Nice, thanks for sharing.

3 flights today
 

Very nicely done! Keep checking the tail screws. I had some problems with one starting to strip out and finally just glued the tail on. Video soon?

Does anyone know if someone makes a 3 blade spinner for the Lysander? I can't seem to locate one on Tower but could swear I saw one on there at one time.

[QUOTE=Todd D;12444900]Does anyone know if someone makes a 3 blade spinner for the Lysander? I can't seem to locate one on Tower but could swear I saw one on there at one time.[/

I have the 3-blade spinner for the Top Flite giant scale FW-190 ARF to try. Top Flite 3 blade spinner

[QUOTE=Wile E;12445032]Thank you sir. Probably go that route.

Are you using a 3 blade on the Lizzy? If so what size?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...4f4c591093.jpg
i used the TF Zero spinner too

[QUOTE=Todd D;12445049]I have a XOAR 3-blade 20 x 10 to try, after I get used to landing this thing. First flight had the ignition battery disconnect and had to rebuild the landing gear mount. Some more landing practice with power, and I'll install the 3-blade and spinner and remount the new wheel pants.

Hey guys, you gave so much help with the assembly of this bird I wanted to provide feedback on the results of my initial flights. I installed the Saito 90cc radial in mine and finished the cockpit area with a pilot and some gauges along with finishing back of the cockpit with a floor and some fake storage boxes. For the 90cc radial to fit with the ring muffler I had to remove 2 3/4" of the engine mount. I reinforced the area with a doubled up 5ply 1/4" plywood and fiberglassed the entire area for additional strength. I could not add triangle stock on the inside of the mount as they would interfere with the mounting bolts.

Everything assembled just fine. I was impressed with the kit in terms of fit and finish with the hardware being adequate but nothing spectacular like you might find on a H9 kit. Given the weight of the radial along with your comments that the bird tended to be nose heavy even with the recommended DLE61 I built a small plywood box that sits just forward of the tail wheel area. This plywood box contains lead powder/epoxy mix that I used to get the CG correct. Put over a pound of lead in the tail to accomplish this. Servos for all the surfaces were placed in their respective location per the manual. I took a quick peek at moving the elevator servos closer to the rear but with such a thin stab and minimal access to the tail area via the hatch the migration of the servo's to the tail looked very time consuming to me.

The initial flights had me nervous due to the fact the bird was several pounds heavier than the recommended power solution. I didn't weight it because I was afraid I'd get depressed! The other thing that caught my eye was the lack of ground clearance between the landing surface and the wheel pants. I fly off of a pretty rough geo-text runway and I've had trouble in the past with the front of wheel pants catching the geo-tex while running down the runway. The material kind of puffs up slightly as you move forward. Most of us do not use wheel pants on this runway. But, the Lysander looks very odd without the wheel pants so I said a couple of prayers and decided to run with them on.

I fly in Colorado where its always windy. Pretty rare for us not to have a 15mph crosswind. The Lysander proved to be a handful on crosswind takeoffs. The biggest issue is too much play in the tailwheel. Tightening the tailwheel wires would work for a limited time but they appeared to be stretching after each use requiring additional tension. I'm going to have to replace the wire with something stronger or go to a solid pushrod to the tailwheel to get a better solution. I may also put springs in from the wire to the servo to keep a solid tension on the tailwheel. Not sure which direction I will take.

Power proved to be a non-issue. The 90cc radial threw it around just fine with mild aerobatics never a problem. I did mix rudder to ailerons.to clean up the turns. The Lysander requires a longer rollout for take off than I expected but nothing extravagant, probably 200 feet or so.

Landing was where I ran into issues. As predicted the wheel pants proved to be a huge problem. I'm not sure if you guys have the same issue but when landing and slowing the bird down the nose tends to sink causing to want to land at nose low attitude. A little more power didn't seem to want to bring that nose up unless you applied more power than you really wanted for landing. I tried several different approaches with lower and faster speeds along with full elevator to the point where you would swear it would stall. I was never able to get the bird to come in with more of a tail low attitude. The end result is I had 2 of 4 landings result in the front of the pants catching enough of the runway to flip the bird over. This took out two props and cracked my wheel pants.

