Jeremiah
You have the ailron servo reversed. You should have a switch on your radio to reverse the servo. On a right turn the aileron on the right side would be in the up position forcing the right wing down. The left aileron would be down forcing the left wing up.
I'm new on this thread and just finished my Sopwith. Forgive me if I'm wrong but what I'm reading is that this is your first rc aircraft and your in for a rude awakining. The Sopwith should be your 3rd or 4th aircraft, not your first.

Bob

For those still interested in getting this at a good price http://nexthobbies.com/product/1980/...h-Camel-60-ARF This is the cheapest I have found it at.

does anyone have a hangar 9 electric starter? Is there an easier way to conect the starter to the battery other than just hooking the clamps to stripped wires?

CGAMT: Not sure what you mean without a picture. I use this battery pack. The wires from the starter run down to it, and the starter straps onto the little cradles. Eliminates wires that can get caught in the prop, and is only one thing to carry instead of two.

One thing with any starter battery setup, as you mentioned bare wires. If there are any bare wires anywhere between the battery and the starter, other than the clamps right at the battery, you have a major disaster waiting to happen. If bare wires connected to a 12 volt battery touch each other, they will throw the battery into high rate discharge, it will get hot real fast, and quite likely catch fire or explode. A twelve volt battery is a very dangerous item, and should be treated with great care.

Hi Mustang, very useful numbers but just to be different I'm thinking of using an RCV60-SP in mine. It'll be turning a 16x12 prop at around 5500 rpm. Will the numbers for this combo simply be to divide 5500 by 10,000 then multiply by three for the pitch increase? I doubt it but I haven't a clue how to work it out either. Thanks.

deothoric:

The 16x12 @ 5500 works out to 62mph and just shy of 6 lbs static thrust. Very good numbers for the Camel. Let us know how the break in goes. Other posts lead me, just me personally, no slam intended, to believe that these engines are not worth the trouble it takes to make them run right, and are certainly more trouble than their high price would suggest is reasonable.

Hi Mustang, this isn't a new engine. I've had it strapped to the front of an H9 Tango for also a year. You're right that its a little different to operate than conventional glow engines but once its run in its a very reliable engine. I use 10% nitro/18% synthetic oil and it'll run anything from a 14x14 to an 18x10 happily. Throuttling is good and its not touchy about needle settings. The down side is that its heavy for its capacity and power. The up side is that it disappears into almost any cowling and turns a huge efficient scalelike prop. Nor are there any rockers to adjust or valve stems to bend. Tough as old boots in fact. There seems to have been a lot of emphasis on overheating problemsand I agree it needs a lot of air around it when running in. i now find its not quite so critical. Also I now start it with an electric starter straight onto the nose cone same as any other engine. So its not really a problem that different to operate once its run in.

I'll keep you posted how it pulls the Camel

Thanks, deo.

I really have wanted to use one of those, but there were so many scary stories I've stayed away. Maybe a fan blowing sideways on it during breakin would help.

I have a pair of Saito FA82s and a Saito FA100 that will certainly do the job if the RCV doesn't. The RCV won't require any holes in the cowl either, so changing up won't make it too ugly. The extra weight of the RCV is a plus on this plane. Also, all the extra space behind the dummy Clerget I'll use to house the flight battery, the throttle servo and anything else I care to throw up there.

I intend to use Pull-pull for rudder and elevator. I'll replace the tail braces with carbon fiber cords and no metal fittings. That, I hope, will reduce the tail weight enough so that I can get to a 3.75" CofG without the lump of lead.

That sounds like a really good plan, to me. They are bearish to balance.

Bob,
Finished my plane too bad it will be a while before i fly it. About the starter question here is a picture you requested. See how the wires connected to the starter motor look like jumper cables for a car and the exposed wires coming off the battery? The directions for the starter were not that specific all it said was to strip the wires and connect the motor.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah:

You need to use crimp type butt connectors to connect the short piece of wire w/connector from the battery to the starter. (You'll be cutting off and discarding the clamps.) Black to black and red to red. If you don't have the tools or knowledge to do this, take it to an auto parts store and they should be able to show you what to do and sell you the equipment.

PLEASE HELP - ENGLAND CALLING...

Now I know being English I should really be able to build a Sopwith Camel - but having read the thread I need some advice guys . Just bought the Hangar 9 Sopwith - looks a great kit by the way - but I am an electric person (I know - I know you IC guys crying). However I have a great sound system - 4" speaker etc. - Canadian system i think - to make it sound real. I have some questions....

1) I have both an Eflight (see supporting America) E60 and E46 and am wondering which to use if I am carrying about 10oz of sound system as well (speaker, amp, battery etc.) . The manual says E46 but some of you guys used the E60 - I have both 6cell and 4cell batteries. What would you recommend?
2) Test fitted the E60 as per instructions and there is no way the dummy engine fits - its hits the mount! - how do you get around this please?
3) Should I put the sound system in the cowl - the speaker fits ok there and I assume it will help the GC - assume depends on motor though?
4) Got an Eflight 60 Amp ESC which claims to allow 60 amps continuous 75 peak and STILL drive up to 7 normal servos - do you guys trust this to work ok with this plane or should I use a separate battery and BEC for the receiver ( I normally do on above 4lbs but this is the first ESC I have found that claims to do this - advanced technology) ?

