I need pics or description of a Big Stik that has been converted to a tail dragger. A Little help Please! [8D]

hi - i started a thread here :- http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_89...tm.htm#8991411

I installed a 1/4 aircraft plywood plate in front of the servo tray, against the former at the front of the wing saddle. I installed 1/4-20 blind nuts and used nylon screws to attach the main gear.
I used a tail wheel assembly similar to http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXCLK9&P=0 and ran a pushrod from the rudder servo to turn it.

Some people drill through the stabilizer and run a steering wire through to the rudder. Others mount a servo under the rear of the fuselage and attach it to the tail wheel. My 60 size Big Stik needed a fair amount of lead on the tail so installing a servo back there may be a good idea.

A friend has one that has the tail wheel wire going up into the rudder.

The main gear was just moved to the front using the 1/4" plywood doubler behind F2.

I did one a few years back and built up a lower place under the horizontal stabilizer to look like the skid that comes with the ARF but big enough to mount the tail wheel bracket. I ran the tail wheel wire up into the rudder.

carrellh,

I have the BS 60 and am considering the taildragger conversion. Do the 1/4-20 blind nuts work with the screws provided with the ARF's landing gear or do i need to get separate screws?

The battery I'm using is a 700map 4.8 cell running 5 servos. Is this enough juice to power a 6th servo for the tailwheel?

Also, if I go with the wire through the stab and into the rudder option, how would I attach the wire to the rudder? Currently, the rudder is already hinged/glued to the vertical stab. So unless I cut off the rudder and then rehinge it after adding the tailwire, I don't see a clear way to afix the tailwire to the rudder.

Any help is much appreciated.

When moving the main gear to the front, do you need to use Blind Nuts for the screws to go into? Or can the screws just go into the 1/4" ply?

I have threaded plywood before and it works. I like blind nuts.

I used 1/4-20 nylon wing bolts cut down to a shorter length. I cannot remember what size the original screws were. You could always pry out the blind nuts they provided and install them in the new gear mount.

I can't answer the battery question. I bought a bunch of 4.8 volt 1650 mah nimh packs and use them in everything.

You probably can cut a groove in the bottom of the rudder (brass tubing makes nice grooves) and epoxy the wire in. A small piece of sheet aluminum (soft drink can) could be wrapped around the bottom of the rudder to reinforce it.

On a already built model I turn the rudder all the way to one side and drill a small hole to stick the tail wheel steeering wire into. Then I epoxy the wire into the hole

I use 1/4 - 20 nylon wing bolts on the landing gear and tap the bare plywood for the bolts

Mine is a 40 size, but here are some pics

Bob

Anyone know if a 700mA 4.8 cell battery pack can run 6 servos (standard 5 plus 1 for tailwheel)?

Here is a mock-up similar to what I did to convert my Big Stik. The staple, made from music wire wrapped around a PH screwdriver shaft, goes into the base of the rudder and the fuel-line keeps the "tiller" from being too sloppy while cushioning harder bumps.

You'd need a longer tiller than this one shows and different bend geometry - but it's what I had available at the moment.

It will work but I would check the voltage every flight. I figure you will get three flights on a charge

Remember that voltage has nothing to do with the duration of your charge so going to a 6.0V would do nothing but give your servos a little more power. I would recomend getting higher Milliamp capacity battery pack about 1200-1700 ma. and you should be able to fly almost all day on that depending on how many flights you put on it in a day.

It looks like you have the gear placed so that the centerline of the gear aligns with the leading ede of the wing. But there's a former inside the fuse right at this spot. Did you have to remove the bulkhead/former to install the gear where you have it?

I've seen them in front of the former, behind the former and centered on the former


they all worked fine

The legs of the gear are at an angle

If behind the former have the wheels forward
If in front of the former, have the wheels to the rear
If centered on the former have the wheels forward

As w8ye said,

I split my reinforcement at the former,
so my nylon bolts are on both sides of
the former. My axles are just a tad ahead
of the leadind edge. I used a Level, vertically
to assure they where just that way.

Hope that helps,

Bob