ready to fly!
 

Today, i just put the final touches on my first build/trainer! only one thing. it seems to be tail heavy, and i didnt put the skid plates on the back. is that going to be ok, not putting skid plates on? this is the plane im going to learn to fly with, so i want to make sure its right. i know ill have to balance it, but will not having skid plates on affect it other than maybe landing? also, i have to tune the engine, any info on here that i can download to my laptop and watch/read while im doing it? thanks for the help.

RE: ready to fly!
 

As you know, it will have to be balanced

Adjusting the needle valves

http://www.mecoa.com/faq/carb/needle_aero.htm

http://www.google.com/search?source=...AAAKoEBU_QXqyf

RE: ready to fly!
 

I don't know about the plates, but I guess they are not critical.

If you will use an electric starter, adding a spinner to the prop will help you greatly.

Here you are:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...?article_id=84

http://masportaviator.com/2004/01/20/58/

For starting and tunning the engine:

http://www.gettingairborne.com/engines.html

I hope you have an instructor for your first flights.

Best luck!

RE: ready to fly!
 

K. got all the articles. thanks. youve been a great help Lnewqban. now i have info to get this ready. and yes, when i fly this, i will have an instructor. thanks again!!

RE: ready to fly!
 

That looks like a Midwest Aerostar. With the horizontal stab on the bottom of the fuselage like that you will find if you fly from grass or dirt it will get beat up fairly quickly. I would recommend using the skids personally. My old one with a heavier old school engine still needed a little weight up front. They were designed when engines weighed more so adding weight is not unusual. First get the radio gear as far forward as possible then add weight as necessary.

RE: ready to fly!
 

for one thing, you did a great job on this bird.
looks good, and will serve you well.
i second the advice on the skids, and a heavy spinner.
weight wise you will not notice the difference.

good job!
nice to see that people still build their own planes:D

RE: ready to fly!
 

What little weight a skid plate will make shouldn't bother. I've built more Aero Stars then you can shake a stick at and if you pay attention and put all your extras ( battery, rec. etc. ) as far forward as possible ( battery all the way up front under the fuel tank ) you should be right on, even with todays 46's instead of the old 40's.

I did notice one thing in your picture of the engine mount. Your engine is all the way back against the firewall. If you are having to add weight to the tail you might want to think about moving your engine forward just a smig. That will keep you from having to add much weight if any at all.

As stated above, if you put a spinner on that will also help with your balance. One last thing that might be of help, if it still doesn't balance to your liking you might try larger tires, especially if you are flying off grass.

It looks like you did a good job and I'm sure you will like the Aero Star, it a fine trainer, and I'm sure glad you have an instructor to help you.
ENJOY !!! RED

RE: ready to fly!
 

thanks for all the help everyone. i did forget about the spinner, so im sure the spinner will make the difference. i have also played with the notion of getting a new mount and moving the engine forward. the fuel/pressure lines seem a little snug comming through the fire wall, so that would help two ways. please keepthe comments comming, i dont mind any ideas or help comming my way as i am new to this. thanks again!

RE: ready to fly!
 

You are welcome, tlojak38.

Additional last comments:

The link provided by w8ye in post #2 is great for proper tunning and troubleshooting of any glow engine.

If the skid protects the elevator from impact, try to install it before the servo can get damaged by accident during landing's or take-off's.

Use 12 rubber bands (#64) to hold the wing, the last ones in cross pattern.

Make some kind of aligment guide, so the wing is always and easily installed in the same position and angle respect to the fuse.
That can be some break-away or shallow pieces of wood on the bottom of the wing adjusted to the width of the fuselage.

I also second the advice about the diameter of the wheels, if your engine is a 0.40 and you will be flying from less than perfectly mowed grass (at least 2-3/4").

Seal the gap of all the hinges with transparent tape.

Nice finishing work.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]

RE: ready to fly!
 

They make a heavy brass spinner that would really help if you need weight. Nice job on the build, you probably built it better than you could have bought. If you have the time and inclination, you may want to add large dark stripes to the underside of the wing to make for as much dark on the bottom, light on the top contrast as you can make it. It will prove to be helpful later on when / after you solo to help keep orientation. Some days, because of the sun and clouds, all colors disappear, and only when you bank will the light on top, dark on the bottom help out. You will learn to "keep it close in" due to that. Most people have a tendency to fly a half mile away before they realize it, and orientation is important in getting it back to you. Just something to think about. You are about to have the time of your life as you learn all this! Have fun!;)

RE: ready to fly!
 

ok. one question. what does seal the gap of all the hinges with clear tape mean?  ill do it, but im not quite sure what it means. all this is good stuff, im copying and saving it all! oh, and im pretty sure i have 2 3/4 wheels on the  back, and 2 1/2 on the front. should i go bigger? i got what the instructions told me to, but experience beats general instructions any day, so tell me what you think. you guys just dont know how much you have already helped me, and i appreciate it so much.  i want this to be the the best plane out there to train on, and to be able to use it to help others get into this hobby in the future.

