Hi Rick, no I haven't worked on it lately, having in the meantime assembled the Seagull Super Decathlon and having just finished the Seagull Ultimate, still trying to get the smoke to work properly on that one. Problem with the muffler/header taps that I have to get sorted out.

Unfortunately, on the road now for work, and not returning home until 7/14, and I will have a Focus Sport to assemble when I get back.

The reason for this is that my beloved Venus II, which I had totally refurbished over the winter, was taken out in a mid-air collision during a pattern contest. Engine, electronics and hardware survived for the most part, but the plane was a goner. Nobody's fault, just one of those things, and I am really happy that Ken Velez was able to land his beautiful electric pattern ship despite having no rudder and only a partial fin.

I really liked the Venus II, but after hundreds of great flights with it I got my money's worth, and it is time to move on to another pattern bird.

Hey, good idea from Rich to bake it in the sun for a while!

Also might try carrying around a piece of Tyvek as a protective tarp. The white cover really helps keep it cool.

My Extra balances out at the most 1/16” behind the recommended location. Moving stuff around a little to make up for the heavier muffler worked out. Plane weighed in at exactly 7 1/2 lbs with a 16X5 zinger wood prop hanging on the crankshaft. I won't use that for flight. It was just handy for balance and weigh in. So, what weight reduction I did kept things from getting out of hand with the heavier muffler and spinner that I will use.

I think Rich’s plane was 7lbs 8oz with a heavy 16X4 wide APC prop and 7lbs 6oz with a Zinger 15X4 wood prop.

I also managed to knock out the T-nut inside the front half of the left wing. So…..now I have to cut into the bottom of the wing to get to the nut and get it back into the root rib. [:@]

Not bad at all on the weight considering all the mods!

2 oz weight difference between those props???

Zingers are okay once they are re-worked to improve the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil. I have used them straight-up and modified, and they are a lot quieter and more efficient if the leading edge is smoothed out and shaped properly, and the trailing edge thinned out to eliminate the factory square cut.

Maybe try a Xoar beech if they make them in the smaller sizes.

Yes, the 16X4 wide APC is a big ole heavy fly wheel of a prop. But it will make some static thrust. I have only flown my "wild stik" with it so far. Works great for hanging on the prop but I lose to much speed and momentum to enjoy the rest of the flight.

I have yet to find a Xoar in the 15" range. I also have to admit I have not tried that hard either. But I want to say they (Xoar) start in the 18" range.

Ok, I did a little bit of digging on the NET.

Xoar has props of all sizes. Beechwood sport props http://www.xoarintl.com/props/ma/PJA.html

Here is the first place I found to buy them. http://www.chiefaircraft.com/rcmsec/...XOARProps.html

Prop sizing chart http://www.xoarintl.com/howto.html

Frank Tiano http://www.franktiano.com/xoarprops/xoarprops.htm

They are a little more expensive but with all I hear & read about them, it will be worth trying one to compare performance.

Xoar makes them down to 10 inch diameter.

Widest selection available I have found is Graves RC.

But I do like to clean up and paint the Zingers... got one for my Seagull Ultimate, sanded and painted yellow with blue tips and the little blue "sub stripe" to make it flashy. Looks good, but no pic because I am out of town for a while.

I have a Xoar 14x4 that I bought at Joe Nall, but haven't tried it yet.

After coming home from work and viewing my problem with the T-nut in the wing from a different perspective, I decided to drill a hole in the root rib to access the area that I needed. I also decided to drill both wings while I was at it. Here are a couple pictures of the holes I drilled carefully using a 7/8” spade bit. FYI there is a couple of pictures of what the T-nuts in these wings look like. They are plastic by the way. Also you can see how I used a tie wrap to feed the T-Nut back in place. I used a small amount of “gorilla” glue spread with a tooth pick on to the T-Nut.

I also threw in a picture of the ugliness of using silicon to seal the hole for the fuel lines.

Here are the final fit pictures of the exhaust header and muffler.

And lastly the shots of the fuse wrapped with some saran wrap waiting on the wing with silicon to be put in place to dry overnight.

Chuck,

If you happen to do a side by side test/comparison with a different prop say Zinger 14X4 (or what ever) I would be interested in hearing your opinion.

okay, I'll have to get a Zinger... I haven't weighed mine (plane) yet.

