Any suggestions from you guys that have put together the Porter ARF from PCPlanePower?

What did you do with the aileron trays?
Also, were you able to get the servo leads through the wing?

This ARF, I love it and hate it. It's great construction, but some of the ways they do things leaves a lot to be desired. They build the plane out of excellent wood, and all the glue joints are perfect, but then some other things like the aileron wire routing is very poor.

I guess I love it though. I hope it flys as well as it is built.

I think I'm going to take your suggestions and put the MVVS 1.6 in the nose.

Hey, if I'm not happy with the performance, I'll take it out and put the BME 44 in.

What did you guys do with the elevator? It's sure doesn't seem to be enough up?

Jim!

Jim:

Did you leave the elevator as is with the hinge? Although there's a lot of down, there doesn't seem to be much up?

Jim!

With that high lift airfoil, the up elevator is more then enough.

Don't worry about it.

pequeajim:

I didn't use the servo trays either but did use the covers.
I made a thin ply floor for the aileron and flap servo pockets and glued them in with Elmers. I then mounted each servo with the thin black rubber servo tape. I use this method often and have never had one come loose.
I had to inlarge the servo lead hole in the wing with a dowl but still had to remove the plug from the lead in order to get it through to the root rib. There is a ply rib in the wing about 2" from the flap servo pocket.
As for the elevator, I mounted mine with the gap on the bottom, the way is should have been done but now
the heads of the screws show, no biggie.
I also heated and bent the tail wheel too the rear half way between the axel and the coil spring. It looks much better and the coil now works. Oh, and take your time trimmin that damn whindshield.

Thanks for the advice on the servo trays. They are next. I think I will do the mounting with a circle of ply, but I am going to build a little removable servo holder so I can mount the servo sideways. Screw the servo into the holder, and then the holder into the ply circle.

I really debated which engine to put in the plane. If I was just going to fly it around and drop candy, I would have went with the 1.6 as it fits in the cowl better. I was fitting the MVVS in the front and found out I needed a little nose weight. Since I am also going to tow some pretty big planes, I decided to go with the BME 44.

I did a little research

US 35 wt 68oz HP 2.4
OS BGX wt 60 oz HP 4.1
Fuji 32 BT-32A wt 60oz. HP 2.2
Zenoah G38 wt 71 oz. HP 2.5

Engines I have
MVVS 1.6 wt 38 oz HP 3.0
BME 44 wt 46 oz HP (I don't know, but it is the most powerful)

I figured if I was going to add weight in the nose anyway, I might as well go with the BME. Plus, I really wanted to save the MVVS for a Cap 232.

I'm going to leave the cowl off for a while as I fly it. If the plane is WAY over powered, (I can only fly around at just above idle), then I will revert back to the MVVS.

I would be the first one to be very surprised, if you had to add nose weight using a BME 44 !

can any one tell anything about a porter with 72 in. wing. i bought one from a person whom bought it at a auction. it flys but am reworking it. nothing on it was staight. i believe it was a kit. foam and balsa. it has no flaps.what % of aieliorn to flap any ideas would be helpful. thank you fxd

I don't think I will have to. Where is the CG on this plane?

"I did a little research

US 35 wt 68oz HP 2.4
OS BGX wt 60 oz HP 4.1
Fuji 32 BT-32A wt 60oz. HP 2.2
Zenoah G38 wt 71 oz. HP 2.5

Engines I have
MVVS 1.6 wt 38 oz HP 3.0
BME 44 wt 46 oz HP (I don't know, but it is the most powerful)

I figured if I was going to add weight in the nose anyway, I might as well go with the BME. Plus, I really wanted to save the MVVS for a Cap 232. "

How did you come to the above conclusion, if you didn't know where the CG belonged ? ? ?

On the Altec Pilatus Porter I once had, I used the inner third of the strip ailerons for the flaps and mounted them with Hinge-Points for that Fouler effect.
The plane really didn't need them but looked great, had to land with power.

I finished up the bomb bay door tonight and have them attached. I am trying to keep all of the servos, battery and receiver in a box that spans the width of the back...

Here's a pic...



And here's a pic of the bomb bay doors... They were a little bit of a pain, but are worth it! The release is inside the servo box, (The upside down servo). I may end up burying a micro inside the box as it is a little tough to hook up the ball link to the servo when I close the lid.




And here's the BME mounted on the front.



Jim!

carlos thank you for info. do you rember what you used for engine . iam using a kb60. am looking for a cowl for it mine was broke pretty bad when i got the plane. any ideas thank you fxd

I used a OS-91 four stroke in mine.
As for the cowl, post an ad for one or make one out of wood or fiberglass or both.
I think the firewall is too narrow to convert it to a "piston engine" Porter like the RC Plane Power model.
Otherwise you could use a Cub or Cherokee cowl of the same scale.

Jim,

Would you do me a favor and measure how far from the bottom of the fuse you drew the horizontal line for centering the engine?

Thanks,

That would be 3-3/4" from the dead center-bottom of the fuse...

The upside down servo for the door release was a bad idea and too much of a hassle to snap on the door release rod. I ended up fitting a micro servo in the bottom of the box ans snapped the rod on and viola! I was in business.

It's amazing how much candy this fuse will hold!

(And water balloons too!)

Did you guys notice that the windows when seated against the flanges stick out too far?