Dick, Did you find that the cg shifted aft with a full tank? Mine was balanced at 4" with empty tank, got airborn and plane was tail heavy. Checked on ground with full tank, and cg was at 4 1/2" I had to add ANOTHER pound of lead to get nose down a tad. Plane now weighs in at 9 pounds even (empty) I'm gonna try flying with half a tank and see what difference it makes in balance. There is over half the tank aft of 4" CG point... Make a difference you think?

I just ordered my Camel.
Im settling with a ASP 65 4 stroke. I hope it will be enough.

I found this cool video of the real thing......I think ill leave the exhaust off of the ASP [8D]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtprTL66-FY

Man, the engine does not sound too healthy....I bet the real thing is quite a handfull to fly!

SJN I have a Saito .91 FS and don't need more than 1/2 throttle to take off and fly. That engine may be on the low end of pwoer, but should do the trick. You will most likely have to add a LOT of weight to the nose to balance I have 2 1/2 lbs of ballast it the nose , but weight is no problem as mine still comes out at 9 lbs and 17.5 lbs / sq foot. There are a number of sites for the Camel, a good one is from Rhinebeck ( do a google search) where they fly a replica with the rotary engine, don't sound to healthy, but more than enough for the plane. Check out the other Camel threads in this forum, you may have to go through a few pages before you find them, but they aree there still. Nice plane and if you can handle a Cub, you will be pretty much able to fly this one.

Electric Camel is flying great with a AXI 4120/16. Swings a 13/8 Zinger that has 1 pack of lipolys pushing it with 14.8 volts of juice. The lipolys are 8000mah so I can fly one long 13 to 15 min flight or 3, 6 min flights. I go with the 3 flights as the fun part is taking off and landing. Weight in the little wood box helped alot. I also added some carbide chunks I had from my shop. Carbide is heavy like lead, and I happen to have some on hand. I would say besides the box they supplied with the weight in it I added another 12 oz. Flew it with about 6 oz. added but bounced on landing. Now it lands fine. Nice sunrise last Sunday here in Huntington Beach CA. But ya got to be there by 6:am or you don't get to see it.

ohh...boy... Who wants this engine [8D]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A16EW...elated&search=

Bladerunner,
Thanks for the setup info. I am going electric too, and the ballast information is very helpful. I am putting a sound system under the cowl, so it "sounds" like weight is not an issue.

Could you tell us your total flight weight?

I'm interested in putting a gas engine in this plane, but I'd also be very interested in more info on your sound system. Thanks.

Aviator,
Here is the link. You can send Thomas and email (listed on his site) and he now has some good WWI engine sounds. The TBS micro is used for most airplanes. I am trying the TBS 5 so I can have guns blazing at the same time as the engine is running. It's a little money, but should be worth it. Go to the demos page and watch the P-47. It is very impressive!!

[link=http://www.benedini.de/Home_E/Products_E/products_e.html]Benedini Sound Systems[/link]

Thanks. That is really cool. Guns blazing would be awesome. And topping it off with muzzle flashes would be next, I suppose.

Guns you bet! Thomas hooked me up with two LEDs that will "fire off" when I activate the gun sound. This is a built-in feature of the TBS5. The LEDs fit in the end of the Vickers guns, and I drilled a hole in the hatch at the back of the guns to wire the LEDs. I just have to make a quick disconnect when I pull the hatch. The only risk is the TBS5 has not been tried in an airplane. Gas motor vibration may be too much. I am going to make sure I foam mount the board.

I can't wait to come in for a strafing run and hear that rat-a-tat-tat and see the muzzle flash in the twin Vickers!

I am builing the H9 Sopwith Camel. I purchased a Saito FA-82 for it as recommended in the maual as opposed to the OS 62. I installed the engine mount and the mounts are too far apart to allow me to mount the Saito. Am I missing something? Is the OS engine wider? The mounts have to attach at the pre-installed blind nuts. I am sure I have them in correctly with the engine head pointing down and left when looking from the front. Are the blind nuts factory installed incorrectly? Your help is appreciated.

