I'm building a Great planes .60 cub, and I have a few questions. As far a the coverings go, I know they reccomend monokote or something similar, but I think it is coverite that has the same basic thing, but it is actually fabric. I think it would be really cool to go with real fabric (I want to try to make it as realistic looking as possible, and I would think that fabric is stronger...), but it is something like 50% heavier. So I guess I want to know how that extra weight would affect the plane, and how well this other stuff actually performs. I am planning on using the os .91 4-stroke. Is there something else that I should consider? And do I need high-torque servos for any of the control surfaces? It did't say anything about it in the instructions, but I have seen much smaller kits that reccomend one for the rudder.
This is actually my first plane. Probably far from the best kit to start out with, but I'm going to take my time, and while I'm building it I'm going to buy a cheap arf trainer and get really good at not crashing. I was thinking about maybe the tower hobbies one because it is only around $60, and with a $50 .40 and probably under $100 in radio stuff (not going to need a second transmitter...) it won't be very expensive at all in comparison to how much it will cost to build this cub.
If anyone has any experience with this kit and thinks that there is something that I should know about it, please tell me.

I guess I also want to know about what props would work well. I want to find something that will work well in combination with that engine to make it fly better at a lower rpm. I really want something like the real thing. I know I'm not going to get 2000 rpm out of a little glow engine, but really high rpm on something like this would really bother me. What I really would want to do is put one of those 4 cylinder things on there, but that is both cost and size prohibitive.

Cool The Slain, congratulations to the world of RC. Yes, the kit you are beginning with is a handfull. However, I don't think extra ordinary high torque servos are necessary. As far as the fabric, that is a personal choice. The
plastics such as MonoCote or UltraCote are very strong, lightweight and not terribly difficult to use provided you have a good iron (I recommend the Coverite) and a good heat gun is nice. I have never used the fabric coverings,so I cannot speak from experience. I like UltraCote, but that's only my preference.

If there is a RC flying club nearby or your are a member of one, I suggest you go and most clubs will be glad to give you a chance to fly the club trainer with an instructor on a buddy box. It's also a good place to pick up a cheap
used trainer that a member wants to sell. Most times you could get a good one for under $200.00 complete. Check your local club out, visit with the members and pose the same questions to them. Most will jump on the opportunity to help you. Good Luck.

Actually, the local r/c club sometimes holds stuff at our airport, so it won't be too dificult to find someone to ask, I just figured ask at least someone before I forgot and was left having the model finished with no idea about covering.
And another question. Is it possible to mount 4-strokes inverted like they do with some 2-strokes? I would like to prevent a big ugly single cylinder sticking out of the side of the cowl if I can avoid it, but I haven't seen any model planes with this. I know I would have to worry about making sure all the fuel is out of the cylinder before starting (hydrolock), and it sounds like I would probably have to have an onboard glow driver, but is there anything else that would preclude me from mounting it upside down?

Hi,

Abandon all hope as the addiction is upon you. There are various fabric type coverings out there, some pre coloured and sealed (Solartex and the like) and SIG coverall that needs painting. I think they are easier to apply than most polyester film coverings, but I won't get into the great debate!

There are almost unlimited threads on buying a trainer, finding a club and hooking up with an instructor. Do a search and have many hours of happy reading. I would suggest some variation on this general theme is the way to go for most. In my experience all the modern trainers are more than suitable. Buy the "best" radio you can afford with the maximum model memory and features. You won't use them all at once but I have found models breed quicker than rabbits once you are bitten by the RC bug.

Please learn to fly competently before flying the CUB. These are not very forgiving models.

Please under no circumstances put a two stroke glow motor in a CUB. The CUB police will be onto you faster than you can flick the prop. Please, Please, Please, CUBs are a fourstroke only zone.

I had no intention of putting a 2-stroke on a cub, that would be blasphemous. I think that 2-strokes should be illegal for any scale aircraft, it defeats the point of having one modeled after a real aircraft, I just wanted to know about the possibility of inverted mounting for a 4-stroke. We have a full sized cub, and I basically want to make it as close to that as possible. I know it isn't the best scale model, but it is a start. It would have been cool to get one of the 1/3 scale *really scale* cubs, but the kit that I found that I liked was around $600, and I don't have that kind of cash to spend just on the kit itself right now. As for a radio, I was planning on getting a Futaba synthesized 9 channel. I know that I don't need that much now, but if I eventually build some of the models I want to, I will need channels for flaps, landing gear, bomb racks, etc. Plus it will be nice to not have to put in different crystals all the time. And as far as covering goes, what is a good way to learn before I actually do it? I'm not keen on screwing up on this plane.

