Too cold in the garage to do much today. Ready to deck the bottom of the fuselage. I have been thinking about moving the elevator servo toward the rear to help with cg. The .61 is heavier than the .46 and I don't want to have to add weight to the tail. I was considering making a hatch on the bottom of the fuselage, between formers F4a and F5a, for easy access to the servo if I decided to move it to the rear. Can anyone with a finished Contender tell me if they tend to be nose heavy with a .61 or just nose heavy in general? What do you think about moving the elevator servo to the rear?

Thanks
Jim

Hi Jim,

I have a Saito 72 in mine with the servos as per the plan. To balance I simply moved the battery pack to the rear of the position on the plan. Once you a familiar with the model you will probably decide on a slightly rearward position than that recommended. Mine performs to my liking with the CoG 5mm aft of the plan position.

For first flights balance as per plan.

Cheers,


Colin

Thanks Campbec. I will do as suggested and build according to plan. I was just concerned because of size of engine. I don't want to have to add lead.

My spar material will be in tomorrow, so I will start the wing build in the next few days.

Thanks, again

Jim

Jim... Refer to my pics on posts #106,107 & 108. Just FYI.


Started on the cowl and scoop last night [:'(]. pita

Keith,

Your really moving along nicely with the build. Yahhhh, the cowl, the thing that gives the Contender the most character! I'm sure it won't be as bad as we think.

Regards
Mike

OverTheEdge:

So, you are using as pull-pull system on the rudder? The servo I see mounted in the side is for the elevators? Are you going with a taildragger? If not, you'll link off the rudder servo for the steerable nosewheel?

I am confused, nothing new.

Jim

Yes, pull pull rudder, yes servo on the side is for the elevator, standard landing gear.

Well... It's snowing here both outside and on my work bench. Been working on carving, sanding, scraping, sanding and did I mention sanding on that cowl and scoop. [:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(] Think I've just about got it done. Gonna park it for the night and take another look at it in the morning before I post a pic.

Well the cowl and scoop is really a tedious build. I agree with Mike that it is what gives a contender the character. A razor plane is the tool for shaping the cowl and scoop. I've got a Wil-Kro razor plane. It works better then others. I brought mine off a well known internet auction site, there is almost always one there.

I just finished covering and it is the most difficult cover I've done. Followed the covering suggestion in the instructions. I did get the wrinkles out. I now consider myself an expert cover man. I burned my fingers more than once and utilized the iron, trim iron and heat gun.

I did pick up some things I'll pass along.

With all those covering tools going I was constantly melting something, scrap covering, the electric cord or my fingers. To help with this I mounted a plug strip above my bench where I could just reach to insert a plug. This went a long way to keep all those cords neat. I'm going to do this permanent. I'm going to add some type of hanger to hold the hot irons, dremel tool, etc. Hanging them just about keeps the cord completely off the bench when the tool is not in use, but it is still readily available.

Top Flite glove with the rubber spots over it should work well. I had a pair of work gloves that are similar. They get you a good grip and keep the heat from your fingers when using the heat gun to pull and stretch the film around those curves in the cowl/scoop.

Top Flite trim iron worked well but it busted. A rather thin piece of wood supports the metal rod near the handle. It cracked as I was trying to push it into the cracks and seams on the cowl. The item was fixed with a worm gear clamp.

I publish some pics when I finish. The radio and hinging look straightforward so I do not anticipate issues there. Hope to fly before Christmas but this month is busy for us all and weather is certainly not favorable.

Jim,
Too cold to work in shop? Get the Kerosene heater, my friend, you won't regret it.

Hey, Badger, you almost got me worried. This will be my first complete cover. I have the big iron and heat gun, I will get the trim iron.
That's a great suggestion about the plug strip over the workbench hadn't thought of that. I have two electric heaters. As soon as I save up some $$$ I will get a kerosene. Probably about the cost of my "flight pack." Oh, well, gotta stay warm enough so I can bend the fingers. I am somewhat looking forward to the cowl. Every thread I have read on the Contender, this seems to be the tough part.

Thanks again for the tip. Looking foward to the pics.

I have the fuselage sheeted, servo racks in, servo tubes in, about to mount the firewall. I took someone's advice and epoxyed
the blind nuts in the back of firewall for the nose gear. It appears the firewall is square with the fuselage in both yaw and pitch axis. Is this correct?

Later,

Jim

Got the cowl done and wing mounted tonight... also mounted the main gear.

Keith, you have done a whale of a job. It looks terrific. You wing to fuselage joint is perfect. I hope mine will turn out close. I am taking my time because it has been so many years since I have built.

I am still trying to decide whether to go 90 degrees clockwise with the engine or not. You picture of the finished cowl has been very helpful. I think I might be getting into the lower portion of the cowl which would have me cutting into the duct lower portion and I don't think that would look good.

Great job, thanks for the pic.

Fellow Builders:

I did it! I glued the firewall in upside down. When I noticed it I nearly had the "Big One."

Fortunately, the 30 min. epoxy had not completely set up, so I was able to remove. Took
about an hour to clean up. I am ready to "try again."

I had to go to the cabinet I was so overcome. I nearly took a swig of acetone to take the initial shock away. I recovered sufficiently to take a couple of deep breaths and stagger back to the work table.

I am so used to having the fuselage upside down on the plans. I must have went into the primary stages of Alzheimer's or been suffering hypoxia from being in closed quarters, so long. Anyway I have lost a couple of hours but, nothing that can't be fixed.

I am so glad I recovered from whatever "IT" was before that epoxy set up. Don't think I could cut the entire front of the fuselage off, build a new firewall, and re-assemble without it being weak and rather apparent to all the beholders, critics at the club.

Thought I give you guys a laugh. I'm on my way again. Wonder what acetone would taste like with coke?

