Skymaster 1:7.5 F-4 Phantom
08-24-2018, 03:23 PM
#176
My Feedback: (1)
Jeff,
Thank you. That's just what I needed, and that is the same tank I have too.
I am working hard to get mine ready for an event in a week and a half. I still have to install about 150 yards of tubing and wires, so I doubt I will be able to get the tank done by then, but it'll be the first thing I do when I get back.
Thanks again!
Thank you. That's just what I needed, and that is the same tank I have too.
I am working hard to get mine ready for an event in a week and a half. I still have to install about 150 yards of tubing and wires, so I doubt I will be able to get the tank done by then, but it'll be the first thing I do when I get back.
Thanks again!
08-29-2018, 02:57 PM
#177
Making progress on the rebuild/paint. Stab still 5 weeks out but I painted over the last few days. Klasscoat with satin catalyst. After the flameout and door damage I decided not to bust my butt making it look really good. The paint did wonders. Used an airbrush and the layers vary in thickness. After it cured I used 0000 steel wool on the entire jet. It cut the gloss of the thicker layers and removed the dry look of the thin layers. Overall the paint job looks worn...just like me. Callie graphics did well with very light burnishing and look worn also. Im actually excited about getting it finished.
Last edited by tp777fo; 08-29-2018 at 03:08 PM.
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kwik (01-26-2022)
09-10-2018, 11:05 AM
#185
My Feedback: (1)
I finally maidened my Phantom last week in Waco. I spent most of the day Wednesday trying to figure out why the left tank was filling (and draining) slower than the right tank. After rebuilding my tank fittings several times I finally figured out the restriction was actually in the clunk. I ran the appropriate sized drill bit through it and solved the issue. Thursday I ran the engine for the first time and checked the CG using the fingertip method. The CG was sitting at about 330mm without adding any extra weight, I was shooting for 320mm but judging by what I have read from other people in this thread I figured 330 was just fine. The sky was full overcast all day, and the same color as my F4, so I opted to wait another day. Friday we re-checked the CG using the electronic scales and found that the CG was actually at 333mm which is still just fine. We also found out that it weighs 32.75 lbs (tanks dry, UAT full) which is much lighter than I expected. Should be about 42-43 lbs at takeoff.
First flight went very well. I forgot to set takeoff flaps, but it still lifted off smoothly after about a 350' roll. It climbed out with good authority and the gear tucked into the wheel wells and all the doors closed. It needed about 17 clicks of right aileron trim, and about 5 clicks of up elevator. There seemed to be no pitch change with throttle, so I'm sure putting the stock Skymaster pipe in upside down was the correct call. With flaps down it was climbing just a tiny little bit, I had set the elevator/flap mix using the pics and measurements from JDjetjock in this thread and I guess I put in just a little bit too much up elevator (easy fix though). The first approach was hot, high, and sloppy. It floated halfway down the runway and came down to about 8' before I decided to abort and go around. It took what felt like and eternity for the power to come up (not in reality though) and I nursed the elevator to maintain airspeed until it did, then it again climbed away with authority. The second approach was nearly perfect and she settled in for a nice slightly nose high power on decent. Over the numbers I cut the power and let it settle toward the runway, flared out perfectly, the mains kissed the runway and rolled out about 20' then the nosewheel touched down. As I applied the brakes I also began breathing again. lol
For the second flight I bolted on the drop tanks and the AIM7 missiles, and remembered to use takeoff flaps. It lifted off in about 300' and flew beautifully. Trim was perfect and I didn't notice any difference in the flight characteristics with the tanks on. I changed the flap/elevator mix a little and there was no pitch change at all with flaps down. The approach was a little high again, but I was still able to get a decent landing, touching down about 1/3 down the runway.
The third flight the nosegear did not retract, so after cycling the gear several times I decided to leave the gear down for the entire flight, and I will use that as the excuse for the sloppy approach and porpoising before touchdown. lol Luckily I was able to get everything settled down before touchdown, and the gear was solidly down and locked.
