Dag Gummit Stevo! I've been doing battle with myself... outline stripes or not. The contrast between the orange and the pearl white is very stark and my edges look really good. When I looked at my wing, I was thinking "how is this going to look where out on the tips?" Now, your latest photos shows me that it looks really great. I bought silver/chrome covering to use for the outlines.... Now I just might have to do it. I guess I should at least cut a strip and see what it looks like. The silver won't be that obvious, but it might just add that little bit of a pop.

I'm trying to go to Joe Nall this year. And, I would really like to take this with me all ready to fly and with a dozen or so test flights beforehand. The time is running up on me! About one month to go. There just might be some gliders there that might need a tow and I just might feel comfortable enough with this model to actually do a tug or a few.

Stevo,

Every time I see your work, I am amazed. For someone who has only been flying for a couple of years AND this is only your second build, just fantastic!!!!! I hope you enjoy this hobby for as long as I have been! Watch your mail. I have sent you my Decathlon kit. Please build it for me and return it. I have no desire to work on mine after seeing yours.

Dumo,
Maybe I will see you at Nall. I'll be the guy with the 50% Wittman Tailwind............if I get it finished in time and can get the time off from work (that maybe more of a problem).

Hey thanx a bunch! Your help and experience have NO DOUBT helped me along! Man I just love this hobby!

Ill be watching the mail..... he he

I wanna see some pics of that tailwind soon!!!!!!!!

YeeeHaaa!! I now officially have a ARF! The covering is finished. I still need to paint the cowling which will be a continuation of the orange triangles.

It doesn't show in every photo very well in this light, but all of the white has chrome trim around it. Thanks Stevo for getting ahead of me as I was concerned about how this would look on the tops of the wings. After seeing your photos, and for me then thinking in terms of going around the white... I decided to do it. It was really the easiest part of the covering job and to me it does set it off nicely. Three colors is almost always better than two.

You folks go easy on me now. Like Stevo, this is my second build, the first being a Senior Miss Stik! Oh, and the clothespins/clamps were to hold the surfaces even as I've only just started installing servos.... hinges aren't glued and control horns are obviously not in place.

Dumorian,

More beautiful work. That is really sharp looking. Reminds me of the color scheme on Dave Patrick's 1/4 clipped super cub that he was producing some time ago. I always liked that color scheme. Love the pictures. Keep them coming!

Rsad

Rsad,

The Nall is looking better and better for me! In fact, as of yesterday I have a trailer. I'll be the guy in the black Patriot trailer with the Dreamsickle Decathlon. Unless I crash it between now and then..

After today, somehow I really now believe it will be in the air within a couple of weeks. There is still a lot to do but somehow I seem to have a real grasp on just what all is left now. I guess this if from doing so many ARFs over this last year in the hobby.

I've just simply got to get this done really quickly now as I have to deck out the inside of the trailer now!

Thanks for the support.

Hey thats VERY nice! Good work man! Very classy looking. I know pictures never do anything justice, but I believe they've worked well for you! Awesome man!

I also dig the chrome stripes. I know you wont see them from too far out, but thats what detail is for, the close up flightline inspection. Lookin great man!



A little off topic discussion. Has anyone noticed how absolutely awful topflites Luster Kote paint matches their covering????? Im really fed up with this. I bought 2 cans of missle red to paint the cowl. It looks much closer to burnt orange. Just crap. I ended up buying friggin engine enamel at the local auto parts store to get a match. I will still clear coat it with luster coat clear..... but Im really annoyed with monokote paint.

My cub last year was the same junk. Way off. Why would someone spend all that time finishing a model just to have a sh%%$ missmatching cowl. Junk.

I'm surprised by that! One would think..... Oh, well.

FYI, you can get a spray bomb mixed these days. Many auto paint stores do this. It's not too horrid in price. I would take a bit of covering and put it on some ply scrap so that they can get a really good computer color match based on how the color really looks when it's ironed down. It does change a bit someway or another depending on the covering.

I'm not positive about this, but I think they do this for about $15 a can. Sort of spendy, but not that bad considering all the work you put into the model.

