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These are the servo boxes that need to be cut off to make way for the G 26

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Because of the way the pushrods were run all the way to the front originally, I had to figure out where to put the elevator and rudder servos. The elevator servos fit perfectly into the lightening holes in the framework of the fuselage to avoid any changes in the basic run of the rods. The guide tubes were cut off to give the rods room to flex a little, the rudder servo mounts just out of the way of the air tank mount.

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Pre fit the horizontal stabilizers several times into the cutout using the joiner tube and smaller guide rods, several times. The fit was very tight, and when I did mine, I was afraid the epoxy would set (30 min) before I could get the thing all the way home. The alignment was good without having to adjust it. After the stabs are mounted, carefully mask off the area and fill the void around the stab with 30 min. epoxy, it will take some to fill it. I let it set up just a little before removing the masking tape, so it wouldn't run off on me, but not so long as to stick the tape..

Kostas1

PLEASE post also some pics that all the fuselage can be seen!

Same for the inside of the fuse!

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The interior space

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I am running out of space to take pictures in. This has some size to it.

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With the wings on, and a view of the cowl, the exhaust doesn't take up too much space there.

Things I have run into:
the manual calls for 3mm x 10mm screws for the cowl. I didn't find any. I just tapped for 4-40 and used cap screws.

Where the manual calls for screws to hold the wing to the wing joiner tube, I spent about a day and a half looking for the screws they called out, finally found by measuring what is left of the threaded fasteners, the ones that fit are cap screws. Putting the holes into the wing for the cap screws on one wing was easy, the little dimple that was put there was in the correct spot. On the other wing, it was off by a little bit, and the hole ends up just through the balsa sheeting. I ended up cutting about a 2" hole in the sheeting on bottom and top of the wing through the sheeting so I could see what needed to be done. The hole needs to be drilled through the thickness of 3 layers of ply sandwiched together. I fixed the holes and sheeting, and bought silver ultracote to recover it with.

Manual shows 150mm from the firewall to prop driver. Make sure that the dummy radial goes all the way to the front, or, like me, you will have about a 10mm gap between the dummy radial, and the prop driver. Oh well, at least the prop won't rub against the cowl.
I use a Tru-Turn AT-6 120 size spinner.

I had ordered the E-Flite retracts from Horizon, they have now pushed delivery back to late July. I am going to cancel the order and order the pneumatic gear from Black Horse AT-6 120 from Hobby People, they show in stock now, and are $123.00.

Kostas1

bingo field excellent!!!!!!!

[8D]

Now let me ask!

Which where the biggest problems by now ?

About the wing and bolts that hold the joiner in place,

do they include a wing joiner plate/dihedral plywood or something,

so that someone could epoxy the wing halves together ?

Also about the elevator setup/epoxy etc.

Why you didn't start by gluing the tail plane in place and the install the pushrods?

Do i miss something here ?

bingo field

The wing is in 3 sections. There is a middle section, and 2 outboard sections. The wing joiner goes completely through the center section, and the wing bolts attach through the last inch of the tube, where you drill the holes in the wing. You can see the wing bolt mentioned in the picture of the whole plane, from the right side, it is in the middle of the wing. The dihedral is set when you push the wing onto the tube, joining it to the center section. It could be epoxied at that point, just remember, the wing is 82.5" long (209.55 cm). It was designed to be a 3 piece wing, but that leads to another problem, in my mind. Just how many servo extensions would you need for the ailerons? You have the receiver in the fuselage, a Y cable, 2 extensions to go through the center of the wing, and 1 extension per servo. That seemed too many connections. I cut the ends off the servos and added a 28" (71cm) length of servo wire to each servo, and fed them through the center section before I dropped the screws through the wing joiner. I soldered them on, there are only 2 connections that way.

Gluing the tail feathers on was going to be a piece of cake (easy), compared to finding out exactly what I needed to do to get the elevator and rudder servos mounted. In this ARF, the push rods were already installed, and they ran the entire length of the fuselage, up into the engine compartment, as they had a 120 in mind when they designed it. I kind of had to pre-plan the way to get the push rods to either stay where they were, or move them somehow. I lucked out that the servos would slide into the cutouts in the interior frame, I had to figure out a way to mount them securely, and make it so that I could remove them once installed if I had to, while keeping them aligned with the current setup. They did include some small strips of silver ultra cote to cover the joint where the tail assembly goes together.

Probably the biggest problem I have now is, where do I mount the ignition module? The voids on the engine side of the firewall are really limited, I might see if it will fit in the upper one if I dismount the engine first. Otherwise, I may have to make an entry from the underside of the firewall into the fuse, and mount it against the backside of the firewall. My thoughts are not favorable of this, as I don't know how hot that module gets during operation. The Zenoah manual claims it can get quite warm, but I don't know if it would be dangerous with the proximity of the gas tank just above it. I would rather not fly the "RC Ball of Fire", just an AT-6. I also would like to keep maximum separation between the ignition and any servos or other wiring.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo...3550manual.pdf

Kostas1

Hmmm,

yeah the wing is huse,

almost the same as my Giant Super Sportster.
On my giant SS,

GratPlanes just uses an aluminum wing joiner tube that is not attached with screws/nuts on the wing halves.
You just slide the tube on the wing halves,
and the bolt the wing on the fuselage wing saddle with plastic 1/4-20-2in bolts.