Later I found that one of the gear door air lines under the turbine had come out of it's holder and gotten too close to the engine, so the nosegear had hung up on the nose door, and that was what was keeping it from retracting. Easy fix.
Bottom line, I LOVE this airplane!!!!!!
My friend Pat Fernandez got some amazing pics of it in the air.
Here are a few!
First flight went very well. I forgot to set takeoff flaps, but it still lifted off smoothly after about a 350' roll. It climbed out with good authority and the gear tucked into the wheel wells and all the doors closed. It needed about 17 clicks of right aileron trim, and about 5 clicks of up elevator. There seemed to be no pitch change with throttle, so I'm sure putting the stock Skymaster pipe in upside down was the correct call. With flaps down it was climbing just a tiny little bit, I had set the elevator/flap mix using the pics and measurements from JDjetjock in this thread and I guess I put in just a little bit too much up elevator (easy fix though). The first approach was hot, high, and sloppy. It floated halfway down the runway and came down to about 8' before I decided to abort and go around. It took what felt like and eternity for the power to come up (not in reality though) and I nursed the elevator to maintain airspeed until it did, then it again climbed away with authority. The second approach was nearly perfect and she settled in for a nice slightly nose high power on decent. Over the numbers I cut the power and let it settle toward the runway, flared out perfectly, the mains kissed the runway and rolled out about 20' then the nosewheel touched down. As I applied the brakes I also began breathing again. lol
For the second flight I bolted on the drop tanks and the AIM7 missiles, and remembered to use takeoff flaps. It lifted off in about 300' and flew beautifully. Trim was perfect and I didn't notice any difference in the flight characteristics with the tanks on. I changed the flap/elevator mix a little and there was no pitch change at all with flaps down. The approach was a little high again, but I was still able to get a decent landing, touching down about 1/3 down the runway.
The third flight the nosegear did not retract, so after cycling the gear several times I decided to leave the gear down for the entire flight, and I will use that as the excuse for the sloppy approach and porpoising before touchdown. lol Luckily I was able to get everything settled down before touchdown, and the gear was solidly down and locked.
Later I found that one of the gear door air lines under the turbine had come out of it's holder and gotten too close to the engine, so the nosegear had hung up on the nose door, and that was what was keeping it from retracting. Easy fix.
Bottom line, I LOVE this airplane!!!!!!
My friend Pat Fernandez got some amazing pics of it in the air.
Here are a few!
The following users liked this post:
kwik (01-26-2022)
The following users liked this post:
kwik (01-26-2022)
09-10-2018, 12:11 PM
#189
My Feedback: (1)
Kevin
Glad you had so much fun with the F4. Now you can understand why I have always had one kind or another flying. I cant wait for my new one but need to get out and fly the one I have. Maybe I can get loose for Bomber Field B17 warbird event and fly some F4
Look forward to flying with you. On high speed landing, you might want to check landing flaps. You can go all the way to 60 degrees just like full scale but start at 45 and work to it so you are not surprised.
Glad you had so much fun with the F4. Now you can understand why I have always had one kind or another flying. I cant wait for my new one but need to get out and fly the one I have. Maybe I can get loose for Bomber Field B17 warbird event and fly some F4
Look forward to flying with you. On high speed landing, you might want to check landing flaps. You can go all the way to 60 degrees just like full scale but start at 45 and work to it so you are not surprised.
09-10-2018, 01:13 PM
#191
Originally Posted by Kevin_W
I finally maidened my Phantom last week in Waco. I spent most of the day Wednesday trying to figure out why the left tank was filling (and draining) slower than the right tank. After rebuilding my tank fittings several times I finally figured out the restriction was actually in the clunk. I ran the appropriate sized drill bit through it and solved the issue. Thursday I ran the engine for the first time and checked the CG using the fingertip method. The CG was sitting at about 330mm without adding any extra weight, I was shooting for 320mm but judging by what I have read from other people in this thread I figured 330 was just fine. The sky was full overcast all day, and the same color as my F4, so I opted to wait another day. Friday we re-checked the CG using the electronic scales and found that the CG was actually at 333mm which is still just fine. We also found out that it weighs 32.75 lbs (tanks dry, UAT full) which is much lighter than I expected. Should be about 42-43 lbs at takeoff.
