Hi All,

I had the wings off my Skybolt yesterday because i was replacing the reciever for a 2.4Ghz unit. When i was checking the servo travels i noticed that the servo tray was flexing badly. On closer inspection i found that the glue had given way on one side of the tray.

I'm lucky i spotted it as it could've been disasterous and i probably would've blamed the new radio and reciever.

So i would suggest that you put some tri-stock on the servo tray - fuselage joint.

Thanks, Custom. duly noted.

Vinnie6,
How did your replacement of the hatch you cut out of the plane go? How did you reattach it to the plane? Thanks in advance.
Stangevil29

Stangevil29,

Give me a couple days to post pix. I'm really busy!!! Basically I made a rectangular "ring" out of birch ply and glued it around the perimeter of the opening on the inside of the fuse. I then drilled eight holes around the edges of the hatch so it can be screwed to the ring. This will restore the strength but allow access if I want to put the battery in there for balancing purposes, or to access fuel lines.

Hey guys, I have a solution for smoke in your 120 size planes. I manufacture a smoke pump that is so small and light it adds minimal wieght to your airframe. The harris brushless programable smoke pump is the lightest competition pump in its class,only 2.2 oz and you do not need an aux battery. It plugs directly into your receiver for power,6 min of smoke on will only draw 25-40Mah from your rx pack. It is compact only 1.5' in diameter and 2.5" long. You can get more info at harrismodelproducts.com rc3dflyr.

Sounds great!

However the weight of the smoke system is mostly due to the auxilliary battery pack and the rather large smoke oil tank you end up installing.

Solve those problems, and we're talking!

Drawing its power from the RX pack sounds risky.

Mine has been hangered for the cold Minnesota winter. It is hanging from teh cieling in my shop looking pretty as can be. I had a good number of flights on it last year with an O.S. 91fx. Plenty of power, not unlimited vertical, but vertical for a very long way. I am really looking forward to Spring to get her out again.

Hey guys, most smoke pumps weigh 4 or more ounces plus an additional battery can bring the total weight up to 8oz or more. The harris pump will only add 2 oz + the wieght of the extra tank and lines so your total system weight is around 4 oz. The fluid does add extra weight but it gets pumped out during flight. You can do your aresti manuvers with smoke and when the smoke is gone the plane is lighter and you can finish off with 3D manuvers and such. Smoke adds a great apperiance to your airplane and flying skills that spectators love to see, especially with biplanes. I have smoke in a yak 54 and in a pitts python. For some reason the smoke in the pitts is more show stopping and appealing to the human eye. Customers from around the world have been using these units that plug directly into your receiver for many years,it is simple light and very low draw only 25-40 mah are used for 6 minutes of smoke. We have never had any reports of anyone having problems with the pump pluged into the RX. The pump draws less than most hi torque servos. rc3dflyr

Heh... add in a typical 10+oz smoke tank and that weight at take off is a big factor.

I consider 1.6lbs+ a reasonable estimate of how much weight a smoke system adds in, and this is before you deal with heating coils or a smoke muffler, etc.

On a larger plane this has a lesser impact. On my Skybolt and Ultimate 1.20 I ended up removing the smoke system due to the additional weight....

I'm a little behind reading these posts, but I noticed your model and your use of the 75AX. How does it run on a non-stock muffler and what muffler are you using? I dont recognize it.

wshall,

I guess you're refering to my Skybolt.

The muffler in the pics is a Turbo-Jett muffler from Jett Engineering. It's a tuned muffler in a compact in-cowl format.

The .75AX is a perfect match for the Skybolt. It spins an APC 14x6 prop at an even 10,000rpm which is a few hundred rpms more that the 4-stroke .91 with the same prop. It gives it very good performance and great vertical.

Now, about those mufflers.
The stock muffler works great with the 14x6 prop. It's very quiet. The only thing is that it wont clear the fuse with the ARF's horizontal engine mount. There's only about 1/4" in it so you could either use an exhaust extension or rotate the engine mount sligtly so that it clears.

The Turbo-Jett muffler gave me exactly the same rpm figures with the 14x6 prop, but it needed 3/4 turn richer on the high needle. It's really tuned for higher rpms and started to come into it's own with smaller props and rpms over 11,000.
On a model like the Skybolt it provided absolutely no benefit over the stock muffler other than being easier to mount.

