Actually the horn should be placed closer to being inline with the servo shaft, but not perfectly inline if you want the best mechanical advantage at full throws (both up and down). If anyone has a bigger picture than mine please post it. Mine is hard to see. Having the control rod at 90 degrees when the surface is at center gives you the most force only at center. At full deflection it is minimum and that's where you need it especially for 3D.

The other thing is that it's impossible to have no side load on the horn with that setup (or any setup for that matter). If that's a big concern go with the Dubro adjustable control horns that use threaded bolts for the horns. They can handle any side force you can generate. Actually those Chip Hyde ones look like they will be fine too. They are designed to handle some side force.

Well, I look at it this way when the servo/control horn geometry is such. Either you rig for max mechanical advantage at full deflection, or it is there at the neutral point. I look at where my ailerons are going to be for the majority of the time, then arrange to suit.

Darcy - the way mine are arranged, there is perfect alignment at neutral. Only when the arms are at full deflection is there the side force you mentioned. I minimized this by arranging my setup as depicted, and only see this 'momentary' side force at full aileron deflection. Again, where you operate these the most should dictate how you set them up. Since I fly more IMAC stuff then all out 3D, mine typical are at neutral for the majority of the time. Hence you see my arrangement. The servo arm and control horn are in direct alignment and are at max mechanical advantage (for me) at neutral.

Ideally, the servo should be on its side to avoid all of this.

Spar

WOW, is this forum dead. Any more info on this plane? I just ordered mine since it was down to $379. I am new to giant planes and gas. Any suggestions on websites to help a newbie out? I haven't decided on an engine yet, but am leaning towards a DA50 or BME50. Is anyone still flying this plane? Any more videos?

I have a DA in mine, but a lot of people are happy with the BME's too. Rear carbs can be a bit tricky.
I saw that price drop and almost ordered another one "just in case".

My suggestion: Read all 24 pages of this forum.

Mine came out pretty tail heavy. I probably have close to a pound of lead behind the firewall. I just bought an Ohio tailwheel to see if that will help. If it saves me an ounce back there I will be happy.

I wonder if I could have some barstock machined to replace the "prop washer" that DA uses to get some more weight forward. Replace the stock one with a steel one to add some nose weight. Shouldnt add too much to the rotating mass.

Even with the added weight it flies fine to me, but I am no 3d pilot by any definition....


Dont forget to range test the radio with motor on and off.

Have fun.

Rob

I also am flying mine with a DA-50. The engine starts sooooo easy and runs very strong. No problem punching out of a hover. The plane flies wonderfully. It slows down like a trainer for landing with no tendency to tip stall. I have had some trouble with the covering on hot summer days and I have had to re shrink it several times. Be careful as it scratches with just a touch of the Teflon covered sealing iron and I damaged my canopy when I got the heat gun too close on the hatch. My Graph Tech landing gear was gone on the third flight when I rolled off the end of the runway into the tall grass. I did not feel that they should have failed. Gene at Troy Built says this is common. I expected "CF=stronger than steel", no way! If that were the case it should have ripped the bottom of the Edge off (no dammage). My opinion is too much resin and not enough CF. I did not order a replacement set and will be laying up my own. The foam tires were shot after about ten flights. I love how little they weigh but they are not tough enough for a plane of this size.

I did not have to add any weight to my plane to balance it thanks to the info in this thread. I spent all the money I could on CF goodies and tried to make the plane as light as possible but the fuse came out at 13.12 lbs and the wings weigh about 1.75. The flying weight is 17.25 lbs. I don't see any way to get another pound and a half off this plane. I did not "hog" out the tail section as I felt the weight gain vs. strength not worth the effort. I have found that scales in this range are by and large not very accurate. I ended up taking my plane to the local UPS office and weighing it on there scales. I would love to see this plane fly at under 16 lbs but I am skeptical it can reach that weight.

When the last days come and the earth rises up and smites thy aircraft I shall purchase another from BME. I love this plane and I will not be going back to smaller glow. I can't stress enough the convenience of a large scale GAS plane. No SLIME! No flight box, just me, my radio, gas jug and a smile!

Finished pic

Here, here!!
Ditto!

Spar

guts!

Can some of you post more detailed info of what you used in your plane, engine, electronics, control connectors, etc. I know there are some in previous posts, I just want to make sure I get the right stuff for it. Also the DA50 guys, did you all use 3" standoffs or anyone use longer ones? My plane will be here Wed, but I don't plan on having it ready until next year. New house built, new baby girl, no time and little money, but I just had to have one of these planes. I need to sell some of my glow planes to pay for the stuff for this plane.

read the prior 23 pages....
Its all there.

I think there was another thread from desertpig that had more info too.

I just received the Teal version. Last one they had.

Unfortunately, I don't care for the color. I want to strip the graphics off.

Can I get the colored graphics off the wings without ripping the white covering up too?

I don't mind stripping the tail surfaces and re-covering the hatch/cockpit area. I'll need to paint the cowl too. All this isn't really a big deal.

But, I don't want to re-cover the wings if I can get away with it. The bottom of the wings looks fine. And, it's a LOT of covering--if I have to strip the entire wing.

Can anyone help me out.

BTW--HUGE BUMP on this thread.

Good luck on ripping the covering off! You are more energetic than I. The black and white striped areas do not have white coating under the black so you will have to strip the whole thing.

It's the TOP of the wings, turtledeck, and hatch that I'm not to crazy about.

I guess I should have been more specific--sorry I wasn't clear on this:

I LIKE the black stripes on the bottom of the wings and tail. Thats probably the same way I'd have covered it. I generally like the stripes on the bottom of an aerobat.

It's all the girly lookin' purple, red, violet and teal on top of the wings and turtledeck that is killin' me.

It looks like I can strip them off. But, I'm worried about ripping or tearing the white covering underneath.

I can repaint the cowl and recover the hatch. No problem.