And... I got my hinge pins in the tail. Moving to the wings. Tomorrow I should be able to epoxy the pins into the control surfaces. I ordered a SmartFly Comp 12. I'm going to need 11 channels as I don't really like to mix stuff. It wasn't that much more than the Sport, which has 8 channels and following the KISS rule, this means I only will have the one device instead of mixes and such or instead of having to program digital servos. I do feel like this might be just a bit overkill for a model this size, but I do love the power regulation, the three battery packs, the opto engine cutoff. Anyway, I feel pretty darned sure of this electrical system. It was shipped yesterday so I should have it Monday or Tuesday and that to the best of my knowledge is the last thing I don't have for this model. OH... graphics... I am going to order some custom lettering and such. But, that can be added anytime. I don't want to put a bunch of spendy stickers on it until after it flies. That's just opening the door wide open and inviting Murphy to come visit and start reciting his laws.

Meanwhile, back to the wings!

OK... aside from doing some other things today... I did manage some more time on my "ARF" Decathlon.

I now have ALL of my Robart hinges completed! Yes!!! I'm still going out to work the surface about every half hour just to be sure I keep any epoxy from setting within the swivel area. This seems to work really well. As I do this, the Vaseline I used to protect them seems to work it's way in deeper and the hinges get glassy smooth with minimal resistance.

With that done, and having already added the triangle stock around the perimeter of the front of the firewall, I was able to go forward with coating the firewall with some thinned epoxy. At the same time, since I had some extra left over, I ran 1" strips of fiberglass over the inner seams of the cowling and completely around the back edge to better handle the screws which will hold it on. The cowling now only lacks the hole for the carb, and final installation. I'll then pull it, do just a bit of filling. I think I'll use thick CA for this instead of bondo as I fear any flex might crack bondo. I bit more sanding and it will be ready for painting. I picked up some model paint from the LHS. I hope mine is a decent match. Otherwise I'll be having custom paint mixed.

I installed a few more servos. Actually, come to think of it, all of the servos are installed now.

I installed the control horns and rods on the elevators. All other control horns and rods need to be made/installed.

I've been holding off on the windshield and windows as it's easier to work through those openings. But at the same time, I'm trying to be sure that I can get to everything without issues once those are installed. I like Stevo's working door. I considered that, but as this model will at times be put under very high stress, I was worried about cutting that much of the side out. Then again, Stevo gained a lot back with his wing mod... likely as strong as stock or better. Anyway, I suddenly had this really crazy idea about electric windows. Just a fleeting thought but it was a fun one. I'll use a failsafe on the SmartFly, so really I won't have to worry about my Lipos during a long day at the field. Supposedly it only draws about 5 mah a day when in failsafe mode, so one could I guess leave everything connected for a month. But, for me, just as long as I don't have to take off the wing to change out a battery during a day at the field I'm really happy.

I do lack a tray/holder for my flight batteries. I'm waiting until I get the rest of it together to see where my CoG winds up and hopefully can make the final adjustments with battery positioning. My earlier testing seems to indicate forward is better.

All day long I was working outside and was through the shop many times. I was a bit worried about the pearl white and orange. The chrome trim made sense. As I passed by the model many times today, it just kept looking better and better to me. I guess that's what matters. But, what I know about myself is I normally don't get hit with an immediate reaction to something like color. Instead, if it grows over time, I know I've done something that at least I like. These colors are really growing on me. I don't think I'll be tired of them for a long time. I hope the model is still around for a long time!

OK, enough of my rambling. I must might actually have this thing in RTF state by next weekend!

No... I'm still here! I've been burning the midnight oil... actually, the wee hours of the morning oil. And, then there was the trailer.... another ARF. Yes, I had to buy a trailer so we can haul all of our junk down to Joe Nall. So far, three coats of white paint on the walls and three coats of paint on the floor. Of course the floor was different paint and couldn't be done at the same time.... anyway.... that was 6 fairly long sessions....

The Decathlon got attention most of those days as well. Some days for very long hours. At this point, I'm channeling servo wires to the SmartFly. I still have the ignition cutoff LED to drill and install, the ignition switch and the SmartFly switch. I have one more battery which needs holds downs, then it will be receiver time and programming time. I haven't yet started this used Brillelli engine, but I feel certain it will perform.

