I chose the Jett 12 oz bubbleless tank.

Safebet,

I did enlarge my rudder a little bit but I didn't increase the height of mine. I just kinda added a little more angle to "sweep" it back some. I just didn't like the way the stock rudder looked.

I'm not positive as to which tank I'm going to use on mine yet it's still to early in the building process to tell for sure. I've got a 10 oz. Sullivan Flex Tank laying around and it looks like it'll work by the plans but then again I won't know for sure until the fuselage is built.

Every body have a safe Thanksgiving

Regards
Mike

Mike,

What engine are you putting in your contender?

Hey Keith,

I'm planning on a OS Max 46AX. I've read in some previous threads from several different contributers that the 46 AX is a pretty good combination for the Contender. I'm not looking for a rocket ship just a nice competent sports flier.

By the way your build looks great, you'll be done with yours long before me. Good grief I've become intimate with my sanding blocks on this build and I haven't even got to the tough parts yet. Keep up the good work you inspire us to keep on keeping on!

Regards
Mike

Mike: I built my rudder just like you did. I will post some pics. tomorrow. I have finished the elevators, horizontal stabilizer, rudder and rudder fin. I have the wing plans laid down and covered with Saran wrap. It works great, nothing stick to it.

John, where do you purchase the Jett 12 oz. tank? Is it flexible? I may go with the Sullivan 10 oz Flexible. I am going with a
OS .61 FX so the extra 2 oz. sounds good, but will it work. Not far enough along to be able to determine that yet.

Later,
Jim
AMA 821369

Here is pic of progress so far. I did not enlarge redduer as much as Mike did. Now, I
wonder if that was a mistake. Anyway, some progress. Got the wing plans laid down and covered. Ready to start. Kinda scary, haven't built a wing in a long time. Will separating ribs, parts etc. tomorrow.

Good luck, Happy Thanksgiving.

Jim
AMA 821369

Jim,

You can get the Jett Bubbleless tanks from www.jettengineering.com -- specifically, the [link=http://www.jettengineering.com/accy/tank.html]Accessories[/link] page.

Fitting the 12 oz jett tank in the Contender will take some doing. I want to push the tank up as high into the tank compartment as possible to get the center line closer to the level of the needle valve. I'm also going to put the tank in backward with the bottle-top end and the fuel tubing extending into the cockpit area. I may build a mock instrument panel to hide the mess. The tank will fit a bit better this way than if it faces forward. Also, I may have to use a heat gun to warm the tank as I push it into the top of the fuse so that it'll mold itself into the cavity slightly.

Don't worry about the backward tank idea; it works great! It works because the bladder inside the tank prevents air from getting inside the fuel compartment of the tank. I've done this on my racers for well over three years now with no problems--but it must be a bubbleless/bladder tank like the jett or tetra.

Jim,

Your rudder looks great, no mistake there. The rudder shape you've done should be just fine. Good Luck with the wing I'm sure you'll do well, just take your time pay special attention to left and right objects, such as the landing gear blocks as an example.

Regards
Mike

Jim,

Read the instructions throughly before starting wing. The spar that is on the paper plan is a dry fit, it is not glued until wing is flipped over. I started my wing and had to quickly pull up the whole mess to free the spar before the glue set.

Built many wings but never had that type of construction. I just dived in and missed it. Always pays to read.

Here is some covering partials. peices have not been cleaned. The nose is painted for fuel proof in red dope. I dry fit a single peice over turtle deck, cockpit and forward. But it looks to be alot of wrinkle potential. So I'm probably going to go with two peices, split in front of cockpit. The canopy will help hide a seam at front of cockpipt and would insure I could get covering tight.

forgot the pics!

John, Mike and Scott, thank you for the tips. I will carefully read the instructions. I am glad you pointed out about the "dry" fit on the spar. I would have glued it for sure, I think. John, I think I am going to go with the 10 oz. sullivan. I don't want to get too complicated on my first kit. I am going to see if Sullivan makes a bubbleless, bladder tank. I like the idea of the bladder, thus no air. No air, no bubbles.

Scott It looks like your covering job is coming along well. For me, that's going to be the scary part. I am looking forward to the challenge.

I won't be working much on the plane until Monday. My kit was short the 2 ea,. 1/4" x 3/8" x 48" Basswood spars. I ordered them from my LHS today.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

God bless you and your families.

Jim
AMA 821369

Scott,

I too made the spar mistake [:@].

