RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

How true...same guy said, "uuuhhhhmmmm round rock roll good, square rock, not so good".:D

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Yep, I'm always a bit conservative with CG, but was a bit puzzled by the recommended CG range of "5 to 6-1/2 inches" for the Pitts Special.

Wow, that's a pretty big range, and I'm new to bipes so I conclude that they must be more forgiving in the CG department, so I just split the difference and put it at 5-3/4 inches. Turned out to be perfect, requiring just a little nudge of push inverted, and I've left it right there.

Sometimes you get lucky the first time.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Yeah, my SD balanced out right on the MFR's suggested dimension, but my H9 cub was a bit out. I wonder how that big FF-240 is going to balance in this plane, I'm guessing with a bunch of tail weight...

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Actually that big FF-240 weighs the same as a G-38 which many have used on the forum. Just for the fun of it I dry assembled everything and checked the cg, it is balancing at 3" which at this stage is not too bad considering most of everything left to do is weight behind the cg. And if after moving whatever I can I still need to add 6oz who cares, the tail moment is 4-1 which means I'm getting a good bang for my buck with weight addition unlike adding to the firewall on most planes. Judging from the size of the wing area, I'm pretty confident it can handle a couple more oz's of wing loading beyond the 23 oz/sqft at 16 lbs it is already. ;)

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Yeah, you may get pretty lucky with that combo. Most of the guys running Zens in this bird said they were nose heavy. Just put a big RX battery at the rear of the cocpit for starters and the servos in the tail will help. The CG in this plane balances out dead nuts at 4.125 from the leading edge of the wing. Look at the distance between the G38 flywheel and prop adapter, then compare it to the configuration of the FF-240. There is more weight out at the end of the nose with the FF-240 VS the Zen which carries more of it's weight closer to the firewall. The Zen has a shorter moment from CG than the FF-240, hence less effect on the balance point. Don't get me wrong, that motor is very cool, but it's my guess that it's going to be a bit harder to balance in this airframe. As far as the added weight and wing loading are concerned, you are very right. This plane won't even feel the extra weight. My AUW is 17.4 lbs on e-power and she flies like a dream. There was a member out there that had an AUW of 19 lbs. Can't wait to see a vid of this plane, it's gotta sound great!

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Dave, I thought you would like these two pictures.
1. I built aluminum struts for my model. Not exact scale but close. They wont oil rot with the smoke.
2. Picture of my home made motor mount. Nothing special here. Buiult for my engine and this application. made of 1/4 and 3/8 ply, epoxied with hysol. The whole thing is bolted to the firewall and epoxied. Easy to give it the angles called for.

Raymond

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Sorry the pictures did not upload the first time.

Raymond

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Nice struts, I'm also building a Sig 1/4 CW Cub with an OS FT-160 in it. I'm thinking of making my own struts as well as the ones in the kit are pretty simplistic considering it was kitted in the 80's. If possible, could you take some close-ups of the strut ends, just curious how you made them up. You can send them to my email, I sent you a PM with the address.

Dave

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Please share the strut close up pictures with all of us.
The methodology would more than likely be good for many aircraft that have similar strut configurations.
Thanks,
Ron

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Ok no problem, I will take more picture tonite and share with all whyat I did. It is not a big deal.

Raymond

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

I think I found my exhaust manifolds, should hopefully have them in a month or so. They are not cheap but will definately be cleaner looking than using flex tubing.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

I wonder if that kind of tubing could be found at a place where refrigeration ice maker units are repaired?
Might be some scraps that are worth testing out.
Ron

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Looks like the Keleo for the 320... same dimensions as the 240?

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Yeah it is the same size as the 320, out of stock right now but after talking today he figures he should have some made up in the first couple weeks in March. Total cost is $165 for the set, it might sound like alot to some but by the time you get a flare tool, tubing bender, weld setup, material, it is cheaper to buy it and the hassle factor is lower too :)

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Oh, absolutely! For a one-off project like that, tooling up would cost way more than purchasing one made correctly the first time.

From what I remember, those are made of steel so they should last a while. Some kind of soft-mounted brace for the lower section might be needed(?)

There is a guy RCDON who has made a couple of videos showing his smoke systems, and while I think the plumbing is much more complicated than necessary, there are some ideas in there that you might useful for pre-heating the oil and injecting it into the headers. There are 2 videos - [link=http://www.rcdon.com/html/super_smokers_part_i.html]HERE[/link] is the first one and from there you can find the second one if you so desire.

That's gonna be one bad-@$$ airplane when you get it flying!:D

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

The current ones Keleo makes are 6061 T6 aluminum, light weight which is exactly what I need. Your right, I will need to make up a support for the exhaust stacks and attach to the firewall.



Back in the 90's I used to use brass tubing and I would make a coil around the exhaust to act as a preheat. Thx for the link, I'll have a peek and see if I can get a few ideas, I would like smoke if its do-able.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Onboard glow drivers for that puppy?:eek:

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

You bet, I purchased the McDaniels 4 cylinder version MCD474. The weight penalty is 10 oz but it does offer the security of not losing a cylinder, the only thing I don't like about the glow driver is the size. It seems like the case is over sized for what it needs to be.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Hummmm....

Last Sunday I showed up at the field with two electrics to fly. I hopped out of my truck to hear "Here's Charley, he'll help us out." See, I used to be the Chief Instructor of the club; thought I was retired. [8D] Needless to say. I flew every ones' models but my own.
But, to my point: One guyy had a great big Stick-looking model, except slightly swept wings and raked verticle stab; had a CRRC 45CC on it. He said, "Be ready for anything, because it's a rebuild." I flew it around for 5 minutes and never had to touch a trim. Shows to go you........

CR

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Serendipity happens.:eek:

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

That's going to be the neatest looking engine with the plug wires (I hope they're red!) going back behind the firewall. If you add smoke it's also going to be one of the more complicated installs yet for this plane!

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Hi, on the suject of aluminum struts, the first step is to look at the real thing. check SD pictures to see how the factory did it. ( popularaviation.com has some good closeup. Look at Decath & Citab. Then set your goal. Top gun, sport scale, or simply to be happy with yourself. Then make an inventory of material and go to your friendly RC store. All the material is from K & S metal. plus bolts and nuts and a couple of fittings I did with my 1000 things box.
Tomorrow I will post my material size and my goals and what I did.

Enclosed two pictures of my cowling in a finished state.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Wow! What a great thread!! I've recently picked up the RC Guy's Decathlon and a Fuji 43ei. I hope to have her in the air just as soon as the warmer weather is here. I've been looking for some good video of the RC Guy's Decathlon but havn't found much, anyone have any links???

Happy Flying!!

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Hi, on the subject of aluminum struts, my goal was to give the struts a scale look and also ease the painting from wood.

K & S
streamline stock 1/2" for the main one in front.
streamline stock 3/8 for secondary at back
round 3/16 to join struts at brace. ( it is bigger than scale but I needed to flatten the end and drill for my bolts 2/56, I needed material to drill.
flatten 1/4 stock for the middle brace. again need to flatten end and drill for bolts down and up.
3/8 stock round solid. needed to make an insert at the end of struts for attachment to plane.
Little L brackets to attach the middle brace out of my box and attachment between struts lower.
Supplied hardware ( from kit) to attach struts to plane on wing and fuselage.
Hysol epoxy ( FAA approved for aeronautical)

Will come back for actual work.

Raymond

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Welp, have my SD together, but have run into a snag. The plane will not turn with authority on the ground! I swapped out some springs from a Sullivan kit, and it is better. But, no where near what I need. Any ideas?
Thanks for the help in advance!
Rob