I just flew my Eagle 2 for the first time last weekend. And it was a blast! Great little trainer. With the .46 Irvine I strapped on it, it has plenty of power to get me ready for my next plane.

OK. I am ready for my next plane.
At least I have to get it built before the temps here in Texas reach the 100s. No amount of cold beverages could entice me to work in the garage then.

So I started building a TF Contender. This one is a bit more of a challenge to build than the Eagle. Carving the cowl out of a block of balsa should be a challenge. Thank god for Dremel.
Here is what I plan to do to it. I will build the optional flap and I think I will use a .53 Irvine for power. I also got a couple of Hitec HS-85 mini-servos for the ailerons. I am still riding the fence on the flap servo. I may use a standard servo or pick up another HS-85. Oh! And I will probably paint the nose. I am not that good with Monokote yet. But I am pretty good with an airbrush. Those are some wicked curves.

Now on to my question. Has anyone built a Contender? And are there any areas that require special attention while I am building it? I am getting ready to start the wings tonight. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

The building is straightforward. The plane flys terrific but you're waisting your time on the flap, it doesn't need it!
Mine has a K&B 61 with an 11x7 APC the vertical is unlimited.
Standard Futaba servos and no special effort to reduce weight. The plane grooves great. Don't look for snap rolls though.
It will hover in a light breeze.
Hope you enjoy yours like I do mine. By the way just heat and pull the Monokote around the nose. If I can do it anyone can.

bigben

I wouldn't use the HS85's for aileron servos. The servos only have one mounting screw per side and tends to want to move back and forth because of this. They may have the torque but the gears are tiny and I won't trust them on a control surface. The servo arms are tiny and short. This makes it harder to setup controls because you have less throw to work with. I bought some a while back based on the specs. Because of these differences in them, I only trust them to for the throttle. Bigben is right about the flaps, forget them. It just adds more servos that drain your battery and adds more weight. I have a 60 sized warbird and it lands as slow as my original LT40 without flaps, only better because wind doesn't bother it.

Hmmm... I got the HS-85s based on advice I got from the Radio forum. I figured I would box them in with some balsa stock to keep them from twisting.

The flap I am considering just for the coolness factor. I suppose I could get the same kind of service with a flaperon setup. It just looks so cool with that one big central flap extended.

Tom

I'm using HS-225's on my ailerons and agree with the others that stated the HS-85's are not the best choice. I'm using HS-605's for rudder and elevator (they work great!) and HS-425's on the throttle and flap.

I do use the flaps for every landing. They are fun, but probably not needed. I would not use the HS-85's on the flap either... you need to be able to move it manually (power off) and the 85's I've had are prone to bind when unpowered.

Pics of my contender are on my website below.

Thanks for all the help.

I am ready to start sheeting the wings and carving the LE and TE. Now the carving part looks like it could be crewed up real easy. I guess I will just have to take it slow and easy.

Now here is a silly question. How did you get the wing dowels in place? The instructions have you sheet the wings, install shear webs, whittle the LE then drill holes thru the LE. Then they have you glue the dowels to the forward and rear dowel guides. How exactly are you supposed to get glue on the guides thru a 1/4" hole? With all the sheeting in place, I don't see a way to get to the forward guide.

Andy; that is one nice Contender.
I think I will stick with the stock red and white scheme. I will not attempt something that ambitious until I am much better with Monokote.

Tom

Tom, thanks for the nice comments! You probably won't believe this... but that was my first covering job. I was an ARF person before that Contender kit.

Uh... DOH. OK. I figured out the dowel thing. I'll just glue them in before the shear-webs and rear sheeting. :stupid:

Well, I settled on Hitec HS-225s for the ailerons and HS-425s for everything else. Also I ordered a .53 Irvine from 'Justengines'. $99 can't beat that!

Andy; I will rephrase that. I am not a Monokote prodigy like some.

Tom

Hey DeadMeat,

Sounds like you have it pretty much put together. I built one last spring and flew the crap out of it all summer. It flies great and goes right where you point it. Go easy on the rates the first time you fly it as it moves pretty quick. It should fly well with the Irvine you picked up. I put a K&B 61 in mine and its more than enough.

One small thing that I forgot to do was to grind down a flat spot in the front nose gear where the screw tightens into it. If you don't the gear will break free the first time you have a rough landing. I didn't have a file with me at the field the first day and it broke my heart to have to stop flying.


Good luck and show us some pics.

Tom, I wish I was that good... lets just say that the photographs, taken before the model's first flight, are very kind to the covering job.

I made the same mistake Terry did with the nose gear. I also made the additional mistake of following the directions and used the sheet-metal screws to hold the nose gear to the firewall. Throw those out and use blind-nuts and bolts.

I was disappointed with how much sanding and carving there was... especially when the ads for the plane say there isn't much. I figured on the cowl... but never dreamed I'd have to shape the wing's leading edge out of a balsa 1x2 (forget the dremel, buy yourself a Mouse Sander). Even my TF P-47, which is not a beginner's kit, used a pre-shaped LE. The cowl wasn't as much of a pain as the LE. As long as the spinner clears, it won't effect flight, no matter what it looks like. The wing sheeting they provided in my kit was junk. Thin and very brittle. If I were to build it again... I think I would go with a bit thicker sheeting. I'd probably also mount the engine sideways like Terry's, looks cool that way. Otherwise it was an easy build (my first kit).

Its only bad habit was some roll-coupling with rudder... but if you do the modified wingtips, that shouldn't be a problem. I solved it on my Contender with my computer radio by mixing a little aileron with the rudder.

