Hello, from south FL. if any one is planning on building the OV10 from Hobbie Hangar and you are going to use OS 25's, use cation on the engine instalation, you can not follow the instructions and the designer does not say anything about the muffler on the OS engines hitting the top of the wing,YOU MUST ROTATE THE ENGINES 45 deg.

I went to the designers office to pick up the plane and told him what engines I was going to use, he didnot say anything about the mufflers hitting the wing, so after a 30 min. telephone call raising H@#!, he did make it good.

The little airplane does fly very nice, USE cation building.

Hi There,

I too am in the building stage on my OV-10 from Hobby Hanger. I was so excited to see such a nice plane with a great covering job but as I got into the build became more and more frustrated.

When I tried to mount my FX .25’s I found that the mufflers wouldn’t clear the fuselage. I never noticed the wing interference until recently. I wound up using J’TEC mufflers inside the cowl.

Also, the elevator rod flexed it’s way thru the fuselage and up thru the vertical stabilizer fin and out to the elevator. It's a nice idea but there was so much friction (8 oz pull on the best side) that I had to use a digital servo so it would have a chance to return to neutral. Did you have a similar problem? Did you use one or two elevator servos?

Also the rudder is hinged at a severe angle relative to the pushrod exit direction. I used a ball joint but I’m not happy with it. What did you do here?

What other “cautions” are there?

A fellow South Florida Modeler,

Bill

Bill, I too had the problem with the elev. what I did was hook the push rod to my drill motor and let it run moving the push rod in and out until I had a nice and smooth movement without friction.

On the rudder, I let the push rod find neutral and then installed the connector using the joint for center line as you should.

Be very careful with the ca hinges, glue them several times. I had the elevator blow off on the second flight, I cut the power and lowered the landing gear several times until I had a nose up attitude, no damage during landing.

I would be glad to talk to you more on aol, about the airplane.

[email protected]

Good luck, look the airplane over very good, you will find all kinds of stuff.

I went with the O.S. .25s FXs on mine also. I caught the muffler problem, however the rear high speed needle access is terrible with the engines turned.

I put my engine heads at about 10 o'clock, but the needle comes out right at the leading edges of the wing. You almost have to put 4" extensions on them to clear it. I also also had to move the the pressure fittings on the mufflers to clear the wing.

My elevator and Aileron linkages were quite stiff also. I've been chancing it with Futaba 3004 servos, and it seems to working fine. I can tell that the servos struggle finding center sometimes, and the plane is a bit pitch sensitve due to this.

One other snafu I've found, is the front wheel is too small (or the front gear is not long enough). On my first take off, the thing didn't want to leave the ground. As soon as I cut throttle to abort take off, the thing lifted in the air. Mine sat with too much of a down nose, and didn't want to leave the ground.

The cowls plastic is about the worst I have ever seen. Be carefull cutting it, otherwise it will crack.

I hate to complain, because this thing really does fly nice, and gets more attention at the field than most planes. I just wish they went the extra mile, and fixed some of these minor issues. Its almosts as if they did very litte testing of the completed Arf.

I, also found the same problems with the plastic. I must have rotated my engines more than you did, no problem with the pressure fitting the needle valve is about 1/2" away from the firewall.

Did you use spring air gear, I don't have the problem on take off, but my nose is up a small amount.

The airplane is over priced for all of the problems you have to put up with. I have't seen any others flying.

Mine does not have retracts. I used the gear that they supplied. I also had the nose wheel set as far as it would go down, and the nose still did not sit up far enough.

I wouldn't say that it is overpriced at all. Overall all I am very happy with the plane. I have not had a single Arf without something that I have been unhappy with.

I have the only one at our field, which to me, is a bonus.

maybe the retracts made the difference the nose strut is longer.

what part of the world do you fly at, we are planning to do some traveling soon maybe we can make one of your clubs fly in.

The price of the airplane with retracts to me puts the airplane in the upper class of high for what you get.

Have a great Holiday.

I fly in Minnesota, so getting together to fly will have to wait at least six months. The snow should be clear by May

Adding spring air retracts to the cost of the ARF would get it up there. I think I paid about $239 for the ARF, without retracts.

