What should the wing incidence be on a Seagull Ultimate 46

Depends on what you understand by the term 'incidence'. The difference between the the wing and tailplane chords? The angle of the wing to fuselage? The angle of the airstream to the wing chord? If it is an ARF, then it is what it is. Modifying the 'incidence' might not be a simple task, but then if the wing setting angle is adjustable, it might be simple. First we need to know what you mean by 'incidence'.
Evan, WB #12.

I am sure he is refering to the top wing's angle of attack compared to the bottom wing.

It is the angle of attack of the top wing compared to the bottom wing

I'm just starting to build one. It looks like the cabane and struts are pretty much set (according to photos). Also, the stab is pretty much set also. Declage, the difference between the stab and wing incidence then would also be set. I'll know more when I get to that point (just opened the box and read the instructions). What I'm concerned about is the balance point on the top wing. I don't necessarily doubt them, but I've had problems with this on ARFs in the past including a Tiger Moth (1/5 scale) which I nearly lost on 1st flight. Instructions indicate 10-13cm (3.9" - 5.1"). If anyone has experience in flight with this setting I'd appreciate knowing.


Steve

I have it balanced at 11 cm and it flies great. The ailerons already come pre-drilled for the connectors between the top and bottom ailerons, but make sure that the dinstance from the hinge line is the same. Top and bottom ailerons should move at the same rate.

I have a 46fx in the front, bal cg 11cm top wing at centre. Flies like a dream. Like most ultimates you slow them down and she will drop a wing. Watch your speed on landings don't slow down to much.........have fun

Thanks for the info.

Keep us posted and let us know how it all goes. If mine is anythink to go by you love it.

One thing I should mention BoiseBee. I purchased mine from the local hobby shop, walked in it was hanging from the ceiling. About 3 or flights near new 46 fx swinging a 12 x 3.75 apc prop. As I explained to the better half $ 300 aud complete I couldn't buy and buid for that so I just had to buy it. Any ways if you look at the first photo you will notice the landing gear is swept back. I fly off grass and I found that I needed high rates on the elevator to keep it nosing over on take offs and landings. It made it quite hairy on take offs as it would leap off the strip.
I changed the set up by turning the landing gear around so it was swept forward made a huge differance on both take off's and landings, no more high rates. Now because I did not do the build I don't know if the swept back is stannard set up, and it will depend on your strip...............hope this helps

Looks great. I fly from pavement but you can still nose over if gear is too far back. Your photo helps visualize the overall setup better than the photos in the manual (which are okay). I just got the ailerons attached to top and bottom wing panels. I'm going to put an OS 50SX in it with a 12x6 APC initially. Looks like it will have plenty of control surface. It will be my first plane to use my Airtronics RDS8000 2.4 GHz.

Thanks for the info and pix,
Steve

Keep us posted Steve ..............

Will do.

Basman
The wings are done, servos installed and hooked up. Got the engine mounted. Replaced ARF tank with an 11oz Hayes. Odd arrangement of bukheads - the ARF tank would have sloped down in back - not preferred. Also, would have had to cut out to fit. Does yours slope down?

The instructions are unusual. For a while, they are complete and thorough with photos. Then they start skipping important items. Wouldn't recommend as a first time build - too many things a beginner wouldn't know.

Couple of questions on yours: Did you mount the battery under the nose box as indicated? Did that cause any balancing problems? I noticed you have a fuel fill valve; what is it mounted on and does this make for a long engine fuel line?

Steve

The batt sits inside a large pice of foam stuffed in behind the tank. ( I brought it built ) The filler valuve is mounted in the cowl , and could make for a long fuel line sometimes it takes a bit to get the fuel up. Bal no problem 11cm top wing as stated in manual ( down loaded from net ) Check that measurement going by memory.


Whens the maden ?????

I finally got a chance to get back to putting it together. Got several chunks of time and made good progress. Tail surfaces + horns all in place. Servos all installed. Did bind from Tx to Rx on new 2.4Ghz system. Did cowl cutouts today. See attached pix (used cell camera so not super sharp).
Steve

BoiseBee looking good, if your anything like me I start getting excited about now and start burning the midnight oils to get things finished.
keep them coming, keen to hear your thougts on flight characteristics

Mate you will love 2.4. I keep forgetting to put my key in the frequency board[:@][:@] bad habbit , and no areial to pull up. Just watch if fly with 2.4 then pick up a radio running 36meg. I did this once, forgot to pull the aerial out, you know how that ended !!!!!!!!! No once you have fitted a couple planes with the remote receivers ( no more aerials hanging out of the plane) you will never go back. Make sure you put the antena's at a 90 degree to each other (thats what spectrum say to do ). If you dont you won't get the range on the RX to TX. Don't forget to re bind after you finished the install before flying, it sets the fail safe properly. ........ cheers mate

Latest update on the Ulitimate. It's darn near done! I have a busy life so have to fold it in as I can. Basically all that's left is to hook up the top ailerons, check the balance, and set the control travels. I did the range check today. It's little different that 72Mhz but pretty straight forward. I've added some photos.

Steve

P.S.
I should mention something about the instruction booklet for the benefit of someone who has never built a plane - or even an ARF. It is very detailed in some areas and some other areas are almost completely not covered/illustrated. For example, on mounting the cabane, there are 4 10mm screws which go into the fuse side. From the fuse side to the cabane holes is about 20mm. There's no way you're going to get those screws in without some kind of tool. I happened to have a "spider" which clamps on to the screw and then I could insert it and set it. After that I used a screwdriver. After I mounted the L.G., I couldn't get the cowl over it. It didn't take long to figure it out but this was never mentioned/illustrated. I could see by a photo that they had done this. I believe "inconsistent" would be the best description.

On the plus side, all parts fit very well and are logical. If you have some building experience, it's a nice build. I didn't have to do any re-engineering.

Good to see your almost done BoiseBee, just a note don't slow done to much on landing ....................go enjoy have fun

Well, mate, it took a long time to get there, but today I flew the Ultimate. It flew well although I may need to change props to get more power. Landing? Oh yes, it lands well. You see, first the right wheel pant came loose. Then the pant and wheel came off. Not to be distracted by such a trivial event, I continued to put her through the paces (yeah, sure). I made several practice approaches before landing. I was able to keep the nose up, wings level and get it slowed down. Touchdown was remarkably straight down the runway. It helped a lot that there was no wind. A gusty xwind would have made it a bit more challenging.

I've got wheel pant mounts and axles that I'll use to nail 'em on tight. By the way, it seems that the 11cm balance point was okay. It flew solidly and without any nose-heavy tendencies. In maneuvers at really slow speeds it had no tendency stall violently. I think it's a keeper.

Cheers!