RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

More Photo's. Had to route brake line as not to interfere with ; door arms; retract mechanism; leg to front of nacelle pinch; ect.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Now thats fun!

SR

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

greeting all .

i have crashed my TF B-25 and i can only put the blame on me , there was a problem with one engine needle and it was not fixed properly , also i try to save some $$$ by installing a turnigy ( Chinese ) mini servo , big mistake .

well, up in the air and lost one engine , she fly very good on one very very good , but all the pressure on the rudders and the servo just burned out and drain the battery, so ,no radio and that is all .

only hard damage is to the fuselage i talked to TF and was very disappointed from the service ,the only answer i have get from them is " call your local dealer " , or " buy a new fusalege " , well T.F , you have lost me as a customer , i buy service not a product........

as you will see by the photo's i'm rebuilding the plane and convert it to this gunship as in photo 2 .

all the rest is in the photos , enjoy .

cheers - cobi

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

more photos of my work .

one question , i'n useing the fixed gear but i dont like it , i want more scalish look on the plane , can someone direct me to where i can buy a good scale struts to this model , i dont want retracts just a good strutes .

cheers - cobi

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Cobi,

Sorry to hear your B-25 went in, but on the flip side you are doing an excellent job repairing your aircraft. As for struts, go to www.robart.com they make the struts and pneumatic gear for our TF B-25. Since you want to maintain fixed gear they have the struts for sale. The mains are probably part# 670 ($53.50 each) and the nose strut is probably part# 652L ($52.40), these prices are from robart manufacturing, but, you can probably get them cheaper from www.towerhobbies.com great job on your rebiuld, looks as if you will have her back up and flying real soon.

Brad

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Cobi,

Thanks for the tip on the Hobby shop in Herzliya. I would check the fixed gear wire diameter first. It might be metric and that will make fitting the Robart struts difficult. If they are not metric the Robart struts are very good. Hope you get your B-25 back in the air soon.

Regards,

Dave

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

thanks guy's

brad , the problem is that all of robart measurement are in inch and the wire is 5 m"m it's not going to fit

dave , i hope you have a good time and enjoy your visit in israel .

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

ohh my god , how time fly , tomorrow , 03/07/2009 it's a full year since my friend TIMOTHY THOMPSON Passed Away .

TIM , you got me in to the B-25 saga and i thank you for it .

i miss you dear friend every day , your smiley face is on my desk and i look at you for inspiration to do a beter job and try to achieve your level of craftsman .

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

cobi, sorry to hear about your crash.......no one likes to ever see that happen.

I was wondering why you expect Top Flite to replace the broken parts, when you stated the crash was due to a bad servo? Top Flite will replace parts proven defective and they will even replace an entire model if it can be proven it was a manufacturing defect that caused the crash. In your case, Top Flite had no connection with the crash. So, why sould they pay or send new parts?

In any case, it does look like you are doing a fine job rebuilding and will have a very nice gun nose bird when you are finished.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

hello thomas

no man i did not ask them to replace any part , just asking for a little help on fixing the fusalage , after they see my photo of the crash they told me it canot be fixed , so i have asked them if they can sand me a draw of one rib from the front cockpit side , the answer was , sorry we do not have part drawings , buy a new fuselage , realy ????? you build yore plane frome the air ???? come on , just a little help , not all in life is business that is all , i've ordered a new canopy, top turret and tube's and pay a full price with no question , i dont ask for something more then a little help that is all .

cheers - cobi

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Understand your frustration.

It would indeed make your repair much easier if TF could help with a part drawing or something like that. A shame they are not set up to do so. Likely they want to protect the CAD of the kit, but one part should not really be an issue.

I would send a PM to the gentleman that started this thread, who was one of the designers for TF that helped create the B-25.. He is very helpful and might be able to break out the the part drawing you need or perhaps help in some other way.

His R/C Universe name is kproton.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

A few more B-25 pics, this time from it's first public outing, at the Waco, Tx Scale Fly In on June 20.

Mananged to loose a battery hatch from the right nacelle on the last flight. I made a quickie fiberglass mold of the left hatch and laid up a copy of it. Will do some filling and sanding as needed on the new hatch to blend it to the right nacelle.

