Can anyone tell me if the Skymaster F-86 nose gear rotates? Also, any pictures of the gear would be great.
Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,

It does not. You could substitute a rotating gear (Robart, BVM etc.) easily but the included gear is non-rotating. At least mine is.. I'll try to get some pictures posted of the gear as soon as I can.

Adil

EDIT: I found one on SM site. This is the exact same set as what I got. Hope this help...

Does the nose unit fully retract into the fuse ?? Seems like it would be difficult with out rotating 90d.
V..

Thanks Adil,
Vincent, That was my question. I am scratch building one about the same size as the skymaster, and I'm concerned that it won't retract into the fuse.

Adil, how much room is there under the intake on the skymaster? I may have to rework the intake to clear the nose gear.

Thanks for all the help.

Mike

Ther is plenty of room under the intake. The intake on the newer version (I got) is funkey in the way it is set up. The top is molded to accept the cockpit and the botoom leaves more than enough room for the gear going straight up. It seems to be an easy build and I'm hoping to start soon.

I did however find that the bottom of the fuse behind the wing saddle is layed up very thin and is very flexible. It should not cause any problems in flying but if you store the plane without the gear entended, it will flex and I think eventually, the paint will chip off. I think they do it to keep it light and not needing a lot of nose weight to balance.

Personally, I just layed some CF in the area and stiffened it up. People thinking of doing functional speed brakes would definitely have to do this.

One thing for sure is that this has the best detailing and molding of even other ARF Plus kits from SM I've had. The gun port, scoops, exhaust ports and panels etc. are REALLY nice. I just keep looking at this plane on the stand and forget to do work on it until suddenly time to go to bed...

Adil

Adil is it really that nice. I would like to get one soon it seems to me that the dimensions are almost identical if I could remeber to the old trim F-86 slightly bigger than BVM small one.

Adil,

Thanks for all your input. The pictures I have seen reflect your comments. It looks to be very well done. I'm continually amazed at Skymaster quality and detail. I would like to get one of the F-4's as well. Yours lit my fire at Liberty Bell, and it looks to fly great. Just have to finish the F-86 before anything else!

Mike

Pictures please.

Hi guys,
I don't know what size the SM F-86.
But I custom made the gear for FB F-86.
The nose gear are rotate 90 and retract out 95 degree.
Hope this is somthing you are looking for.

Has anyone fitted a rotating nose retract unit on their SM F86? If so, what unit did you use and did you stick with the stock SM strut and wheel on it? Tam no longer carries this option.

I am using the stock gear set from SM, no problems at all..

i did change the oil in the struts to 50,000 wt dif oil. the plane now sticks to the ground when it lands....



Alan

Alan, is the intake obstructed by the wheel retracting into it? I'm looking to minimize that obstruction if possible as mine will be EDF powered making the inlet shape quite critical to performance (vs. turbine). Also, can you share your source and method for the oil upgrade? Thanks. Sean

Man... sean your fleet is getting better and better...lol
I have my eye on this one it's high on my short list of next planes...
I'm waiting to see what Tam will come up with on this one... What fan are you thinking about?

Ron

I'm thinking about the one stu is developing around the SM110-52 frame that will be much high W output. I ordered the enlarged inlet option just in case, and am looking for options to rotate the nose gear to clean up the inlet. Also will look to reduce the cockpit depth (regretfully). I'll post on RCG when it arrives noting weights, etc.

smchale

The inlet/bypass has been constructed with a channel on the bottom that the wheel folds up into, the airflow is not obstructed with the wheel up.

I am using OFNA 50,000 wt silicon DIF oil, it can be obtained from a local hobby shop that sells rc cars.



Alan

wow, I was considering a SM-86 for future fleet. Not without the rotating nose gear though.

Andy, glad you are also thinking along the same lines. Any thoughts on options? BVM offers a rotating nose. Their site says it's 90 degrees but the dwg looks like it had more than that, which would be preferred on the F-86.
http://www.bvmjets.com/Accessories/l...se_retract.htm

The BVM nose gear will not fit, you will have to modify the gear mounting plates. the SM struts will not fit the BVM gear without modifying the upper strut body.





Alan

There is no reason why it shouldn't work. It states that it is for the F86. As long as the strut fits in it. I guess it could be milled to fit if its too tight. But if its too loose,..? don't know. I am sure that BVM could tell you since they are now the Skymaster Distributor.

I anticipated that may be the case due to the cylinder arangement on the BVM unit. Do you by chance know the size required by the upper strut on the SM strut? Mine is still on order so I don't have the ability to measure myself at the moment. Also, do you know if this retracts 95 of 100 degrees (looks like 100 to me)?