Soooo i've made up my mind and ordered the Top Flight Contender kit as my third
plane and first kit.

I know it's not the easiest kit but i have some experience building gliders, repairing
trainers and my Ustick.
I searched rcu and found quite a bit of info about it.
Many posts are old and engines became cheaper and better since than.
I'm leaning towards a 61 2 stroke but not sure what brand.
Any suggestons and tips for the building process?
Also plan to cover with ultracote chrome, difficult?
highly appreciated, thanks.
pat

My son has an OS 61 on his and it is a guided missle with it. One of our flying buddies has a 46 on his and it is just as good a flyer. With the 61 it will go straight up and not stop, so throttle mangement is a must. It is a great plane to fly and the kit is a good building project. Good Luck, Dave

Be carefull with the chrome Ultracote. It looks really good, but it can sometime be very difficult to see in the air (it mirrors its surroundings) If you use some other colors with it you will be happier.

I have a Contender with a 46 2 stroke and it flies great. A friend has a Contender with a 61 and it flies about the same as mine. IMO if you have to buy an engine, save a few bucks and go with the 46.

DaveB

Thanks so far guys,
guided missile sounds good, now there are several 61 engines under $100
i'm thinking Tower, Evo or Super Tigre, big difference?

The contender isn't really a scale copy of a real plane,
the F-86F Sabre comes close and looks good in chrome
with neon yellow markings like Andy did

http://astro.umsystem.edu/andy/rc/contender/

He states it's a pita to use that chrome stuff, is it?

Pat

Its not difficult to apply, but it shows every imperfection on the airplane. Good sanding and really smooth surfaces reduce this but hiding seams and the occasional pucker is tough. When its done right it will be a real attention getter. If you mix the bright neon yellow with it you will be able to see it in flight with no problem.

I put an OS 61 SX on mine and I wish I had gone with the OS 46 SX. Reason being...weight! The 61 required about 8 onces of lead in the tail to balance. The tail is very light and the nose very long. If I'd gone with the 46 I'd have saved almost an entire pound of weight and had a better flying airplane.

Yak

Hi Miamiflyer,

You will love the way this model flys. I first powerred mine with an old OS 40 FSR (bit underpowerd for my liking) and have recently installed a Saito 72 (with a 13x6 prop) which I find superior in performance. Move the battery pack around to balance and you won't have to add weight to balance. I would recommend that you cover the fuselage before installing the stab and fin. Don't forget to build it with flaps, they allow for a lot of different manouvers and no wind/carrier landings.

Good luck and enjoy building/carving the cowl.

campbec,
I hope it doesn't fly like my Ustick 60/saito100.[&o]
I'm starting to dislike this plane.
anyways, nice to hear that there is a contender flying in australia!
I've never seen one and am very curious how this kit comes out.
so far i have the fin, rudder and elevator ready for covering and am
already kneedeep in the balsa dust. lot's of work there.
you said that you've changed engines, how is this possible?
from what i see on the plans, the balsa around the engine doesn't allow
any access to the screws.
I would like to get an irvine 72 for it but i'm worried that i don't have enough
clearance for the bigger prop.
same size and weight as OS 61 fx but with the power of a 91.
pat

Hi miamiflyer,

I think you will find there are a number of Contender flyers out there.

The motor is easy to change as it mounts upright and open from above. When you first mount it make a hole right through the basla block under the motor with a piece of wire pushed through the motor mount(sharpened push rod?). Then use a drill bit slightly larger than the socket that suits the nyloc nuts on the mounting bolts. You can then use the socket to tighten or remove the nuts and recover the tiny openings with a bit of scrap covering (almost impossible to see and it's on the ventral surface anyway). With the four stroke I didn't have to even remove the muffler to get at the bolt heads.

