In tanks with small opennings for fittings(sullivan, hayes, du-bro) I always use the neoprene, setup the same Joe does it above and it works great. In tanks with larger screw on lids, like Bennett, 3W and others, I use Aerotrend, or any Tygon equivilent, since I can use the heavier filterclunks that won't fit inside the small tank opennings of the other brands. Even when problem free, I still usually inspect and/or replace lines everyother season so either material for the lines would suffice.</p>

Yes, 1/8" brass tubing.

It's very wise to solder some Dubro barbs on the ends of the brass tubing and zip tie over theneoprene. You never have a clunk line fall offif you do this. You can just solder some wraps of thin copper wire on the end too. I've also used 1/8 - 3/16 long stubs of the next size brass tubing. Lots of things work.

I noticed when I took my tank apart the line hooked up to the clunk was stiff as a board . The clunk would not touch the bottom of the tank . I found this at Tower . It says it will stay flexible . Anybody ever use it ? Maybe its the same as the black neoprene .
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...XYE85&amp;P=ML

No the stuff you posted a link to is clear. Not the same. The Hayes neoprene that I posted is the good stuff. I learned that from RCIGN. He's a wise old man.

Joe,

Keep an eye on the neoprene. We had some issues last year using neoprene (I'm not sure it was Hayes brand). The neoprene was breaking down and spliting. My tank was a standard dubro, gas stopper, and brass tubing (no barbs). On my Yak, the neoprene split near the stopper. Also, my filter screen had black particles matted in it. I had to burn it out.

Itold a flying buddy using neoprene from the same batch to check his, and his inline filter (between the tank and carb) was full of the black particles. He had to replace the filter (couldn't get the stuff out). I'm pretty sure it wasn't Hayes... I'm thinking it was dubro neoprene Igot at the LHS.

I think you're right, it was the Dubro. I've seen threads/posts about this in the past. The Dubro has a seem that splits and I remember the black stuff falling apart in the tank. I'll still keep an eye on mine but I've been using the Hayesfor years. The tanks, carb screens are all clear of any black debris. The Hayes is seemless. RCIGN recommended the Hayes to me years ago and apparently he's been using it forever with good results.

What Dubro does very well are those reddish/brown gas stoppers. Those work awesome. Their tygon is good too. But their neoprene seems to have issues.

Is it required to cut a hole in the firewall for carb intake? My DLE-55 sits on standoffs with about half inch clearance from carb to firewall. Is this sufficient clearance, will cutout improve performance? Engine seems to run well...

This stopper/gas line thing always gets confusing.
Lets see here....DuBro gas stoppers are good, Sullivan stopers for gas aren't. Hayes neoprene gas line is good, DuBro gas line isn't. Tygon isn't as flexable as neoprene. Always use barbs and ties on all Tygon type of fuel lines.
Does the above seem to be correct?

Greg

I'm lucky. My airplanes usually don't last long enough for my fuel tanks to get a 'stiffy'.

At 500- 600 bones for an airframe in the 30% size that kinda suck they don't last long .

I'm starting to go crosseyed from the fuel line stuff . I'll get some 3/32 tygon and just change it out twice a year .

I never quite understood these kinds of statements. Someone would say don't worry about how long the enigine will last since it'll most likely be damaged in a crash before it wears out anyway. I don't crash my helicopters that often and they're a lot harder to fly than fixed wing! What are you guys doin' wrong?

100% of time - My problems occur when I'm flying -1 mistakes high.

I'll be serious. Most of my crashes occur while 'slow and low'. The impacts are not very voilent when you only have a foot to fall.

I have augared a few in from about 10 feet... that's when it gets messy for the engines.

I don't understand how a motor can be destroyed that easy . I had a motor mount break and the motor fell from at least 200ft up . In the same plane I taught it how to do cart-wheels down an asphalt runway . Now that Saito82 is in my MOJO 40 . Better than Timex . Takes a liken keeps on Spinnin .

Im still fairly new to 3d so I fly 3 mistakes high . Thats why I got a big gasser , to put less strain on my eyes . LOL . Even with the altitude , if you aren't crashin once in a while your doing what I call , " putt putt flying" .

There is much more energy exerted on impact with the larger gas engines especialy when your first instinct when you get in trouble is to floor the throttle. That energy alsohasmore leverage on the anchoring points of the various parts because the of the longer moments of the larger parts.