I flew it all last year and will fly it more this year. Lots of fun! It survived a minor "controlled crash landing" into adjacent field (engine quit ~30' feet up and two-thirds down the runway) with just the wing mounting blocks getting torn out. No other damage.

Thanks fot the pointers.

You aren't kidding. That LE carving was no picknic. After about 4 hours with a razor-plane, T-block and several beverages (to keep me motivated ), I finaly got something that looks like a leading edge. The sheeting I got was not bad at all. I only threw away one sheet. It had a big knot in it. Anyway, the wings are almost done. Except for the tips and servos. I think I will do the optional setup. This makes the wing look kind of like a bat-wing.

I am skipping on to the fusalage. I am waiting for my flightpack from ServoCity before I put the wing together. I did notice how cheesy the nose-wheel mount is. I am going to go with some kind of nut and bolt setup here. What were they thinking?

I have another question. Did you use the supplied pushrods? How are they working out? They seem usable to me. Except for the FasLinks and nylon clevises. They have to go. :thumbdown

Tom

I used all the supplied hardware (except for the CA hinges) and flew the plane hard with no problems. Just make sure everything is tight with no slop in the connections. I also sealed all the control surface gaps and I am sure that helped.

Oh ya...I used bigger wheels as our field is a bit rough and the contender bounces around a bit cuz its small and light.

Like Terry, I upgraded the tires due to our grass field. Up to 3.5" now. The standard tires would be fine on pavement.

I only used the supplied hardware on the flap and steering linkage (I replaced the nosegear steering arm with a better dubro unit when I replaced the screws). I replaced everything else with Robart point hinges, 4-40 rods, and Dubro safety-lock clevises. Probably overkill... but I used strong servos and didn't want the pushrods to flex. If you use the standard 2-56 pushrods, be sure to use the little nyrod bits as sleeves like the manual suggests.

All right. Change of plans. JustEngines is out of .53 Irvines. Plus the store is moving to a new location. They will not ship again until 2 April. I think I found a suitable substitute. How does a .53 Rossi with mini-pipe sound? This one sounds like a pretty good motor. What do you think?

Tom

Andy; where did you get the idea for the yellow and black stripes? When I was in the military our base(Bitburg AFB) had a static display of a F-84 with similar markings. It just brought back memories.

Andy,

That Contender is the most beautiful plane i have ever seen. PLEASE sell it to me !!!!!!!!!!!!

[email protected]

Tom,

At $144, the OS .61FX is a great motor for this plane... plenty of power to do anything you want. If you want to try a 4-stroke, then a Saito 72 or YS-63 would be a good match.

You caught me! My colorscheme was indeed inspired by F86's from the Korean Theater.

Quarterhrses: Thanks for the compliment... but I think I'll keep it.

Nobody mentioned my pilot. Normally I'm not one for silly pilots... but if you consider I had intended to stuff a 91FX into this beast... my choice makes perfect sense...

Love the Tazz Man! I looked at your web site. Great site and planes. You said on the site that you'd never do chrome Ulttracote again. why? Is the chrome or the Ultracote?

Tazz

I did consider the .61 FX. But the Rossi sounds so sweet. It is almost 6 oz lighter and puts out 1/3 HP more than the .61. All that on 5% fuel. Of course it costs as much as the .61 as well. But 6 oz weight savings I think is worth it.

Ahhh.... The agony of choosing a pilot. You have done well Andy. Taz is cool. I guess I will have to make a trip to Toys'R'Us soon.

Tom

Tazz, from your handle... I assumed you would like my pilot. As for chrome ultracote... its the chrome that I'll never use again... at least not for a whole plane. What a pain! It works good over open structures like a wing... but even if the wood is sanded as smooth as a baby's behind... every possible defect is magnified by the chrome. It also doesn't shrink as well as regular ultracote... and if you get the temp too hot, it will leave a permanent white haze in it. I like ultracote ok and will continue to use that. By contrast, the 1" yellow&black ultracote was a dream to put on.... even wtih its square pattern.

Tom, that sounds like a decent engine choice. Are you going to mount it upright or sideways?

I have not decided how I will mount the engine yet. I think I will wait until I have it in my hot little hands.
Now if i was to mount it sideways. Would tilting the motor-mount 90 degrees be enough? Or would I have to mess around measuring thrust lines etc...?

Tom

It has been my experience that it engine placement on the "thrust line" isn't all that critical. It can be off a 1/4" and not cause any noticible change in flight. Thrust angle (down-thrust, right-thrust, etc.) is more important... you want to try to keep it about the same.

You should be able to simply rotate the mount 90-degrees and not worry about it.

Not sure how far along you are with building but what I did to take the confusion out of it was to build the firewall with 2 degrees of down and right into it. That way you can put the engine in any way you want and not have to worry about it. I called Top Flite about the down and right thrust and they suggested 2 degrees which worked perfectly for me.

Thanks again. I already glued the firewall in. I guess it is too late to give it 2 degrees down/right. I guess I will mount the engine straight up.

I have another question. The joint where the builtup tailfin and the solid forward fin join seems a little weak. I managed to break it twice already just having the assembly laying around. :surprised Did you folks put any extra gussets in there?

Tom

I didn't change the thrust angles on my Contender. It seems that there was some downthrust and some right thrust built into the firewall already (gold edition kit). Rotating the engine won't change the angle... I'd say go for it if you want!

I strengthened several aspects of the plane, including the structure of the tail-feathers. But then again... I intended to put a larger than specified engine in it. Careful though... its easy to add weight.

Thanks Andy;
I will beef up the tail a little. I will also have to beef up the control surfaces a little. I plan on using 1/8" Robart Hinge-Points. I will have to build up the 1/4" hinge areas a little to fully seat the hinges.

Tom