tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

"Then for added kicks I use some root-beer or coconut nitro scent and give the whole field a treat.

I love to use Vanilla......and listen for the comments

Jerry

Ultimate99

Yes, garyss, all with the YS .63. I went through about $200 Zinger 14 X 4 props in two weeks. Then I switched to Master Airscrew (tower LXFTE5) 13x5 K Series Propeller 4.09 and along with the wet summer we had, the prop will survive all but the hardest impacts. And NO I don't run them with a single blade because no matter how much I sand off the long end, it will not balance.[>:]

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Dave, Dave, Dave.....turn the blade over.....then it will balance!

Jerry

wind junkie

My Feedback: (1)

Aaww... You changed your avatar...

I like the shaker 4D better....

Ultrasp99

GarySS - I installed a Saito 82 on my new 4D and I love it. Fortunately I'm past the "break a prop every flight" stage so the 14x4 is the prop for me. The torque compared to my OS 46 is exceptional, it allows me to pull out of just about every screw up. Not to mention, when your torque rolling so close to the ground the 4 strokes are so much more pleasing to the ear. Either way you can't go wrong.

Steve

GarySS

My Feedback: (13)

Oh my gosh!!!!! The credit card is amost out of the billfold!!!!!

latch66

I've seen alot of posts asking questions about the 4D, so I thought I would "revive" this thread and continue my build information and what I have learned by flying the 4D.

latch66

To pick up where I left off on Page 1, I had just cut out the upper and lower fusalage sections.

Next you will need to work on the wiffle bat fusalage section.

First, you will need to remove the wooden dowel in the center of the bat, and drill some lightening holes. But be careful and do not drill out the holes where the axle tubes will go for the vertical and horizontal stab.

Here is a picture of my completed wiffle bat section, all ready for control linkages and the horizontal and vertical stab.

latch66

The next section of the instructions involves lining up the "bat" with the wing. This is pretty straightforward and involves some cutting and notching of the "bat" to fit on the "key plate" previously installed in the wing.

latch66

The outer Nyrod tubes are installed in the next steps. The nyrod tubes which came in my kit were precut to length already. I just had to sort out which ones went where. Be sure to put the correct nyrod for the horizontal stab and the vertical stab.

One thing I noticed on test fitting the Nyrod tubes with the skewers for the upper and lower fusalage pieces is there was an interference with the rudder nyrod tube. I removed a little more material from the "bat" where the rudder nyrod tube exited. And put a skewer in place to made sure the nyrod tube went to one side of the skewer while the GOOP dried.

latch66

Installing the radio equipment is the next major step.

The instructions are a big help. They start by prepping the servos by removing the mounting tabs. Then the servos and radio gear locations are marked on the bottom of the wing. Only after all parts have their locations identified, is there any cutting done. Each component will have a cavity cut for it in the foam. This does not have to be an exact science. If you have to error when cutting the cavities, error on the small side. It will be much better to have the foam tight around the components than loose. I used a #26 Exacto blade to cut the cavities for the components. To set the depth of cut, I wrapped the blade with masking tape at the proper depth. The servos, and battery pack are glued into place with ProBond. I suggest you cover the servos with masking tape.

The only two components which are added to the top of the wing, is the battery lead, and the throttle servo.


Make sure you use high torque servos for the rudder, elevator, and ailerons. The servos are glued into place and while it is not impossible to replace one if needed, you can avoid some work by putting high torque servos in to begin with. The "Expert" SL571 servos are an excellent choice and are reasonably priced.

latch66

Here is a photo showing the radio gear installed in my 4D.

latch66

This shot shows the throttle servo in place on the top of the wing.


One word about the throttle servo.

You need to use a metal gear servo for the throttle. I did not originally use a metal gear servo and I wish I did. There will be more on why this is necessary when I get to the flying comments.

latch66

Let's pick up again where we left off................


I just noticed that I haven't said anything about "ProBond" yet. For those of you who haven't used this glue before, you will need to be aware of some of it's unique properties.

First of all ProBond is extremely effective when gluing foam. It is also activated by the presence of water. This is why the instructions in the 4D tell you to spray the area with water before you glue it with the ProBond. The area to be glued does not need to be soaked, just a little damp. Another thing about ProBond is a little goes a long way. ProBond expands and forms a foam as it dries. It will fill voids. This is one of the reasons it works so good on foam wings, but you will need to wipe away the excess foam as soon as possible. You will need to keep wiping it away until the glue sets up. It is very easy to wipe off with a paper towel. If you don't get the "ooz" wiped off before the glue dries the easiest way to remove it is to cut it off.

latch66

One other general comment that I had forgotten to mention.

