bmschulman

My Feedback: (1)

I've always wondered what to do after a major fuel leak that soaks the interior. Just let it dry out, or is the wood (and therefore the plane) ruined? I had a leak in a smaller 3D plane and it seemed fine after drying (and flew for years), but with the Jackal flying 130 MPH I wouldn't want to have a weakened wood structure. Thoughts?

jet22b

On many airplane that I had a tank to leak, would set for 2 to 3 day to let it dry out, Then I mix 30 min epoxy and thin it with alcohol. Coat the fuel tank area and the back of the firewall with 2 to 3 coats and let dry. I do this on all the nedw ARF I put together.

Sonny
aka
jet22b

richardgerardi

The instructions for this plane was to fuel proof the interior which I think I did. I cleaned with windex at the filed. Sonny yep I have to make that hole bigger as it catches. The weird thing is that it works great on the ground.

djay

Hi funflyer.

I had the same problem with my Jackel, ref earlier posts in this forum.
I found that the hatch vibrates at high frequency due to the high RPM of the motor, and this wears away the front dowel so it eventually fails and with the build up of air pressure inside causes it to break. I spent hours in the desert under a blazing sun looking for mine, and eventually found it.
to fix the problem, I opened up theair holes in the tailcone, drilled a 1/4 hole in the rear of the canopy, thisallows the air pressure to escape.
I put a short piece of brass tubing in thefront bulkhead toallow the wing dowel to sit inside instead of wood to wood contact, put a new 1/4 dowel in the wing, and put very thin sticky backed sponge draught excluder on the fuse where the canopy sits. This has eliminated all the vibration, and the Jackal is still flying wellsince the beginning of the year.

Darryl

tlj125

My Feedback: (1)

Had my Jackal radared over the weekend at my local club. Had ideal conditions, no wind, around 45 degrees, clear sky, etc. Straight and level passes at full throttle were at 133 mph. Half throttle cruise was 104 mph. Full throttle out of a steep dive then level down the runway- 141 mph. Prop used was an APC 10x8. Engine is the Evo .60 NX with Jett performance pipe. Glow plug was Hanger 9 3011 and fuel was Wildcat 2&4 stroke 15% nitro. Plane is built per instructions with the stock tank and all hardware. Has the recommended Robart retracts and uses the wheels that came with the Jackal.

Broke a prop on one of my landings. The front gear did not come all the way down and lock. My fault as I did not put air in the tank from the previous flight. The Robart gear needs high pressure to work well, 100 psi. At 80 psi, the front wheel does not always lock. One reason is that I keep the steering wires pretty tight. Switch to an APC 10x7 prop to see what would happen. The rpm did increase but the speed did not. If anything it was just a little slower. The radar gun was already put away by that time so the speed was not verified. A bigger difference was noticed in the vertical performance. The 10x7 would stall out around 500-600 ft. The 10x8 would keep climbing.

Considering the Jett 56LX for another Jackal. The engine costs $350 with the pipe. Also suppose to use a bubblelees tank. Adds up to over $400. Anyone using this set-up that can tell me if performance is worth the extra cost? What do you get for the money, another 10 mph? 20 mph? I appreciate any input.

Terry

bob27s

My Feedback: (19)

Nah, unlikely you will see that many more MPH. A few perhaps. [&:]

The primary gain is switching to a 9" diameter prop and cutting down the frontal area.

The Evo 60 and Jett Stream with the right prop will give you similar performance on this airframe.

The primary difference going with the SJ-56LX is that it is a Jett relatively bullet proof. Turning 18,000 rpm on a 9x8 is not pushing it to the limit it likes it

Others here can help explain that too.

djay

Changed the prop on my Jackal with Jett 56 engine from 10x6 to 9x9 APC, what a difference, now starting to fly fast.
The 9x8 is slower than the 10x6 and just seem to make a lot of noise and fly slowly.
By changing the prop it is now quieter and flies a lot faster and smoother, may try a 9x10 to see what happens if I can get hold of one.

Merry xmas fro sunny Dubai.

Darryl

djay

Changed the prop on my Jackal with Jett 56 engine from 10x6 to 9x9 APC, what a difference, now starting to fly fast.
The 9x8 is slower than the 10x6 and just seem to make a lot of noise and fly slowly.
By changing the prop it is now quieter and flies a lot faster and smoother, may try a 9x10 to see what happens if I can get hold of one.