The only other non-essential items I have not done are painting and installing wheel pants and the flying wire system. I'm just being sort of hard headed on the flying wire system. I just don't condone the $25 or so price tag for no more than you get in that kit. A nice pull/pull system has a lot more in the package and cost about half. So, I'm still designing in my head. Heck, I have enough cable left over from my pull/pull system for the actual wires... just need to work out the fastening and adjusting points.

My cowling paint colors weren't perfect. I should have listened to myself and had custom paint mixed for it. As it was, I cust mixed the orange as I was spraying it. First a coat of this color, then a misting of that color... sort of back and forth to get the right color. The shade however is just a bit dark. Once I get it to the point of RTF, I'll do some more photos and post them. I might actually be able to get there by tomorrow night. If I can get some good weather, perhaps it will make it into the sky sometime this week or at the latest by the weekend. I'd really like to get in 10 or 12 flights before hauling it down to Joe Nall. At the moment, this is the flagship of my one year old hanger. I'm sure it will be ho-hum vs. what I'll be seeing down there, but I'm pretty darned tickled with how it has come out.

OK... the moment of truth! All up weight is 18 lbs 10 oz. Not so bad considering three batteries, 4 oz of SmartFly and 4 extra servos. My CoG is at the backend of the suggested limit... about 3 7/8s. I normally like this area... we'll see. I really don't want to add any weight to the nose.

Now the wait begins. The weatherman doesn't seem to be all that excited about me flying for the next couple of days. Tomorrow and Saturday are both a good chance of rain with winds topping at 12mph in the evenings. Sunday at the moment looks half decent. Still a chance of rain but low winds. Hopefully I'll be able to get this thing at least started and tuned over the next couple of days and if... IF the wind and rain hold off for a moment, maybe even put it in the sky!

Yes, I'm really anxious about this. All those hours of work and... Whew!!!! This is a whole new experience. I don't think I've been this nervous since my first flight a little over a year ago.

I spent tonight programming. I have flaps, braking (crow), got my travels and limits all set up. Camber is set to go. I don't plan to use any of this on the first flights... I did not set up dual rates or expo yet. I do plan to at least dial in some expo before the first flight. And I'll do lots of range testing!!!! Both with engine running and engine not running. I really need to stop thinking about it!

I'll be certain to take lots of photos before the flight... just in case. []

All! I got it in the air! And it came home in 5 pieces! 1 fuse, 2 wings and 2 struts!

Today, we started the engine for my first time... it was a used but checked about Brillelli 36cc. It took just a bit of carb adjustment to get it running, but not bad at all. No gas leaks, so that was good. I let it run a nice long time and worked the throttle from time to time just to be certain it was going to be reliable. Not a single blip out of it. Sweet!

I set up some expo as I haven't yet set dual rates, only high rates which are pretty close to max throws and a little over factory specs for the ailerons... but rudder and elevators are pretty close. The ground handling is not the best I've had but not the worst. I only did a bit of ground work and then got in two flights, so I still have some experimentation to do to see what works the best. I do know my tailwheel spring is a bit light for this model... perhaps a bit more might make it more docile. Our grass was mowed a week ago and it was already getting a bit tall. I'm sure that didn't help much either.

Anyway, it seems to have really good power. It handles pretty darned good. I can see that knife edge is going to be easy as an aileron turn pretty much puts it into a knife edge mode. It was a bit late in the afternoon before I got it airborne and it was very cloudy, therefore dim, so I didn't want to tempt losing orientation... I only did a couple of rolls and one very quick stall rudder turn, both of which were very impressive for such a large plane.

My first landing was pretty hot coming in as I didn't know the stall speed. My second landing was still a bit hot but a very nice landing. Still got a floating easy bounce though. I played with flaps up high. They hold promise! I need to mix in some down elevator. But it really putts along up there with full flaps. I never found stall speed as I really didn't want to be dealing with that yet and on such a dark day.

Actually, I'm just extremely relieved to have it home and ready for it's next outing. Perhaps tomorrow if the weatherman will co-operate?

What none of you likely know is that I had a bad transmitter module... it was just weak. I totaled three planes in the process of figuring this out. One Senior Telemaster, one quarter scale Katana and one EF Yak 54 74. So it was like every time I put up a big model... and as I have done almost exclusively electrics... this is my first successful flight of a fuel burner! It's been since last November thinking about this. The hours into the project and I have been getting more apprehensive as this day approached. Finally, appropriately on Kentucky Derby day I managed to get back on my horse and ride it!

