I do plan onboard camera on the Senior. Where did you mount camera? I keep thinking OS 91,although I am sure a 70 4S would do fine.

Redflier, here is what I did for mine, using a Kodak DX 6440.

Since the muffler hangs to the right side I made a cradle on the left under the wing attached close to the CG point. Put it on a 3 position switch so the servo arm first presses the button part way to actvate the camera and set the shutter, etc. then the next switch position presses the shutter all the way. Also have it set up to take 4 pictures with each shutter press. It is angled slghtly so only the wingtip shows in the final photo and the wing position gives me a good indicator of what the camera is looking at. If I get a chance I will attach a photo of it tomorrow.

Ed M.

bentgear, a picture would be great! Someplace just recently I saw an ad for a cheap digital camera for $49.00. I cannot imagine it is much! My camera a little too expensive to put on an airplane. I will be looking for your pic. Don

Anyone have any good ideas on how to mount the struts?

Redflier, Just a simple basswood mount and some foam. I hold the camera in using a 1/4 screw in the tripod mount socket.

Iflyit, since they are only for looks you should be able to stick them on any way you want to.

I was informed by Hobby Lobby that they are functional and need to be on if doing any loops or high G maneuvers.

I have the sr. telemaster kit standing by on my table waiting. I'm going with a k&B 65 with dual servos for ailerons and hi-torque servo for the elevator and bolted wing. I gave some thought to a two wing, but the idea of adding struts has me concerned. I'm looking forward to this build.

Hobby Lobby dropped the ball on the struts, says they`re needed & throws the parts in the box, then say nothing about the installation

I have had a HL SR tele for about 6 years and it is my favorite plane to fly. I have an MVS 77 on mine and I can fly it inverted 20 feet of the runway withit no problem.

Mine did not come with struts and flew it for years without them. After seeing some one else fold their wind I put a pair of home made struts on. If you don't yankon the stick with it you would be fine without struts.

I have used this plane for some psudo cross country flights ( from one club's field anthor club's field on new years day). I can pull back the throttle to 1/4 at most and it will fly forever.

Mine is currently in the hangar for an OP16 overhaul.

I was looking for a good way to attach them to the wings, not sure if I trust just using a clevis or not.

Maybe HL can e-mail you some directions and/or post some on their website. They're usually pretty good about taking care of their customers. Call and talk to LA. He'll know how to get them on there.

Guess HL has changed their tune on the struts. When I put mine together a couple years ago I was told they were just for show, and I think they were right. If you are flying this plane in such a way that it needs the struts, you need to be flying another plane.

Even without struts it will take a lot of punishment. This summer at a flyin we were putting anybody that wanted to try RC on the buddy box. Talk about bank and yank! Had to land it dead stick a few times from running out of fuel cause the kids were having so much fun, but no damage from all the learning dumb thumbs.

Two things I have found the plane needs. Straight wing joiners for when you want to do some mild acrobatics and a bigger rudder. Taking the dihedral out of the wing improves the roll and the bigger rudder makes stall turns better and lets you slip it at a bigger angle so you can set it down in front of you from a higher altitude.

Ed M.

Bentgear, Thanks for camera mount pics. Picture sure helps,looks simple enough.
I'm thinking also about the strut thing, if you need the struts,you should fly a different airplane!
I get that kind of flying out of my system, flying my Twist! Sometimes I think I could get rid of all my airplanes and fly just the Twist,but I do like a nice slow flying, floating bigger airplane to fly in late evening or early morning.

The struts were recommended to even do a loop which is not out of the question for this plane. I have mine mounted to make sure the wings wont fold. All I fly are 3D planes so I am sure I will try a roll or loop without thinking about it so I would rather be safe than sorry.

Loops and rools are well within its grasp, struts or not. With a 91 FX it will hover, just can't catch it if it gets too far out of shape before you input. Not sure what it does when you give it a snap input would be called a snap roll, but its much more than just a putt around plane if you want to fly it that way. But what I call a putt around plane is where it excells.

A quick burst of throttle lifts the tail before the wheels even start to move. Into the wind it will take off in its length. Catch the right conditions and bring the throttle up slowly with a head wind and it will take off and fly backwards. One wheel touch and goes at little more than a walking pace the length of the runway are comman. Take it up high and shut the engine off, time the MINUTES you can keep it up before landing. One of these days I gonna find me a monster thermal and just see what it will do.

BTW, have you noticed that the ARF and the kits are different planes. The ARF is stronger with the slab side construction.