Merry xmas fro sunny Dubai.

Darryl

jet22b

Darry,
Glad to see you are still with us!!! I throught you got lost in the sand dunes and could not find your way back!!! I went with the 9x6 APC prop on the Evo .60 and the engine love it.
My Jackal is pack away for the winter. We get that stuff over here!!! lol
Merry Xmas to you and your family and please pop back in from time to time!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

djay

Hi Sonny, merry xmas to you all.

We have 6 months of perfect flying weather now, temps in the mid to high 20's (c)  so the jackal will be flying a lot. It has already survived 10 months so hopefully will last a bit longer.
Already have the second one in a box awaiting building, but need to figure out which motor to put in it as it is to slow with the Jett 56.

Darryl

djay

Hi Sonny, merry xmas to you all.

We have 6 months of perfect flying weather now, temps in the mid to high 20's (c)  so the jackal will be flying a lot. It has already survived 10 months so hopefully will last a bit longer.
Already have the second one in a box awaiting building, but need to figure out which motor to put in it as it is to slow with the Jett 56.

Darryl

qd25

Hi Guys has anyone seen this vid of an electric conversion ? 180Mph flat & level

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4r-DKUo_Y8

jet22b

Yes I did!!! All I can say is, "WOW"!!!!
Sonny
aka
jet22b

qd25

Yep WOW is the word for it. Steve C is a great builder

lorhd2005

My Feedback: (9)

anyone interested in a jackal with a os 55 ax ,minimal damage, still flys, comes with everything except receiver and radio, no retracts,will be selling real cheap,probably on ebay, almost 600.00 invested with all servos and engine.will let go for much less.let me know if interested, i will send pics.

funflyerf4

My Feedback: (6)

I had the day off and planed on flying the weatherman says ya a nice day and it snows instead so what do you do I took out the Jackel and put two flights on it in the snow.It was coming down at a good amount and was hard to see at times so low and some what slow it was.Yes I have done some stupid things at times.

jet22b

funflyerf4,
If the Jackal came home the same way it went to the field, that's a good thing!!!
Flying in snow is a blast!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

Sygy00

Howdy. 

Just joining this forum as I just maidened my Jackal.  I read a lot of this discussion before I even bought the jackal and discussed the Jett muffler and OS 55 with Jett.  Lots of great info in this thread, so thanks to all that contributed.  Here are some details of my build...

I used E-flite 25-46 size electric retracts since I had them available.  On the mains I used a 1/16 shim to clear the top sheeting (mainly to clear the wires).  I screwed the nose gear directly to the two longitudinal beams, with #6 washers under the front screws to get just a hair of tilt so the nose wheel would retract fully.  Since the beams were a little far apart (leaving the screws too close to the edge, I just glued the provided wood blocks on the inside to ensure the screws had enough meat to grip and not split the wood.  Worked like a champ.

I was also able to use the existing cable tube to run a pushrod directly from the rudder servo to the steering link on the nose gear - just like it was made for it (NO WIRES!).  I also used a separate AAA 1000mah battery to run the retracts.  I think that little battery will cycle the gear 50 times or more on one charge.

Installed an broke-in OS55 with a Macs muffler for maiden flights, but I have the Jett muffler ready to go once this beast is trimmed and I'm comfortable flying it.

I did have build issues.  All of the control surfaces bound up before I hit low rates, not to mention high, and the flaps (as I've seen in this thread) wouldn't go up all the way.  I wasn't about to run my digital Futaba 3152 servos in a bind and drain the hell out of my battery, so I used a screwdriver to slightly smash the wood between the surface and the trailing edge to get more clearance.  This also worked well and my flaps now go up past neutral and no servos are in a bind at full throws.  I did have to re-iron at high heat to remove the slight folds this caused to the covering, but the whole skin needs re-ironing anyway.

I also used full size 3152s for the ailerons and 3004s for the flaps.  They almost fit, but all I had to do was put a washer under the rear screws of the hatch to allow the servos to clear the top sheeting.  I also replace ALL of those 1.5 mm screws (throughout the plane) with #4 button heads.  Recommend that to all.

