I'm stil pretty timid with his thing so I haven't gone full throttle with it. Mid-throttle is pretty much where I stay. It balloons out of banked turns and balloons with the slightest addition of throttle at landing speed. If I release elevator on a nose down approach it will nose up and balloon pretty quickly as well.

Where's the CG?

We had one that was a nusance like you're describing, I'll call my buddy at lunch to see what we did that fixed it. I remember fussing with the CG, thrust lines etc.

My original thought was that it was tail heavy so I moved weight forward. It is definitely nose heavy now compared to thw recommended CG. I'm really thinking it is a thrust issue....especially since I am the only one whose cowl doesn't line up with the spinner. My spinner appears to be "lower" than anyone elses. This suggests it might have too much down thrust.

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">Thanks Don... the color scheme certainly looks great as well as easy to see in the air.As for the alignment, I really didn&rsquo;t do anything different from the docs&hellip; I just drilled at the marked location on the firewall and mounted my DLE 30 v2.My CG is behind the tube&hellip; and it&rsquo;s a pinch tail heavy, but that&rsquo;s where I normally set my all my planes.I didn&rsquo;t notice extreme ballooning when I throttle down&hellip; but it does take it&rsquo;s time to bleed air speed on landing. That just could be that the plane is streamline&hellip; or I&rsquo;m just use to my late Yak.</span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 9pt">What engine are you running on your Sbach?I&rsquo;ll take a picture of my later spinner and cowl.</span></div>

I'm running the DLE-30 in mine. I'm pulling the cowl off in a few minutes to see if I screwed something up mounting the engine.

Don,
I am running the dle too, and have 6oz of lead in the nose. Our planes sure are acting differently. Maybe yours does have extra downthrust that counteracts being more tailheavy than mine. Yours sounds like it is behaving pitch sensitive though. My guess is yours is not nose heavy. Just my 2cents. Jon

Hope this helps...

Are you using the stock muffler? I've got a canister muffler in mine. I added a 1/16" washer to both bottom engine mounts to lessen the down thrust. The spinner now lines up correctly. If I'm lucky I'll get to fly it this weekend to see if it helps.

Hi Don,

I'm using the JTec Pitts style muffler on the DLE-30. My spinner lined up perfect with the cowl just like Keemos'es. Jon

I added some up thrust and it no longer balloons on the landings. Actually, I think I can cut back just a little on the up thrust I added and it will be perfect. The initial few minutes of flight was interesting while I retrimmed because of the thrust angle change.

That's great! Glad you got that sorted out. I'm wonder if there any change done to the engine mout box.

Can someone give me the distance from the firewall to where the backplate for the prop spinner is on the PILOT RC Sbach 342 73" wingspan aircraft. Want to order an engine but don't have the plane yet.

Thanks in advance

Greg

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">DLE 30 v2 is the recommended engine and has a measurement of </span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">6.37 in. [162 mm].
</span>

Thanks for the info Dennis. I'm considering a Syssa 30cc instead of the DLE-30.

Greg

greg,
you should look at the new DLE35R great power plus the exhaust port is at the rear

Just finished rebuilding mine after a dead stick landing that ripped out the landing gear. Pilot RC provided laser cut parts to rebuild basically the front two-thirds of the plane. All I had to pay was shipping from China ($38). The laser cut parts were free. Plane looks almost as good as new. I'm converting to electric as part of the rebuild. Installing an E-Flite Power 160 to replace the DLE-30. The Power 160 will have tons more power than the DLE.

I mounted the E-Flite Power 160 tonight. The spinner and the cowl lined up perfectly. The DLE-30, which this plane was designed for, didn't line up correctly. The Sbach never flew right with the DLE-30. It always had issues with ballooning on landings. I suspect that something was out of alignment on that frame. Since everything lines up properly on this rebuild I'm optimistic that the ballooning problem will go away.

Good luck on the new power source...let us know how the plane flies now. Still enjoying mine! Jon

Next time you have the cowl off, could you post some pics of the motor installation/set-up? I've had this model for a couple of years, but its still in the box because I really do not want to hack it up to make my IC engine of choice fit.

I'm seriously thinking of trying e-power; this airplane would be a nice candidate, I think.

.

I used to have a DLE-30 mounted on this plane so I used the included standoffs. The standoffs are 2.36" long. The nylon spacers are each 1/2" and can be found at most hardware stores. I still needed to add about 1/16" to the standoffs to get clearance for the spinner backplate. I used the X-mount that came with the E-Flite Power 160 to make a template for drilling mounting holes in the firewall.

Excellent, thanks.

Are stand-offs included in the kit, or with the motor? I haven't fully unpacked my kit yet; only took the fuselage and cowl out to check for engine fit, and it ain't looking good for anything but a small gasser or electric. The main problem, as noted in a post some pages back, is the darn firewall is not big enough for a proper motor mount on the larger two or four strokes. Plus, an inverted mount is the only way to go to preserve the cowl lines, and while I have operated inverted glow engines successfully, I'd simply rather not go through the hassle (on-board glow power, hold the airplane sideways or upside down while fueling/priming, etc.).

Then again, from what few quick checks I have done, the cost to get a sufficiently powerful electric set-up, with decent endurance, is... intimidating. Maybe I'm missing something, or looking at the wrong stuff, but Jeez, Louise. Much more research remains. Since I have several other IC projects waiting, I can take my time on this. But this is too nice an airplane not to at least try.

I have nothing against gasoline power, but it simply won't work for me. I have had a couple of 50cc gassers, and loved them. But when I got rid of my truck and bought a "cross-over" vehicle, I no longer have a place to carry the gas can outside of the passenger compartment. The stupid towing package- and the moonroof- are the ONLY options I did not get on my ride; otherwise, I'd get one of those basket things. No roof rack, either, so...

I dunno, glow fuel is only going to get more expensive, so I might like this e-power thing once I get comfortable with it. Hey... I'm just now getting a 2.4gHz radio, FWIW...

.

The stand offs I used came with the DLE-30. There are several sites that carry standoffs in assorted lengths. Switching to electric was not cheap. The E-Flite Power 160 was $138 (with coupon code), Batteries from HK were $166 (delivered), ESC for HK was $125 (delivered), and the Prop was $20. Only bought one set of batteries since they were so expensive. I should have much better power with the Power 160 vs the DLE-30. It will be a couple more weeks before I can re-maiden it since I'm still waiting on the ESC and batteries.

Motor, ESC, Battery, Drill bit, Y-Connector for batteries
Electric Cost : $455

Motor, Muffler, Ignition Cutoff, Throttle Servo, Carb Standoffs, Ignition Battery, Ignition Switch, Motor Standoffs, Refueler, Spark Plug, Drill guid for prop, Canister Mounts
Gas Cost: $540

I'm going to need everything, even a charger. I'm still using an Alpha 4; the only "new" battery technology I have is in my new 2.4 transmitter; and it came with its own charger. I'm still using NImH on- board batteries; never got into the lithium/polymer/whatevers.

.