Wow! [sm=greedy.gif] That's some really nice work there SeamusG. Love the vibrant colors.

-MA

How far forward can the landing gear be moved forward. I've read that many builders have moved it 1/2" forward but for some reason I moved it 1 1/2". What are the negative consequences will this have, i.e. reduced prop clearance, etc...

Thank you,

Ryan

I think the biggest problems with haveing the gear too far forward is ground looping, where the tail cg wants to get ahead of the landing gear (or something like that)

here is an article about gear

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=866

Jon

Thanks. I did some modifying and moved them back to the stock location.

Hi,
I'm looking for the info on making a cowl for the Hog Bipe that somebody posted a while ago. I think it was using the flower arrangers Oasis bock as the base - can anybody help please[8D]
NZPhil

Hey guy's,what are yunz using for servos (standard,High torque?) two servos in the wing or one?I gotta get them ordered soon.

4 Spektrum DS821 (torque 88/72 6v/4.8v) digital servos for ailerons (2), elevator (1) and rudder (1). Throttle gets a Hitec HS-425BB (57/43). Battery will be 6.0v.

Yunz!!! had to giggle at that. I have relatives in Connelsville who say "yunz". We would always argue about who has the accent

I'm using Hitec 5645's on the ailerons and ele, a 5945 on the rudder, but only because I had em already. Like Seamus said, the 821's seem like a great choice too and can be had very cheap. Watch the radio equip forum on rcgroups.com, There's a guy on the there that goes by "powerlines" that routinely sells the 4-821's, battery and switch harness for $85 shipped.

Digital servos? Really? Interesting ... I was planning on using [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDEM1]these[/link] with a 6.0 volt battery. I planned on a [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDEL5&P=0]standard[/link] servo for throttle. The 475 has 76.37 oz.in of torque at 6.0v so I figure that's plenty of power for ailerons/rudder.

-MA

I made some more progress last night. I snapped some pictures of the final result. I finished the top left side of the bottom wing using the same techniques that I outlined earlier in the thread. Took about 2 hours to cut the the Ultracote, layout and make the "sheet" and then apply to the wing. I hope to get to the right side this evening and then cover the tops of all 4 ailerons.

MasterA - My planes are exclusively 40 / 60 class. My typical servo profile is 4.8v HS425 throttle with HS475's others or 6.0v HS425 with DS821's. I only have one plane that deserves the speed of the digitals - Hanger 9 ShowTime 50 with a Saito 82.

If I can just finish covering my 4Star60 I can start on the Hog Bipe

Ahhh ... feeling better about my choice. Thanks SeamusG!

Still looking good MA.

Like the tortoise... slow and steady. [8D]

Looks great MA. How did you find it covering the top of the bottom wing where the strut mount is raised above the ribs. I really wish I had ripped my covering off the first time and tried it again. I wasn't really satisfied at all about how I planned the covering around them. Did you come up with any tricks about how to work around this area?

When I do the other side, I'll snap some pics of the process and document here on RCU. If there was any trick at all is was using a fresh razor blade.

Well after getting through the right half of the lower wing, I am convinced that I just got lucky with the left side. I don’t know if it was the added pressure of documenting this or what, but I really made it hard on myself this time.

The toughest part of this is dealing with the I-Struts that protrude up from the wing. The upper wing has these too, but for some reason, they weren’t as troublesome (Picture1). My strategy was simple to begin with, I added a “skirt” of Ultracote around the bottom portion of the I-Strut. This was for 2 reasons – places the base color around the strut so there’s no wood exposed and gives a better bonding surface for the Ultracote sheet (pictures 2 and 3).

Once the “skirt” was in place, I added the sunburst sheet to the wing top. I first aligned the points of the sunburst in the center of the wing and tacked it down with the trim iron. Next, I tacked at the bottom center of the wing so I could pull the sheet tight out to the tip. Stretching the sheet, I tacked down the sheet onto the last rib just before the wingtip (picture4). I then stretched the covering at the leading edge just in front of the I-Strut and tacked it down there. At this point, I was able to stretch the covering down at the trailing edge just behind the I-Strut causing a noticeable bulge where the I-Strut was positioned under the sheet (picture5). Taking a fresh razor blade, carefully cut into the covering directly on either side of the I-Strut making sure the blade doesn’t stray from the side of the strut (like I did). If you do this correctly, you’re left with a rectangular sliver of sheeting removed and the I-Strut exposed. If you slip like I did, you’re left with a football shaped hole that is going to need some attention (picture6).