I noticed you went with a side mount for your engine... I wanted to do that but my muffler won't clear the bottom corner of the firewall/fuse [&:]... So I'm gonna go with the traditional upright mount. [:'(]

Happy Thanksgiving All! [8D]

I'm mounting a fox 46abc. ALthough fox mufflers are very loud they can be had in a tilt up or a tilt down version. New engine will come with a tilt down but fox will trade it for a grand total of $3. Then you have a tilt up. The tilt up muffler on a side mount gets it away from the fire wall and allows muffler to clear. It is one of Foxes better ideas in that regard. The tilt down muffler on an upright motor drains excess fuel away from a flooded engine. Most other muffler mounts on an upright would hold excess fuel that I've seen. Foxes are quirky but this time it works well.

Jim,

Keeping it simple is always a wise choice. I tend to complicate things needlessly some times. On the other hand, tinkering and modifying things is part of why I like this hobby so much.

To the best of my knowledge, only Jett and Tetra make bladder tanks. Dubro, Sullivan, GP, Hayes et al are all of the clunk variety. If you feel like experimenting, you can fashion a bladder tank out of a standard clunk-style tank by inserting an appropriately sized plastic bag. It takes some fiddling and they usually don't work as neatly as a production-level tank but it can be done.

Good luck to you and happy holidays to all!

I am waiting for my wood to arrive for the wing. I was shorted 2 48" pieces. I have them on order. In the meantime, I have decided to go ahead and do the fuse. Question: What do I use to thin the epoxy to fuelproof the engine compartment with. And what ratio?

Thanks

Jim
AMA 821369

Thin 30 minute epoxy with either denatured alchohol or 95% or greater Isoproply (rubbing - 90% if thats all you can get). Thin about 2/3 epoxy to 1/3 alchohol (about consistency of paint). Brush on (I use a bristle brush -- about $0.75 each so you can throw away) liberally, will take about 3 hours to dry so not sticky.

Thanks, mcarleno. I will follow those inst.

Another question: I am preparing to glue the doublers to the fuselage sides. It appears they should be flushed with the bottom of the fuselage sides, leaving the notches at the top of the fuselage side exposed, correct?

Thanks,

Jim
AMA 821369

Yes, They should be flush with bottom of fuse.

Thanks Badger5964.

That's what I did. I figured it was important for the wing saddle on the fuse to be even with the doublers saddle. I have them glued.

Thanks again

Jim

This build is going very good, so far. I have attached two more pics. I am still waiting on the 2 pcs. of 48" basswood for the spars for the wing. While waiting I decided to assy. the fuselage, optional wingtips, etc.

I assume when I glue in the firewall that I won't have to make any adjustments to it. I will be installing a .61 OS FX. I have purchased a Sulliavan Dynamount Soft Motor Mount.
The engine is dampened with rubber mounts to eliminate a great deal of vibration.

With the stock muffler I can swing the engine 90 degrees and it will clear the bottom of the firewall only if I lower the engine down from pre-marked holes by about 1/8". Do you think this will affect the thrust line enough to be detrimental?

I am a little concerned about muffler ground clearance. The muffler will be running right in line with the R.H. bottom seam of fuselage, so I think it will be ok. It will be blowing fuel underneath and between the main gear. I will not make any decisions until I am further along, wing built and mounted and gear attached.

I am depending on you guys to help me if you note anything either in my comments, pictures or just from your experience.

Thanks

Jim
AMA 821369

Jim,

Your fuselage build looks great so far. I've been a little stalled on my build do to work however, tomorrow I plan on flying in the morning and then continuing my build in the afternoon for a few hours anyway

For my engine placement I plan on doing some experimenting with motor position once I have my fuselage started. I'm no expert by any means but I don't think an 1/8 inch would be that significant.

Happy building and once again your build is coming along nicely.

Regards
Mike

Not much progress here lately.... but here's an update. Top formers and sheeting in place. Fuel tank installed along with throttle cable outer.

Assembled two small circuit boards for the nav and landing lights. The small one will plug into the receiver to be activated by the landing gear channel for the landing lights, the flight pack will power the landing lights. The larger one will be powered by 9 volt battery and will power all the other nav lights, this will be switched by a mechanical switch on the side of the fuse. All the wiring for the LEDs will be soldered to these boards.

Jim,
I agree with mike... I don't think 1/8" will make a difference. I thought about lowering my mounts to do the same thing, but I would have to go about 3/8" -1/2"... wasn't too sure about going that low.