Jim

I handle my mistakes similar to your method: liberal application of intoxicants and nicotine. Acetone, methanol, castor oil or other modeling fluids do not taste good with coke. Stick with Bacardi.

Don't know about anyone else.... but it seems that the silly season has brought a halt to my progress.

Well, I did managte to get the firewall glued in yesterday. Right side up this time. I am going to start gluing the formers on the top. Still waiting for my 2 48" wing spars from TopFlite. My LHS ordered thru Great Planes so it is taking longer than expected. It was 18 here this morning, so I wasn't enthused about going to the shop. I brought the fuselage in the house and glued the firewall in on the dining room table.

I elected to use Robart nylon hinges rather than the CA hinges supplied with the kit. Bought one of those slotting machines, practiced on a pc. scrap. Works good. Need to order the thicker blades for the nylon hinges, though.

Later

Jim

Jim,

Sounds like your moving right along with your build despite the cold weather in the workshop! I've been really slowed on my build lately we've been getting into some good flying weather here so I haven't spent much time at the bench.

After my LT 40 build I decided to purchase a electric hinge cutting tool as well. I remain hopeful that the hinge cutter will work well. I've got some scrape to practice with and hope to get the hang of cutting the hinges this weekend. I plan on using the supplied CA hinges for my Contender so the blade I've got with my hinge cutter should be fine.

Keep up the good work!

Regards
Mike

Quote: " I've been really slowed on my build lately we've been getting into some good flying weather here so I haven't spent much time at the bench. "


Oh my what a sacrifice. Just think, have to give up build time for flying time. It's must be really frustrating. lol When I think of Florida, I envision sunshine yr. round, beaches and calm winds. At times wish I lived there.

Now you go ahead and rough it today. Get in lots flying time, touch-n-goes, pattern practice, etc., while I freeze my "you-know-what" off struggling to keep my fingers flexible. lol

Later
Jim

Jim,

Ya, been real tough to lay down the Contender pieces and pick up the transmitter instead . It's not been all sun though, has been raining a little bit too, lol! My heart goes out to you my northern brother.....break out the flannel jock strap and have at!

Regards
Mike

Still in a bit of a stand still here due to the silly season... I've pecked away at some small stuff like locating and drilling the mounting holes for my nav lights and landing lights in the wing...

Anyone else making progress?

Too cold, here, a with the Christmas season I am not getting much done. I have marked the holes for the
fuel lines through the fire wall after mounting the engine.

It sure looks like the center of the .61 FX is sitting pretty high. I am going to order the Sullivan 10 oz
Flextank and fuel filler valve today.

It just looks like from engine position that the spray bar is going to be somewhat higher than the center of the tank. What does yours look like?

Of course, the tank will be pressureized from the muffler, so maybe that will help.???? What tank are you going to use?

Also, when I glued the firewall in, it squared up with the fuse on the sides and the bottom. There seemed to be no offset for thrust, is that the way it is supposed to be?

Jim
AMA 821369

I've installed a 12oz dubro in mine... had to do some mods to the top of the fuse from the inside to get it as high in the fuse as possible. I don't think (for a sport plane) it'll matter much. As far at the off set... I'm gonna fly mine as per the plans... if it needs off set I'll shim the motor mount with a washer or two at that time.

I'm at the engine mounting/tank installation stage of construction on mine right now. As per my posts above, I chose the Jett 12 oz bubbleless tank. I also decided to lower the motor by 1/4" just to bring the carb barrel down a little lower. I chose to lower the motor rather than rotate the cyl towards inverted (like I had indicated in above posts). That just seemed like too much work. I did have to modify the tank compartment and F2 so that the Jett tank will slide into the upper most portion of the fuse to get the carb and tank closer to the same line.

Looks like I'm bring up the rear. You guys have been making great progress, while i continue at a snails pace. I've decided to follow in Jim's foot steps by starting on the fuselage instead of the wing.

I plan on using a 10oz. Sullivan in my Contender build as far as tank goes I think I'll have enough on board fuel for some decent flight times. I plan on installing the fuel filler valve as well.

Regards
Mike

I checked my engine centerline. I was a little concerned that with the .61FX it might be too high. It kinda looked that way. I actually drilled my holes about 1/8" to 3/16" lower than the pre-marked holes because of my motor mount. I am using a Sullivan Flex Mount to eliminate as much vibration as possible. After comparing with the plans, I believe I am dead-on with the thrust line. My firewall did not have any offset to the right for thrust. It is square, so I may have to add a washer after the initial test flight.

After posting the above post I went out and measured my fuel compartment. I have approximately (leave myself a little room for foam) 2-1/2" wide x 4-1/2" long x 3-3/4" deep. So, I am going to check tank specs again. I may not use the Sullivan 10 oz. if I can get a bigger tank in. I just want a bubbleless tank or flex tank.

I am a little concerned about the throttle linkage. I am putting the .61 FX upright (was going to rotate 90 degrees right, but too much trouble with exhaust, etc) and I don't know for sure if I can run solid or wire type linkage. May have to use some type of flex cable. Anyone have any experience or tips for me?

Still waiting for wing spar material. Will continue on fuselage.

You guys have been very helpful. I appreciate your comments and your progress reports and exchange of ideas. One person not contributing to this forum (Contender owner) told me to be sure and build with the "UPSWEPT WING TIPS" because without it, the Contender had a nasty yaw/rudder problem. Any movement of the rudder caused the wing tip to drop. I am new, but it would seem that some wing drop would be normal because you are forcing one wing to lead the other and this could cause airflow over wing to change some. I a beginner so I don't know for sure. I am going to add the upswept tips because I like the looks of it, anyway. thanks, guys

JiAMA 821369