I think the reason my engine died, was I dropped to idle on a 45 deg. downline, and we haven't gotten the low speed needle set just right, yet.

Thanks Every one

Hey, Rick, I lost a nut, too! I had been storing the bolts in the wing's nuts when the wings were off and probably set it down too hard, knocking the nut out.
I got lucky so it was the rear nut which I was able to put & glue back using the access provided by the existing hole behind the spar.
Since the nut is plastic, I used gorilla glue- messy but effective. CA can do funny things to plastics and the nut seemed to be a "soapy" plastic like PE that doesn't take regular glues well. Gorilla glue foams up and encapsulates the part, so adhesion is less important.
My experience with building my own planes (Pre-ARF days) was that wood threads are better because you can always tighten them up with a coating of thin CA.
I was looking at (your?) post talking about shortening the wing bolts. I thought that I'd leave them long in case one backed out....
Guess what happened the other day? One backed out a whole inch!
So I drilled a little hole in each corner of the tabs and lockwire the wing bolts in at assy now. Bit of a hassle, but muuch less hassle than losing a wing!
Next I will shorten the bolts, as they won't be backing out anymore. I have reused the lockwires once now, just leaving them attached to one side and threading the bolt in with the wire hanging out. I would hesitate to use metal wire on 72Mhz because I don't get them very tight so there could be some metal-to-metal contact issues. i'm using Spektrum which supposedly has NO problems with metal-to-metal vibrationsaffecting signals. One of the tech leads at Spektrum talked about that at our club 2 years ago- the 2.4Ghz system doesn't even see that type of interference. If I were on 72, I'd probably use rubber washers under or rubber bands around both bolts, before they are fully seated.
Just a heads up for y'all- watch those bolts. This one backed out after 3 flights that day... and I am darn sure that I had tightened them- I am pretty methodical at setup, especially given that I push one wing down and lift the other up when tightening the bolts to get 1/2 degree error out of the wing-wing alignment..

FYI- this is not me hovering. But it is fun to watch and definitely inspires me to bring my Phoenix in a little closer soon!
My latest challenge has been perfect cuban 8's (by my standard) right out front- Cl of runway, nice circularloops ranging from 20 to 60 feet altitude.
I also like to make the 180 degree nose down rolls sharp and vertical which is much easier on this light responsive plane than any of my others.
But I am still miles from this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqSSZ...layer_embedded

STYK5: he has an OS 91 FX 2stroke- note the different exhaust note from my video with the 91 4 stroke.
I'd also guess by looking that he has a little more climbout than my 4stroke on 15% or 20% nitro. I haven't run the 30% yet. Saving that for a day where I am ready to get the hover down to 20 feet where I can see it... practicing that on my foamy- a blue and white Yak Ikarus Shockflyer which is a tad more forgiving when it falls out of hover.....

Fitting the cowl

Here is a little “How I did it”. With the cowl of this airplane being pretty much flat on the sides and more or less matching the fuselage sides I was able to mark everything pretty well just using tape and a scale.

1) I have the cowl located. Be sure and have your spinner back plate in place and the prop as tight as you will ever get it especially if you are using the stock spinner. I have placed two pieces of tape on each side to use for marking as you will see.
2) Similar to what we did when helping Rich with his cowl I have added 1/16 X 3/16 strips of balsa to help evenly space the gap the cowl has. In the picture it is hard to tell but these are only about 1½” long. (Obviously if you are cutting off the back of the cowl, as some do, this would not apply).
3) The top pencil lines are hard to see and the scale slid over the bottom lines. But here I have marked lines that line up with the top and the bottom of the “mounting flange”. I also measured the distance from the back of the back tape to the center of the mounting flange on both sides.
4) I placed an old glow plug clip on and marked lines on my tape that will line me up with the center of the clip and took a measurement from the back piece of tape to the center of the clip.
5) I did the same for the needle valve as I did for the glow clip.
6) After all measurements were made I replaced the cowl, spinner back plate and prop (just to make sure everything was still in the right place). Moving down 3/8” from the top line and up 3/8” from the bottom line I marked were I wanted the mounting screws. I then drilled holes through the cowl and the wood mounting blocks using my pine vise and a 1/16” drill bit. Both sides.
7) After removing the cowl I pre-fit the screws and soaked the holes with CA after removing the screws. At this time I also enlarged the holes in the cowl to 1/8”.
8) While drilling I noticed the cowl was not naturally laying flat of the flanges. So, I added small 1/16” plywood plates were the holes are and drilled them with the 1/8” bit after the glue dried. This creates a nice fit were the cowl does not squeeze when the screws are tightened.
9) I then remounted the cowl and held it in place with the screws also using small washers cut from fuel tubing. Then I marked were the glow plug hole and needle valve holes should go.
10) Using the pin vise I started with a 1/16” bit and stepped up the drill size a little at a time. Notice I am trying to maintain the correct angle as I drill. I also followed the same process for the needle valve.
11) I used a piece of 1/8” brass tubing (from a fuel tank) at this point placed over the center pin of the glow plug to confirm I was properly centered with the hole.
12) Here is the final fit of the clip.