Hi,

I would suggest the best way to learn is to join a local club and get to know some of the more competent builders. Nearly everone is keen to help when approached in an appropriate manner.

If this isn't an option I would suggest that you get a trainer kit. I would suggest this anyway. Building the trainer kit will get you into the mindset for building the CUB and allow you fairly painless experimenting with covering.

Good Luck,

Colin

Fabric coverings are often used for Cubs and other "scale" planes that had fabric covering. You can find fabrics that come in standard Cub yellow, or use the type you need to paint yourself.

The weight added by the fabric won't be an issue on a plane like the 60 size Cub, it has plenty of wing area to carry the slight weight penalty.

You can mount the four stroke inverted if you wish, and an on board glow driver will certainly reduce the small potential for starting and idling problems. Many also let the cylinder stick out the side of the cowl, and then match it as closely as possible on the other side. After all, Cubs had cylinder heads sticking out the sides of the cowl anyway. Or, you could buy a nice 4 stroke twin to fit the cowl and be really scale.

Standard servos, like the Futaba 3003, or the 3004 ball bearing servos will be fine for the 60 size Cub. You won't need high torque as it's not a high speed, aerobatic plane. If you were asking about a 60 size CAP or Extra my answer might be different.

Good luck, and follow that plan of starting with a trainer, just get an instructor too.

Welcome to RCU and the terrific world of RC flying. Not much else out there compares to the enjoyment you'll get from it.
Dennis-

DB, as usual, has some good advice there. If you really want to do a nice fabric cover and have the patience for it, Sig Koverall and traditional dope finish gives a very nice, durable and light cover. I'ts not really hard to do, but is more time consuming than a prefinished cover, because you have to apply the glue to the edges of the airframe, then cut and apply the fabric, then shrink it, then dope it to seal the weave, then paint as desired, but the edges of the cover just disappear, and it NEVER wrinkles.

As far as engine choices go, I don't think you can do any better than Saito, but the OS is also good, and a .91 will be all the power you need and then some. Do you know the projected weight of the plane? My 1/5 scale L-4 (84.5 inch wing) weighs over 9-1/2 pounds, and a .65 Saito flies it, no problems. It takes off at 1/2 throttle and cruises at 1/4-1/3. I mounted mine inverted, and it is almost completely hidden in the cowl, then I built a scale dummy engine. I have an on-board glow, which I recommend for inverted applications if for no other reason than to make it easy to start, since the glow plug will be almost impossible to get to. It does provide a good measure of reliability for low throttle operation, which you will do a bit of since you will have such an excess of power. Your plane is a bit larger than 1/5; a 14 inch prop is scale for 1/5, that's close enough for you and the .91 will turn it great. I use a 14-6 MA K series. As Db said, the 3004 servos are fine, I used 3001's in mine, almost the same, have the same specs for torque etc, and are plenty

Learn to fly that trainer well, while you're building the Cub--you're still gonna have another learning curve when you begin to fly it. A trainer is great, but let's you get away with a good bit of "hands off" flying. The Cub wants your attention most of the time, and has handling quirks that, while they aren't bad, require getting used to. Taking off will teach you how important that rudder is, and making coordinated turns will also show you how to fly with both sticks; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, it's my favorite plane to fly You're taking much the same course I did when I started flying. I built my trainer from a kit, and then started building my Grasshopper while I was learning to fly with the Kadet. My L-4 is a Sig kit, I modified it myself as I went, using data I got off the 'net. Take your time building the Cub, however you decide to do it. You'll do a much better job, it will be a better plane, and it'll be worth the wait.

One last question. What radio are you gonna use? If you've got a computer Tx, there are mixes and exponential setups that will help make the Cub easier to get the hang of, such as mixing rudder with the ailerons to help with coordinated turns, putting expo in the rudder will reduce its sensitivity and help reduce the tendency to overcontrol the tail on takeoff, and differential in the ailerons to help reduce adverse yaw (along with the rudder mix) in turns.

Cool --meant to show how I did some of my build, I'll be happy to give more details. Here's some pix

And a few more--The full size Cub belongs to Michael Waltrip, NASCAR driver. I got a bunch of detail from it. One other thing to consider if you do the J-3: it really isn't a great aerobat. The roll rate is slow because of the long wing, for one thing; you might consider whether you would want to clip the wings. It will still be a floater, but performance might be a bit crisper.

