RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Well everything seems to be uniform as far as being parallel and the end point of the servo is the same for both directions. Im just going to have to do some further inspection and i will find whats going on.

did anyone follow the manual for 18" servo leads from the tail for the elevator servos?? Dammit it should be at least 20" i drove 2 hours to the nearest hobby shop and bought a bunch of hardware and i bought 4 18" leads now im wondering if i should have got longer ones for the wings too??

Let me know guys

I want this bird in there air. It must look 10 times better in the air than on my work table!

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

You might come up a little short on the servo extensions.

I used 24" extensions in the wings. They give extra length tohelpinside the cockpit when hooking up to the receiver extensions - which are 9 " each. I use two channels for the wings (1 & 6).

The elevator servos are on a Y-harness that is 24" long. It reaches up to the receiver which is mounted in the cockpit over where the rudder servo is installed. I'm using Hitec 5645 for the elevator - one servo was internally reversed.

Also, I found the rudderworked better when the pull-pull wires are crossed over. I installed a 36" antenna tube over each one to guard against wear occurring between them, as well as preventing radio static from two wires rubbing during flight. The tubes just free float on the wires.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Well, I finally ordered one of these today. Hopefully all the kinks that I read about in this thread will have been worked out on the newer ones. I plan on MG645s all around except throttle, probably a ds821 going in there. I have already been shopping for replacement hardware for everything. Dubro HD throughout sounds like the way to go. Up front I will be using one of the new YD-A 38cc when they come out next month. I have been asked by a couple club members to give an informal review of the plane and motor for them at one of the meetings. It should be fun. For those that have one already, does my list of ingredients sound like it will work?
Stangevil29


P.S. I don’t remember seeing anywhere in the thread about the (manual) suggested 18" wires not fitting. I wonder if they changed some stuff around again and didn’t update the manual?

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

bradleyban, I ran into this same thing with one of my friends arf projects. Turned out that the cables on the servo arm were 1-1/2" from the center of the arm and the rudder horn end were at 1-1/4 When we put the cables on the rudder horn at 1-1/2 it got rid of the slack at full throw. hope this helps

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Thanks man Thats going to be my next check. That makes sense.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Okay...maidened my RC Guys Decathlon today and I'm not 100% satisfied with it's performance. My neighbor has one with a G38 and it flies great...very true to scale. So I put a G38 in mine as well but with the addition of a smoke system. His weighs about 17.5 lbs. and mine turned out to be about around 20 lbs. My Decathlon flies okay...lazy circles in the sky...but aerobatic performance is DOA. Not happy. Thinking about switching engines. Two in mind...DLE 30 which can swing a 20x8 prop or DLE 50 which would really spice things up with a 22x10. I remember having to add quite a bit of weight to the tail to make it balance with the G38. I wonder if I could shed some of that weight with an engine like DLE 30 since it weighs less than 3 lbs? Open to suggestions and advice.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Although I fly mine with a ZDZ40, my first flghts were also sluggish. I also have a smoke system on board.

One of my 3D friends said to seal the gap on all of the control surfaces. I had less than 1/16" for a gap.

So, I sealed them, and man what a difference.

I used clear monokote. Easy to apply, and remove for repairs if needed. (let's hope not).

Also, make sure you are not too noseheavy. That will cause the plane to be unresponsive.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

outacontrol really don't know what to say to that. I havn't maidened mine yet. you would think the g38 would be plenty of power. It kinda scares me now because i have the fg-36 wich is a little bit smaller than yours. Mind you people have flown this plane on saito fa-180's. you should compair to your neighbors plane and try to match some of his stuff. Is it a brand new motor?? Motors will gain more power as they break in.

I'd try some tweaking before you swap out the motor.

Good luck

Brad</p>

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

FLY MORE RC.....do you seal both sides of the control surfaces??

