has it been done? im thinking about buying a 120 next month and was curious if anyone had ever made a nice looking cowl on one.

Personaly i think it would make the whole plane look much nicer.....more of an old style.....well almost racer than the kinda "i put the wing on the bootm of my trainer instead of the top" look (btw i like the way the four start looks alot....)

ive never done it ,but i think it would look realy cooooooooooooooool

TX,

Look for a 4* build thread thread from the member named Swager. When he did his 4* he carved out a cowl from balsa and it looks really good. I'd track down the link for you but I'm off to a meeting very soon

what meeting bubba?

That's personal and none of your business [X(]

thats extremely nice. I think i want to do something like that, but im going to put cheek intakes ala a midget stang(i think the front end need to be widened a bit and break up the straight back line of the fuse). I think i also might do it out of fiberglass. I think i could make it look nice, but easier to work on that way(i want to make it look like it COULD be modeled after a real plane.)


What kind of servos am i going to need to fly a 120 size four star? will i need all high torques, or only high torques on the rudder/elevator? What size/voltages of battery's are going to be necessary to run something this size? LAst but not least.....would a small(23cc to the 33cc(or maybe the 45 as its actualy the same size if not lighter) homelite motors)gas engine be alright on here, or do i need to stick with a glow motor.

TX,

Ok the servos are going to depend on what engine you are going to go with. There are a few out there that are running small gas engines and that raises the weight of the plane so heavier duty servos are called for. I'd stay away from the homelite converted engines for this plane as they are heavy.

Personally I'd go with a large 2 or 4 stroke engine and say hitech 645 or 945 servos all around except for the throttle servo. If you want, then go with a 6 volt battery in the 1500mah or bigger range to get even more torque from the servos. In my eyes there is no such thing as too much torque.

Now as far as which engines, if you can afford it a YS110 will haul that plane just fine. I use it in a 10 pound Funtan90 and it's just fine turning either a 16X6 APC prop or the 17X4W, although the 16X6 would be ideal for the 4*, if you keep it lite. A YS140 Sport would be better turning an 18X6 and be slightly overpowered. A Saito 150 would be just about perfect on this plane and may be the best match for it although a YS110 is just about the same amount of power on 30% nitro and much lighter

Another 2 stroke would be the OS 160FX. This will be way over powered. Supertiger and Thundertiger would be good other choices as well as MVVS glow engines.

If you really want gas, then checkout http://www.rcshowcase.com and take a look at the RCS line of engines. The 140 would be OK but the 180 would be better.

i had actualy conisdered dropping the extra coin on a Jett engineering 1.20, as i would like to get into some semi scale pylon racing in that neighbourhood. I think that would be a hoss of a motor, but ot would be cool


the gas was more of a hmmmmm i wonder than a necessity. This is all ver preliminary, so asking now is easy.....just cross things off the mental list.

ok so start looking for some large servo's in the 645 or 945 range...... well theres one new shpopping list item anyway

Very cool planning ahead, not many do that anymore and then get into trouble. I haven't looked yet, but I wonder if there is a build thread or something on that plane. If not then there's an idea for you.

I think how I would do that plane is this:

Saito 150
Hitech 645 on all control surfaces
Some standard servo for the throttle
6.0 Volt battery in the 1500mah range

If you go with 4.8 volt then change the servos to the Hitech 945's (Almost the same torque as the 645's on 6 volt)

If you go to digital servos then increase the MaH on the battery to 2400 as digitals at 6 volts eat up more battery than non digitals at 6 volt

probably wont go digis. Is there a downside to going with the 6v over the 4.8?

there is a slight downside as you will use a bit more power because of the torque increase. Digi's just add to the power usage even more.

I have a GP Super Stearman using 8 5645's (way overkill) and a 2400Mah 6 volt systrem and get about 4 flights before it's to the point I want to charge. I could probably get 5 flights but why risk it.

The 5645's are the same as the standard 645's but are digital

the digis are probably going to be out of my price range, and a tad bit overkill on this plane(this will be mumber 2 that i fly(gas anyway))

i might consider investing in some but i doughbt it

ok

I seem to remember posts from other people about cowls for 4*s there was a company who were offering fibreglass ones. Unfortunately can't remember what forum this was mentioned in but do remember them looking quite good. A quick search might turn up that post.

Cheers
Vaughan

Fiberglass Specialties makes cowls for all 3 sizes of the 4-star. You can find them at [link=http://www.fiberglassspecialtiesinc.com/catalog.htm]Fiberglass Specialties[/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

thanks ken i just emailed them for some pictures. Even if its not EXACTLY what i want, it will be a place to start. Im also interested in there wheelpants(although i have a solid dubro nylon gear i might could use for this plane i dont know yet)

Nmind they got me picture of it and the wheel pants. I like both of them, but i may browse some other style wheel pants first. The cowl on the other hand, when properly fitted, is perfect, and i will be getting on shortly after i get the plane.

could you post a pic of the cowl on the fourstar 120? i wanna see that!

http://drift-cav.50megs.com/photo6.html

last pic on the page

yeah, i got that pic from the website too, i was hoping to see a finished picture.... especailly head on.... but thanks

oh i dont have it yet lol. but ill get one up when i do

sweet

balsa baby!

Make yours like no others!

Dead on!

nice! thats what i would, or will do too! definatley send more pics when its finished