Do I bend the strut?
 

Hi,

I bought a Wattage Tangent speed 400 ARF. The landing gear consists of struts that attach to reinforced clips under the wings, some wheels and some retaining plugs.

The struts are straight and no axles came with the kit. Am I supposed to put a bend at the bottom of the strut to mount the wheel on? Is that usual?

Thanks.

Mike Ledbetter

Do I bend the strut?
 

Not 100% sure, but do you want something like:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXD827&P=0

These go on to the stub of the strut, and provide the axle for the wheel.

Check your instructions.

gus

P.S. This is a better link...

http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...0.70.121.0.0.0

Do I bend the strut?
 

Gus, thanks for the reply. The local hobby shop has those axles. I picked up the pack and thought, "They seem way too heavy for this electrical plane."

The Wattage instructions just say to mount the wheel on the landing gear, no mention of bending or axles or other parts.

So my question: Is "bending" a 90 degree angle into the bottom of the landing gear strut a common part of kit assembly?

Do I bend the strut?
 

Ok Mike now you made me go dig out a Hobby People catalog to find out what in the heck a Tangent is.

Those axle adapters in that link are typically used on airplanes from around five to nine lbs. So for your 15 ounce airplane they would be entirely inappropriate. I would be willing to bet three burned out glow plugs aginst a stale glazed donut that your first instinct is correct. And that is to bend the gear wire ninty degrees and use the supplied retainers.

Now to something a bit more important. That ship is a micro pattern plane and if you are a beginner and its your first plane it is in fact an entirely inappropriate aircraft to learn on, I can only assume you are a beginner since this is the beginner forum, forgive me if this is incorrect. I would not attempt to fly this ship without an instructor and even then it is going to be a handful . Its no doubt a snazzy flyer but far better to park it for now and learn on a proper trainer. If not its not going to live long.

John

John,
 

Thank you for your response. I fly a Sky Scooter and a Tiger Moth pretty well now and train like a demon with AeroFly Pro, with wind and turbulance as appropriate for whatever model. Flown the scooter so much that I've burned out one motor already. Been flying F3A types on Aerofly Pro in various wind conditions to get ready for the Tangent.

The scooter and the moth I fly at local parks. I have flown the scooter at the club I just joined, which is where I'll be flying the Tangent. I'm using a Futaba 6X, so I can buddy box at the field with the Tangent if I want. Truthfully, I haven't decided yet. I think I can take off and land myself; all the guys at the club are experienced in glow only. We fly one at a time. If I wait for still wind conditions, I think I'll be okay.

I am also getting a .48 Hangar 9 glow trainer (Easy 2) ready for instructor training. Definitely trainer cord time for this. My first glow plane.

By the way, I got a very quick response from Global/Wattage customer service, and they said to bend the bottom of the strut 90 degrees to the side. So that answers that.

Regards and happy flying.

Re: John,
 

Cool, Does that mean I can expect a 'stale Glazed donut' in the mail :D

Relieved to hear its not your first and you seem to be going about it the right way. I suspect you will enjoy the glow trainer immensely.

John :)

By the way
 

Here is a Tangent, for those who are interested. It has a 31" wingspan and a Speed 400 motor.