You guys got me thinking about odering one of the new ones to put to the side in case the balsa gods call mine home.

Ed M.

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I haven't examined my new Sr. Tele ARF all that well as yet, but in the past, the ARFs were not built/constructed the same as the kits. I would be a bit cautious about stressing the new bird too much until more is learned about it.

Did anyone happen to catch tonights episode of radio controlled hobbies on DIY? They did a show on brushless motors and all the birds on the show were from Hobby Lobby including the STM ARF. The guy from Hobby Lobby claimed they were flying it on a 3S?P pack?! I find it interesting because most all people I talk to go with either a 5 or 6s pack. So is it possible to fly a STM on just 11 volts and an AXI 4130/18?

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If this were a full size aircraft, I would agree with you about flying a different plane if aerobatics are intended.

However, being a model with the pilot having no way of knowing just how much g force is generated in a turn, the model should be capable of surviving even the worst examples of airmanship without suffering structural failure. Especially when the struts are considered key, but are treated as an aesthetic accessory for the model in question.

Couple this to the fact that many folks buy this particular model for dropping candy, taking photos and other missions involving carrying extra weight above that of a normal airframe, there is really no excuse for selling an inadequately engineered model. The struts suck and they could be eliminated by a simple reengineering of the wing attachment method.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that any airframe can be overstressed. This is something that I used to emphasize to my student pilots when I was an active instructor. Even so, the model should be up to performing its intended mission without using the struts, unless it is mentioned in the instructions that the struts perform in a structural nature.

Part of the problem, as I perceive it, is that seldom are the ARF models built/designed/etc., as robustly as that of a kit built model. Those purchasing ARFs should be made aware of this fact. Just because it has the same name and kind of resembles the original model, is no reason to expect it to be as well built as a kit built version with the same name.

Ed C., I gree. And I think the ARF version, at least the one marketed a few years ago, is a much stronger plane than the kit.

BTW, I used acrobatics on purpose, what the kids were doing with this plane was in no way aerobatics.

Has anybody that had the older ARF got the new one yet? I was hoping to have made it thru Nashville by now to pick one up but looks like that trip will be a few months off. Think I want to discuss electric power with the HL crew for the next one.

Ed M.

Let's see some more HL Telemaster ARF flyers from the warmer climes jump in here. There is over a foot of snow on ground here. There must be at least a few flying this ARF with or without wing struts.at least south of snow belt.

I used some K&S sheet stock and made a little angle brakets and installed the ball part of the ball link. the struts use the threaded rod and the cup, the struts just snap on and off.

I have the ARF and an extra kit type wing, in my opinion the ARF is much beefier and better built than the kit built wing.

I really like the ARF. I use an old OS Max H-80 to pull it around. Telemasters are Great Airplanes.

Broken Wings:
Can you do a pic of this wing strut attach? Mine is still in the box yet, no rush,as not much flying this time of year. Will start assembly shortly though. Don

http://dubro.com/DUBRO2005CATALOG/index.htm

Dubro makes some little straps with three holes drilled in them that you can use if you dont want to make your own brackets, they can be trimmed shorter and bent at a 45 drgree angle.

I made little triangles out of 1/16" thick aluminum and rounded the corners, I drilled a hole at each corner. one hole for the ball link knob and the other two so I could attach them to the plane.

They also make the plastic "Snap-on" plastic ball links in 2-56 and heavy duty 4-40 plastic ball links. Some Car guys use them for steering hook-ups.

I just drilled the ends of my wooden struts to accept a peice of threaded rod on each end and epoxied the rod into the end of each strut after I measured how long I needed to make them.

. I just threaded the plastic "cup" part of the ball link kit on each end of the strut.

The knob part of the ball link kit gets attached to the little bracket.

There is a little hardwood block to the right side of eack servo mount in the wing. You can feel it through the covering, that it where I attached the bracket. i'ts about 1/2" square.

You just need very small wood screws to attach the brackets. Don't go overboard and drill big holes in your wings spar. (for example) That would be a bad thing...smiles. The other end mounts down on the landing gear block.

The struts just snap on and off with a ball link tool, don't use a screw driver to pop them off or you'll poke a hole in your wing...smiles.

They work, but to be honest I don't think that they are really necessary. I guess it all depends on how you fly the plane. I like to just float around.

I didn't want the hassle of having to "Bolt the struts on" so I used the snap-on ball links.

retnavycdr,

How about an update. Did you decide on the Evolution?