The last issue I had, which I have not seen here, is that my elevator horns interfered with the fuselage framing.  I re-checked that my elevators were installed correctly and they were.  I had to trim some of the fuselage framing and re-inforce above the horns to get enough clearance.  I also mounted a 2500 NiMH battery in the fuselage pocket behind the elevator horns - with a little plywood to hold the battery in place.

First flight (yesterday), went like this... Take off with LOTS of right aileron and LOTS of elevator to hold course.  Trimmed out both and it flew fine.  I can understand that I may have set the elevator wrong, but the amount of right trim indicates to me that I may have a warped wing.  I use a technique that absolutely ensures all control surfaces are set precisely so that is not it.  Upon landing I now have more than 1/16 right trim which is WAY too much. CG rechecked later and it is per spec.

After a few minutes I decided to shoot a touch and go, lowered the landing gear, then lowered the flaps halfway and ballooned way up. Definitely need that flap-elevator mix.  I was a bit high and expected to go around, but it slowed down suprisingly quick and landed like grease, but my nose gear collapsed even with the gently landing.  This nose gear was involved in previous a crash, so it must have been damanged and I didn't notice.  New one on the way.

Whew!  What a long disertation.  Hadn't planned on this, but I guess I had more to share than I realized.  I would appreciate any comments or suggestions!!  Glad to post photos if anyone is interested.

Jim Oliver

My Feedback: (1)

Without pics, it didn't happen!

What is the total weight?

Thanks,
Jim

Sygy00

Okay okay - I'll get pics. Weight is 7 lbs 13 oz with the extra retract battery, which seems OKas I was expecting to hit 8 lbs.
I typically flyplanes with a relatively highpower to weight ratio and lower wing loading than thisso this one does feel heavy to me in the air.

Another improvement I plan is to add wing fences to the wings. I do this on all my planes that have any amount of sweep, and when done right, can dramatically improve slow speed handling.
On landing my Jackal was pretty slow and the left wing was starting to fall off. I expect the fences to reduce or eliminate that tendency on landing or high G turns (I like high G turns).

Jim Oliver

My Feedback: (1)

I would like to see the size and location of the fences; could be someting I need to consider for a model I want to build.

Thanks,
Jim

Jim Oliver

My Feedback: (1)

I would like to see the size and location of the fences; could be someting I need to consider for a model I want to build.

Thanks,
Jim

jet22b

Sygy00,
First, welcome to the Jackal 50 nut house!!!
My Jackal 50 is in the hangar waiting for old man winter to leave!!! This plane is a joy to fly and you will find that you will take this bird to the field more than the other ones you have in your fleet.
Again, welcome and enjoy you Jackal!!!
Sonny
aka
jet22b

JoeMamma

Sygy00,

Glad to hear your maiden went fairly well !

Finished mine about two months ago and I'm still waiting for the maiden.[&o]

She's parked in the hanger 'til springtime.

Joe M.

Sygy00

Thanks for the welcome Sonny and Joe. Glad to visit the nut house, got a few loose screws myself. Notice my sign-in name? Didja know that 00 used to be known (unofficially) in military circles as "double nuts". Now you know I'm a kindred spirit.

Since I only had 3 minutes flying my Jackal, I'm itch'n to get it up again - as soon as the new nose retract comes in. I complain about the constant winds here in Dallas, but compared to some of you guys we got it pretty good. We fly all year and rarely miss more than a couple/three weekends due to weather.

Jim - I attached a photo of my wing fences which I finished just moments ago. They aren't painted yet, nor permanently located (they are just taped on). Takes a few flights to find out where best to put them. I have been experimenting with these for years and on many planes. On swept wing planes (even slight sweep) I always get about 25% more elevator throw before loosing control at low speeds in all planes I tried these on. The only trick is matching the fence bottoms to the airfoil, but I've gotten pretty good at this - I nailed the Jackal on the first draw of the curve.

I'm getting some photos together of some of my build details. I also just finished trimming off the fuel tank lip based on comments I've seen in this thread. I had a tank similar to this pop its cork before since the stopper didn't go into the tank enough to form a "bead" when the stopper is compressed. Now it does.

Cheers,
Mike (aka Sygy00)