klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

Chuck,
 
   Thanks!!  I'm on a trip this week, so won't be able to do anything until next weekend.

   Not sure about Masters. . . they say I have to move to Advanced, one step at a time!  I've never snapped a pattern plane before, so this should be entertaining!!

   Just stirrin' up crap via the internet. . .

grcourtney

My Feedback: (1)

move up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: D

gary

klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

Why would I want to move up?  I just got the Intermediate pattern figured out!!!
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klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

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It flies!!!
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Temps today were in the 100's, so I waited until after 5pm to head out to the field. I was able to get three short flights, each one the engine was loading up really bad at mid-range so I set up for landing and deadsticked while on final approach. I replaced the glow plug and turned the mid-range screw in 1/4 turn. . . the engine was responding much, much better on the ground. However, since it was beginning to get dark, I decided to call it a day and bring it home for a good going over to see if anything shook loose.
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Except for the engine needing some more tweaking, I was really happy with how the XLTgrooves in the air. I really didn't have much time to do any aerobatics since the engine wasn't sounding good in the air and I wanted to keep it in position for a deadstick landing. It did slow down really nice for a smooth, gentle, nose-high landing. I put 6oz. of lead in the nose for the initial flights to make sure it wasn't tail heavy, I think she'll fly much better without that weight.
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I'll try again tomorrow now that I think I have the mid-range fixed. Sorry, no videos. I'll see what I can do once I get the engine dialed in. . .

Atlanta 60

My Feedback: (18)

Congrats!!

klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

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OK, the attached photos are not for the weak of heart. Last fall I took my XLT to the club fly-in, where I knocked out the right retract bunny-hopping over some dude landing 90 degrees to the runway - ugh.
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Anyhow, I've had the plane hanging in my garage all winter and was looking at it trying to decide what to do with it. There is a pretty good hole in the right wing where the retract strut went thru. To do a proper repair would require having to fix the hole then attempting to cover with new fiberglass and paint and not having it look like a grisly patch. I also decided that the grass runway on my field will just be too hard on retracts, so I'll have to bite the bullet and convert to <gasp> fixed gear. I love having retracts, but it just isn't worth the stress of every landing wondering if its going to tear out. There were also a couple other mods I wanted to do since I'll have her on the operating table, like taking those servos out of the tail. Since the fuselage is still in great shape, I'm going to cover the wings with Ultracote and leave the fuselage painted.
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Peeling off the fiberglass was a whole lot easier than putting it on. Once I got it all peeled off, I decided to weigh it. The Kroger bag weighs 0.2 oz., so total weight of fiberglass, epoxy, microballoons and paint was over 8 ounces. Wow. One half pound. I know most guys out there could do a whole airplane with that much material, but apparently I'm not (or ever will be) one of them.
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I didn't weigh them, but the retracts with all of the plumbing, tank, servo and valve were pretty heavy. Getting the two mini-servos out of the tail should also allow me to get rid of the lead weight in the nose, so I'm getting kinda excited about putting this plane on a serious diet. I don't remember what the total weight was for this thing before, but I'll post some more once I get the "Extreme XLT Makeover" done.
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dhal22

Keith, she'll be flying again in no time.

EscapeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

[]

klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

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OK guys, just finshed the "Extreme Makeover - XLT Edition". . . . This project has been on hold after a flying season, move to a new house, building a new workshop, ect., ect., ect. Once I got my new shop done, I put this one on the front burner. I made sure my 2012 CPAdues were paid before posting this in case you guys want to drum me out for the fixed gear conversion. . . The reality is that I fly off a grass field and didn't want to be cringing during every landing.
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Except for the landing gear being a little too tall for my taste, I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. The number I'm most excited about is the weight. This plane originally was 8 lbs., closer to 9 lbs. with the added nose weight, extra servos, and other sundry crap. As you can see in the picture, all-up weight without fuel was 7lbs. 12 oz. I also switched the prop to a 10 x 10 from a 12 x 7 Vess. The 7 pitch made alot of noise in the air, but the plane seemed to be driving in first gear. We'll see if the 10 pitch will speed thing up a bit. . .
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The major modifications were:
1) Removed the entire retract system, including the gear plates in the wing and covered the holes with contest sheeting.
2) Removed all fiberglass and paint from the wing and replaced with Monokote.
3) Removed the two mini-servos in the tail and replaced with a single standard size servo in fuse using the DEPS system.
4) Replace the full-size servos in the wing with the mini-servos from the tail. The extra full-size servo is now a spare.
5) Removed the nose weight that was required due to the tail mounted servos.
6) Installed carbon fiber fixed gear.
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Can't wait to get this thing back in the air. . .

jetmech43

My Feedback: (9)

Needs more cow bell

PatternPilot

My Feedback: (58)

looks good... but odd as a fixed tail dragger..lol... I see the new workshop is up and running... so CPA contest in western TN????

klhoard

My Feedback: (10)

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I think it will look better with a different set of gear that is shorter and has more sweep back. This gear was a standard set from Graph Tech (I think). If I keep this plane and am having fun flying it a year from now I'll order a new set of cooler looking gear . . . but until then I'll just have to suck it up . . .
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dhal22

As long as it flies...............