jbwilhelmi

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Kajub
Do you have any pictures of your Decathlon instrument panel?
Jack

jbwilhelmi

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What is everyone using to laminate with, epoxy or titebond? I am thinking epoxy for motor box, firewall, bottom and sides and titebond for all other laminating. Would appreciate everyones thoughts.
Thanks
Jack

Big_Bird

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I used Titebond II and clamps for all of the laminating. You will break the wood before you break the lamination apart. I glued the engine box together with 30 minute epoxy. I also added wood screws.

Big_Bird

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Jack, I reread this and would like to know if three are building one Decathlon or each one is building his own Decathlon. I really did enjoy building our Decathlon.

jbwilhelmi

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Ken
Three of us are building one Decathlon. Three would be fun to see fly together, maybe we should have a Decathlon Fun Fly.
Jack

Big_Bird

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If you have any questions I'll answer them if I can. If not, my partner in the project, Ross, probably can. David, in England, is also a good resource.

Kellermann

That´s exactly what I dreamt of with my 30% Decathlons...have a Decathlon fun fly. But my Decathlons are spread wide over the country and I never saw any of them flying except for my own protoype...fortunately all reports are excellent and the customers are satisfied.
Hopefuly some day I will see them flying in an event.

Marcus

crisisguy

Hi All

I thought an update long overdue - the build has progressed real slow over the past few months - all I’ve got to do is finish painting the fibreglass parts and wing struts, put the wheels on, programme the new transmitter (treated myself to a JR12) and get her checked over by the LMA inspector and then find a big enough van or trailer and go fly - phew!!

here are a few pictures -I’m pleased with the sprayed on dope and masking. I was going to use a Smartfly EQ10 for the power distribution but then found this is not approved by the LMA in the UK so i splashed out on a Powerbox RSS system - not cheap at UK£420 but now i have complete redundancy with no single point of failure. The powerbox has dual reciever inputs (mandatory in the UK if over 20KG) dual power supplies, servo matching, etc etc.

Here are a few pics along with the nice instrument panel from Czech republic - its a little on the small side (more like 1/3 scale then 42% buts its real nice)

Kellermann

Hey David
you did an outstanding job!! Congratulations! Also on the JR 12, that´s the best radio, period.
Now we´re curious to see her on her legs ready to go - and flying shots, of course.

By these days the weather should be improving anyway so you got the mission to fly her as soon as possible...

ONce again, congratulations so far.

Marcus

crisisguy

Jack - i like Ken used titebond - excellent stuff and way strong enough for laminating - be careful with laminating big parts (like the cabin base) as they can warp from the moisture in the glue so make sure you weight down all over to prevent this

On all other wood parts i used Cyano as I’m impatient apart from the splice on the wing spars which i used epoxy - make the splice as ling as possible - i didn’t and my inspector was not too impressed so i had to do some beefing up with doublers. I build the kit as is apart from the wing struts which again the inspector was not too impressed with so i split these in half, aerpoxied the metal parts and then rejoined and bolted as an extra precaution - perhaps OTT but i have to keep the inspector happy and he’s way more knowledgeable then me on giant scale models.

Its a great Kit and i got great customer support from AMR - even at weekends - I’m certainly going to build another of their models when time permits

crisisguy

Many thanks for the support Marcus - the 12X is mighty impressive - i think i can now get shot of the wife as this replaces her as well! I dont know how you have a production line of these going - id run out of patience way before the first one ever got completed. Im toying with the idea of a full size build but somehow dont think id see it all the way through.

Kellermann

The sad news is that I decided to stop the production line after 17 ARF models built and 3 kits already sold. I had to take a decision on how I better make money. And unfortunately the SD production pulled the short one. I´ll go back to what I always did for a living - international trading.
I will still continue to produce kits, under request - as most of the work like lasercutting, fibreglass parts, landing gear legs etc is subcontracted anyway, I can manage to assemble kits and box them for shipping in the evenings. That will of course enhance the hobby wallet, and now I am free to build a really nice Decathlon for myself, and then other long overdue projects will come back to life.