Was a hot day in Waco, nearly 100 degrees. Had a brisk wind right down the runway and the B-25 was landing fine with no flaps, as the last pic shows.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

thanks thomas

right now i dont need any help as you can see by my photo's i have solved it all and doing my one cad part drawings .

next week it's paint time !!!

and now i will have unique model .

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: larger;">HI GUYS
I'M FAIRLY NEW TO RC BUT HAVE HAD 2YRS AT SO FAR,EVEN GOT MY OWN GRAVEYARD OF LEARNER PLANES.I'V FOLLOWED THIS THREAD FOR A LONG TIME AND ALL OF YOU HAVE HELPT ME DO MY TFB25..
SO FAR SO GOOD.I'M IN THE PROCESS OF DETAIL WORK JUST LIKE THE LATE MR THOMPSON A TRUE MODELER WITH AN EYE FOR DETAIL.MY BIRD HAS THE WINGSPAN TURRET &amp; BOMB BAY KITS ALL INSTALLED
I'M USING FL70S,ROBART SYSTEM AND ALL SPECTRUM ELEC.I HAVE GOT CARRIED AWAY IN 2YRS WITH THE PURCHASE OF 14 WARBIRDS OF VARIOUS SIZES ELEC AND GLOW.BUT THE B25 IS MY BABY.I LOOK FORWARD TO BEING PART OF THIS GROUP.

CHEERS
</span></span>

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Signing on.

Mine arrived the day before yesterday. She'll probably fly early next year. This is some of the equipment I'll be using:
OS 55 AXs.
Robart retracts
Robart 10 spoke Tuff Tread main wheels and tires w/brakes. (Activated on full down elevator)
Power Expander Pro with the fail safe switch and dual 2000 MAh Hydrimax 6V batteries. (I won't be using any Y cords, each servo will have it's own plug on the power expander.)
Futaba 6EX sysem.

Thomas: I noticed you removed the black and white stripes from the aft fuse. Were they trim or covering?

I am really impressed with Top Flite's quality, engineering and flight characteristics. I have a 1/7 GE P-51 that I finished last year, and it is the main reason I popped for the B-25. Now, if TF would just come out with an electric DF F-86, say about the same size as the 1/7 Mustang, we could have all three of the best flying airplanes ever, all from North American...............:D

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

The white trim stripes appeared to be Monokote iron on material. They peeled off fairly easily, but it took some surface scrubbing with lacquer thinner to get rid of the left over non colored residue. There is a very faint discoloration present where the stripes were, but it is very hard to see.

That was the only thing I had to actually remove from the stock model to make it over as Heavenly Body. All other HB markings are add ons, plus the yellow vertical tail tips done in Sig Aerocote.

I think there are more then enough Executive Sweet versions around already....;)

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Thomas:

I hear ya on the Executive Sweet business. I'm thinking about scuffing up all that green Monokote, and spraying it light and dark blue to make a Devil Dog PBJ-1J. I could make a new nose using the "glass" one as a pattern, and it sure would be fun sticking all those Ma Deuces up there. Problem is I don't think the paint would cover the OD, and I've done so much covering in the last year that I'm pretty well sick of it, so I don't want to recover the airplane.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

HI MUSTANG

THIS MITE HELP WITH PAINTING OVER MONOKOTE.MY 60 SIZE SPIT I HAVE HAS HAD SOME MODS TO THE H9 COVAERING AND STUCK JUST FINE.I ALSO GAVE IT A FLAT FINISH USING TESTORS DULL COAT.WORKED SPOT ON.I'M STILL UNSURE ON WHAT I WILL DO WITH MY B25.
HOPE THIS HELPS.

RAAF

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Guys,

just finished converting my B 25 to robart retracts (had about 8 flights with the fixed gear) and it comes in at 20 pounds. Man, was it sluggish getting in the air with the OS 70 4 strokes (9300 rpm on 13x6 APCs), people were ducking for cover (they were a bit skittish after one guy literally flew a Nexstar into a group of guys and one has a big bruise to show for it). The people who modified the engine mount and put 82 or 91s or big electric motors in theirs were smarter than me. I think the 70 would be fine if you fly from asphalt, and it has plenty of power once in the air.