My plan is to modify the wheel pants to remove the section where the landing lights are to get the pants taller. Although not scale its what I'll need to do to fly off my runway. I have another set of pants that I will use for warbird events where there is a hard surface runway.

Sorry for the long winded update but I wanted to let any future pilots know what I found with the use of the 90cc radial. I want to thank all of you that previously reported what you found as it helped me in my assembly.
.

Phoenix models Lysander gear
 

How the heck did anyone get the strut through the wheel pants without cracking the Fiberglass? Seems like an impossible puzzle.

Those 3 cylinder engines sure sound great but it seems to be a lot of fuss for such a simple,easy flying model.

Those darn wheel pants
 

Let the wheel pants inner side warm up in the sun a bit, or lightly warm both sides with a hair dryer. Slide the pant on with a smooth, forceful motion. With any luck, only the inside edge (the side you don't see) will get a small crack at the fuselage end.

Wile E's solution seems to be the only one. I tried carefully maneuvering the first one of mine, and got about three cracks for my trouble. I did like Wile E said, and heated the second one, and it slid in easily with a minor crack on the inside bottom. Don't overestimate the amount of heat need like I did, however. I used a heat gun, and now the inside of my strut cover above the pant is fairly wavy...:mad:

That worked to some extent... Thanks for the help.

Flight issues?
 

I've been flying mine some, wanting to use it for scale competition. Landings are an issue, tendency to flip over, I'm thinking the wheels are rubbing on the pants. I'm working on taking some slack out of the wheel axles to see if that helps. It also wants to "seek" some in altitude, always climbing or diving. Might be me, it flies with a tail down orientation that is unusual for me, maybe I'm pulling the tail up. Anyone else flying and seeing any issues?

Phil

posting again to get to 10, sorry for the noise.

Flying
 

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...84443438f2.jpg

Flying in Wenatchee, WA during AMA NW Jamboree

Flying
 

Flight issues
 

Hi Phil,
The Lysander likes to take off and land tail down in a 3 point attitude. Don't let the tail come up much on takeoff, and be sure to get it down on landings. (yup, had that noseover problem at first) Watch this video of a full scale Lysander to see the correct attitude:


Wadeus

Flying
 

[QUOTE=Wile E;12533656]Hi Phil,
The Lysander likes to take off and land tail down in a 3 point attitude. Don't let the tail come up much on takeoff, and be sure to get it down on landings. (yup, had that noseover problem at first) Watch this video of a full scale Lysander to see the correct attitude:

Mine is a handful... Steep turns and hard to hold altitude throughout without throttling up. Have to give it hard opposite ailerons to bring out of the turn. Likes to climb too. Have it a little nose heavy and it flies nice level hands off... But agree is quick to attitude up and down...instant elevator response. Gotta love a challenge!

I have been flying this for a couple years now. It sounds like yours might be a bit nose heavy. It should balance right at the aft edge of the cockpit hatch. Mine took about 6oz in the tail compt to balance.

I'm just getting started on my build. I didn't expect to have so much trouble with the landing gear and wheel pants! the tops of the gear legs are cracked all over despite much careful wiggle and jiggling. Can't get the pants to line up with the axle bolt going through the holes. I've got over 4 hours into this simple step! Also the screw holes for the strut bracket will need to be re tapped. The screws bind up like crazy.

Has anyone else had this much of a problem? I'm still not even close to actually trying to get the wheels in. Bring your lunch because this ain't no half day job?
any suggestions will be much appreciated
Len!

Wheel Pants.
 

The wheel pants were a pain to me also. I had to oblong the holes where the axle comes through to get the holes for the strut support to line up. I also notice they have massive hinge gaps on the ailerons and rudder. It is even that way in the manual. If you make them any less nothing lines up. Is there any problems with flutter?