RE: ready to fly!
 

Depends on the runway you use as to if those wheels are big enough. They seem to be fine for most runways I would say. I unfortunatly set my plane up for a horrible field, It is not regularly mowed and is extremly uneven. I tore a 1.5 in nose gear out once there when Ihit a rut. So I have 3.5 in the rear and 3 in the front. My plane looks silly like that fun cub but it flys from that rough field nicely now. If i had better tread my plane would look like a 4X4 plane lol. Remember to level the plane out with different size wheels fron to rear. You want to maqke sure the wing is hitting the air at the proper angle. The tape will help in keeping the hinge areas clean. I may be mistaken but basicly you will flex the hinge to say down then place the tape on the top side then reverse that for the other side.

RE: ready to fly!
 

 I am starting to build a midwest 40 trainer for my nephew after looking through the manual it does not mention the thrust angel for the engine does the plane need right thrust and any down.. I hope this is ok to post in this thread or should I start another.

RE: ready to fly!
 

The down thrust is built into the firewall placement and right thrust should not be needed.

RE: ready to fly!
 

Thank yoy cfircav8r for the reply we are working on it right now and are close to mounting the engine, this plane is going together well hope it will fly the same.

RE: ready to fly!
 

It will fly very well. I just hope you are going to get an instructor to help if you aren't a flier. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: ready to fly!
 

I enjoyed learning on mine. It's a solid flyer and solidly designed. I cartwheeled mine more than once and it survived until I was ready to move on.

RE: ready to fly!
 

 I do fly but I think we will have my flying partner madin, do the instruction and hold the buddy box for the firs few flights he has about 20 years exp on me. I also crash every once in a while I shure do not want my mistake to discourage him.  We are ready to install the servos and radio gear so the first flight may be next weekend if time permits.   Thanks again for the help.

RE: ready to fly!
 

417 mack; Make sure you teach your son PROPER preflight for EACH flight. It will save a lot of money and grief later. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: ready to fly!
 

update. i tried taping the hinge gaps, and it came out horrible! maybe im using the wrong stuff. any suggestions? maybe i just wont do it at all and take my chances. anyhow, im getting ready to tune the engine, that will be fun. oh, should i do that with the prop on, or off? ive also seen where a prop that has been cut down was used. thanks for all the help everyone.

RE: ready to fly!
 

Hi!
You seal the gap between the flying surfaces (ie wing and ailerons, stab and elevator) with Oracover plastic film Not with tape!!!
Tape works but a much better way of doing it is with a narrow strip (2cm) of Oracover (Ultracote in the US) plastic covering film fastened with an iron.
You do this because to prevent air coming up trough the gap. Air coming up trough the gap will reduce the way the flying surfaces act on the plane. Large gaps and you will have to use large flying surface throws to fly the plane, which is no good. Seal the gap and you can use less throw and the plane will be more responsive.
This is a bad photo but I think you can see the narrow strip of Oracover covering the gap on the underside of the stab of my Viper Q-500 racer.
A much better way than a spinner is to use an aluminium spinner nut.
To start the engine you just turn the rubber cone around.

RE: ready to fly!
 

The "hinge tape" used in electrics is not fuel proof and is for hinging, not gap sealing. Packing tape, likewise, is not fuel proof. Hatch tape s too heavy and may limit travel. I have only ever sealed one model's hinge lines and that was after flying it showed a slight flutter. It is not necessary in most models. Does make for a very "finished" look in a nice covering job.

As mentioned above: if you are going to do it then use a strip of the same material as the covering.

RE: ready to fly!
 

I also recommend the aluminum spinner nuts that jaka mentioned. They cost about the same as a plastic spinner, they don't get chewed up by the starter, and they make it a LOT easier to change props.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXE158&P=7

Good luck.

RE: ready to fly!
 

As stated above , You don't really need to seal the hinges for this plane. ( the only reason I commented on sealing was because you ask ) Maybe for a later plane you might want to.

As far as the spinner goes , check out the DuBro line of Aluminum prop nuts they are neat. www.DUBRO .COM . ENJOY !!! RED

RE: ready to fly!
 

 We have 5 flights on the midwest trainer so far. The plane is a great trainer very easy to land and take off. I am using a dx7 and dx6 on a trainer coard, I really like being able to save the trim settings when I learned on Futaba fm raidos we had to set the reversing and trims every time.