Below is my review on RCU - dont shoot me.

David


Pluses: very high quality, great fit and finish, flies beautifully once in the air, superb scale warbird you can add bombay and other scale features to (as many have done), attracts a lot of attention at the field. This model is made for the low pass down the runway and it looks great doing it. Tricycle gear and twin vertical tails are pluses.
Minuses: Count on 150-200 hours build time (good winter project!), over 2 grand investment. Tuning the engines and matching rpms seems to be a constant chore on mine. You need 8-9 channels minimum. There are NO spare hardware items, if you break or lose something they can be hard to replace. There are a few errors in the manual, check the RCU thread by Tim Lampe (search under the word "Tecnical" (misspelled) and you should find the thread. Tim and others have put a ton of great info there.
Tips: If you fly from grass and have the robart retracts, it is underpowered with the OS FL-70s (these engines are discontinued), I recommend 82 or even 91 4 strokes. Electric would be a lot less headaches (but you dont have the cool sound). KEEP THE SPEED UP IN THE TURNS and dont bank too steeply. Remember flaps add tons of drag, keep the RPMs up when you drop the flaps. I have about 8 flights with fixed gear and one flight since I put in the robart air retracts. It now weighs in at 20 pounds with onboard glow and rudder gyro. The grass was a tad long at the field today and I had 3 takeoff run attempts before it finally struggled into the air. Once up, it is a great flyer and not hard to fly. Landing are pretty smooth at full flaps. Takeoff at half flaps. I have not lost an engine but if you do you are supposed to keep the wings level with the ailerons and steer with the rudders. Praying might also help.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

I was wondering about the power issue. IMHO, scale aircraft need a thrust to weight ratio approaching 1 to 1, or takeoff from grass (and bumps and uphill) becomes iffy. I also believe that Top Flite tends to be a bit conservative on their engine recommendations. My 60 size Gold Edition Mustang flies just beautifully with a 1.20 AX, and I shudder to think what a dog it would have been with a 91.

I'm planning to use a pair of OS 55 AX two strokes on my B-25, which will give about 18 pounds total thrust. After reading your post, though, I might bump up to a pair of 75 AXs.

"MORE POWER!!" (Tim Allen)

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

HI GUYS more progress

the nose was not as i wanted so i have sanded all the nose and did it again .

afrer all the sanding finished i have coverd all the fusalege with " super fiber " that is actually a single use tablecloth made of a very strong paper and a dop " sandinig sealer " , in the fhoto's is ny young son ( 7 year old ) and he is my " kosher stamp "[:D]

here are all the story in photo's

cheers - cobi

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Try a couple of props with less pitch. You might get better acceleration. You're using 13x6. Conventional wisdom suggests when going to finer pitch, go with more diameter, so.............. Try 14x5s. In practice, people also find that 13x5s sometimes work. It really depends more on the prop overall, than just one detail. If you do try 13x5s look for some with more blade area. Truth is, it's often the case that simply trying some other 13x6s might solve the problem too. Graupners often pull better than average. The new Evolution props seem to have better pull than average. But all the prop conventional wisdom is mostly sound byte wisdom. Too short to be reliable in every case, and your case isn't exactly the average case is it.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

Cobi,

If you are still looking for struts; there's a UK model retract manufacturer that might be able to build what you need. Here is their web address, http://www.unitracts.co.uk since you need the struts in metric sizes not standard. By the way, great job on your rebuild; your B-25 is coming along beautifully, you should have her back flying soon.

Brad

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

My sweet with turret, bomb bay, and 100T. Preflight check.

RE: Top Flite B-25 ARF (Tecnical, tips, suggestions)
 

hello brad
thank you , you helped me a lot , very good site , i am going to order from them , thanks :D .

well i am now in the painting stage , hope to finish soon , the big problem now is the part's that i've orderd from tower but they are not " in line " right now , also top flite dont have them now so i will have to wait .

i will put more photo's as i progress .
cheers - cobi