Given I had spend so much time putting these panels together, I wasn’t about to let a less than perfect cut ruin my day. Instead, I cut some strips of Ultracote like I had for the skirt, and applied them the same way to the top layer. This effectively filled the gap seen in picture7. You can see in Picture7 the additional layer added to hide/fix the elongated hole I cut in the covering for the I-Strut. As you can see in picture8, this was looking ugly at the beginning. Using my trim iron, I tried to get the repair patch onto the I-Strut and the sheet with as few wrinkles as possible. This is where I was very glad I was using Ultracote as I believe it’s a bit more forgiving than some of the other coverings.

Continued in next post…

Picture1 – The I-Strut
Picture2/3 – Adding the “skirt” around the I-Strut
Picture4 – Tacking down the sheet before exposing the I-Strut
Picture5 – Stretching the sheet once it’s tacked to reveal the I-Strut outline
Picture6 – My careless cut … nothing like making extra work
Picture7 – Creating the patch and attaching it to the I-Strut
Picture8 – Still looking ugly – needs some more work

Once satisfied with my patching, I went ahead with the rest of the wing as I normally do. I was extra careful with the heat gun around the I-Strut, but the end result was satisfactory in my book (picture1). You can see in the first picture that there’s still a small wrinkle in the covering. I was able to remove most of that later but not all of it – I don’t want to overdo it trying to make it perfect as that’s usually when I really mess things up. Once the covering was taught, I sealed it down with an iron leaving what you see in picture2. As I did with the top wing, I added black pin stripping between colors making them “pop” a bit more (picture3).

All this took about 3 ½ hours from the point I started cutting the covering to make the sheet to the time I unplugged the irons. The length of this stage of building never finishes as fast as I anticipate – regardless of how long I do this.

You guys that can cover quickly and end up with quality results I envy you! Not that I am disappointed with the results – I think this is turning out fairly well. The duration is what’s frustrating…

Picture1 – The I-Strut, post patching and shrinking. There’s still a small wrinkle
Picture2 – Completed wing
Picture3 – Added the black trim stripes for that extra “pop”

Thanks for documenting that! Looks like you used the same method as me, but you had much better results. Don't worry about being slow, the results will make up for it!

My pleasure, r2champion. [8D]

MA - as you said in an earlier post your are using Ultracote as the primary covering using Monokote black for trim using the Windex adhesive-activating technique. Did you use Monokote for the black accent stripes or did you use trim tape?

FYI - Rust-o-leum's apple red is a very close color match to Ultracote true red covering. Just needs clear coat to ensure it's fuel proof.

No, I used some black trim tape that I got at the auto parts store. I will have to seal it with clear nail polish. I have had good luck on other planes using instead of monokote.

-MA

I wrapped up progress today before slipping out to the neighborhood Super Bowl party. I spent about 2 ½ hours on the ailerons today and believe I am now done covering the wings and the ailerons! A major covering milestone considering this is the main part of the plane’s covering difficulty – at least as far as the patterns go…

I really love Bipes; this is my first bipe kit (I’ve got a GP Super Skybolt kit sitting in the corner) and I won’t be tackling another any time soon! Hehe.

Anyway, I started off by “dry fitting” the aileron onto the wing to determine how to extend the sunburst pattern (picture1). Once I got the rough measurement, I cut some white Ultracoat to the proper distance and covered the aileron. Next, using a dry erase marker, I extended the black trim line onto the aileron. After cutting out the proper size orange piece, I laid the orange on top of the white in order to see the black marker line. I transferred that line to the orange piece, cut it, and applied as normal. The result is what you see in picture2 (I already applied the trim line here). Wash, rinse, lather and repeat another 3 times for all the ailerons (picture3).

Finally, I just had to display both wings in their current state. Displayed in picture4 as they will appear on the fuse. Kinda cool, if I do say so myself. [8D]

Isn’t this hobby/sport fun?

Picture1 – Aligning the pattern onto the aileron
Picture2 – One done … three more to go
Picture3 - … and here are the two matched sets.
Picture4 – Just had to take this picture; both wings all dressed and looking for a fuselage.

MA - I'm starting my Hog Bipe build after finishing my 4Star60. In preparation I'm reading through your thread and have a question for ya. You apparently didn't cut out (remove) the die cut discs from all of the wing ribs (post 21). Why not? I'm thinking that I want to have free air movement between the all of the rib bays during shrinking of the covering. Not commenting about weight savings - not an issue with me.

Btw, attached the finished 4Star covering - couldn't help myself

Because I was a knucklehead ...

I ended up popping those out too. Check out some of the covering photos on this page and you can see that I made a paper servo wire tube and also removed the punch outs from the wing ribs. The free air movement - especially when covering, is important IMO.

Oh, and nice 4*. I have seen many at the field but have never flown one. They always seem to fly so well.

-MA