There are several plastic parts in the kit which need to be glued to the wing. The glue will stick to them better if you roughen up the surface to be glued with some sandpaper.

latch66

While the wing is drying I went to work on the tail.

Here the hoizontal stabs and the vertical stab has been added. It's a simple matter of pushing the CF rod hinges into place through the fluts of the coroplast. I did have to do just a small amount of trimming to the parts to make sure everything was going to move easily.

latch66

Once everything on the wing is dry it is time to cover the wing. The first thing you will need to do is to protect your servos and receiver from the 3M77 glue. I used masking tape to protect these items. I then sprayed a light coat of 3M77 over the entire wing.

Covering the wing is an area where you must follow the 4D instructions to the letter. First of all use Ultracoat or Oracover. I've covered several EPP wings, and these are really the best covering choices for an EPP wing. Next, you will need to use a single piece of covering to go over the motor mount support plate at the center of the wing. It is very important to use a single piece and to not "cut and fit" this section. It will not be the prettiest covering job you've ever done here, but it is necessary. Fuel must not be allowed to soak into this area, otherwise it will weaken the entire section. After you've handled this section, it's pretty much like a standard wing covering job from then on. Use the largest pieces of covering you feel comforable with. Some people can cover an entire wing side with one piece of covering. I'm not that good. To cover one side of a wing like this, I will need at least three pieces not counting the wingtips. Once you have the wing covered, you will need to install the ailerons. This is done with ProBond, the kit supplied Hinge Points, and the "Frost King" Tape. The steps are excellently explained in the instructions and looks harder than it really is. Once the ailerons are installed, it's time to install the pull/pull system. Once again, the instructions are excellent, but I would do one thing different. I would install my pull/pull thread into the control horn hole closest to the wing surface on both top and bottom. This will allow you to get a more agressive aileron throw.

latch66

To build the horizontal stabalizer control linkage will require most people to try something new. This part must be soldered together from three seperate pieces. And even though I've soldered before, I've never used silver solder. The instructions walk you through it. You will need some silver solder, a soldering gun, and some flux. I picked up all what I needed at "Mernard's", but any Home Improvement store should have what you need. You can see my "Hi-Tec" soldering jig using an empty "Altoid's" box and a sanding block.

latch66

I installed the fusalage "bat" to the wing per the instructions. The hardest part here is to make sure you get the fusalage section square with the wing before you lock it down.

Mike in DC

What's the minimum number of rolls of UltraCote required? (Assume a single color.)

latch66

You should be able to get by with one roll provided there are no mistakes either in cutting or in applying the covering.

But, I would not cover the wing in one color. Use two at the very least. Use a dark cover for one side (like a blue or black), and use a light covering for the other side (like white, or yellow). You need to be able to tell the top from the bottom very quickly on a 3D plane. Using sharp contrasting colors between the top of the wing and bottom of the wing is the easiest/best way I've found for doing this.

My wing is Yellow on top and Black on the bottom with Yellow leading edges.

GarySS

My Feedback: (13)

Great information Latch. I will download it and get started on my kit soon.
GarySS

latch66

I'm glad your finding it helpful GarySS



But, as the old TV comercials say......But What! There's More!




It's now time to hook up the control rods to the control horns on the horizontal stab and the vertical stab. Installing the contol rods is not difficult. Again, the instructions pretty well walk you through everything step-by-step. The only area I would change is on the horizontal stab control rod. The instructions would have you bend it to make sure there is clearance for the horizontal stab to move through it's full range. I tried this initially and I had too much flutter problems. I contacted Tufflight to discuss the fix. Joe was most helpful. The fix is to keep the control rods straight and cut the horizontal stab so they do not interfer with the control rods.

latch66

It's now time to add the upper and lower fusalage sections.


First install the fuel tank with zip strips. I put a piece of foam under mine for vibrations, but it may not have needed it.

The hardest part of this step is to make sure you get the sticks lined up with the right flutes. It worked better for me to start with the bottom fusalage piece and then do the top fusalage piece.

As shown on the plans, there are wheel collars used on a few of the sticks to keep the fusalage sections in place. All you need to do is to cut out a section of the coroplast just big enough for the wheel collar. Then slide the stick out of the way, insert the wheel collar, and then slide the stick back. The final step is to tighten the wheel collar screw in place. I used some of the "Frost King" tape to tie the front and back of the upper fusalage sections together. I repeated this for the lower fusalage section as well.

latch66

For some reason yet to be determined, I came up short on each of the upper and lower fusalage sections by a distance of exactly two flutes of coroplast. I don't think I cut them wrong, but maybe I did. The fix is easy. I just cut two pieces of coroplast to the necessary shape from the scrap coroplast I had and taped them into place.