Update on Creek Extra
 

Ok, don't get too excited, but I wanted to get an update off about the progress on building my Creek Extra.

So far I've got the stabs glued, control surfaces pin-hinged, landing gear installed and firewall and inside expoxied to fuel proof it. (Total of about 30 minutes of work that took me a week). :rolleyes:

I went out today and bought a Futaba 9252 servo for the rudder and two 9150's for the wings. (ughhh. They were expensive, but I wanted Futaba rather than Hitec and I liked the low profile 9150's.)

One problem with the 9150's, though. Since they are low profile, they take a bigger hole to set into. I don't feel like trying to cut a bigger hole in the wings, especially since it will be cutting into the hard wood supports that they screw into, so they are going back to the store.

The only other hitch I've run into, is while using the Robart Pin-Hinges, the holes they suggest you drill for the pins, does not allow the pin to set low enough. I had to cut away some of the wood to get them to sit nice so I would have a smaller hinge gap.

Two of the hinges on one half of the elevator decided they didn't want to stick. Not sure why, but with a little luck, the 3rd (3 hinges per elevator) came out with a little help. Obviously, it wasn't held in too good either.

Fresh epoxy and they are nice and tight now. Oh, by the way, if you want to avoid getting expoxy on the actual hinge, Chapstick works great. Vaseline probably would have worked too, but I didn't have any.

That's it for now. Slow going for me. The only other plane I've "built" was my Magic, so this is still new stuff for me.

So far the only complaint is the instructions. I'd rather have a step by step, clear, concise (for idiots like me) set of instructions. Other than the clear and concise part, the instructions are fine. I've been using Creek's and Erick's together and that seems to be ok.

Mike

Update on Creek Extra
 

It's a good idea to clean the hinges with alcohol before gluing.

More info
 

After a serious SNAFU with my elevator install, I finally got them installed.

This was not a problem with the kit, but with the pin hinges I was using. The wood where the pin went into the horizontal stab is not deep enough to use pin hinges. The barbs on the hinge were not touching any wood. I got some flat hinges and they are nice and secure.

Also, I was using Epoxy on the pin hinges and I believe CA is a better choice. Epoxy doesn't stick to plastic (and what are pin hinges made of?). It works ok, but I think CA works much better. Just don't ask me why I have two flat hinges and one pin on one side. :mad: Thankfully, that fiasco is over.

I got the elevator servos installed with some extensions. I used floss and CA to tie the extension and servo plugs together as a safety measure on both the elevator and aileron extension.

Then engine is installled, but the head rubbed the cowl during a test fit. It didn't look like Erick's review or the instructions for the Extra show cutting the cowl to clear the head. I was hoping not to have to cut the cowl around the head, so I'll double check my install, but I'm fairly certain that it's correct.

In fact, the 5mm's to the left that you adjust for the thrust line is about all that it is off. hmmmm.

Anyone who wants to chime in, is welcome.

Thanks.

Mike

thrust line corection
 

Mike when you say you moved the thrust line to the left 5MM, are you looking at from the front or the cockpit?

regards
mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

Hey Mark,

Sorry if I sound like a newbie, but I am. I didn't move the thrust line, but rather the thrust line is 5mm to the left of center line while looking at the plane from the front.

I then lined up the engine center line with that line. i.e top of the engine mount rails where the engine bolts to.

Make sense? Thanks for any input.

Mike

PS- I noticed you're from Greeley. I lived in Longmont for about 4 years. My sister is still in Frederick and my mom and other sister are still in Longmont. I really like CO.

centering the prop in the cowl
 

MHawker, We two newbe's will figure this out together! If the Extra is the same as my Staudecher :confused: ......you want to move the engine to the left of center 5MM to center the the prop hub in the center of the cowl opening to off set the 2 deg right thrust built into the motor box. looking at it from the front that is.

my sister lives in Frederick CO and our club field LAMA is 2 miles west of Frederick.

Regards
Mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

Hey Mark,

Sent you a PM on Frederick and other stuff.

MHawker
 

Mike did you get any more done on you Extra?

Regards
Mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

Hey Mark,

Got the engine/ thrust line deal figured out thanks to help from people here. According the instructions, or at least my interpretation of them, you needed to move the thrust line to the left and thus line the engine up with that.

In fact, you need to move the thrust line to the RIGHT while looking at the firewall. So, after drilling 4 new holes to mount my engine right, that's about as far as I've gotten.

My kit only came with a 360cc tank, which is = to a 12oz tank. Not big enough. I went out and bought a 16 oz. Much better.

So, slow and steady for me. Hopefully I will make some progress this weekend. I finally found my other Sullivan control horn at a hobby shop. None of them had any for the longest time.

I also just read that the 4-40 threaded rods I am using, may not have been the best choice. The fully threaded rods tend to break under high stress, I guess. Oh well, such is life when it's your first plane like this.

Take it easy.

Mike

MHawker
 

keep up the good work mike! I had a small setback on my four star. The resin I was using to glass the center section of the wing failed to set up properly. I did a test batch before, that worked properly. I used graduated mixing cup with the correct amount of hardener, O well got it fixed now!