I also need to mention that I kept my needle valve opening covered during this to prevent getting any chips or dust in it while drilling holes.

Now it is time to mask and paint to match my scheme as well as pull the engine and get some fuel run through it on the stand.

Can't wait to see the video of this puppy flying!

Excellent craftsmanship as usual, but it seems that every modification ADDS weight... just the opposite of what makes a plane fly better!

Would have been much easier just to lop off 2 inches from the back end of the cowl and save a lot of weight in the process.

Thanks again guys, Purchased a thunder tiger f-91s for it. Any thoughts on this engine? I have had several TT 2 stroke and have been very pleased.

styk5,

I've never seen one other than in magazine adds. I'll look forward to what you have to write about it.

Interpret this as a fun and good spirited conversation between to old flying friends at the field.

Bob,

Easier? As in Easy? [:-]Are you for real? []From what you have seen of me on here, how many times have I done EASY?

I like the way the long cowl looks. So I chose not to cut it. I also like the way the cowl looks with the top and sides “vented” raised off the fuselage using my spacers.[8D]

It's all in fun. Thanks for the other comments and I am hoping to get this thing in the air soon. I was not able to touch it yesterday nor will I be able to today.

Later,

Rick,

No problem, and believe me I understand the spirit of the response. I realize that the assembly/modification process is a big part of the experience for you. I can appreciate this, as I usually put myself under a lot of stress just to get it finished.

However, I do like flying a lot more than building, and since I don't have a shop I really am under some pressure to "git 'er done" and get the mess out of the way. My wife is very understanding about the situation, but I don't want to abuse her understanding and generosity toward my toy airplane hobby.

I'll add as soon as I can. Waiting for Ultimate Hobby at this time lol!!!

cmoulder, what did u do with oe gear. Found it to be crap, way too far back could not taxi this plane at all. put on after market gear no where near oe, but it works. Like to know what u thought? That is on the SeaGull Ultimate

styk5, I'm not sure which gear you're asking about, but the Phoenix Extra LG does indeed leave a lot to be desired - heavy and not springy at all. I happened to have a spare set for the now-discontinued Fliton Extra 330 Freestyle, and it is exactly what this plane needed, though it did require a little drilling and modification. Any replacement .60-sized LG will be better than the stock LG.[]

IMHO the LG on the Seagull Ultimate .90 (and also the Super Decathlon .46) is fine, if nowhere near scale.

When taxiing, are you using full up elevator to pin the tail down? I have taxied all these planes through grass and they're not too bad. I have learned, however, to install the wheel pants with the fronts tipped up to reduce dragging through the grass. I taxied the Ultimate through some pretty high grass and it wasn't too bad.

Oh your Ultimate is the 90. I have the 46, I had the tail pinned still nosed over in grass. Had to changed to be able to fly it. Only problem with that plane though, flies great otherwise.

Yup, [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8875957]here[/link] it is, with OS 1.20FS-E, with only 3 flights on it thus far. Pretty good in the grass with stock wheels, and as you can see the wheel pants are tipped up a bit.

Bigger wheels are always better in grass! On larger planes you can use the Kavan wheels (Hobby-Lobby has them) with the square shoulders. They seem to ride over the grass a bit better, with a wider contact area that lets them step up onto the grass and start rolling. I use these (the 3-1/2" ones) on my 50cc AW Yak and they are noticeably better than the skinny stock wheels.

Also helps to use a bigger tailwheel as well!