Greeting everyone,
So I'm about three weeks into a Top Flite Cessna 182 kit and have decided to post the build and progress here in the hopes of gaining as much knowledge from other as I can. I'm sure that my dumb mistakes have been done by someone else in the past so hopefully a few of you can save me before I make them. Ah heck, maybe I just want to bring others together on the subject. I've been following a few of the builds on this site for a while now and I suppose it's high time I contributed myself. I'm planning on building the plane electric so it should be quite interesting if not down right frustrating.

Should be well under way at three weeks. Post a few pics.

Mike,
Indeed it should be. I've been gone the last couple of weeks for the holidays and have just started on the plane again last night. I'll get to the postings today.
>
Dan

Ok, finally. Let's see if I can get some pictures on here!

Excellent Smithers, it worked.

Pretty straight forward thus far. I have learned that if one doesn't use some sort of buffer with those handy little clamps that you'll be raising a lot of balsa in order to get rid of all the divots from the jaws. See first picture below as what NOT to do. The second photo was of the Stab before adding the edges and sanding.

And on to the elevators.

What works very well as clamps AND RARELY LEAVES MARKS/GOUGES are wooden clothspins. The key to them is to reverse the wood and the spring. Remove the spring, turn the wood over, then put the spring back so that the fat end of the clothspin is what you squeeze . The "new" clamp is about 2" - 2 1/2" deep and has reasonably good holding power. The best part is that they are cheap.

Thanks for the advice Campy! I think I know exactly what you're talking about. They had one in I think RCM last month. I'll be honest and say that I picked up a bunch of el cheapo clamps at Sears in the hopes of using more Titebond than CA. Alas, live and learn.

I have some final shaping to do on the Stab and Elevators, but they're looking pretty good so far I think.

You can see in the second picture where I had to cut and re-glue the skin from not reading ahead in the plans. I forgot to put in the torque block. Later you'll see that I did the same thing with the rudder.

I went ahead and ordered lights for the plane in the hopes of trying to make it as scale as I could. My first issue with them arose when building the Rudder. I opted to use a smaller tube to run through the assembly and can hopefully feed the wire through at a later time. If not, then once again I'll have to cut and re-sheet. After all, I'm getting better at it as time goes on. Check out the inside corner where I again forgot to install the torque block.

I've now moved on to the wing. Yep, the funnest part of a build in my opinion. I also have to say how nice it is to be working with a good sized model where you aren't afraid of breaking joiners and spars just by breathing on them. You can see the second photo for reference next to my yet to finished Taylor Craft. I'm trying not to rush on this plane, but it goes together so nicely that I can't help but be quick. Now that the Center is finished, I'll maybe try to take a break this weekend and read through the plans once more in hope of not missing another torque block.

I have to say that the initial building of the wing didn't seem to pose any real problems or snags. Straight forward and right along with the supplied manual. Does this mean that the whole kit is going to be a breeze, or simply that I'm going to run into one heck of a problem down the road?

Sadly to say it feels like I'm still flying through this thing. I look back at the stacks of wood that came out of the box and they're almost all gone aside from a few pounds of sheeting. It does feel good to see the results though. Check out the wings of the old Magister for an idea of scale. And remember, this is just the the framing.

I now I said earlier that I haven't run into any real problems thus far. Well, the crow has been eaten. I managed to break each joining rib whilst trying to fir the polyhedral braces into the center and wings. Sure, a little CA here, a little CA there, but disappointing none the less. I was trying to open them up a little at a time as opposed to having a loose fit but the things snapped at even the slightest nudge. No, really. I mean how could I have managed to continue to do it three more times? Well, they got glued and reinforced and now seem to be pretty solid.

Its looking good I'm getting to cover my 182 vut having trouble with the windshield fittment, any how one thing i wish i had done before the center section was fully sheeted was to add a second layer of balsa where the wing mounting bolts go threw the top of the center section to help prevent harsh damaged if the drive slips when tightning the wing.

I will be starting a TF Cessna 182 when I return home from FL in Feb . It will be an electric conversion also. I have already purchased an E-flight Power 110. I am not throughly satisfied by my selection, but I am afraid a Power 60 is too small. What bothers me is the size of the prop I will end up using. It would appear that a 17 inch prop will be used, and I am not sure about operating clearance. Any input would be appreciatted.

I was thinking about that as well. I was considering using the same type of sleeves the Magister has in order to reinforce the holes around the skin. I'm hoping to glass the plane so I'm not sure if the extra balsa would help. If it's Mono or Ultra covered balsa, I agree with the protection. It would be a sad day if a hole got punched in the plane after all the work that goes into these.

