I am building my STA-M and finally reached the point where I was going to mount the engine to the firewall tonight. When taking measurements to line things up, I noticed the firewall is not square with the fuselage. In fact, it is skewed by 1/8 of an inch. Consequently, I can't line up the engine along the centerline. Is this a problem others have experienced with this plane? If so, is there any remedy you guys can recommend? If need be, I will call Great Planes and/or Tower Hobbies to demand they send me a replacement fuselage, tail feathers, and new fairings. [:@]

Ed M

I fi remember correctly when I built mine, there is an offset built into the firewall for offset thrust for the engine, it does not mount totally deadcenter. If you use the recommendations in the manual for the proper distance for the firewall, and center the mount over the "X", then the engine will mount perfectly in the cowl. IT will fly great and will not require a huge amount of rudder to keep it straight on takeoff.
Tommy

Thanks for the information Tommy! I'll mount the engine tonight and see how it turns out.

If the engine is out a bit, you can always just add a few washers between the firewall and the engine mount to change the angle of the engine. If you need more down for instance put 2 washers between the 2 top engine mount bolts and the firewall. [8D]

Fastsky

Thanks for the advice. I contacted Great Planes and they informed me the fuselage was designed that way to counter the thrust.

2 degrees right and 1 degree up on the firewall. If it is assembled according to the instructions it should be fine just as Tommy said. SWEEET!

Thanks again guys!

Ed

One thing I forgot to mention.........customer service at Great Planes was excellent! I fired off an email describing what I thought was a problem and got an immediate response. I salute Great Planes for their quick reply and interest in resolving my issue!!!