phread59.....After reading through the manual (and many posts here), I decided to ditch the bolt-on wings. The dowel for bolt-on wing does protude from the wing's L.E., but it hides behind the windshield. The problem is this; if I installed the reinforcement for the bolt-on wing, it would interfere with the front dowel for rubber-banding the wing.

The other reason though is that I know this things gonna fall from the sky and I want the repairs to be as minimal as possible. Have the invented remote activated airbags for RC planes yet?

Just wondering how everyone did with their PT40s? I have been flying mine for the better part of a year. I flew it off skis for the winter and converted it to a tail dragger in January. I've had lots of nose-overs with the trike skis, I had one dead stick crash in which the wing popped off unharmed, but the fuse opened up (no biggie). I've flown it in crazy winds too. All in all, it has been fun. I just put an oversized servo wheel on the ailerons, hoping to increase the roll rate. Immelmans are hilariously slow. I'll post a photo sometime.

My PT turned out great. Very little trimming required. Was ready to fly in February. Ended up putting some skis on it and it seemd to fly good. I had about 4 flights on it up until yesterday where with some moral support from a friend, I got the real first solo out of the way. I flew about three times with him nearby and then I was the only one at the field for the next 3 hours. Made many flights and with no harsh landings I'll have many more to come.

I too had several nose-over landings with my trike setup. It may be because the ground is really soft and actually has up to 2" of settled water.

I'll have to scan a photo when I get one developed or wait til my Mom comes to visit with her digi.

Here are a couple pics of the PT40, hanging in my garage. Note the tail wheel.

I am currently getting ready to join the wings on my PT-40. I have built the sport wing but am wondering if it is still too much dihedral?
If I have already cut them to the sport dihedral will making them even less cause any problems as far as taking off too much wood when changing the dihedral? I just do not want to make any mistakes at this point but don't want a wing that I am going to "outgrow" too quickly. Would appreciate any feedback.

I would recommend taking out more dihedral. I finished my PT with the 'sport' wing in February. As a beginner pilot, I've flown a gallon of fuel through my PT and wish that I would've done the same. I think I would cut the dihedral in half. The flat bottom, top-mounted wing will still be very stable in flight.

As for removing wood, as long as you haven't attached the root rib all you'll do is make the wing a little shorter. No big deal. You may have to shave the wing joiners a little too.

Just keep in mind that the washout jigs will have to be shortened by the same amount as what the revised wing tip drops. You'll have to trig that out.

I think you'll be fine Ashes. The Sport wing as you have it should work good for you.

Jeff

The sport wing will probably be fine for you. I live in a very windy city, so I took my dihedral down to 3" combined. It works very well and it is still stable. The more the dihedral, the more the plan tries to fly itself. That makes it difficult in high winds.

The wing span is 60 or 61 inches. If you knock it down to 58, I don't think you'll notice a thing. And you won't have to take that much out.

Keep in mind that the PT-40 is a flat-bottom trainer with a non-symetrical wing. It will never go too fast or roll too quickly. That means you'll outgrow the whole plane, not just the wing. On the other hand, you've always got a relaxing, Sunday flier to cruise around with.

I ended up converting mine to a taildragger, decreasing dihedral, and maximizing throws on all control surfaces. She's still a lazy plane. Rolls take forever and Immelman's are hilariously slow. It's a fun way to get going.

Thanks for the input guys. Joined the wing last night and will continue on with the sheeting tonight and hopefully get it covered this weekend. Will try to post some pictures of the finished plane next week. Thanks again.

Have someone who knows what their doing help you cover the wing. That way you'll get the washout right. Mine is screwed, yet the plane stills flies well. The PT-40 will fly regardless of what you screw up.