Ofcourse each wing halve has one plywood wing dowel.

Also one of the wing halves has a wood pin to allign with the other wing halve.

Anyway,

please keep posting pictures of your progress because i think people who built/ld the AT-6 are very few!

2FAS

My Feedback: (5)

Gentlemen, I agree, the builders of the Seagull AT-6 Texan do seem to be very few for now. However I am one of the few, the proud. I started my build two weeks ago. I'm going with the following:

OS 120AX engine
Robart 700RS air up/spring down retracts
Robart 660 robostruts
A mix of Hitech and PowerHD servos
2650 MAH lipo battery for power
Sliding canopy (making rails for center section to slide on)
Great planes 1.20-1.80 engine mount (didn't like the included one)

I will say the manual leaves a LOT to be desired. A lot of pictures, somewhat helpful, but no good written directions. I wish the push rods were larger in diameter. This plane will look good when it's finished, can't wait to fly it.

I can post any pictures if needed.

Kostas1

ofcourse PICS

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Sliding canopy 2FAS -> definitely PICTURES >great idea!!!

bingo field

Lets get the pictures rolling!
By the way, the Black Horse retracts that I ordered, come with oleo's. I will find out how they hold up.

2FAS

My Feedback: (5)

I will post some pictures tonight hopefully, been flying all day and I have to get ready for a hot date with the wife tonight.

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Great!
No flying here, thunderstorms intermittently, rain, wind. This has been a goofed up summer so far.

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Got the Black Horse retracts today. I do believe that BH and Seagull are one in the same. The manufacturing of the fixed gear from Seagull and the retracts from BH seem to have the same hardware. The only difference I can see is the struts from Seagull are about 1 -1 1/2 inches longer than the BH gear. Both are internally sprung, same diameter, tension, even the threaded fasteners on the attaching end are the same, just from looking, haven't taken them apart yet. I think I will hang the BH gear on without modification and see how much clearance I have on the prop end first.

Kostas1

pictures ofcourse are always welcomed !

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I soldered my nipples!

[:@]Short story. I lost a plane because the pickup line didn't have enough to hold onto. I used little wire clamps, but after about 15 minutes of flying, the pickup line had vibrated/come off inside the tank. I have about 4 months of repair work to do on a Stearman, which flew quite well. Gas engines run well on a mix of gas and air, but not just a hint of gas, and some air. Needless to say, I will not make that mistake again, I will probably find some other mistake to make, however.

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First, the Black Horse retract

The Black Horse retract with the Seagull supplied fixed gear. I didn't realize the fixed gear was sprung. They look very similar, eh?

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Similarity right to the same 2mm screws holding them together. The only difference seems to be the length, the Seagull gear is longer by about an inch. I may have to use them to put the wheels in the right location in the wheel wells.

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I think I will leave the cowl the way I have it now, hopefully it will cool properly.

2FAS

My Feedback: (5)

Bingo Field, how do you post pictures? I have been trying to do it now for a few days.

The Robart robostruts look pretty good on mine. I had to use the wheel door mounting rings off the struts that came with the kit. But I now have to move them farther down on the strut because the ring is hitting the retract air actuator. Have my engine mounted and started on the cowl. I'm trying to avoid making to many holes in it.

Progress on this plane is taking longer than I would like. There is a document I found on the web that illustrates several sliding canopy options. When I find it again I will post the link.

The 3 1/2" tires look small for the big wheel well. Are you going with the included tires?

Kostas1

2FAS ,

just down of the replying field , where you write your response ,

there is a bar , that reads : " Click here to upload images and files! "

Click it and then it's easy!

Now Bingo Field,

it seems to me that the paintjob on the cowl is awsome!

Post pictures of your progress!

It seems so nice!

bingo field

Ok, the Black Horse struts are not the same as the Seagull. The rod that makes up the Seagull landing gear is much thicker than what is on the Black Horse retracts. I had to remove the rod from the Seagull gear, cut them to get the length of the center piece cut out. Remove the rod from the Black Horse retracts, drill them out to the size of the Seagull rod. Originally I thought that I could just take the sprung portion out of the Black Horse retracts, remove the same portion from the Seagull retracts, and problem solved. Nope. On the Seagull retracts, the top of the sprung piece is flared, and cannot be removed. The Black Horse sprung piece is removable. I also redrilled the mounting holes on the retracts because the holes that it came with were much too close to the inside edge of the hardwood blocks.