BillS:

The "Neutral" point for the rear elevator is with the TOP aft most point of the control surface level with the TOP aft most point of the elevator.

This would make it seem to most people as if at neutral the elevator is a good 8+ clicks up.

Is this how you have it?

And do you have 1-2 degrees or so of positive wing incidence?

Without both of these it doesn't seem to want to come up off the runway until it's going REALLY fast, and then it goes almost vertical.

You should be fine with your gear location. I initially reworked the fixed gear blocks on mine to accommodate 3/16 wire that mounts side to side instead of the stock front to aft. My CG is at 10.3" and the gear sits 2 3/4" behind that. I actually think that mine should be slightly further back than where I have them. I fly off grass and if the nose wheel hits a bump on the takeoff roll it tends to put the plane airborne before it's really ready.

Stick Jammer,

Thanks for your input.

Maybe I am getting ready to make a superb mess. I am moving the main wheel location to 2" behind the CG. Obviously I feel strongly that the pilot should control rotation with the elevator. Likely I will experiment with slight negative incidence when sitting on the runway.

Bill

BillS,
If you haven't moved the gear yet, you have 1 vote for leaving it where it is. I also think that negative AOA while on the gear is a bad idea. While some may argue that negative AOA is good for "sticking" on landing, it can cause the dreaded leap into the air syndrome on takeoff. Try it with slightly positive AOA on the maiden, you can always adjust from there if you don't like it. This plane is not a good candidate for jumping into the air before it's ready. Just my 2 pennies, good luck on whatever you decide.

I second Stick Jammer's comments.

Well, good flight day...Started off with my flying buddy taking off with his Bobcat and right after takeoff his engine quit...He made a almost great landing but it was hard and broke out the mains...It is repairable and thats good news. After some enging problems, my Magnum 52 started running good so up I went....My speed was 106 on the Radar gun so I'm a little diappointed. I did have the engine running a little rich and my RPM was only 15100. I know it will go faster but for today I am happy its back in one piece and no repairs.

Lets have some other posts on your speeds.

Well after flying today, I was disappointed again with NITRO PLANES support or should I say lack of support. I tried on and off for 6 hours today to get in touch with this company. No luck at all...phone busy all day or probably off the hook.....To provide a little more information, I bought the Yak (the 48" one) and when delivered it was missing the engine mount for the glow version. I sent an email and received a reply the next day. I was told that someone would be contacting me to fix my problem. I also called last week and actually got thru and was told a mount was "IN THE MAIL"....sorry to say that it hasen't arrived and I haven't received any notice of shippment. I was told on an eariler post that a dubro 25 - 40 mount would work and that is what I have used...only problem now is to decide if I want to cut off the cowl or wait and see if Nitro Planes will send the proper mount. I like the planes from this company,,,cheap and fairly good,,,except for glue....China must not have a good supply......but I think the support sucks.....Like I have asked before....anyone have a glow mount for this model....and yes I know this is the forum for the Bobcat,,which I have 2,,,but thought I would get a better response here.

Have you contacted them through the support forum her in RCU? worked wonders for me.

What propeller were you using?? Brand and size if you would. If the 106 mph was a sustained speed it would seem pretty good to me.
tnx
Tp

I am using a 10X7 APC prop.... Really like the way it flies.

I did contact Nitro Planes thru the forum here and received a written reply but still no mount....don't really expect to get one. I don't think Nitro Planes support is any good. they really don't sell parts and if something is missing or broken, then you are out of luck. Like I said eariler,,,cheap model buy bad support.

If I recall correctly you were not asking about a mount for the Bobcat though. The Bobcat merely has wooden blocks which everyone ends up replacing.

You CAN contact John here if you want them to send you a new mount. They are pretty good with this stuff.

But I suggested that you purchase another one instead, as they give you the basics plastic ones that come with the models.

Doing so would have been faster for you as they are relatively cheap... or you could opt for an anti-vibration mount.

I'm thinking about buying a retract-ready Bobcat 50, to be fitted with a set of Hobbico Mechanical Retracts, and powered by an .80 4-stroke or a .75 2-stroke. Comments welcome.

Also (and the real reason for my post) I need to know the size and weight of the unit as shipped. It's going overseas, so this information is critical. Can anyone help?

You want a set of air retracts.