First flight went very well. I forgot to set takeoff flaps, but it still lifted off smoothly after about a 350' roll. It climbed out with good authority and the gear tucked into the wheel wells and all the doors closed. It needed about 17 clicks of right aileron trim, and about 5 clicks of up elevator. There seemed to be no pitch change with throttle, so I'm sure putting the stock Skymaster pipe in upside down was the correct call. With flaps down it was climbing just a tiny little bit, I had set the elevator/flap mix using the pics and measurements from JDjetjock in this thread and I guess I put in just a little bit too much up elevator (easy fix though). The first approach was hot, high, and sloppy. It floated halfway down the runway and came down to about 8' before I decided to abort and go around. It took what felt like and eternity for the power to come up (not in reality though) and I nursed the elevator to maintain airspeed until it did, then it again climbed away with authority. The second approach was nearly perfect and she settled in for a nice slightly nose high power on decent. Over the numbers I cut the power and let it settle toward the runway, flared out perfectly, the mains kissed the runway and rolled out about 20' then the nosewheel touched down. As I applied the brakes I also began breathing again. lol
For the second flight I bolted on the drop tanks and the AIM7 missiles, and remembered to use takeoff flaps. It lifted off in about 300' and flew beautifully. Trim was perfect and I didn't notice any difference in the flight characteristics with the tanks on. I changed the flap/elevator mix a little and there was no pitch change at all with flaps down. The approach was a little high again, but I was still able to get a decent landing, touching down about 1/3 down the runway.
The third flight the nosegear did not retract, so after cycling the gear several times I decided to leave the gear down for the entire flight, and I will use that as the excuse for the sloppy approach and porpoising before touchdown. lol Luckily I was able to get everything settled down before touchdown, and the gear was solidly down and locked.
Later I found that one of the gear door air lines under the turbine had come out of it's holder and gotten too close to the engine, so the nosegear had hung up on the nose door, and that was what was keeping it from retracting. Easy fix.
Bottom line, I LOVE this airplane!!!!!!
My friend Pat Fernandez got some amazing pics of it in the air.
Here are a few!
First flight went very well. I forgot to set takeoff flaps, but it still lifted off smoothly after about a 350' roll. It climbed out with good authority and the gear tucked into the wheel wells and all the doors closed. It needed about 17 clicks of right aileron trim, and about 5 clicks of up elevator. There seemed to be no pitch change with throttle, so I'm sure putting the stock Skymaster pipe in upside down was the correct call. With flaps down it was climbing just a tiny little bit, I had set the elevator/flap mix using the pics and measurements from JDjetjock in this thread and I guess I put in just a little bit too much up elevator (easy fix though). The first approach was hot, high, and sloppy. It floated halfway down the runway and came down to about 8' before I decided to abort and go around. It took what felt like and eternity for the power to come up (not in reality though) and I nursed the elevator to maintain airspeed until it did, then it again climbed away with authority. The second approach was nearly perfect and she settled in for a nice slightly nose high power on decent. Over the numbers I cut the power and let it settle toward the runway, flared out perfectly, the mains kissed the runway and rolled out about 20' then the nosewheel touched down. As I applied the brakes I also began breathing again. lol
For the second flight I bolted on the drop tanks and the AIM7 missiles, and remembered to use takeoff flaps. It lifted off in about 300' and flew beautifully. Trim was perfect and I didn't notice any difference in the flight characteristics with the tanks on. I changed the flap/elevator mix a little and there was no pitch change at all with flaps down. The approach was a little high again, but I was still able to get a decent landing, touching down about 1/3 down the runway.
The third flight the nosegear did not retract, so after cycling the gear several times I decided to leave the gear down for the entire flight, and I will use that as the excuse for the sloppy approach and porpoising before touchdown. lol Luckily I was able to get everything settled down before touchdown, and the gear was solidly down and locked.