I don't get to Florida too often, but you never no.

Well, Daven I am sorry about the snow, all I can remember it being good for was building or snow flying, if you decide to come this way bring an airplane and we will give it a try.

Good luck.

Here's my OV-10. haven't flown it yet. There are a few problems to overcome with the building of this ARF (almost all ARFs have them as well) but the final plane really is nice.

Bill

You, will enjoy flying the bird, if you have'nt pined the hinges DO so, I blew the elevator off on the second flight. by cycling the retracts I got the nose up to make a good landing no damage. Also if you are flying off grass you will need a lot of speed, the air plane will jump off just about the time you think it isn't going to fly so be ready,

I do not recommend the amount of travel on the controls at least not on the first flight.

Good luck, you will love the little airplane.

R. Kranz

Hi,

Thanks for your note.
When you say "I do not recommend the amount of travel on the controls at least not on the first flight " I assume you mean I should try less travel on the first flights. If so, how much less?

I also lowered the nose wheel as far as I could and slightly increased the size of the wheel. The plane seemed to be tilting too much down and I read about it having take off problems. (I'll be flying on a paved surface.)

Thanks,

Bill

PS The in cowl mufflers look nice and increase the power (and noise)

My OV-10 is due in Tomorow!!! (Fixed Landing Gear) The OS FX .25 are here from Tower and now I am feeling a little fearful.

Just completed a PC-9 from Seagull and that was a real handful, basically rebuilt the frame and replaced all the hardware...anyhow, sounds like the same thing with the OV10.

I went with an Airtronics RD6000 prog 6 channel.

Do you have pics of your motor installs?


Thanks

What do you guys think of two Saito .30's????

Jerry

What do you guys think of Saito .30s?

Well, I'm not one to say my planes are overpowered, but with two O.S. .25Fxs turning 9x6 props, it was clocked on radar at close to 90 mph. I see no problem using the little 4 strokes, and I bet the sound will be awesome.

The arf has some minor issues (in my opinion), but it truely flies great, and will get a ton of attention at the field. I had no issues with the original throws. I would make sure that the wing sits at least level with the ground. With the nose down at all, you will have a hard time getting it off the ground.

I agree that the 30s will have plenty of power and sound great but I'm not sure if they would fit. They are longer than the FXs. It would be close if they did. Another Plus for the Saitos is that they are a little lighter when you include the 2 stroke muffler.

I'm planning on using 9.5x4.5 on my FX .25s. at least at first. Plenty of thrust and a more reasonable (for me) top speed of around 70.

Cappie, are you planning in the cowl mufflers?

Bill

Bill Yonescu: My ARF is due in today......so I am still blind about the whole motor/space issue....

Do you have and digital close-ups of your install? I like working with small companioned like HobbyHangar, but usually they tend to communicate better than this....

The ARF looks great....should I have gone for the retracts? HH indicated that its better to learn without and retro-fit them in after a couple hours with the fixed gear....

If the AOA is down in a static position, then changing to a larger front wheel makes some sense....though looks weird.

I will take some photos today.

Bill

PS: I looked at my plane and saw that I didn't change that nose wheel. The one I had was too soft. The supplied mains are 2 1/16" and the is nose 1 3/4". Not sure what I will with the wheels.

Thanks Bill,

I just received the ARF, the instructions are....light. But it looks like aquality kit. I am finishing up a GB Tiger 60 and can't wait to get started on the Bronco.

Too bad I have to work...

Here is photo 1

Note the misalignment between the spinner and the cowl. I mounted the engine mount 3/4' above the bottom where instructed to do so. The cowl won't move down any further without hitting the engine and not being at all centered in the hole. I think mounting the engine mount 1/4" lower would have made the cowl fit better but not sure what that may do to the flight characteristics.

Photo 2.

Here's what it looks inside. Had to make a 1/8" spacer to go between the engine and muffler so the output pipe weren't hitting the mount.

Photo 3

Other side

Photo 4
Head on

Photo 5

Top View

Photo 6

Engine cutout detail