Joystick TX

A guy in our club has had one for over a year; it is still in the box. I keep bugging him to put it together.

Joystick TX

Since I like to fly early in the morning and the winter time light is not all that great, the white wings blended into the the early morning white clouds when I was landing making them hard to see. I made another mod to the GSS; added some orange day-glomonokote to the wingleading edges.

Tried it out this morning and it works great. Got another hour and a half of flying time logged. A winter storm will be here tomorrow, expect to get one to three inches of snow, may have to make up some skis for the old GSS.

Also, on the post flightcheck, Inoticed one servo had a couple of loose screws. That has never happened before. Last month the control horn screw was loose on that same servo. Must be some odd vibration going on in that area. I need to keep an eye on it.

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

Put a small drop of thick ca on the tip of the screws and they won't back out again. They are still easy to break free witha screwdriver if needed.

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

I have mine for sale if anyone interested. It's in the giant section.
RED.

Joystick TX

Good tip, thanks.

The servo screws have been doing okay for the last twenty flights or so, no more problems.

I found out why one of my elevator servo control horn screws came loose. A buddy crashed his big warbird due to the screw and horn coming loose on his elevator. We were talking about it in our peanut gallery. When I switched to the MG servos, the screw and gear are both metal, sothey are more likely to come loose than the servo with the nylon gears. Simple solution is to use some blue locktite. Duh.

There is a learning curve when going from glow to gas and bigger planes. These forums help a lot.

Joystick TX

Great looking plane Red.

I like the gear. Mine is just plain aluminum; functional, but not good looking.

Wish I could get it; the way I fly, I could use a back up GSS.

Got to go out right now and put an hour or two on mine while the weather is good.

redbiscuits

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks, I've had a great time with it and now it's time to pass it along to someone else. I need to free up some cash so I can move onto a warbird project that I have been daydreaming of.
Red.

tail heavy

Does anyone fly the GSS with a CG 6" behind the leading edge?? That is where my bird balanced at.
Thanks
Al

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

Don't remember where the book tells you to put it. Many that have flown it where suggested comment about the plane floating the entire length of the runway. 1/2" or maybe a little more to the rear of that will help that big time, without creating any bad habits.

tail heavy

Thanks ahicks!
When the weather warms up here in Iowa, I'll give it a try. I kinda like my planes to fly with a nuetral or slightly aft CG. Sounds like I should be good.

Al

hauckf

The manual says to balance it at 5.25", and then, if you want, move it up to 1" forward for more stability and smoothness or up to 1" aft for more aeroabatic performance.

tail heavy

Thanks. Sounds like 6" is the right spot for me.

Al

Howard

My Feedback: (55)

I did not think that I would have any issues with the wing mounted main mounts but I made several bad landings in a cross wind and ended up punching holes in the wing bottom with the back of the wheel pants. I too can still learn so I ordered Super Stearman gear from Tower about two months ago and they were placed on back order with expected delivery in late Feb. Just the other day they changed the delivery date to late April. Bottom line anyone have experience fitting the GSS with landing gear other than that from the Super Stearman or better yet does anyone have a Super Stearman gear they want to sell? Thanks

Howard

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

I've been running mine "wing mounted" without issue (other than the occasional having to straighten the gear!) and I like them out there. It hadn't dawned on me others might not for the reason you've given! I'm sure if I were using the wheel pants I'd have done the same thing many times over!

Joystick TX

I used the landing gear from the .120 sized Spacewalker, PN SEA3507, cost was $16. It is a little too flexible for the GSS with a big 30cc gas engine up front, but I put some springs on it to stiffed it up a little and it works great.

It has plenty of flex for our rough grass field and is very forgiving on those not so gentle landings.

I use the 4" wheels without wheel pants because I fly from a lot of fields that have tall grass or weeds.

The two piece design bothered me at first, but it has worked out great. I also put about 2 degrees of toe-in.

blackmonte

My Feedback: (11)

Well after 2+ years in the box i'm starting to put mine together. I've read about the issues that ppl have had. Has anyone had plenty of stick time on this plane without using flying wires and not
had any issues? I think I will use the 4-40 rod but will thread the non-threaded end and use dubro heavy duty ball links & clevises.(I don't have any luck using solder). And I will use hitec 5645mg
servos and robart 3/16th hinge points. Power will be DLE 30 with pitts muffler and plan on doing the gear mod using the GP Super Stearman landing gear. And if everthing goes well may add a
smoke system later on.

azalner

My Feedback: (8)

Don't waste your time trying to thread the rod. The threads on the other end are rolled, not cut. Thjis raises the thread and makes a tight fit. Trying to chase the threads with a die doesnt work. Been there and done that. Use 4-40 fully threaded rod.

Strongly suggest you use flying wires. I used the Great Planes Flying Wire set (GPMA2844). Send me a PM and I'll e-mail you a write-up with photos on how to do it.

blackmonte

My Feedback: (11)

I bought the same fly wire kit.....should be here Friday. I havent tried using the die to cut the 4-40 threads yet. So if that wont work I may go with carbon fiber rods or all thread.

Kostas1

I'm flying mine without wires and -No- issues at all...

Go for it..you'll love the stability and gliding potential of the airframe.

Also check here : [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9886731/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm]Giant SuperSportster ARF / Saito FA-150S[/link]

Joystick TX

There is no way I would fly this plane without flying wires if you use a 30cc gas engine. The Syssa and DLE both have way more power than the engines recommended for this plane. You will be able to hover at less than half throttle. I had over 300 flights onmy first planebefore the stab folded. On my #2 plane, I have the carbon fiber rods on the top and bottom of the stab. More details are in my gallery and my models section. I have about 50 hours of time on GSS #2 now with no problems.

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

I would offer that anyone seeing the tail feathers shaking like they do on this gasser while on the ground/bench, won't (shouldn't?) need much convincing to do something about it. I liked the solid rod method, found some where I had no trouble making threads after cutting it to the right length, no clue on the source. I just had them laying around. Mine has a ton of time on it as well, with Quadra 42 and Syssa 30 for power.

Joystick TX

Another windy day today, gusts up to 50 mph. I'm getting tired of being grounded by winds. We may get a break tomorrow and then they pick up again.

Kostas1

Yes, using a gas engine requires stiffening the tail !!!


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Joystick TX

Finally got in some flying this morning. Winds were light. Had an odd thing happen with my TX, so it will go in for repair.

Joystick TX

TX is okay, my boo-boo. Accidently switched the stick mode when changing the models. Never did that before.