Later I found that one of the gear door air lines under the turbine had come out of it's holder and gotten too close to the engine, so the nosegear had hung up on the nose door, and that was what was keeping it from retracting. Easy fix.
Bottom line, I LOVE this airplane!!!!!!
My friend Pat Fernandez got some amazing pics of it in the air.
Here are a few!
Do you use de Jetcat P-180?
Tks
Bruno
09-10-2018, 04:17 PM
#195
My Feedback: (1)
Originally Posted by kevinthoele
Kevin
Where did you get rockets? Do they bolt to bottom? Top fin removed? Looks great
Where did you get rockets? Do they bolt to bottom? Top fin removed? Looks great
09-10-2018, 05:54 PM
#196
09-11-2018, 05:11 AM
#198
My Feedback: (13)
Sent you a PM Kevin
I used his missiles too. They really are cool and Ron is a great guy to work with
If I had to do it over I would seal the fins with thin ca while sanding them with 320 or so (drop of ca while sanding etc). I used finishing resin and it was just more work
The top aft “fin” is shaped like a hook so it keys into a slot you make in the fuse. The forward one is a tab that you engage with something inside the fuse. Ron suggested music wire slid in from the wing root which is captured by the wing. I didn’t want to do it that way because I didn’t want to pull the wings to get the missiles on and off. I used four cheap Hatch latches. The aft ones can be reached around the pipe no problem and the forward ones are easy if your cockpit is removable. Mine is not, so I reach up through the nose gear well
One other thing: the wells molded into the bottom of the plane for the missiles are not the same length as they should be. The forward ones are shorter by roughly 3/4”. I sent Ron all the dimensions. Again, if I had to do it again I’d ask ron for two shorter and two longer missiles (mine are all labeled for their specific positions). I shortened mine from the middle fins to the nose cone. No one has ever noticed, but now they recess like they should
Hope this helps!
Dave
I used his missiles too. They really are cool and Ron is a great guy to work with
If I had to do it over I would seal the fins with thin ca while sanding them with 320 or so (drop of ca while sanding etc). I used finishing resin and it was just more work
The top aft “fin” is shaped like a hook so it keys into a slot you make in the fuse. The forward one is a tab that you engage with something inside the fuse. Ron suggested music wire slid in from the wing root which is captured by the wing. I didn’t want to do it that way because I didn’t want to pull the wings to get the missiles on and off. I used four cheap Hatch latches. The aft ones can be reached around the pipe no problem and the forward ones are easy if your cockpit is removable. Mine is not, so I reach up through the nose gear well
One other thing: the wells molded into the bottom of the plane for the missiles are not the same length as they should be. The forward ones are shorter by roughly 3/4”. I sent Ron all the dimensions. Again, if I had to do it again I’d ask ron for two shorter and two longer missiles (mine are all labeled for their specific positions). I shortened mine from the middle fins to the nose cone. No one has ever noticed, but now they recess like they should
Hope this helps!
Dave
Last edited by ozief16; 09-11-2018 at 05:55 AM.
09-11-2018, 06:27 AM
#199
My Feedback: (1)
Kevin,
Ozie is correct, the front well (at least on the short nose F4) is shorter than the rear well. I made my front missiles 1/2" shorter than the rear ones, although I had to shorten mine in the aft tube since the front sections were already glued together when I got them. Here is a pic of one of my missiles.
I believe Ron also makes a scale gun pod for the Phantom as well. I will be getting one of those in the future too.
Ozie is correct, the front well (at least on the short nose F4) is shorter than the rear well. I made my front missiles 1/2" shorter than the rear ones, although I had to shorten mine in the aft tube since the front sections were already glued together when I got them. Here is a pic of one of my missiles.
I believe Ron also makes a scale gun pod for the Phantom as well. I will be getting one of those in the future too.
Last edited by Kevin_W; 09-11-2018 at 06:30 AM.