I still have a few items to complete. Wheel pants, Ignition and SmartFly switches, Flying wires, and a couple more stickers. A bit more radio programming/tuning. Mostly I just need to get in flights to learn what this bird is capable of.

I have noticed it likes rudder. Aileron turns wind up almost automatically in a KE. I haven't set up any aileron diff. Rudder turns are very flat in comparison. Rolls are a bit of a spiral. Some rudder and perhaps elevator input during a roll might be in order. Otherwise, it wasn't really hard to fly. Mostly I was just entirely too nervous and overly cautious.

Yes! If you can't tell I'm pretty darned excited.

Here's some photos at the field today.

dumorian - CONGRATULATIONS !!! It's got to feel REAL nice after all those long hours and build/design decisions. Thanks for the pics. It looks TREMENDOUS. Can't wait to see a pic of towing the banner :-)

I've been re-training the thumbs. Got three flights in with the old Fledgling and came home with 2 pieces - fuse and wing. Might go out again later today.

Started to break in the saito. Haven't throttled up yet. I have to admit the nerves are starting to act up just thinking about taking the SD up for it's maiden.

Thanks rmadsen! Yeah, the stress became more obviously about three weeks ago. Somehow though, I really didn't 'plan' to fly it yesterday... weather... but it stopped raining and then everything came together on the plane just as the wind subsided to a reasonable level. It was just all perfect, so I didn't really get to think about it much. I really thought today would be the maiden day. It rained all day today! So, it was good to get it done yesterday.

Since I stole the basic design from PT-02B, which is yellow and blue... I thought well, PT sounds good but I can't do 02B. 109 popped into my head as PT-109 is likely the most notable number starting with PT... so I guess it's named after a PT boat? Or is it named after another airplane? It just seemed right. Maybe I should have looked up the number from the PT boat from McCale's Navy? Anyway, I do have a few more stickers for it. They'll go under the wings in that large white area.

I've been really torn between here lately. My latest ARF is a 12x6 v-nose trailer. I've been working like a dog on that all at the same time to have it ready for our Joe Nall trip. I finished up the wing racks yesterday. Made the first wing holders today and gave the Decathlon wings first rights to a spot. I'm really happy with how it's all coming out. I do hope I can get in maybe 10 more flights on the SD before Joe Nall. I'd really like to have a good feel for the model and be really relaxed about flying it before going to something like Joe Nall! This is my first big meet and I'm certain there will be plenty of adrenalin pumping without even thinking about flying myself. It would be really nice to be comfortable with the model beforehand.

I mostly need to discover it's stall speed next time out. My first landing was pretty hot. My second landing was just a bit hot. Also, it would be nice to get the flaps tuned in and feel out how they effect the flight. I'd like to give them a try on take-off as well.

Also, I had never checked lateral until after the first flight. I do have a heavy side. Need to get some weight into one of the wings. I wound up with about one or two clicks of up elevator and a good bit of aileron due to the imbalance, but rudder was dead on and the plane flew straight as an arrow hands off. It was really obvious going away from me.

The other really odd thing I'm dealing with is the sound. I'm so used to quiet electric power which I don't really pay attention to. But the gasser is just so obvious that I do pay attention to the sound. And the delay due to distance is messing with me. At one point I did a sort of stall rudder aileron turn into a dive... it was moving on pretty good on the way down and I was throttled down thinking I don't want to pull up from this under power... but the darned noise was telling me the throttle was still up in spite of my moving it to idle. I'm sure more time will get me past this. It's just a really odd new experience.

Yes, my name is Dumorian and I'm an aerohaulic!

Someone is flying this beautiful Decathlon right now...........

Are you referring to this plane? If you are ........... thanks a bunch!!!!!

Yes, that is the one. I am shocked you didn't post pics and show everyone when you completed it. It came out great.

Stevo! Was this your maiden flight? Very nice. The smoke photo is awesome with the sun glaring off of it.

How far out do you fly??

The speed of sound at sea level, under standard conditions is 1,080 feet per second, which is just a couple hundred feet under 1/4 mile by the way. On a warm day, the difference would be much less, as the less dense the air, the faster sound travels.