Latter
Mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

Hey guys,

I just wanted to clarify a couple things that may or may not help :rolleyes:

As far as moving the thrustline, you really arent moving the thrustline to the left or right. What you are doing is moving the back of the engine to the left so that the propshaft lines up with the thrustline at the front (where it counts) the reason for this is the right thrust built into the firewall. For instance, if there was no right thrust built in, the entire centerline of the engine would be on the thrustline. But what we are doing in this example is giving the engine right thrust by canting the firewall to the right. So, the a-- end of the engine has to be moved to the left basically to put the prop in the middle of the plane ( the thrustline). I hope that makes at least a little sense.

Also, as far as the whole right side left side thing, the right side is always the right side of the airplane, as in if you were the pilot, the right wing etc. would be on your right. If you call the right side the left side because you are looking from a different direction then we all get confused (at least i do as i am easily confused :) ).

I am putting a moki 1.8 in my creek extra and i'm gonna have to slice and dice the cowl :( . I also have a small dilema as the length of the engine from the mount to the spinner is a little long for the cowl. So I will have to live with the gap or relocate the firrewall a little further aft but i dont think i am going to bother as it is not going to be a showplane anyway. It will have about a 1/2" gap between the cowl and the back of the spinner which is more than i would like but not horrible i guess.

Keep up the good work Mike

Here's a few pics of what I've done so far
 

Please feel free to critique (gently please) if you see anything way wrong.

Mike

32
 

Rudder

pull pull set up
 

I made a removeable tray for the rudder servo. I built the slot for the back edge to slide into, and the front edge is screwed to a brace that's expoxied across the fus.

This way, I can remove it to add a smoke system underneath later.

Mike

PS The tray IS mounted off center (it's the tray that came with the plane), but that is because then the servo horn would be in the center of the fus.

next
 

Throttle servo and battery locations.

The battery is zip tied to a tray that's epoxied across the fus with some blocks underneath. The throttle servo also has a bracing block underneath it just in case. I may be "overbuilding", but we'll see when I weigh it.

last one
 

I call this one, "deflections of an Extra".

Back soon. So far so good for a flight this weekend. My friend loaned me his Bisson Pitts and a 12x6 prop. He taught me everything I know about planes and even comes through with parts. Thanks Jet!

Mike

Update on Creek Extra
 

Oh, if I can't get the Extra going, I'll still get to play with my new Nitro Rustler, thanks to my girlfriend.....oops fiance. That's gonna take a while.

Mike- crap... two planes in different states of completion and now a truck to mess with. I'm gonna stop trying to clean the CA and epoxy off my hands. It's just going to be back tomorrow! :-)

COOL!
 

Looking good mike! Good luck on the maden flight!

Regards
mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

are you using the os 160 because if you are you should be looking more at a 17-6 rather than a 12-6
a 12-6 will explode that motor
just my $.023756892739472678494836759904764054736628394948 377383039834839438573548593485739485920107011 worth

Update on Creek Extra
 

I agree with tocflyer540.A 12-6 prop is way too small for that engine,even as a break in prop.

Update on Creek Extra
 

What do you mean? I've used a 12x6 on my other OS engine. It's a 46FX. Aren't they the same? LOL!!!! I didn't even catch that. How does 18x6 sound? A little better? HA HA HA! Another typo strikes again!

Thanks for watching out for me, guys!

Mike

Update on Creek Extra
 

Mike, glad you got the motor mount thing figured out. Scared me when you said you shifted it to the left when looking at the front! Your prop hub would be where the right intake should be. Got my 160 and gonna pump it and run a 18-8 prop. My friend runs this and gets 8500 rpm with a Mejzlik 18-8 which grabs more air than APC. His H9 Edge is ballistic.
Tom

First Flight
 

Ok, got the Extra all buttoned up and broke the motor in... nothing to do now but fly it.

WHOA... Way tail heavy. Elevator very sensitive. Ughhh. Engine dead sticked. Got down safely.

Adjusted the elevator throw and messed with the engine. Set the high end to 2 1/2 to 3 turns out ( I wanted to run it rich for breaking it in). As we revved it, we could turn the high end out 6 or 8 turns with no adverse reaction from the engine. Hmmmmm. I tached it at 9000 with a 18x6 prop (top flight).

Put the high end back to about 3 turns and with it running ok, we took off again. Was flying ok, but obviously still tail heavy (to be fixed later). Made some circuits but the engine didn't sound right. In mid range, it would cough. Just like my ST3000!

We decided to bring it in and check it. That's when the plane gods decided it just wasn't my day. A tree reached out and grabbed my plane (in other words...too slow, too low and out of options)

Long story short, here's a pic. We ended up sending my girlfriend up in rock climbing harness to retrieve it. She's braver than I am! The plane was about 70 feet up. Believe or not, there is basically NO DAMAGE. Barely a scratch.

Not a good enough flight to give a good report. First reaction is set your elevator LOW. It's very touchy, but we'll see when I shift some weight forward.

Mike- PHEW!

Update on Creek Extra
 

Where was your CG at for the first flights? You have one hell of a girlfriend. I would have resorted to the chainsaw option for that one.

Mark

Update on Creek Extra
 

Sorry to hear about your flight. How far did you back out the needle from peak? Hope future flights go better. Haven't even started putting mine together yet, spending too much time flying my Edge!
Tom