I ended up having the same problem as Bank Yank, stab mount not level. Emailed V/F will have to see what they say.

B.Matt: What side is lower? When viewed from the back my left side is lower. Maybe ours came out of the same jig?

Ron,

Mind if I ask what the lettering cost you? I got a quote from a LSS (Local Sign Shop) for $50 for 7 letters. I'm think about cutting my own. I could easily make patterns with Cadd. Could monocote be used? VF says don't iron their planes' coverings.

jon

Bank Yank from the back left side is lower, same as yours. Vector flight told me to shim it. At the tips of the stab there is a 7/8 difference between the two sides. Shimming something like that wich already a known week area doesn't seems right. Im am becoming disapointed with this plane first the gap between the wings and fuselage and now this.

I think someone had to much to drink the night before comming to work maybe
I would not give up just yet but i sure would not shim it either. You paid for a straight fuse as i did. Everyone else has a straight fuse why should we be any different and have to cobble ours together.
I would want a new fuse or send the whole thing back for a FULL refund.
After e-mailing chuck a few times they are sending me a new fuse and i have to send the old one back for inspection so they can try to determin the problim.
Did you include pics with your emails to them? it would help a bunch if you do.
So far for me VF has been upstanding and as long as the new fuse is right i would buy again cuz you really can't beat the quality. IMHO
Pat

I paid $35 dollars for my 8 letters. Ron[8D]

I didn't include pics, I saw your's mines about the same. With the level it' also 1/4 of a bubble off.

Bank Yank how long have you been waiting for your fuselage?

my new one should be here monday or tuesday. SOOOO about a week or so.
Mine was close to 3/4 bubble off with the wing joiner holes and cockpit level and there is a VERY visible slant on the very end of the fuse. Here are the best pics i can figure out how to take that show everthing.

YB how is the 1.08 in the ultimate 10-300? I have my dads 15 year old ulitmate with a webra .61 needs more power.

It is AWESOME. I only have 2 flights on mine so far and is a real keeper

PS prop is an apc 14x10

sorry... wrong post

I think my sign shop charged me 25 dollars.. They wanted another 10-15 for them mount it on the wing. So i was like nope sorry!!

Here's an update on the belly pan:

1: Finished making the cross braces. I cut out the brace that was in the middle of the belly pan area. In this pic, I have the front half of the frame glued together.

2. Back half of the frame glued to the front half.

3. I used 3/32 balsa sheeting and sprayed it with a 1/3 ammonia to 2/3 water solution to soften it up. I then tacked the sheeting in place in a few areas with medium CA. Then I used more CA and some clamps to glue the rest of the sheeting to the frame. This pic was before I trimmed the sheeting down.

To mount my new pan, I installed 2 small dowel (1/8" I think) in the front cross brace. I doubled up on the light ply on the front brace so the dowels would have a bit more gluing area. I then cut a piece of 1/8" ply and epoxied it in place in the rearmost part of the bellypan area. I then drilled through the belly pan and the plywood plate for 1/4x20 nylon bolts. Then I tapped the plywood plate and added a plywood spacer over the holes in the belly pan so the nylon bolts won't dig into the balsa.

I am about 75% done. Right now I am waiting for the belly pan to dry out. I sprayed it down with more ammonia/water so the edges would fit snug against the fuselage side. Once it is dry, all I have to do is do a good final sanding and then cover it. I will post a few more pics later.

$50 bucks for a few letters??!!! by golly thats almost a 3rd of the price of the plane! hmmm... maybe I should open up a sign shop...!

I've used an iron on covering on my plane for some trim. its either monokote or another iron on, not sure. Gotta be careful though and use a lower temperature setting on the iron. Anyone else try covering over with monokote?

Calflyer, I used Ultracote Checkerboard on the bottome of my wings and my h-stab. Goto page 2 or 3 and you see what I did. Per Chuck at VF, you should actually use a Med to Med-High temp for the iron. The quicker that you get the iron on film to adhere, the better it is for the vinyl covering under it. Just be sure not to touch the vinyl with the bare iron.

Well guys,

Here is the belly pan. It came out great. It took a little longer than I expected because I had to wait for the balsa to dry out after I sprayed it down.

Now I can have the belly pan installed in like 30 seconds. I also feel that it is much more sturdy than the factory one.

The pics are of the finished belly pan prior to covering.

Here are the last of the pics. This is the completely finished belly pan. As you can see, there is absolutely no gap anywhere. I am extremely pleased with the results.

Talk to you guys later....

ez, excellent job on the belly pan. I may end up building one myself. Were did you get the covering. Was it you that mentioned you got some from VF? I attached my pan using velcro and it looks ok and is on and off in seconds. Does not look as good as yours though. Ron[8D]

That is one great looking pan Gary. How much did the weight change? When I get my next plane in, I will send it to you for upgrades, you do great work! LOL

Gary, awesome job on the belly pan! I also wonder about the weight and covering...

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I will provide some figures on the weight of the plane later today. I am on my way to march in a Mardi Gras parade with 2 of my kids.

Later

Looks great Gary! Want to make some extra money selling "ARF" versions? I'll take one!

By the way.....MY EDGE FINALLY SHIPPED!!! wooooohooooooo

glowplug, hmmmmmm. Never thought about making them for others. I could do it. If anyone is interested, let me know and I can add up some numbers this evening. Now that I made the first one, making more would be easier. I wouldn't try to make any profit from them. Just the cost of building materials and some labor. If you guys haven't noticed, I like building/modifying. The factory pan worked great. But since I was off work this week and the weather has been absolutely horrible, I needed something to occupy myself. And since this is something that I have been wanting to do, I saw no better time to do it.

Gotta go head to the parade. Catch you guys later.

Yeah i will have to be the second person in line for it also.. I guess i need to sit down with it and look things over on how to tackle the project. Thats the thing i cant do. hahah.. Anyway great job on the bellypan.