Finally got the OS 46 LA on my Super Decathalon fired up last night. It fired right up! Was happy about that. Ran on tank of fuel through. Would like to run at least two more tanks through it prior to it's maiden flight. It feels like the engine should have enough power to fly the plane just fine. I decided I wasn't happy with the fuel tank set up. I used the hardware that came with the plane (all plastic). I ended up putting in a sullivan 10 0z tank with brass tubing. I wire tied all the connections. This sullivan tank is clear, making it easy to see the vent tube and clunk. I also added the third line for filling. I don't understand why there isn't some place that you can buy a preassembled tank, with the clunk, vent tubes etc... already in place. This is the most critical part of the plane! So there's my suggestion. Could call it the "ARF" (All Ready to Fuel) fuel tank! HA! Would sure give me peace of mind and make the build one heck of lot easier. For me getting the fuel tank setup is the most difficult part of the build. Not that is extremely difficult. But it is time consuming and one of the things you worry about the most cause you want to be double sure you got it right. Other than that the build for this ARF went extremely well. All I have left to do is secure the fuel tank, battery and Rx and she's ready for take off. Hope to maiden that SD this weekend, or maybe even tonight. I want to thank everyone for all the advice during putting her together. This will be my last ARF for awhile. Not retired yet, just don't have the time to work on them. Will buy RTF's for my next planes. Most likely used. Wife says I'm obsessed!! HAHA!! I told her that she was absolutely correct!! Ah but a sweet obsession!! I honestly would sell my harley to buy more planes!! That would give me more romm in the garage! Now if I could just get her as obsessed as I am about flying!!

Good luck getting your wife into little toy airplanes. If you give it any thought you are only in the air a little bit of the time you are at the field, the rest of the time you are hanging with other guys talking about it or watching someone else fly. Not a lot going on for a wife.
Fuel tanks, yes it is one of the critical parts of the plane. Do you really want some little kid in China assembling it for you?? It's bad enough finding all those little places they forgot to add some glue to the air frame but the covering hides that well enough. The 20 minutes it takes to assemble your tank is time well spent and buying an after market tank insures you that you even got a bung that fits the hole and isn't going to fall out then flood your air frame with nasty fuel leaving behind and nice oil soaked balsa wood compartment.
Just something to think about.

I agree, I would rather assemble my own tank. I always pressure test my tanks as well fuel proof the tank compartment.

Have fun with the Super Decathlon

Yeah you might be right about the wife, but hoping that see would actually start flying. 5 years ago she didn't understand why I like my harley so much, and wouldn't even ride with me. Today, she rides her own Harley. So there's always hope. As for the fuel tank. I guess I'm still a rookie and always worry if I have it set up properly. The Dubros are hard to see through (can't see the clunk line or vent tube opening well. The sullivan I bought is completely clear. Makes it easy to ensure proper setup. Comes with the best plug and hardware I've seen thus far and it's made in the USA

Hey Bill,

Sell the harley and buy bigger planes JMO.

I too like the clear Sullivan tanks for the same
reason. Just triple check everything before the
maiden, Good Luck and remember PPPPPP

Bob

Lima Charlie on the five P's!!!! I'm ready to sell the harley and buy bigger planes!! I do like the hog too though. Since you use the sullivans, what is the somewhat long skinny stiff plastic tubing for (came with the tank kit) ? Securing the tank??

Check out Hayes tanks, can assemble them in about 60 seconds, I have used them almost exclusively for 20 years plus, no failures yet. No brass tubes, no bungs, no problems!

Bill,

That skinny plastic stuff I believe, is what they
intended for us to use to go through the bung.
I use brass tubing myself.

Bob

Don't give up on the wife thing. My wife flys, and has her own airplane. (I put it together and maintain it though, she's not into wrenching on stuff).

yeah I like the brass tubing as well.

Not giving up that's for sure. She's the same as your wife, as I change the oil and wash her harley as well. She will sometimes wash it, and will occasionally break out the chrome polish, but I don't think she's ever touched a wrench! I think she would like it if I could just get her to the field once.

I'm for anything that can be assembled in 60 seconds!!

Just checked out the hayes online!! Now that is the TICKET!!! Only one inside tank line to worry about!! the clunk line!! just what I've been looking for!!

Hayes tank are bar none the most reliable tank on the market today and as K3 vallley flyer stated can be assembled in less than a minute.

The o ring equiped plug can removed and inserted indefinately, try that with a conventional not gonna happen without leaks.

There is no need for a third line either, two line systems work just fine with fewer failure modes and thats with or without a cowl.

All new projects of mine get Hayes except for a small number that benefit from a Bubbless type tank.

In the case of some ARF projects I have done for my self as well as others I usually discard the included tanks and use only Hayes. A very high percentage of failures to get in a maiden on the first outing is often caused by problems of the conventiional tanks that would not have happened with a Hayes.

Many of these tanks I won,t even give away, I would not do that to people. There are also pacific rim ripoffs of hayes out there that can never function as they completely omitted the O ring in their direct copy.

John
John

John

John, you better show some shots of a couple of your cowled planes so people can see how you fuel up and drain or your going to have a lot of new people scratching there heads. I'm still a three line guy but I am starting to give those really ugly Hayes a second though. We will see what happens after my next trip to the hobby shop.

JOhn,
thanks for the pics, I like the set up. I do like using three lines for the ones with cowls, but think you could drain one with the third line attached with plane inverted. or bt attaching a T in the main fuel line. Gotta get a hayes

John I have promoted Hayes tanks on RCU before and gotten nothing but grief from the three line guys, really good to get some support. I use exclusively 2 lines with either a Dubro or Sullivan filler in the fuel line between the tank and the carb. Get very neat cowl installations by mounting the filler inside the cowl on the firewall and a small hole in the cowl to get to the filler with the filler probe. I throw away any tank with brass tubes and a bung. Have had to use a Graupner tank a few times but try to make a Hayes fit if at all possible. Even when the brass tube tanks don't leak they don't seem to be air tight, engines always seem to run better with a Hayes. I am sure that will get alot of howls!

http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Wild_Coyote_sounds.aspx I couldn't resist. Actually I'm a little more opened minded on this. If the Hayes tanks are working better for you, then by all means use them. I use one on my test stand and it works fine. But I've never had any problem with tanks with brass tubes and a bung. Even the cheapie ones that came with the arf's I've built worked fine. I even re-used a tank from an old discarded ARF that I got rid of because it was so worn out. It happened to be the same tank included in the next arf I made. Hobbico Avistar and the Tower 40 Trainer, and it worked just fine. I did open it up and replace the silicon tubing, and made sure it was clean before reassembly. I also pressure test my tanks before installing to check for leaks. I think its just a matter of getting the assembly correct.

But I think the Hayes tanks are good also.

[sm=lol.gif]

Tom the coyote howls are very cool!! Grew up in the country so makes me feel right at home. Got to admit though as a boy rarely heard a coyote or any other wild animal very much, they keep pretty quiet. The old barn owls could make alot of noise though, and a fox in the hen house would make the chickens raise the dead. The dogs kept most critters pretty far from the house except the wild cats that lived in the barn, dogs would chase them but very hard to catch. Thanks for the rib, had it coming.

Hayes have never been politically correct on RCU however they have always been the best and it is never neccessary to use a third line. This method provides the most important factor of all when using two stroke engines - a pinch line, try that with a third line ain't gonna happen.

I just cringe when some walks up and wants me to fly their beautiful cowled whiz band and expect me to break it in and tweek it in half a tank with only a hole to stick a long screw driver or something in to adjust the needle and no access for the midrange and worst of all no way in the world to pinch tune.