Anyone know of a guide that is a little easier to understand than the stock one? This is my first plane and I am scared to mess it up.

I never found one when building my first one....... I had to read the entire assembly instructions to see what steps could be combined and also to see what parts were actually used. It took about 5 hours of build time to get it together........ My second one took about 2 hours......and is still in pieces.....no spare parts in yet.........


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Of all the things I ever lost....................................... I miss my mind the most!

new-heli-pilot::I think theres some E-Starter build threads here an on RC groups & RC universe, Wattflyer if you get hung-up ( It's a strait forward build ) ask away My bub's here an myself'll be happy to help, your bub scoooper

I don't think there are too many of us who haven't made some kind of mistake in a build. The trick is to not worry about it. Read the instructions, look at the parts, fit them together without gluing/cutting/whatever and think it through so it makes sense. {Measure twice, cut once} When you're sure about how it goes, complete the step.

The other thing to consider is that if this is your first plane that you will be flying, there is a chance it won't look great by the time you've learned. Build it well, but don't put so much into it that you'll be scared to fly it or be heartbroken if something breaks in a hard "landing".

If you're stuck, need advice or want to run something past us, we are usually a pleasant crowd.

If it's something unusual or not covered in the manual, it sometimes helps to post pictures.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies. My next problem is that I can't get the cowling on the plane, and I dont know exactly how to put the prop on.

What size motor do you have on your Estarter?

Have you glued the two fuse halves together already? Have you glued those little squarish plastic pieces to the front of fuse in the little indentations (after cleaning them and scuffing the back of them with sandpaper)? Have you trimmed the cowl yet as per the instructions?

The Gws 400 sized one(cant remember exact name right now)

Yes

Dont remember seeing anything like this in the manual, unless you mean the ones that hold front part of wings down(one goes on first, then the other one goes ontop of it with 3 cleats sticking out to help support the wing I assume)

Yep

The prop first:

I take it the prop doesn't fit on the shaft, is that the first dilemma? If so, that's the way GWS sends them out to you. The prop shaft is 4 mm in diameter, so you need to drill out the hole in the prop to that dimension, which is very close to 5/32. Ensure your new hole is as centered as you can get it and perpendicular to the prop--you don't want the drill bit going through at an angle. Do your best. Hard to get it perfect unless you have all the right tools.

As far as the cowl not fitting, I need to see pictures of what you've done. The trimmed cowl should just slide on to the nose of the fuselage. There are some small plastic squares--maybe one scored larger square (less than 1" square)-that are glued on around the cowl that give the cowl mounting screws something to bite into. Photo 75 shows these being glued on. If you look around the edge of the trimmed end of the cowl, you'll see 4 pits. This is where the screws will go through. Drill them out before mounting the cowl.

I can't remember how much the spinner sticks out behind the prop (I don't use the spinners anymore....). So, put the prop on your motor and put the spinner on and measure that amount. Now take the spinner and prop off.

Install, but don't glue the assembled motor into the front of the fuse before doing the next steps as you want hole in the front of the cowl to be centered on the prop shaft hole

Tape the cowl to the front so the hard plastic pieces are underneath the holes and the prop shaft is centered in the the hole up front. With the cowl taped on, drill very small guide holes (you need numbered bits for this) and then screw in the screws.

If you don't have very thin bits, just screw them in. Remove the tape carefully.

After that is done, loosely install the prop. slide the stick in or out so the prop and spinner will clear the front of the cowl.

Carefully remove prop so it doesn't move the stick.

Now take the cowl off, and mark where stick enters the fuse. This is the mark you will use when you take out the stick, add glue and reinsert it.

I hope that's clear--had to do it in a hurry....

Working on these foam planes is sometimes easier if you have a stand. I have a box with two large Vs cut in them that are covered with foam. I can rest the fuse on it right side up or upside down. You could make something like this out of big blocks of foam glued to the same piece of foam or cardboard so they don't easily fall over.

Ok heres some pictures. You will have to excuse the messy front part, if you can see it cant remember. I got mad at the dumb thing not working and just cut out both parts on the front as a single hole. Got the prop on btw. Way off topic, but also hooked up a 9.6v battery from my BladeCP and turned the motor on while holding the plane, god that was fun.

Edit, btw, in these pictures the gears are pushed right against the cowling.

John

The good news: The pictures sure help. Please do more of that in future posts.

Is the motor stick already glued in? There is a decent amount glued in too, right? If so, AND the cowl is touching the spur gear (the black gear in the front), then, if there is room for the motor to move back, you are going to have to cut a BIT off the motor mount stick off.

A BIT! Make the cut square and slide the motor all the way back on the stick (no need to screw it in) and try the cowl again. Keep doing this until the cowl fits.

Take it slow. If too much comes off, then you'll have an even bigger problem.

Again, before cutting the mount, ensure the motor has room to move back. When you get really close to where everything will fit, you can sand away the wood. Again, go easy with this, If you take 80 grit and go hard at it, the wood will split and you may have a problem. If I'm sanding like this, I'd draw straight lines around the mount of what I want removed using a small square. I'd then sand a bevel all the way around down to the line. Then, I'd sand the 'hump' in the middle.

Take your time and try to enjoy the build. What happened to the front of the cowl shows that you're trying to get it done too quickly. Some mistakes don't matter, some mistakes are easy to fix. Some mistakes means making or buying new parts or worse, making a plane that doesn't fly well because things aren't aligned correctly. I learned this lesson on my first 'performance plane'. I thought the elevator was 'close enough' to parallel with the wing when I put it in. What this lead to was a nasty tendancy for the plane to fall to one side when applying lots of elevator. It caused me to crash the plane on my second time out. The next one I made, I ensured it was parallel.

Many times I and others read threads here about 'My plane only turns to the left' or "This plane is a lousy plane--it doesn't even fly'. We know that the user didn't check the CG, didn't build it properly, didn't set it up right, etc, because we own the planes and they fly, often well.

A habit of good builders is to read the entire manual before the build so you know what's coming and get 'the big picture.'

I take notes as I go along and tuck them into the manual when I'm done. That way, next time I build, I've got a list of what I should have done and things I would like to do for the next build.

I know I got in too much of a hurry for the front part. The stick was already glued into the plane, but I gently(well not so gently) pulled it out last night, luckily epoxy hadnt fully dried. Ill work on cutting some of the stick tomorrow, thanks for the idea. What is the CG of an estarter supposed to be? I didnt see it in the manual but I might have somehow missed it in the 5 or 6 times I read it. I do sort of have one of those only turns one way problems, the tail wheel turns farther one way than it does the other.

Does the stick still slide into the hole? Usually the stick can be pushed in further so you don't have to cut it. Whatever you do, make sure there is enough stick in the hole or it will break loose.

On page 14, there is a diagram that tells you where the CG is. It's just behind the wing spar. There is actually a CG molding mark underneath the wing.

The stick pushes into the fuse enough to where the motor wires are starting to push against the fuse and that is where I usuaully stop.

From the picture it looks like you are trying to fit the cowl on upside down. The flat portion at the rear goes up and the curved lower portion is at the bottom, and forms an air exit to match the indented part of the lower fwd fuselage.

A picture from the front would clarify that. Good eyes!