You said you used Robart hinge-points on your Contender? What did you do on the outer aileron hinges? I had to cut the hinge-points down to two barbs to fit. I think that should hold. What do you think?

Tom

I did the same thing to my outboard aileron hinges. They're fine.

I built mine last winter. I made a few mods

1. Connected the nose gear support behind the firewall with hex bolts and blind nuts instead of the screws supplied.

2. Made the cowl bottom detachable so that I could get at the engive from below. Use longer screws for the bottom of the nose gear support and they can act as a guide to support the cowl bottom. Use a hex bolt up front to connect the bottom cowl to a blind nut installed in the front of the top portion of the cowl (sounds more complicated than it is)

I used Hitec 425's for all the servos and built the flap (as the MAN article suggests you have to sand the back of the flap more than indicated on the plan

I installed a .46 fx with an 11x7 prop

Kept the wings straight and re-inforced the rudder build up with some additional stock

The only weird characteristics I found with mine that as soon as the wheels touched grass on landing, the plane hugged the ground and the rounded wing tips didn't lend themselves to easy knife edge flight

I have a picture located at : Woodstock (TF Contender)

The pilot is one of my heros.

Nuker

That's a pretty cool looking Contender. I hope mine turns out as good as the ones I have seen here.

I made pretty much all the changes Nuker did. Except for the removable scoop. I think I will just glue it on. I tapped the engine mount so I am not using any nuts. Right now I am working on the cowling and scoop. It will take some creativity to clear my throttle arm and linkage.

I finaly have all the pieces to finish this project. Now all I need is the time to do it.

Tom

All right! I have been making some progress. Here is what I got sofar. I am almost there!

Tom

Looking good, Tom!

What kind of muffler is that? where can i get one to fit a 61fx?

The muffler is a minipipe that came with the Rossi. I believe you can get something similar from Macs. (http://www.macspro.com/onepiece.asp)

Or if you want a high perfrmance muffler a JettStream is another option. (http://www.jettengineering.com/accy/jettstream.html)

Tom

Where can i get the contender????....
would a O.S 46 FX be a nice engine for that plane....


-nick

I got mine from Tower Hobbies. (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...1&I=LXHU90&P=0)

The .46 FX should be enough to pull it around. According to TF, they flew their prototype with O.S. .40 LA and a .61 FX. TF claims that both worked well.

Tom

All right. I thought it was time for another update. I lack a little imagination. So, it looks just like the box. Except I covered the bottom of the wing all red. I am getting sooo close to finishing it.

BMX2996: If you use a .46 FX, remember you'll need an 11x7 prop. The 11x6 didn't give great response, I was kinda amazed at the difference one pitch provided.

Deadmeat: plane looks great

Nuker

Here she is. Finaly finished and ready for the maiden flight!
Thank you all for the help.

DeadMeat,

The plane looks fantastic. Well done. and now...... this skies await....

Have fun

Nuker

Today I enlisted one of the local veteran fliers to be my testpilot. He gave her a shakedown. The takeoff was a little scary. She climbs a little bit better with the elevator on high rates. Barely missed some trees. Ooops.

But once airborne she flies great. No trim was necessary. The testpilot handed me the TX for a couple of laps. What a feeling that was. I got to fly 1 1/2 months worth of blood, sweat and beers.

Now I have to dust off my trainer and learn to land.

Tom

Dude, this doesn't land like a trainer. Mine hugs the ground as soon as the wheels touch. I bring it in steep and flair. Looks impressive

Have fun with it

Nuker