You would have a hard time putting in the servos for the mechanical retracts.

Then the gear on those retracts is not very strong, so it will tend to bend or break.


I don't remember what the shipping weight was on the package though.

opjose,,,,,I have already purchased a mount and the engine is installed....Point I'm trying to make is the lack of support from Nitro Planes....If a glow mount is shown in the ads, then one should come with the kit. Mine was missing,,,,,I have contacted Nitro Planes by email and phone....they say they are going to send one but it never arrives. Just want to let everyone know that the support from Nitro Planes is not good so don't expect much. This is my 4th model from them and I've had either broken or missing parts on 3 orders. I know you support this company on this forum, but let me assure you that I haven't received the support that I get from many other companies. And,,,I live in the same state about 2 hours away from them.

Original: amcleod

It's double boxed and the final dimensions are: 44"x17"x9" and it weighs just under 13 lbs.

Sorry to hear that.

PM'ing John always has worked for me.

At the very least he tells me if there will be a long delay if they don't have whatever I'm missing.

I am thinking about getting the 50 - 51" bobcat. I see it take 8 servos and are folks using standard or high torque servos? Also, for the elevator, can you do a one servo installation (joining the elevators halfs with a joining bar) versus using two servos? My experience with dual elevator servos have not been good at all. In addition, I'm thinking about using an evolution .61 for power that I have already broken in. If I need more pwoer please advise.

Thanks

I used standard servos.

For engine choice consider the finished airplane will weigh about 7 pounds and that pusher props will be needed for most engines.

Bill

I used standard sized but very inexpensive TowerPro (aka Hextronics ) SG5010's on the ailerons.

I'd recommend something greater than 50oz/in on the ailerons.

At speed there is a LOT of force on the ailerons. Mine screech like a 40% plane, at full deflection when doing rolls.

Opjose...so are you saying that those (SG5010) are good servos or should I consider other servos...... If so would they be good for all the control surfaces on the bobcat...I just got a bobcat and am looking at what servos to use...thanks

I haven't had any problems with them on the Bobcat.... and at speed the Bobcat throws a lot of force on the ailerons during hard rolls.


I've purchased and mounted over a hundred on them on different planes.

I've had 2 bad ones thus far, which is a MUCH better ratio than I've been getting on my HiTec's.

Of the first pair of Hitec's I put on the Bobcat's rudders, one of them would move all by itself whenever the engine was run up.

I isolated this to the servo itself, and replacing it with a new Hitec solved the problem.

The SG5010's are standard sized, so you cannot use them for the rudders.

I do have them on the ailerons though, and I'm currently putting a Giant U-Can-Do-3D with these all around ( except for the throttle ).



These don't have the fidelity of the higher cost digital servos, but the price is right for most sports flying.

So I use these as my "standard" servos.

Good? I don't know, but I've done well thus far and they have held up well.

Inexpensive? Definitely.

But I would something greater than a normal 40oz or less, servo on at least the ailerons and elevator.



You should always check your servos once installed by putting a bit of resistive force on the control surface.

If you feel a notchyness or grainyness to the servo stepping as you move the control surface while you resist it's motion with a bit of force, you should use another servo as it may be bad.

Opjose.......Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll try them for all the control surfaces as I was thinking about going with just 1 servo for the rudders and connect the rudders with a control rod as others have done on this thread. They should also be ok I would think for the elevator as well if they have that kind of torque. I don't want to spend a fortune on servos for a 100.00 plane. thanks again

Guys,

Another post for bobcat speed. My flying buddy Phil, flew his Bobcat 25 which has a os 32 engine at a top speed of 104 mph this morning. He also had several passes of 94 mph. We were all surprised with his high speed but very happy. We will fly our bobcat 52 this weekend and see if we can top 110 mph.

Ok I am doing up another bobcat for a buddy. Mine has a Tower .75 with 11x7 and so far I have been very happy. I like to save some weight on the new one so have been thinking about OS 55. Will there be a big speed difference between the bobcat with Tower 75 vs Bocat with OS 55

Also have anyone tried the retract by AirPower. Here is the link http://www.airpowernet.com/twe/produ...roducts_id=693
There are 30 dollars more than the Robart 520w1. I would perfer the robarts, but they have been on backorder with tower for months.

Thanks