grbaker

My Feedback: (29)

Thomas

with all of the fuel in front of the CG, I think you have to balance with no fuel (except UAT).

I was concerned about mine due to having more fuel behind the CG than in front of it. When I flew it several years ago, it had 80 oz in front and 80 oz behind, so it was not an issue.

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

gary,
In my IMAC days, i used to balance the plane w/ full tanks, empty tanks.. then finally just started balancing them w/ 1/2 tanks, that way as the fuel burns off, the balance doesn't change as much. My thinking was w/ the F-18 since the fuel is in front of the CG instead of balancing w/ full tanks and having a tail heavy aircraft during landing, and w/ empty tanks and having a very nose heavy aircraft during takeoff, that the thought of 1/2 tanks or even slightly less than 1/2 w/ full UAT's would give a good blend of a balanced aircraft during the entire faze of flight. slightly nose heavy during takeoff and slightly tail heavy during landing. then again, maybe i'm brain dead from working all day and not thinking clearly. haha
thinking from memory, i dont think their is a cg range in the directions. its just "ON" the front spar. so possibly empty tanks is the best way to do it

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

Gary

looks good. if anything it might be a little pitchy for the first couple of minutes of flight but should dampen out with little difficulty. I recommend balancing with zero fuel (except for UAT) and gear up regardless of your fuel tank installation.

I would temper this philosophy, if I had the majority of the fuel forward of the intakes, then i might consider balancing with the potential fuel remaining after a typical flight. just know that you better not be relying on this fuel to achieve a balanced platform.

my fuel distribution is similar to Gary's because i'll have roughly 100oz in the engine bay and 100oz forward of the intakes. should last about 8 min

keep 'em coming

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

for those of you interested in the rubber tires.. should have 3 sets.. price for now is at $150 each. thats just covering material costs, so donations for labor will be accepted when i get everything done and ready for sale. lol

WhoDaMan

My Feedback: (164)

Hi Thomas:
Are those for front and back tires. If so I might be interested in 2 sets,,, You know my email bud

Dave

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Dave, thats a set of 4 tires. 2 mains 2 nose. durometer is 60.. which is the hardest urethane rubber i can find.

WhoDaMan

My Feedback: (164)

PM SENT, please let me know

Thanks Thomas

Shaun Evans

Hey,

I'm gonna let my friend Kristen pic a scheme for me. If any of you guys are near San Diego on May 19th, you can come hang out with us and some Broadway types...


It's a tough job, but somebody gotta do it.....

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Shaun,
whats the price of the ordinance stuff for the big bug?

Shaun Evans

Invert,

Gimme a call.

I got some more work done. The pipes are not mounted, they're just lying in there....

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Looking good shaun! i'll give ya a ring tommorrow.. gotta talk to ya about some pipes too

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Alright guys.... All the "supplies" are on order for the non-scale rubber tire upgrade (should look identical to you stock foam tires), PM me for details.

I also thought i'd take the time while waiting on some parts to lay some primer on the bug and look at making some Wing pylons. What you see in the pictures is just 1/64" ply templates, but they are actual size (seem a big big to me). They are taped to the bottom of the wings right now, and the inboard one is mounted about 2" to far forward. Those things are 17 1/4" long and from my measurements, should be right at 3/4" of an inch thick. I'm also thinking about making some molds for these and selling them. Haven't decided if they will be hand layed fiberglass or resin cast pieces yet though. Any thoughts?

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Well.. here's what 20' of 1/16" tape and 2 hours of work gets ya.

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Glad to see that method. I did that on an F-15 a few years ago, it was great! Another thing you can do is put HVAC aluminum sticky tape under there in squares and ovals and primer over it, fwiw.

LOOKS GREAT!

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Sean,
thats exactly what i plan on doing for the access panels on all of the flying surfaces and where they are missing on the fuselage.

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

Thomas - I have the pylons from my Skymaster F-18A/C that you can borrow to get the correct dimensions and mounting angles. etc. (assuming SM's plugs were correct in shape). Just need to scale them up a bit.

I'd make them from glass cloth, as cast resin will be very heavy and prone to chips and damage. IMHO...

Barry

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Barry,
if you could get me the dimensions of them (length at bottm,top, height, etc) or take em to a fedex kinko's or something and try an get a full size photocopy of them, that'd be great.

I've looked at 3 different sources (2 sets of 3-view, and 1 plastic model kit) and the all of them sizes from those sources were withing 10% of the size of the pylons i have up so far.. I'm going to wait till the weather gets good enough and make some out of foam the size and shape that the current templates are and see how they look w/ the plane sitting on the ground w/ all the surfaces on it.

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

panel lines look good amigo......now get back to working on those tires!!!!

your enthusiasm is contagious

keep up the good work

cheerz
buck

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Since i'm waiting on the rest of the materials i need to get the tires up and running full time, i figured i'd keep making use of the time and get this bird as close to done w/ paint as i can. All of the flying surfaces are primed now. Most of the panel line layout is done (still have one wing and the verticals) and what isn't done should be done tomorrow along w/ a coat of primer on the fuselage. By then, i expect the markings package and stuff from Smooth-on will be here so i can get started on the tire project.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Looks good Thomas, what primer are you using?

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

ya know.. since the paint shop i was going to use isn't accessible to me right now, i'm having to do it the backyard rattle can way. its Dupli-color filler primer / high build formula. Its almost the right shade of grey that i need for the base coat, so i'm debating on skipping the entire color coat and just clearing right over the primer to save a few ounces.. Not sure how well that would work though.

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

The stuff to start on the tires showed up today. so hopefully by this time tommorrow i'll have a tire or 2 to show to everyone

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

So what weights 4 pounds, and gets rid of foam Tire mold half #1 haha




and what i got done before the tire stuff showed up

DaveMatthews

Hi Tom,

How you going to center the (2) moulds when joining the 2 halfs with the rubber poured and jelly set?


Dave

ianober

My Feedback: (12)

All he has to do is make some "keys" in the one mold side before pouring the other.