Be kinds guys, this is a first for me . . .

I just picked this up today, and have been spending the evening reading as much as I can about people's experiences. Outside of removing the limiters onthe Evolution Engine, are there any build tips or tricks anyone can impart?

Some things I've been thinking about are:

1) putting silicon into the landing gear channel to prevent the fuel from eating the wood,
2) removing the limiters on the engine
3) finding a good fuel dot
4) buying an on/off switch

anything else . . . ?

I would use balsaright to seal the wood, you may be able to use thinned epoxy. You don't need a fuel dot. It should come with an on / off switch, most of them do. A peak charger would be nice, couple of gallons of fuel, spare battery for the glow starter, a solid restraint system - I use a tent stake that looks like a nail, with some good cord in a loop - that will keep it in place for you when you start it. You will fly the dickens out of this thing. I have 2 that I use. Good luck!

I have a new never run Evolution .46NT in my plane this is the first I have heard of removing limiters from the engine why and how?

Removing the limiters is usually necessary because even though the engine is "pre broken in", you will need to make adjustments to the needles that will usually require the limiters to be removed to accomplish. Removing them only eliminates the mechanical stops that prevent needle movement past a certain point. They aren't needed to make the plane fly, they were only there to prevent a major maladjustment of the needles when first starting out. They should be close to begin with, my first Evolution was too rich, and did require the limiter to be moved. I just ended up taking it off.

The limiters come off with a tiny allen screw that locks the limiter in place.

The limiters on my Alpha 40 didn't bother me until the weather started to cool off after my first summer of flying. That was when I first needed to move the needle past the point that the limiter would let me.

I think the limiters are a bad idea. If they would just include a better explanation of how to adjust the needle valves, kind of like the diagram provided in every OS manual, people should be able to tune their engines just fine. Instead of taking the approach of educating the users on proper adjustment, they tried to make it idiot proof.

It's kind of a 'teach a man to fish' situation.

I never had problems with the main landing gear on my Alpha. I did have problems with the nose gear and the firewall. I would recommend some tri-stock and epoxy on the firewall. If not now, then you'll be doing it when the firewall pops loose.

I would also recommend epoxying the wing halves together instead of just taping them like the manual says.

Good luck. It is a great flying trainer.

ak pilot...the best thing to do is go to the local club wth your plane and ask lots of questions...if your doing a kit take your instruction book and do the same...someone there will have probably built or flown your airplane and will be a wealth, of knowledge.....good luck

Thanks for the responses. I do have a club instructor lined up, but he'd like to get together after the build. He's wholeheartedly supporting me through phone calls until then.

Am headed out today to get a Coverite 21st Century iron to eliminate all of the bubbles on the plane. Seems like an excessive amount to me.

I do have another question for those that view this, what are valid glow plug replacements for this? Just want to stock up on a couple for my field box.


Also, what's "tri-stock"?

'Tri-stock' is just triangular balsa sticks. You epoxy them into corners that you want to reinforce, such as between the firewall and fuselage sides, or between the vertical and horizontal stabilizer.

You might consider adding a charge port to the plane. It's a small plastic bit that holds the charge lead that normally floats around inside the plane, and allows you to check the battery voltage and recharge at the field with out taking off the wing.

This is what I'm talking about:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXE965&P=ML

Taking the limiters off the high and low speed mixture is probably a good idea eventually, but if the engine is running right, then it might not be necessary. It will depend on the weather, your fuel, and other factors.

That's a good idea. It's been so long on mine that I forgot that I had to add it. You really do want to check your RX battery often. You can leave the charge lead sticking out from under the wing, but it can be damaged or damage the covering, and if you have to take off the wing to test your battery, you might tend to skip that step.

For a $3 part, and the couple of minutes it takes to install, it's well worth it.

The OS #8 is a good plug for that engine http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCB27&P=ML

Not so...

ALL of my Evolutions came with "long" plugs.

Check out this picture.



From left to right: Stock Evolution 2 Stroke Glow Plug, O.S. "F" 4 Stroke Glow Plug, Stock SuperTigre .75 2 Stroke Glow Plug, O.S. A3 2 Stroke Glow Plug


I've seen the A3 & A8 recommendations given, but I've found that from the PTS engine up, the Evolutions run best with the long plugs.

You can substitute the OS "F" plugs or other similiar long plugs such as the SuperTigre, etc.

On some of the Evolution .61s on the Alpha 60, we've used OS F plugs to help them run better, depends on the engine a bit though.

I use a K&B 7300 (aka HP) plug in my Evolution that I bought from an ex-student after he wiped out his Alpha 40 and didn't want to fly another small plane. The K&B plug is the same length as the others, a little longer than the OS plugs.

I don't know why OS plugs are slightly shorter than everyone else's plug, but they are. On the other hand, lots of guys at my field do run their Evolutions on OS #8 or A3 plugs and have no problems.

YMMV and how your engine runs on a given plug will depend on your fuel (esp nitro %), your prop, air temp, and the condition of the engine and muffler.

(I run 15% nitro and took the baffle out of the muffler, run an 11x5 APC prop, and make a lot of noise and RPM so the colder K&B 7300 plug makes sense, a hot plug would cause my setup to get into pre-detination, which sounds kind of like an egg frying while the engine runs)

Montague out of curiosity, where do you fly?

Freestate Aeromodelers in Laurel. Just off I-95 at the exit for MD 198.

Hmm, I thought I had my club info in the sig, I guess not. I should change that.


[edit] - Ok, that's better, kinda. Apparently I missed the memo when RCU shortened the signature to just 2 lines for us cheapskates.

Loctite the muffler bolts where they thread into the head, and also the 2 pieces that make up the muffler. I also removed the baffle from mine. I like the noise. I like to hear what the engine is doing when it gets out away from me a bit.