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Well mine takes off and flies slowly but never really gains enough speed over the control surfaces to do any serious aerobatics. Loops are slow and sloppy even with the downhill speed I have to gain. A roll causes sudden drop in altitude and again, vey slow even on high rates set by the book. I'm going to compare notes with my neighbor. What I think is the ultimate fix here is a stronger lighter engine because of the extra weight added by the Bennett smoke system and added weight of the 32 oz. oil tank. There is a bit more weight in the nose because I beefed up the firewall and added insulation to the muffler. This all made the nose even heavier than it already was so I had to compinsate by adding tail weight. This all turned out a very heavy airplane. I'm also noticing that the 18'' prop seems a bit small for the airframe when compared to the full scale version. Anyone else agreee?:eek:

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

why don't you check out the YD-A engines made in OZ light and powerfull. best of all they're not made in china. I gonna put a 38 in mine I'm expecting it to be very light and swing a 20x8 prop.check this out
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9541568/tm.htm

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

The YD-A is what I had planned on for a while now for mine as well.
Well, I finally ordered one of these today. Hopefully all the kinks that I read about in this thread will have been worked out on the newer ones. I plan on MG645s all around except throttle, probably a ds821 going in there. I have already been shopping for replacement hardware for everything. Dubro HD throughout sounds like the way to go. Up front I will be using one of the new YD-A 38cc when they come out next month. I have been asked by a couple club members to give an informal review of the plane and motor for them at one of the meetings. It should be fun. For those that have one already, does my list of ingredients sound like it will work?
Stangevil29

P.S. The 38 should be around 42oz with everything. I thought the G38 are like 70oz, not sure.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

G38 is 71 oz. w muffler. Who is the US distributor for the Oz engine?

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

As far as sealing the control surfaces, for the Decathalon I just do the bottoms, and then both sides of the rudder. Any thing to prevent air flowing through the hinge gap. For hard core 3d, I do both sides due to high pressures of air on the wings etc.

Without more info, I would guess that if you loose altitude doing a roll, you are a bit nose heavy. Not sure what aileron differencial was called for on this model, but I have about 3/16" less down then up on the ailerons on low rate, and twice that (3/8") less down on high rates.

Too much down aileron causes drag on that wing and will result in yaw of the tail away from that down aileron.

I fly with a ZDZ40, 18x10 Zoar prop.. Plenty of speed. Scale takeoffoff at 1/2 throttle, and with full throttle shegoes up at 45 degrees then vertical with only 20 feet of runway (grass strip). Not sure what my flying weight is. Gas &amp; smoke tanks are centered under the CG line.</p>

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Has anyone mounted there gas tank at the CG??? I thinkI may do this......bad idea??

Just not sure how the plane should balance. Full of fuel or dry??

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Bradleyban,

Benefit of a CG mount is when the fuel gets used up, the plane's CG does not change and continues to fly without adjustments.

Also, I use two 16oz tanks, smoke &amp; gas, I get about 10 minutes of flight with 1/4 tank left for safety. If I did not carry smoke, then I would go with a 20 to 24 oz gas tank. But smoke'n is more fun.

I use the Decathalon as a crowd pleaser. Spectators love theclassic look and flight of the Decathalon- smoke gives them a sense of what the full size plane would be like.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

I want to put smoke on mine but i just want to get it flying first and work out the kinks then do some fancy stuff.</p>

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Outacontrol41,
The site is www.rcaer.com Great people and very helpful with any of your engine needs.
Stangevil29

Just type it into your web browser it will go through.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

bradleyban....trust me, it's MUCH easier to install the smoke stuff during the build than after the fact and you're flying. Go for the lightest setup possible. Also...i have my 32 oz. fuel tank in the trditiona place just behind the engine and my 32 oz. oil tank is on CG. With both tanks filled up a G38 turns into a weakling. Best to use a G38 without a smoke setup and no added weight from stock at all, as my neighbor did.

Thanks Strangevil29, I'll check it out. Hope the prices are reasonable.

Whoa,,,this thread back to life! :D:D

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Strangevil29....get rid of the '.' after the com...then the link will work.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Cool thanks. I removed it.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Will do man.

Is the stock tank bigger than you have or is it the same?

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

No, stock tank is smaller. My Dubro fuel tank and B&B Specialties oil tank both bigger than stock....which is what I think hurts my flight characteristics. Both huge 32 oz. -when both are full, a half gallon of liquid on board. [X(] It simply needs a lighter more powerful engine than a G38 for my particular setup.

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

Got a lead on one from a fellow flier and I think I am going to get it. I am planning on a DLE55 with smoke :)

Stay tuned!

any others out there flying with a 50?

RE: RC Guys Super Decathlon coming
 

That's exactly what I think I'm going to end up with as of right now. Anyone know where to drill and tap a pressure fitting for a smoke pump on a DL E 55? I would think somewhwere on the side of the crankcase, and not the back because of the carb. Anyone done this already?