h@h,

Wow, I'd really be inteterested in seeing that cowled front in more detail. Would you mind posting some close-up pics?
I'm seriously thinking about doing that with a Saito .72.
Thanks,

Here's the cowled front of my 4*40 that I built out of balsa. Could easily do the same thing on the SE.

any of you guys have a problem building the fuse. a guy in the club said that when he was done with his, one side of the fuse was slightly ahead of the other. i think he was having trouble getting the wing tube to fit. i asked him why he didn't put the tube in place before gluing and he gave me a dumbfounded look. at least that way you'd know it was all in perfect alignment.

Connery,
Yes, I know it can be done, but if there's an example of exactly what I'm trying to do, why not try to learn from another's experience? I'm curious to know how much of the other side and bottom are enclosed, how the motor/mount bolts are accessed, if any of it is removable, etc. It looks like he's done a very nice job. So as long as we're on the subject, were any of these points an issue for your plane? It looks nicely done as well.

I had several pictures of the process of building the cowl but I lost them when my harddrive got corrupted (common problem on Dell laptops). And even being an IT person, it had been over a year since I had made a backup lol.

I used 3/8" balsa for the four sides. The engine to mount is rotated to 45 degrees. That was just enough to get the engine off of verticle and still have the muffler clear without having to have too much of the lower cowl open. Here are the steps I used to make it:

Cut the cheaks off the fuselage
Mount the engine
Cut a circle out of thin ply the same diameter of the back of the prop spinner, then cut the center out to clear the prop hub.
Mount the spinner and use a little CA to tack the ply circle to the back of the spinner with some small 1/16 or so spacers.
Make some measurements from the firewall to the back of the ply circle and cut out the 3/8 balsa to fit around the engine.
Once the rough shape is in place, permanantly glue the ply ring to the cowling and remove the spinner and engine.
Sand to shape from the squared off fuselage out to the ply circle

Not much time to work on the SE this weekend, but I did get the fuse started.

I haven't come up with any covering scheme yet, but from what I've read I think I will use UltraCote. I'm a little worried about doing a good job. Is the [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHZ84&P=7]video [/link] that Tower sells any good for teaching a beginner?

-tychoc

krossk
I extended the sides with parts from the kit. You took the sides of the fuse out of the lazer cut balsa sheets. This extra from the sheet is what I used to extend the sides. The front is made out of balsa sheet and formed to get the curve and two pieces laminated together and cut to size to fit between the sides. The top is one sheet from the front of the hatch to the front of the cowl. It was soaked with water and taped to fuse to form the top. I will get pictures of the bottom at lunch and post. The bottom is open for access to the engine.

h@h,

A couple more questions:
It looks like the top is permanently attached. Do you have any trouble accessing the motor mount bolts or the motor mounting screws? Have you got pix of the right side and bottom with the engine mounted?

I'm in the process of trying to do this with a Saito .72 and can't seem to quite find the combination of structural integrity and access that will let me access all the hardware and still get the motor in/out. It's looking like I need to attach the motor to the mount and then put the mount in the plane. And the throttle linkage is a *real* picnic [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

What do you guys do with the landing gear? Bending it to get more clearance doesn't look too good. What substitutes are there out there and how much do they cost?

-tycho

TNT landing gear has both composite and aluminum replacements that offer increased ground clearance.
Their alum. gear is 12" wide and 5 7/16" tall. WHile the composite is 9.5" wide and 4.5" tall.
The drawback is price - alum is $24 and the composite is $27

Others have successfully used gear from a 4*40 or Astro Hog.

krossk
Top mount is installed first then engine is installed to top mount. Access for screws on top mount are through the space between the head and the side. Install bottom mount and tighten all screws. Top engine mount to firewall screws are accessed before the engine is installed. It can be a pain to get all the screws where they need to be but I think it is worth it. The engine mount is the mount that came with the kit drilled to fit the engine then blind nuts installed in the mount. 4-40 socket head screws and flat washers hold the engine to the mount. With the socket head screws you can put them on a allen wrench and through the space above the head.

There are two places that make fiberglass cowls but could not get a good picture to see what it looked like on the plane. Also the cowls were built to fit with the engine setting upright.

h@h,
Ahh - that's the trick! I never thought about blind nuts and sequenced installation.
That's a really nice piece of work you've got there - very clean. I was half way thinking about looking into the cowl until I saw yours. I had just assumed that the glass cowls were for a side mount, but hadn't been able to locate a picture. Besides, the challenge of custom construction is half the fun, right? Thanks for the insight, I'll try and get some pix posted when I have something to show.

I will be using the stock dural myself. Actually, I'm using two. Mine is going on floats as well. I think the ticket is to use large light wheels.
The question I want to know, and something you may be interested in is how everyone else dealt with the control rod location? The holes for the outer rod, that are drilled into the bulkhead where they enter to the servos is way to low [] I faired alright but only 'cause I used metal all the way the through. Grrrr

Someone here has suggested a 4*60 gear to replace the original. This is a cheap way to replace the gear. I have seen a pic here on RCU of an SE ith this gear. I was thinking of doing that.
As far as the tank is concerned, I replaced it with a Sullivan flex tank. I made a handle out of some nylon reinforced tape, then wrapped the same tape around the tank. This way you have a little handle to hold on to get your tank out. I will post a pic tonight when I get home.

Bill

Have anybody tried the Dubro landing gear?

They got it at my LHS and the price is right.

-tychoc

Here is a pic of my tank.
With the tank being flexable, it helps when removing it.
The tape just gives you a handle.
This has been like this for 3 years and no problems.

Bill

Finally got time to sheet the turtle deck. Fuse is pretty much done now, but all the sanding of every part is still to be done. Don't like sanding, makes me sneeze[&o]

-tycho

Looking good!!! I will definatly sheet the turtledeck on my NEXT SE like I did on my 4*. It just looks SO much better.

Thanks, Connery.

Yes, I must say it looks and feels a lot better. Thanks to this forum, I can figure these things out on my first kit

Now, I'll have to take a little break. Kids are off for spring break....

-tychoc

I just tried balancing mine, without the tail wires installed and it seems to be quite tail heavy. I am going to try and mount bigger heavier wheels Grrrr, I wanted to keep the foam wheels!

Hughes500E: That's usefull info. I, too, was going with the lighter foam wheels, but I guess I'll get regular ones as well. Did you put the battery up under the tank?

Also, I verified the problem you mentioned about the control rods being too low for the servo. I always use the threaded ball link connector with a 2-56 metal push-rod, so I will mout the ball link under the servo wheel to solve the problem. Makes you wonder how the manage to put those holes too low though??

-tycho

Thats very strange about the pushrod holes being too low. Mine lined up perfectly. Mine also came in tail heavy without sheeting the turtledeck and I had to add 6oz of weight to the nose to balance it with the OS 46LA.

I tried with a regular Futaba S3004 servo. Without bending the wire, it ends up underneath...
I was surprise though, not reading about this in all the other threds about the SE I scanned before starting the build.

-tycho

Hi,
I was a bit shocked to find the location of the outer rods so messed up. Maybe they just had a bad run of bulkheads []
Nonetheless, it's been a great build. Lastnight I moved my battery under the tank and installed a heavy Higley double prop nut onto my 4 stroke. The plane is now slightly nose heavy. Today I am installing the tail wires and tail wheel, so we'll see. I do want to drop the Higley nut and swap out wheels. I hate dead weight. The wheels will at least equal functional weight giving me more clearance.
I'm hoping to maiden her tomorrow [8D]

Good luck on your maiden today. I'm taking a 1/2 day of vacation today just so I can go fly my SE