So even that far out, the engine sound would get to you in about 1 second - maybe less on a warm day. Flying at say 60 mph (which would be pretty fast for this plane), you'd travel 88 feet in a second. At 1/4 mile out, you wouldn't even notice a linear movement of 88 feet.

If that's still too much to know what's going on, I'd suggest ignoring the engine sound and just trust in your radio commands - when you hit idle on the throtle stick, believe that it's what you've got.

The next question though is what's the transit time for the throttle change and then what's the engine response time for that new command?

If you are much closer in, that delay in the exhaust sound getting to you is totally insignificant.

So you can see why I suggest to just ignore the specific exhaust sound, unless of course it stops. Then you've probably got a deadstick and the plane is much too far away to see if the prop is still rotating or not. Mind you, you'll notice a power failure really quickly since the plane will start to descend, regardless of what you do with the throttle stick. [sm=what_smile.gif] [sm=drowning.gif]

Hy friends,

heres our page on Chile, you can see some Decathlon too.

http://cach.cl/foroSMF/index.php?topic=4735.30

El ****co.... Very Nice!

Do335a... I would suspect I'm often times out over 1/4 mile and very rarely over 1/2 mile. Pretty much as far as the eye can see is my limit. I have one glide on a Cularis that went just above 2200' AGL. Given the offset angle, that could have been 1/2 mile or so. It was a spec for sure! I just need to get in flights on a noise maker. Total of 5 so far and I just need to adjust to not listening. It will come.

And a couple of notes....

First, the light ply firewall compressed badly. I'm using stand offs that are like .75" in diameter and they still pressed down into the wood pretty easily. On the bench, while running/warming up... one of the motor bolts and mounts fell out. So, it's lock tite time! Hopefully it has compressed now and will hold better. Also, I had a moment of really bad luck that was at great timing! My ignition battery has deans plugs. I ran servo sized wire to the voltage regulator. Well, on the bench, we started getting a bad power signal as indicated by a LED. Messing with it I found that the wire had broken at the end of the solder to the plug and was making intermittent contact. WHEW!!!!! Glad this was on the bench! So, I replaced the wires with nice 14g silicon coated wires and have them strapped to the model before it gets to the more fragile wires. So, a rough unplug should have no effect on the lighter wiring. Live and learn and this lesson was awakening and wow did I use up a pile of luck.

So, after these fits and starts, I finally got it into the air again! The weather was pretty darned gloomy with only one moment of brightness... so my photos aren't the best. They do however represent well what the eye was seeing with regards to the model.

The first and second are just it flying by. The third shows the bomb doors just beginning to open, the fouth the 13 eggs dropping out and the fifth just a lone model on a dark and gloomy evening at sunset.

These pics are in an erratic order.... but here they are. The day of the maiden we had a little extra air traffic to contend with.

Our field is actually a registered air strip. On this day ( of all days) we had about a dozen para-sailers (I think thats what they are called) to share the airspace with. But all worked out well.

A friend of mine had a Giles 202 to maiden, powered by a 1.60 os, just like my decath. We got them both done on Sunday, with two flights on each. A very good day indeed.

My second flight I decided to full up the smoke tank and give that a whirl. Worked out great!!! I might have to back off on the flow rate a bit but all in all I was very happy with it. As also I am happy with the 2 flights I got on the decath.

Feels good to finally have her done and in the hangar. I am very pleased with the end product. A very nice flying plane.... with hopefully many many days of enjoyment to come.

Congrats also on your maiden Dumo!

And a few more...........

Oh and one more thing............ I would like to throw out a few thanks...........

To the owner of our field........ whose flyover loop and roll (in a real decath) last summer provided the inspiration for this model.

To Rsad..... who has been just awesome with his tips, tricks and guidance throughout my build and my enjoyment of this hobby............

And to Cruzmissles start of this thread, whose enthusiasm for this build TOTALLY rubbed off on me, and gave me many thoughts and ideas for mods to this kit.

I just hope he makes a re-appearance someday and finishes his build.

Enjoy your decaths all!!!!

Great job on all the maiden this week. I hope you guys continue to post picture, information, and news about your model. Love the picture and the tips are great.



EL ****CANO
I could not read a single word in your forums but the 's are 's; in any language. Great looking model. What was that you places around your windows? That was a nice touch and a good look.


stevo revo
If that last picture you posted was bigger, I would use that as my New Desktop