For a radio I am planning on the 9caps, which seems to be the best futaba for under a grand (the 9z or whatever was $1200 I think). I am almost positive it has several mixing functions. I'm going to wait until I actually get part of the plane built before I buy an engine. If a twin will fit, I would gladly pay the twice as much that it will cost, but the 1.60 or whatever is around 7 inches across, 4 deep, and 3 high, I think. Since I don't have a real mental picture of exactly how big this plane will be, I can not yet determine what will fit. It would be great to have the cyls out the side like the real thing, but I wouldn't want to have one real one and then two fake ones on the other side. I think that I could live with two real ones, but only because they don't make a 4 cylinder small enough. And Khodges, that looks really nice. I was actually thinking of doing an L-4 like that, but I then decided that since I have access to a real cub, I am going to make it just like that one.

BTW, nice nose art

Edit, I found a Saito twin that was 1ci. Can anyone tell me about this? Good power, reliability? Does it have the twin carbs, because I have heard that those are a real pain. Also, who sells them? They seem alright, the OS just looks so much more like the real thing, and it has twice the horsepower being only 60% biggger.

Cool-- the 9CAP is what I use for my L-4, and I think you'll really like it. You can do everything you want as far as programming for the Cub, it's a great radio. I use a 149 DP receiver, is PCM and a perfect setup for the Cub. The 9CAP system comes with this Rx and 4 of those servos, just nee to buy a 5th servo.

I know the money issue, but if you do a twin, look at the Saito 90TS, it's a .90 twin, and the valve covers look more like the "pan head" covers on the Continental, close enough that you wouldn't have to worry it's only 2 cylinders instead of four.

Have you had any experience with that .90? It seems alright, nice low rpm, valve covers look closer, not as nice as the os, but I think that is too big and it is really heavy, not to mention more expensive. So one horsepower will do a decent job of powering this plane? And do you know who sells them? I'll check at the local place, but they aren't incredibly big, so I don't know what they will have for multi-cylinder stuff.

Also, is that engine mount on the .90 any good? It looks kind of flimsy compared to other mounts.

Cool the Slain,

I have the Sig 60 size cub and I use a Enya .80 four stroke, fly it most of the time at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. Love this airplane lots of fun to fly. I have to aggree with everyone above about getting a trainer kit to build which will help you in the process. The kadet is a good kit to start with. If you want to get the saito 90T here is a link to a dealer that sells them. If you want to do a search go to google or another search engine and just type in saito engines, you will get all types of replies. Covering I love the Sig Koverall and that is what I use on all my aircraft that have faberic covering on the full scale aircraft. Also get with your local club and get some help from those guys that some expertise in building and flight instruction. Good luck and hope you have many hours of fun.


http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByB...D=SAI&CatID=EA

Cool, You asked about covering your cub, I have just finished covering a 1/5 scale Tripacer with Sig Koverall and I love the stuff. It was my first use of the stuff and it works great. While more labor intensive, I found it much easier than film and preglued fabric. Take a look at the Tripacer build thread in this forum.

Just out of curiosity, why is the .90 $100 more than the 1.00? The .90 looks like a cheaper engine to me, although looks can be decieving, and the only picture that I have seen of it doesn't have very good color.

It looks like it is the differance in the way the cylindar is made, 90t is AAC and the 100 is ABC.

I'll throw in my 2 cents. I've had one for five years. The full wing is the most beautiful but most difficult of the multitude of airplanes I fly. It requires constant attention and will bite you in a second on takeoff or landing. The huge wing, short fuse, and short length make take offs a challenge. It ground loops in a heartbeat without constant rudder attention. I start wiggling the rudder before I start the take off run. I ease the throttle forward holding some down elevator to get the tail "flying". This gives good scale takeoffs. The other way to successfully take off is jam full throttle. That seems to get it up to speed fast enough that it doesn't change ends. I have seen the clipped wing version fly and looks like it flies like a trainer. So if you are not very experienced, built the clipped wing.

I have an OS-91 4 stroke in mine. Its a great match, especially if you put floats on it. I fly off the water a lot and I would not want any less power. It actually flies easier on floats. And it so graceful and pretty in the air. I guess all the weight hanging down gives it more stability.

I like the scale engine sticking out one side that is supplied with the kit.

Good luck,

Bob

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Thanks for the advice bob. It sounds like the main concerns that you have are pretty much like flying a real tail-dragger, but I'm sure that things happen a lot faster on something this small, so I will be careful. I think, however, that I will still do the full wing. I am most definitely going to do floats, and I am planning on making a set of skiis out of some thick sheet aluminum; however, I am not sure what the dimensions should be. I don't know for sure if the real cub ever had skiis, whether or not I could get access to a pair to measure them if they exist, or if a scale size would even support the plane on snow, so that one will take some research.