I am building my first gas plane... all my nitro ARF's already had the engine mounting screws correct in position with thrust angle compensation... this kit doesn't have that... how does it work? what angle's should I use? pics or graphs would be nice... I have never needed to deal with thrust angles before, so I am a beginner in this area of building the kit...

I was actually not talking about the thrust angle I notice now... its the engine mounting holes which I need to know... see the arrow... the center of the hole should my engine shaft line up in the center only of that hole and then I can measure and drill my engine mount holes? this is my firewall from the front end...

Not enough information. Is there any right angle built into that firewall or is there any down angle built into that firewall and is there any cowling with a nose ring around the propshaft?

The easiest method is to measure how far from the firewall to the back of the propellor needs to be and go ahead and mount the engine to the mount with that distance accounted for.

Now just slide the engine/mount around where it needs to be so the prop shaft exits the nose ring where it needs to be and mark the firewall holes here using the whole engine/mount unit as a drill guide.

The Great Planes hole centering tool is perfect for this marking job and I highly reccommend it.

John

Why not tell what kit you are building, and what engine you are using? Maybe someone has built the same combination.

This is the hole center locator that I spook of and for seven bucks its a must for any modeler who may be mounting more than just one engine in the future.

John

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXK378&P=ML

switch; if I understand your queston correctly, the shaft on your engine should line up where the lines intersect the hole, not in the center of the hole

Provided the engine is not using standoffs, what I find is the easiest way is as follows:

1. Mount the engine on the motor mount (leave off anything that may stick out past the edge of the cowl).

2. Place the fuselage in a vertical position (a friend comes in handy here or just prop the fuselage up securely).

3. Place the engine/motor mount assembly on the firewall.

4. Place the cowl over the engine.

5. Carefully shift the engine until the prop shaft is centered in the prop opening on the cowl.

6. CAREFULLY remove the cowl - do not bump/shift the engine.

7. Hold the engine/motor mount assembly in place and trace around the outside of the motor mount.

8. Remove the motor mount from the engine and align the motor mount in the tracing.

9. Mark your mounting holes on the firewall.

Now you can drill your holes and install your blind nuts.

End result: Your engine is properly located on the firewall AND centered in the cowl. This method also takes into consideration your down thrust and side thrust.

I was thinking this... now I got the answer I wanted... its a Slipstream 30cc MXS kit guys... it has a poor manual... no templates... I bought it, was all the time interested in the Goldwing kit but thought this would be the same seeing the planes look identical... the Goldwing kit has the ring in the cowl... this one nothing...