Do you have any photos of the build thus far?

Not real familiar with the E-flight motors. I'm still deciding which motor to go with. Right now I'm tossing between a 4130 and a 5320, both AXI. Most of the intricacies of the electric power systems are still a mystery to me. My biggest concern with getting the motor this early is the weight of the aircraft. I've seen a fair amount of fluctuation in different people's builds and want a more concrete weight to work with.

I'll try to get a measurement for you tomorrow as far as the clearance goes. Are you looking at a two blade? Right now I'm still set on a three blade prop to ensure it's still scale.

The motors you are looking at are the equivalents of the E-flight's Power 60 and Power 110. The Power 110 has a continuous Amp rating of 55 amps and with a 9 cell LiPo pack could pull ~1600 watts or >100 watts/lb up to the max weight I've seen quoted. I quess the reason I jumped off the deep end here with the motor and batteries was to be able to lay them out for balance and space as I built. I am thinking I would like to do the cockpit and all as I gather all the information together in preparation for the build. Kinda unusual for me not to just jump in and start the build.

The only reason I'm worried about prop size is if the weight winds up at the top end and I need the power. I doubt if that will happen and think I can probably under size the prop in the 14 or 15" range. If you can tell me if that will give good clearance I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Mljim,
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted on here. How goes the build? Have you started yet?
I just got back to work on the plane this weekend and my first order of business was to rip all the sheeting off the wings and start over. Talk about heartache.
The specs for the TF 182's prop go from 13 up to 15. 15 is listed while using a 1.20 engine. Not sure about the 17 incher clearing much of the ground.
I know I've said it before, but let me get the landing gear back on and measure it out for you. I have tomorrow off so I should be able to get to it.

Dan

Mljim,
From what I got today the clearance from the center of the engine mount to the ground is 9.5 inches.
Hope this helps,

Dan

Dan,

Good to see yu're back at it. I started construction last week. Joined the wing sections together today and put together the skins. Hope to start covering the wing tomorrow. Think I should get started on the fuselage yet this week if all goes well. If I may ask, why did you have to remove the wing covering? Hope I'm not mising something here. The stabilizers are done as well as the rudder and elevator. I did rush some sanding on the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer and will have to do some cover up after I mount it and build it into the fuselage.

Thanks for the measurement. I'm somewhat worried about fitting the motor under the cowling. It will be a tight fit at best. I've sized motor after motor and have decided that this is an awkward size/weight plane. Looks like you could use several combinations, none of which appear to be a perfect match.

Again thanks for the measurement.

Jim

Jim,
Careful with the leading edges of the wing. I felt I had too much gap in one of them and decided to use a small amount of micro-baloons to fill it. I'm pretty sure I mixed it incorrectly as it never sanded worth a squat and in the end, that's why I ripped it all off and started over. It was much easier after I read about using chalk to mark the edge with. I was trying to think of something like that to use the first time but never even thought of chalk. Alas, it's re-sheeted though.

The Fuselage is 200 times easier to sheet than the wings were. Very straight forward and lickety split. If you get frustrated with the wing like I did, take a break, work on the fuselage, and then go back to it later. Hopefully not a month and a half like me though.

I agree with the frustration over the motor combo to use. As I get closer and closer, I have to start thinking more about that aspect rather than simply building the thing. I was basing a lot of my predictions on similar planes that have been converted from gas to electric. As you said though, too many combinations, too many right answers none of which are perfect. Now that I'm back working on it, I'll have to sit back down and re-calculate the power system.

Post some photos of you're wing covering process. I'd like to have something to be envious about on here.

Dan

Here's some phptos of my wing covering over the last couple of days. The photo of the covering to leading edge just doesn't show anything, but it actually came out pretty good. M y area for filler is at the joint where the extra piece is need to cover the flap area.

Ok yes, it has been like nearly two years since I have updated this post. Why? Well, I have not had that much time to work on the plane to be honest. A move, new house, marriage, constant trips to schools and a trip overseas have used up most of my free time. Worry not though dear readers, if there are any of you left that is, I am back to work on the plane and will be uploading photos and the progress here in the next two days. While I was away, I saw that TF have now released the plane as an ARF an offer a drop in electric setup. Now it will be perhaps a tad easier to convert seeing as they are providing documentation on the conversion. Sad thing is that I also see TF is slowly discontinuing kits. I was lucky enough to find a Bonanza for sale and snatched it before the prices skyrocketed. Now if I could only find a Piper Arrow.