It's not the end of the world, just not a good thing to do....

Bob

191 If that is your plane, then you won't me coming on up to take her for a quick spin, would you??? Better yet,, why don't you fly on over here,, it would be much faster.... great job on her by the way...

DownT,, I believe I have been at the sticky end of the Duct tape, funny band members during breakdown with a mix of alcohol and duct tape a plenty,,, makes for a scary experience, but we have all been the victims, and the instigators of such entertaining and tresses subtraction misdeed. [sm=lol.gif]

They do say the effects could be bad with a shortened wire, I have never experienced any problems personally with a shortened antenna, Once I left my antenna home when I went to field, Luckily I had a trunk and in the trunk was a Coat Hanger,,,[:-] So,, I have flown my plane with a coat hanger hanging out of my box for an antenna, that was in a younger mans day, about 20 years ago, and she flew like a champ, I was wondering when it was going to leave me, but I was very fortunate,, I did have a practical joker with me that day[>:] who decided to just pull it out during my flight and dropped it on the ground in front of me, [&:] I tell you if I could move today as fast as I did that day, to get the dang thing and put it back in my box,, I would be some type of athlete, but I am broken down and slower these days, so I am just a T_ _ _ Taholic now which is way better...

Oh,,, I did give the guy 3 lashings with the hanger when I landed,,[sm=punching.gif] The Dumb a##

Waldo, Sonnytex has a thread where he relates the problem of breaking motor mounts with his Twist/.70 Surpass combination. He's busted two sets of mounts. You might check it out and see if you could help him with his problem. [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4824899/anchors_4834732/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#4834732]Mount Problems[/link]

Thanks Tim,,,, I tried not to confuse him

Thanks guy rx range checked good to about 45 paces which for me with my stubby legs equals about 80 to 90 feet!! I still didn't feel comfortable so I went ahead changed out the rx with one I had here at the house. Might not make any difference but I feel better!!

Thanks
Joel

The range of a RX is way farther than we ever get them. I have flown them with several inches gone with no trouble at all.

Waldo, I told the guy that owned the mustang that I would let him drive my 66 mustang If he would let me fly his P51 Mustang. I don't understand why he wouldn't do that [sm=72_72.gif]. I have never crashed a plane so bad that I couldn't walk away from it . Twas a good air show anyway.


That was Quick.