The surprise for me was the Bisson Pitt's muffler for the .61FX. I tried it on the test bench and got 10,300rpms with the 14x6, but it didn't have enough exhaust pressure out of the box and would need one of the outlets plugged before i would consider flying the model with it. It's also considerably louder than the other two pipes.

CustomPC,

Thanks for the lookup, I'm new to the forum scene. I did mean your install. It looks very intersting and your post regarding the Bisson Pitts style muffler is on target with what I had heard.

Great looking plane and thanks for the help. I have a 55AX and a slimeline Pitts muffler and a 46AX on my son's trainer. Both excellent engines. I'm sold on the AX series up to this point.

Any experience with a Slim-line on the 75AX? Does it have similar results as the Bisson?

Thanks,

WSHall

Sorry, i have no experience with the Slimline pitts on a 2-stroke. I have one of their 4-stroke pitts mufflers and it's very well made, but i haven't used it yet.

I just finished mine and decided to go the electric route! Used an AXI 4130/16+JETI 77amp controller + 7c 4200 Maxamp LIPOS... 16X10 prop ...haven't flown it yet but on the ground I can barely hold it at full throttle, it should perform very well AND no GOOP on the plane after flying and there are no cutouts required on the cowl! see pics

Here are some more pics of the ELECTRIC version! The spinner is on it's way from TRU-TURN!

Pretty slick!

Great idea to invert the ramp behind the firewall into the battery holder.

How about a pic with the battery in place so we can see the fit?

Thanks!

I ordered one of these today. Now I'll be like a kid waiting for Santa Clause. Oh boy oh boy oh boy I can hardly wait!!

Almost done with it just minor little tid bits to finish. I was curious as to the way everyone was attaching the horns on the interconnect's for the ailerons. Did you all leave the top aileron horn inline with the bottom aileron horn or did you all offset it because the top aielron is at an angle? Thanks in advance.
Stangevil29

Ahhhh the problem of an 18 page thread.............

Somewhere back in the previous pages of this thread, I'm fairly certain will be pictures of at least one presently flying Skybolt and it's aileron rigging.

There is also a somewhat interesting discussion about what you get with the mfg's hardware and rigging design. It's worth reading.

BTW, the different angles are not significant enough to require any adaptation.

MinnFlyer,

You said that you're running a YS 91 with a Graupner 14X6 prop with good results. Do you believe I may get similar results with the same propeller and an OS-91 FS engine? Should I consider a Master Airscrew 14X6?

Thanks

i just got my skybolt done. it is built exactly per instructions with a o.s. 91 fs. i balanced it with my great planes cg machine's rods (pulled out of the base). i held the rods in my hands because of the angle they were hitting the landing gear/lower wing. this seems to work for any of you that want to try this method. also i just got done running my first tank through the o.s. 91 fs. have any of you guys noticed the rocker cover leaking a little oil. my thoughts are that maybe its just from being so rich. also, were did yall balance the plane. i set mine at 4.75" back. it was level on the cg machine and everything including the battery is exactly were it was called for in the manual. being a bipeplane it seems very "stable" on the balance stand, is this due to so much of the weight being below the top wing? maybe im being too worried here but i just want to be sure. im pretty excited to fly my skybolt, judging by what has been said in this thread, it just be a blast. any input or advice would be appreciated.

Check the cap screws on the engine. It sounds like you have a loose one or two.

It's a good idea to also check and tighten the screws after the first and second tank of fuel, as they come loose with the heat initially.


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I balanced my Skybolt as per the recommended C.G.

I've found this to be nose heavy. The C.G. can stand to be moved back a bit from the recommended.

I'm running the same setup as you... but I installed the battery just behind the firewall... wrong move.

ill check my rocker cover bolts as well as all others. im pretty sure the rocker cover bolts are tight though because is had the cover off to put in some oil and i know they are tight. im not to concerned about it right now but if it keeps leaking when it i get the engine leaned out to optimum then i will be concerned. what do you think about using the rods (pulled out of the base) for the great planes cg machine to do the trick? it seemed to work great. like i said im balanced within recomended specs and my battery is in stock location on the rec/bat tray. are bipeplanes usually very "stable" on a balance stand? sounds like its gonna be 43 and sunny on sunday here in michigan, maybe ill be flying her this weekend. cant wait.