Yes, I get that part. The part I don't get is the frequency of the crashing. If it's due to 3D flying, that makes sense. I guess what it boils down to is, I don't get 3D flying with giant scale. Foamies, yeah. To me, the key word in giant scale is "scale". If the full scale can't do it, the model shouldn't be flown that way. I would no more fly a giant scale Extra or Edge 3D than I would fly a J-3 inverted 2' off the deck. It just looks silly. But that's just me. Whatever trips your trigger.

I guess what it comes down to is we've reached a point in time where building a beautiful scale model and flying it prototyipically (which in the case of something like an Extra 300 flown in competition is a very difficult thing) has become boring. Boring for the person flying it and boring for the person watching it. To me, that's a very, very sad thing.




Mike

Real ones can't do it . You need to watch this vid . But your right , to each there own . Sometimes I like to just fly my trainer scale like . The vid is awesome though . Real Edge540 . Heck the Thunderbirds do a Harrier down the runway at there show . 2 of them side by side right on the deck .

http://www.billsteinairshows.com/BSADemoVideo.html

I've owned full scale and unless you're flying aerobatics or something went wrong it's quite boring. The same would be true with flying a scale model of a Cessna in a scale manner. Boring. Flying warbirds is something I did for years. It got so boring I quit flying r/c altogether for a number of years. You can only go so low in a low or "photo" pass. The rolls and loops get to be like watching paint dry. For me 3d brought a little excitement and a lot more challenge back into the hobby. Big planes or small, it's all in what you want, or can afford, to risk where 3d is concerned. Toss in the tremendous increases in flight performance with larger planes and you can erroneously justify flying the big stuff when all you might be able to afford is the small.

Bottom line is if you can't afford to replace after a crash the level of aircraft you were flying was not affordable. If crashing is something that can't be tolerated then so is flying. Kind of a vicious circle. It's all about acceptable risk.

As impressive as the plane/pilot in the vid is, it still doesn't come close to the performance of many of the giant scale 3D flights you see. No full size airplane can hang on the prop and then mash the throttle and climb vertically unlimited until the pilot decides to level off. They may be able to hang on the prop but they can't accelerate vertically with the authority a model can. One of our club's members has a 40% Carden Extra with a DA-150 and he flies 3D with it (when he's not flying it prototypically practicing for a competition). He can go from hanging on the prop to whatever altitude he wants without a problem. No full size can do that. Our models are so overpowered compared to their full size counterparts it isn't funny.

See, that just shows how different we as RC flyers are. I've been flying RC for 25 years, model airplanes of various types since the early sixties. I never get bored with it.

It's like playing a video game...

Really, that long?

Hey Tired Old Man , You must fly at Ione . I'm in your neck of the woods every once in a while for a day on the Lake . I'm with you on the 3D stuff . Risk = ARush = FUN . No risk , No reward .

When you run out of room to hang new planes its time to get lower .

Yeah, not the oldest guy in our club by any means, but I'm up there!

I don't have anything against 3D, I like flying 3D with my foamies and my Mini Funtana. I'm just of the opinion, and everyone is entitled to one, that scale airplanes should be flown scale. But that's just the world we live in today. Everything is ramped up. With the advent of low cost RC planes a kid today would probably be bored to tears within an hour with a HLG or rubber model. When I was a kid RC was totally out of the question, way too expensive. But I still get a kick out of flying rubber powered free flight. I also fly rockets, both high power and model rockets. it's all good!




Mike

"Pride goeth before a fall"

I taught myself to fly R/C in 1969 without a crash for three years, other than when a wing failed in flight by breaking in two at the center joint. No mention was made of fiberglassing the wing center section in the instructions (AAMCO). I began to think that I was invicible too.

I seldom crash because of an ordinary dumb-thumb. In fact, I have never crashed due to an ordinary dumb-thumb, although I suspect that will change now that my age is advanced and my health isn't so great. Don't get too smug, Surely there is a bad servo awaiting you, or a poorly welded strap on a battery lurks in the darkness somewhere.

And no, it isn't because heli pilots have superior intelligence. You can forget that one altogether.


Ed Cregger

Seems as though the subject matter has changed quite a bit recently. IMHO perhaps we should get back to the DL-50/55 subject.