All advice appreciated

Thanks guys

Bithwaite

I used the Power 46, but went to great lengths to take weight out of the plane. If I did not make some series mods, the plane would have been 10 lbs and underpowered. I have read some posts where a Power 60 was used, and the plane was about 10 lbs and was still underpowered.

So I did a weight and balance and determined that the 6S install did not gain much because of weight growth, and I only had a 4S battery.

With a 10 oz sound system, you should put EVERYTHING you can in the cowl. I had 16 oz of speakers, and ESC, and amp in the cowl with the Power 46.

If you can mount the 6S battery vertically against the firewall, this also helps with CG. I was able to get the 4S battery through the firewall and between the engine mount. The 6S will not fit this way.

I also replaced the control rods with 0.07" Carbon rods. This is a big help, but a little work. Also, I mounted the elevator and rudder servos as far forward as possible. I think they are about 5" forward of the stock position. If you need to add balast, start by gluing weights in the dummy engine, but not more than 4 oz. here as the cowl may not support much more.

The Eflite Pro 60 ESC is a great unit and will easily handle 4 standard servos. Mine are digital. I am using this same ESC on an Eflite Beaver with 6 mini analog servos with no problems.

Tclaridge,

Many thanks for all that great advice.

I think I will stick with the E60 as I have a Flightpower Evo lite 6 cell that is about 13oz. I have found will just fit horizontally across the back of the firewall which should help the CG. I will mount the speaker, amp, 2x900maH Lipo power batteries and ESC in the cowl as you suggest and use the Eflite 60amp ESC BEC to power the receiver and soundcircuit with a Y lead. The sound circuit takes about 0.1 amps on full (1.5w at 15volts) so should be less than another servo. The carbon rod replacement sounds a great idea to save on rear weight, also moving the servos forwards. I will certainly try the rods and see how I get on before I move the servos. Once again thanks for the input. Be interesting to see where I get to on weight initially and see if I have to go further ie: battery through the firewall

Got one for my birthday. Finally got it finished and fired up. It is a great looking little airplane. What has me intrigued though are the number of rookie pilots who met their demise attempting to fly this beast. I love flying the Gee Bee Racers and this Big Pup sounds as if it is right up my alley.

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Rev:

You'll love it. Looks like you have a gasser in there[:-]

Sure makes them easier to balance.

I'm just beginning a build and have browsed both this thread and the rcgroups build thread. Both are excellent but one very interesting item that I found on the other site is related to battery positioning and balance for the electric version. Anyone who is thinking of making one of these with electric power should check out the battery/motor mount described here (I wish I had but I bought batteries before hand.):

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...+sopwith+camel

If you are like me forced to put the battery through the fire wall you can fit just about any size if you reverse the firewall mounts so the mounting flanges are outboard of the motor clamp.

Of course putting in the sound system looks like it works just even better.... next birthday perhaps....

Yeah Mustang: the nitro shortage help to convince me to go gas all-the-way from here on out. I am currently building one of my favorites, the Gee Bee R2 Racer with a Mvvs gasser. It should be stunning.

Well I finally went with the Eflite Power 60 electric motor and managed to get the cowl distance right by reversing the front on the engine mount. I had to elongate the slots slightly to get the E60 far enough back and then I put four extra bolts at the rear of the slot to make sure it was really solid. This gave me a nice platform to mount the sound system. You can see from the picture I put the 4inch speaker on the engine mount held on with two 90degree plastic mounts taken from an old cut up cassette box. The speaker just fitted in nicely and missed the cowl. The ESC is on top of the mount with the speaker system amplifier and control electronics mounted in a receiver box held on the other side of the speaker. I may put the receiver batter on top of this (2 cell Lipo) if I need to get the CG further forward. At the moment the receiver (2.4GHz) and BEC are behind the firewall. I will carry on building but thought you might like to see initial efforts. Thanks again for the advice.

Now, that is one hell of a packing job. Only a woman could truly appreciate such skill

Sorry to bring this up again guys.
Just got the camel done.............. !2 pounds
now has anyone flown this thing with an evo 61
at this weight ? thats as light as i could get it.
I think this might be entering the pucker zone..........

Thanks Wes

Wes:

Are you sure the scale you're using is telling the truth? I have an inexpensive WalMart fish scale, but it's fairly accurate- only a half pound "optimistic" (high, as it's a fish scale) at 10 pounds. It said my Camel weighed 10.5, so in reality it's 10.

I have a Magnum 91 2S, a 2200 mAh battery and the one pound block of lead in mine. I can't imagine what you might have added that could weigh more.

Bob Ill double check , what are you balancing@
3.5 in? I have the lead block in the nose and mag wheel wieghts
to get it balance @ 3.5 in.

Thanks Wes

Wes:

She used to be at 3.5, until I removed the 4oz brass prop nut and substituted an aluminum one. Haven't had a chance to put her together to check, but judging by the difference in trim (went from a little up elevator trim to a little down for level flight at cruise) I suspect the CG is now around 3.75, still just a bit forward of the recommended 4.0.

Wheel weights are not near as effective as something way up front.

Have you thought about trying a Harry Higley heavy hub? The 4oz one for your crank can be found at:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXL716&P=ML

If you decide you want to try one, I'll sell you mine for $10 plus postage. I think we can beat Tower's shipping costs, unless you can find one close by.