Hi All

New to the hobby, going to start a build of Kadet LT-40, OS .46FX, (radio either JR or Futaba 6 Channel)... Joined AMA, still looking for best(convenient) local club.... Just wanted to poll the audience for any help/suggestions for the LT-40 build; pointers, upgrades, does-don'ts etc... thanks in advance

LT-40 is a great choice, and not a difficult build. Follow the instructions and it will turn out great. My only suggested mods would be:

replace the push rods in the kit with something a little less temperature sensitive;
add additional suport for the push rod tubes in the fuslage near to servos;
replace the plastic clevises; and
add some triangle stock between the vertical stablizer and fuselage.

Other than that, build it fly it have fun.

Good luck!

Victor

Here's what I did w/ my verticle stabilizer. If you just epoxy it onto the fuse, it'll vibrate and shake like no other. So, rather than adding triangle stock, (which, i'm sure will work since others have done it), I drilled 4 1/8" holes straight up the vert stabilizer, and 4 corresponding holes into the fuse. Then I glued 1" long dowels (of course they were 1/8" diameter) into the vert stabilizer, I used titebond to do this, dont use Ca. But to get the dowels into the stabilizer, you have to do a little work to the dowels. You have to make a spiral up the dowel so the glue has someplace to go when you stuff them into the holes since it'll be a tight fit. Then I put a very nice helping of wood glue all along the glue line, and even in the holes, and stuff the dowels down into the holes until it was a tight fit. All you gotta do is wipe off the excess glue and you're set. It'll have the same look as it did from the factory, but stronger.

If you want to try that, and dont quite understand what I just said, I'll try to draw up what I was talkin about.

For the push rods, I would try to find something stiffer than those flimsy ones they give you that attach to the vert stab, and the elevator, they sag, no matter how hard you try to get them to be in a straight line from servo to elevator or vert stab. The straighter they are, the less friction, which leads to longer life of the servo and battery.

More experienced pilots can probably give better advice than me. But that's just my two cents.

Thanks for input, can't beat advice from experience

For sure replace the push rods, the nylon ones in the kit react a lot to temperature variations, and expand and retract a lot.

for the fin/fuse joint, I did the same thing small fry did but with 3 5/64 steel rods instead of dowel. also, make sure you blend the fin to the fuse before doing anything, so there are no gaps

put push rod supports on all the fuse formers aft of the servo tray.

put a piece of 1/2inch triangle stock on the bottom of the firewall/fuse joint, this helps for those not so great landings a beginner sometimes experiences.

file a flat spot on the nose gear rod where the set screw touches it

this is a really great flying airplane, and aside from replacing the push rods and reinforcing the fin/fuse joint, you really don't have to make any changes.

FYI

I built mine per the instructions and didn't modify anything. It turned out fine.

Kerry

The control rods that work great and aren't affected by temperature are Sullivan Composite Rods. Tower Hobbies http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFV42&P=0

Another way to strengthen the fin is to attach 'flying wires". The easy way on this type of model is to use weed wacker line. Drill a hole , the diam. of the line, through the fin near the top and forward . Drill a hole in each side of the stab about 2/3 +- out from the fin. Drill these holes at a slight angle. Put the line through the fin and CA in place. Pull the lines through the stab and making sure the fin is 90 degrees CA in place. Snip off the excess line at bottom of stab. I've done this on the LT-40 and LT-25.

The Kadet was my first venture into rc also. The only modifictions that I did were to the pushrods and the hinges. I am rather new at this, and I have talked to alot of veterans and they all say the same thing about the hardware packages in the ARF's. " THROW IT AWAY, AND BUY THE GOOD STUFF. I am working on my 4th airplane and I have alway's used that advice, and, so far, I have only crashed 1 plane, and that was my fault. WRONG MODEL ON MY COMPUTER RADIO. I was able to repair her and she flew again. Anyway, back to the Kadet. After I solo'ed with it, I bought a solid set of main landing gear, and mounted them with nylon bolts. The factory wire gear had been bent, and rebent, during training. That was the best 10bucks I've ever spent. I dont recomend this untill you have gotten profficient with your landing's though. The solid type gear will not bend on rough landing's. It'll rip the bottom of your plane out. I sold mine, and I wish I never did. They are great flying airplanes. Good Luck and Have Fun. Daryl

Let me say thanks to all, only open issue for equipment now is radio gear, leaning towards JRXP622.. again keep the advice coming - it is well received
tom

Tom, I dont know what the JR,s are costing, but for my training I bought a BASIC HITEC. It cost 125.00 and it worked great for the Kadet. I never had any problems with it. Shortly there after, futaba came out with there 9cap, and my lovely wife bought it for me. It is an unbeileivable radio!!! If I WOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WAS THIS GOOD, I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT THIS ONE TO BEGIN WITH. Dont let all of the buttons and knobs scare you. It is avery user friendly radio. Everyone has there preferences with equiptment, so seek the advice from your senior club members. they are afantastic source of information. Best of Luck to YOU and Your's Daryl

I own the JR 662 and am very pleased with it. The programming is really straitforward, and the 6 model memory is nice, I really like the digital trims too, I hate trying to trim a model with the other kind, cause you keep over-correcting. This isn't a top end radio, but for sport flying it's really all you need. Its a little more money than some of the similar 6 channel computer radios out there, but it also comes with a really nice reciever.
I say go for it.

I've got the LT-40 arf with an OS FX 46 and a JR662.

I have no complaints about any of it, the FX 46 I consider my best investment ever, since it has been very easy to start, never quits, and is easy to adjust.

I did do the triangle stock mod, although I think if you epoxy it well, its probably not totally necessary.

I have one comment, but the set up you selected is absolutely fine and there's no real need to rethink it, but if you got an ARF, you could have already had it flying and be soloed before the weather turns bad. Of course, it may stay warm enough to fly a lot this winter down there.