That´s it.

Marcus

Big_Bird

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David, the plane looks great. The instrument panel looks good also. I guess it doesn't pay to argue with the LMA inspector. Same here with the AMA inspector. Wow, that Powerbox RSS system is expensive. However, I really doubt that it will replace the wife.

AMR's support was top notch through the whole building process.

scale buff

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Hi, all,

I'm one of Jack's associates in building the 42% SD. Ken, I've read through the thread and marvel at the way you and Ross built the model and how thoroughly you wrote about it. The pictures are a great help and have already answered several questions that popped into my head. I would hope I can call on you for help along the way. Thanks again for a great thread.

Frank

Big_Bird

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Hi Frank,

Welcome to the thread. I will consider it a real pleasure to help if I can. Thanks for the comments.

This past Saturday I flew the SD 3 times at the Dallas RC Club big bird flyin. The plane flew very well considering that the wind was probably gusting to 35. Here are a few photos that I made. There were some very nice scale planes there.

http://www.gtrcc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=54

scale buff

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Ken, thanks for the welcome and also for the pictures of the fun fly. Some beautiful models. You guys have a whole lot more courage flying in that kind of wind. Landing, especially, in a gusty wind is no piece of cake. I would guess that those winds would almost ground a full size Decathlon.

We're thinking that this kit will be so much fun to build and having your experience as a resource makes it that much better.

Frank

crisisguy

Good luck with the build Frank , Ken is an amazing source of information and helped me out no end -thanks again Ken for taking the time to document the build and for all the other support you provided. David -

scale buff

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Thanks, David. From what I've seen on this thread, you also are a top notch SD builder. Your pictures show an outstanding model. With information resources like you, Ken, Marcus and others, this project will be a very pleasant experience.

Frank

Kellermann

Frank welcome to the thread

Of course we are all here to help

Marcus

Big_Bird

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OK guys, it's time to stop loving on the kit and get the glue out. Once you do that then all you lack is finishing. Be sure to take plenty of photos and post them here. Can't wait to see them.

We have Jack and Frank. Who is the third guy?

vibi08

Hello Frank,

If you have any kind of questions concerning the AMR SD design or building, i can help you as well. Suggestions are always welcome at AMR. Ross and Ken are endless source of information so you are in good hands for this build.

Have fun.

Vincent

scale buff

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Ken, the third guy is Bud, retired hobby shop owner of the finest hobby shop in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area, if not the world. When he closed the shop, which was our second home (sometimes the first, on those kind of days) there were threats of mass suicides Fortunately, no one followed through but the thought still lingers. Bud will be the first to tell you he's somewhat computer challanged so we probably won't see much of him here. Ever since he closed the shop, we hang out in his garage, a huge place devoted to models and occasionally a car or two.

Vincent, thank you for your offer of help. The SD kit is one of the finest I've ever seen and I've been modeling (not counting my boyhood modeling days) thirty seven years. The laser work is without peer. I think Jack's already thinking about the half scale Spacewalker.

Frank

Big_Bird

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Completely off the subject. Hope the thread police don't get me. Back in my early days of HAM radio, late 50s and early 60s, there was a company called World Radio Laboratories in Council Bluffs run by Leo Meyerson. My first transmitter was a Globe Chief 90A kit by WRL. By the way, all the planes that I fly are on the 6 meter HAM band except for the big SD and it is on 2.4.

If Bud has a computer help him get on RCU. It's going to be a fun ride.

vibi08

Frank,

The SpaceWalker is going to be a very fine kit. AMR made it as scale as possible based on real factory drawings. We also design and produced a scale landing gear and the fiberglass parts are unbelievable. This is one of the best design we did and it is even easier to build than the 42%SD. It should be available next July or august.

A lot of building for the future...

jbwilhelmi

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Good Morning

Would someone please measure the distance from the firewall F1 to the front of the cowl and from the long side of the motor box to the front of the cowl. Will a 3w210 fit without modifying the motor box?
Thanks
Jack