If you then change motors simply drill the new holes in the motor mount and repeat the process. I was lucky with the Saito 72 as the fron two holes aligned perfectly.

thanks, campbec
has anyone else tips & tricks for building this plane?
I'm at the wing right now ( uhoh, upside down!)
i am getting confused occasionally. I have read further and it looks
like the front steering wheel needs more support.
I'm thinking about blind nuts as used for the motor
mount.
thanks, pat

Pat,

Good point about the nose gear. I would recommend replacing the screws holding the nose gear bearing with bolts. A hard landing on the nose wheel and those screws will pull out. That's what happened to me and I replaced the screws.

DaveB

Guys
Which wing tip do you recommend ?

Hi,

My advice is to build the wings with the optional turned up tips which = washout and reduces the slow speed tip stall tendancy.

Cheers,

Colin

definately the upswept wingtips,
search for contender and read through the posts

I paste: Those Horner-style upswept tips were designed to eliminate roll/yaw coupling present with the straight/conventional tips. IOW, when you make a rudder input, the opposite wing drops.

found here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_85.../tm.htm#857339


i've had so much fun today, aligning the ribs with the spar and gluing together, moved on to the TE installation
and found out that the TE blocks are violently warped and there is no way i can glue them to the ribs like that.

checked the LE blocks, same here, warped blocks, unable to proceed.
guess i have to get the wing off the board, call for replacement or find similar and move on to the fuse.
that sucks.
also almost every rib is broken somewhere, had to go over with ca.
[&o]

my contender had the slowest roll rate
it won't snap no matter how throw was increased.
the wing tips were level

however it's still a very great flyer. plenty of other manuvers i used to practice with.
great for practicing patterns. a learnd to go inverted close to the deck with this airship.
flew like is was rails. had plenty verticle with only a .46 magnum.
it did unlimited outside loops. I managed to get 5 consecutive rolls out of it
low stall rate, lands like a kitten. I had a lot of fun with it

the nose wheel mount on mine had bind nuts
the control arm was also soilder to the strut.
used a cylinder type tank
used a 3" - 3 1/4" spinner

guys,
what kind of glue and technique did you use to sheet the wing?
i searched for wing sheeting and there are numerous different
ways.
the contender's wingsheeting is 3/32 thick and kind of stiff to bend
and hold in place. seems like i need a lot of sandbags or .....?
thanks, pat

I have a 61 TT in a GB Tiger a great engine. Never a dead stick , good power and good on fuel. Plus Less than $100

One more question guys
TF recommends to thread the wing mounting blocks rather than using blind nuts. How reliable is this method.

I have a TF Ultra Sport with threaded wing mount blocks that has been flying for about 5 years with no problems.

You need to cut the thread, drop in some thin CA, then recut. I did this a couple of times to be sure.


Terry

You can dampen the outside of the sheeting, and it will then tend to curl a bit. Water is OK, but add a little ammonia, and the wood will become much more flexible. To cut down on the smell, a lot of people have used ammoniated window cleaner with success. Be careful of the tinted ones, though. Too much can stain the wood.

One thing to remember when you follow Bill's recommendation to wet the balsa in order to bend it while sheeting the wing -- don't glue it! Wet the wood, bend it into place, and hold it in place until it dries. THEN go back and glue it down. If you glue moistened wood in place, it may easily warp the wing as it dries.
(I've got the propellers to prove it.)

pj

Thanks all of you!
I sheeted dry successfully using GP pro wood glue ( aliphatic resin) and beach sand filled ziplock quart size
freezer bags.
worked great, after sealing the bags and getting the air out. you can shape them to match the airfoil and they
won't move.
As for the engine, I wanted that irvine 72 that someone offered me here but I waited too long and it was sold.
just engines has it for ~ $200 plus shipping but I looked around their website and
found a J’EN .56
the .40 that thinks it’s a .60! for $ 111 incl shipping and ordered it.

http://www.justengines.unseen.org/Jen.htm

It's a 56 in a 40 case that puts out the same as the irvine ( 1.8 hp) and weighs 260 grams less.
runs on 5% nitro and weighs only 480 grams incl muffler so the total dry weight of the plane should be...uhm....light!
Yeah, that'll do it.
Pat