Rough, I'll be happy to take that POS Saito off your hands. After alittle TLC from me it'll will be purring like a kitten. I have several Saito's and they act up once in a blue moon but I've always been able to remedy the problem quickly and get them fly right away. I'll bet all you need is to adjust your valves, the tools to do it came with the motor.

A friend just gave me a GP Skybolt kit that has been started. I was thinking about a 100 Saito for it, but would a 1.10 YS be too much?

RVator, I don't think it would be to much, I have a Saito 120 in mine.

I'm not sure why the Saito is stalling....but I have a 2nd hand Saito 72. I was broken in on 30% heli fuel.

I use 15% nitro and I had a devil of a time adjusting the low end. I found it was too rich and would dead stick. I adjusted for a leaner idle and it does not dead stick on me.

Not sure if that's the cause of your dead stick, but it helped me!

JB

RVator,
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!
Put the YS 110 in it!

Open the low end needle between 1 1/2 and 2 turns play with in these range and your problems will be over

Great day of flying today. I re-tuned today with great results. I set the high end to 300 less than peak, adjusted the low end mixture as lean as it would go then richened slightly it for a smooth transition, then re-adjusted the high end (which did change some after setting the low end). Runs like a champ now! Starts immediately, runs smooth, no more dead sticks.

Thanks all for all of the help,
~Todd

Glad to read that you're finally enjoing the Skybolt, as soon as all these huricane madness is over I hope to fly mine too, I been grounded because of the hurricanes for a month and it's driving me crazy.

Really Swe-e-et looking Skybolt! I have one coming up as a winter project, planning on adding smoke system. (Inspired by Mike too. )

Try a Fox "Miracle" plug. I had a balky four stroke that I tried a couple of OS "F"s in and still couldn't get it to stop loading up. A friend (and Top Gun contender) gave me a Fox to try, and within a couple runs everything smoothed right out.
Dennis-

Not only does that Skybolt look good but mica does a real nice job of flying it too.

Thanks!

Nice club you've got out there rc. Looking forward to my next visit.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of landing this thing. Gotta start that approach really low and have faith that it'll glide better than you'd think. Must be those nice thin wings and round wing tips.

~t

Ah ha!

After 2 more dead sticks in a row today - one of them almost resulting in a crash, I FINALLY figured out why my saito has been dying! The darn clunk got stuck all the way forward in the tank!

Always check the simple things first. Of course, pulling the tank out is one big fat PITA and putting it back in is going to be even worse.

Bah!

~t

Stick a piece of stiff plastic (or brass) tubing in the clunk line. It can still swing around the tank, but can't bend forward

Thanks Minn,

I'll have to stop by the LHS tomorrow and pick up some brass tubing.

I was just thinking.... Hopefully this was the cause of my deadsticks and not the result of the last -very hard landing- from the deadsticks.

If it happens again, at least I'll be able to rule that problem out.

~t

You don't necessesarily need to go to the LHS. You can use a piece of inner Ny-Rod tubing, or you could even slip a piece of a plastic drinking straw OVER the (uncut) fuel line.

micagreenmachin,

great looking plane!! I have a skybolt in the box and this has me excited. I also have a brand new Magnum 120 Four stroke that I will mount on this plane. I hope to have mine look as sharp as yours.

MinnFlyer,

Are you going to be in the Twin Cities? I live about one mile from the Hobbytown in Hopkins/ Minnetonka. Bring a plane sometime, and fly at the grassfield with me. I would also like your advice regarding the skybolt.

I was at that Hobbytown just a few weeks ago. My stepdaughter lives near there.I get out to the cities about once a month or so. Next time I'm heading that way I'll give you a shout (I'm always willing to check out another Skybolt! ).

Ah ha ha!

I figured out the REAL real dead-stick problem. While adding the stiff fuel pickup line mod (thanks Minn), I discovered that the pickup tube was cut halfway through right next to the stopper! I must have done that the last time I had to yank the tank out. (long story...) That explains why I could get it started and running nicely, then after some rough flying it would get unreliable. I'm getting to be a pro at getting the rubberbands back on the tank. Good thing I went through with the mod, I almost put the tank right back in after shaking the pickup line and clunk back into place! I would have NEVER figured out what the problem was. Worse yet, I would have had to yank the darn tank out AGAIN!

I would strongly recommend to anyone building this plane to add a hatch under the fuel tank so you can use coat hangers and finess to replace the rubberbands (or zip ties or whatever you want to use) holding the fuel tank on. Without that hatch, I honestly don't know how I would have ever yanked the tank out and put it back in.

mnrcaerobat:
Thanks!
Make sure you post some pics of yours....

Thank you everyone for the tips on this post. I'll report back after the next flying session and hopefully I'll have some good news.

~t

Ah HAAAA! Doncha just love it when you find a goober like that?

Great looking plan. What are you using for covering?

Thanks! The white is UltraCote and all the colors are MonoKote.

The Saito is running flawlessly now. Very reliable since I fixed the fuel tank clunk line problem.

~t