I do not own the plane (yet), but have been reading up on it. In one of the reviews the guy used the FA82 and said that he had to relocate the bottom set of blind nuts.

Finally broke down and called tech service. Turns out the Saito 82 is not the same size as the Evo 61Nt. Though inside the manual they suggest the Saito 82 they recommend the Saito 91 on the advert for the plane. I have a Saito 100 and it is the same size as the 91 but stronger. It fit the engine mounts just great. Which propeller and spinner do folks recommend with this engine? Thanks for the help. These forums are great for us new guys. My son and I are in this for real now. We now have 4 planes and one more on the way.

Try an APC 16x4W You do NOT need a lot of prop for this plane

Personally, I think it would fly great with a 70ish 4-stroke

I will use the APC 16x4W and a Higley Heavy Brass hub for weight as recommended by Dick Pettit and minnflyer. Thanks Dick and minn. I hope the extra weight of the FA-100 and Hub will keep me from having to add much extra lead to balance the plane. I will let you all know how it works out when we complete assembly. May be a while but this is a hobby built by patience.

Think again, I used the Zenoah G-20 and even with the ignition module and battery up front, I still needed a good amount of lead in the nose

I am almost finished with my Sopwith Camel; I'm just waiting on the brass fittings for the tail flying wires that weren't in my kit. I noticed last night that an o-ring on my landing gear broke. Any recommendations for alternatives to o-rings or ways to prevent this from happening? Thanks

Just uses rubber bands, they work great.

If you prefer something a bit more scale looking, craft stores like Michael's sell small (approximately 1/16" unstretched diameter) thread covered elastic cord in the beading/jewelry section. It comes in black or white. Think bungee cord, only smaller.

Rick

Guys I hope you don't mind an intrusion from an electric flyer, but a couple of tips you can use.
#1 the missing tabs for the tail, there is a tech bulletin on Horizon's site about them being not packed, just call them and they'll send em to you.

#2 if you run into a problem with the latching mechanisim for the cockpit, I did a little digging on mine. Actually used a magnifying glass and a mag light. What a cool set up.
It's adjustable. The pin sits in 2 bushings and a brass(?) block, the lever is actually a threaded rod that screws into the top of the block and pinches the pin in place. You can loosen the lever by unscrewing it to adjust how far the pin protrudes, then tighten the lever back down. There is a spring between the block and the rear bushing to give the spring action. I drew it out for ya.

Oh and a pic of mine. 8 pounds ready to fly, and with electric you throw away the weight box and lead weight.
He He He, even has the correct pilot.

GG,
What is your electric motor/battery/prop setup? I am doing electric too.

E-Flite 60, 16x8 prop, 2 3S3700 20 C packs in series, CC60, and a 5 cell rx pack.
I cut out the fuel tank mount and installed the packs in an upside down V position, right behind the firewall. The rx pack sits right on the hump under the lipos. Rx pack is held by velcro, the lipos actually wedge in between the floor and top of the fuselage, I use a piece of foam behind them to keep em from moving. Like I said mine came out dead nuts on CG wise, so I tossed the weight and box in the junk box of left over parts I have.

The 60's over kill but sure is nice. 1/2 throttle and she's light on her feet and off the ground.

GG,
Thanks for the info. Very nice. Sounds like you can climb almost vertical? What is your estimated flight time?

PS Nice red nose!

The Review of this plane has gone live. IF you'd like to read it and see the video, [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=810]Click Here[/link]

Thank you for a very good article on the H9 Sopwith Camel. The video at the end is awesome! I also love the sound of the gas engine.

It's incredible to see the performance difference between your gas engine and my small .72 4-stroke on the same plane! That motor must just be crazy to fly!!! My Camel flies comfortably at 1/2 throttle with the Saito .72.

Regards