NickNitro

Hi All

Thought a thread for those putting together the New Jet Legend CT-114 would be helpful for me and all those who are putting this new jet together.

First off I would like to let everone know that overall, I am very pleased with my new Jet Legend Tutor, and it will be a very nice addition to my hanger. That being said, is it perfect, NO!!!, it has much room for improvement and I hope that this thread can be used to help those who are working with this first generation release,

Good Luck!!!

Nick

NickNitro

First thing of note for my new Jet Legend CT-114 was an issue with the retract wing mounting brackets.

Seems that the screw mount provided in my kit had a centre to centre distance of 29.5 mm, while the retracts themselves were drilled at 26.5mm. Has anyone else who has received this kit have the same issue???

Here are some pitctures to show the issue.

If so, any recommendations on what should be done. I have thought of re-drilling the retracts to match the mounts distance. Still not sure if I will have to move one hole by 3mm or all holes by 1.5mm.

Jet legend has indicated that this was a mistake at manufacturing and has offered to send me the correct mounts, the problem is that the blind nuts holding the original mount will be difficult, or next to impossible to tighten back up without cutting into a "brand new" wing. So obviously this is not a practical option, at least not for me.

Jet Legend also recommends just re-drilling the retracts

Input welcome!!!

NickNitro

Final thing about what I have noticed about the landing gear installation on my CT-114 was the gear doors don't really flush out with the bottom of the wing.

This is my first jet with gear door covers and I was wondering if this was normal.

Without the retract installed the doors or wheel well covers seem to flush out nicely. However with the retracts installed, the covers seem to be up about a 1/8 of an inch. There looks like their is a bit more room in the wing for the retracts to sit in a little lower and therefore allowing the covers to sit a little lower.

I would appreciate if anyone else with this Jet can let me know if theirs are the same. From my previous post, it seems that my CT-114 was built with an incorrect retract wing mounts, and I was wondering if on top of the mount being wrong, if in fact it was also installed incorrectly. This will determine if I accept the wing as is, or ask Jet Legend for replacement wings.

I believe pictures say a thousand words, so here are more pics

Nick

RCISFUN

My Feedback: (44)

Great I was hoping would start one of these, look forward to seeing your progress
Rich

Wayne22

My Feedback: (2)

I'd suggest throwing it back at Jet Legend. It's not the first time they have made a mistake on a wing, but they were reasonably quick to fix the problem on the T-45. It could be made right if you were prepared to do some surgery.......

ianober

My Feedback: (12)

I wouldn't drill the retracts. I would pop out the blind nuts on the rails and then put some tape underneath to cover the holes. Then mix up some JB weld and fill in the holes. After it dries then put the retracts back in and re-drill the holes then put the blind nuts back in and your back in business.

NickNitro

Thanks,

Two Issues you can't get behind the former where the blind nuts are which is holding on the rail without cutting a hole in the wing. OK to do when you are repairing, but not when the plane is brand new.

Second is with respect to the rail itself, You can't tell from the picture, but the rail is shaped like a flat U where it is thicker where the hole is drilled, if you fill and re-drill, you will end up drilling in a much thinner section of the rail, not sure if this would be strong enough in the long term. You actually would be drilling on the edge of thicker section making it really difficult to keep the hole straight

Finally, the mounts are actually quite nice and the holes are threaded

But thanks, never thought of that solution, will double check to see if it may be possible.

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Sounds like another instance where the customer is doing the Chinese R and D again!

Charts

mmm, think I'll sit back and watch this one. I like the look of this model, but - as with most new jets - there will be snags to ironed out!

Sparhawk

Any further progress?

Dan

Sparhawk

For those wanting some good documentation on the Tutor, here is a great website:

[link=http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_colin2/ct-114_tutor_walk_1.htm]http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_colin2/ct-114_tutor_walk_1.htm[/link]

For those that want specific Snowbird pics, let me know and I will find and try to post some up. I also have access to one at the local museum, and can get up close and personal.

Dan

CDB-RAE

hello nicknitro

any news on this project did u get new wings?

rcguy!

My Feedback: (69)

Any progress on the rest of the airframe? Kinda quiet 'eh? :-))

Dave

Sparhawk

Considering the amount that have been sold, there should be more activity on these airframes. Anyone??

CDB-RAE

i hope is not a bad flyer got one on the way

SpiderJets

I just did bring one from Rotor Hobbies Singapore for 'cairoman' in Cyprus. (I will visit him next week)
I haven't been able to check the whole kit, but what I saw looked really nice...

Nicolas.

mikedenilin

My Feedback: (67)

Hi All,

This forum's been quiet for sometime now. We are building some CT-114s for our club members and face the similar problems. Instead of building it from JL ARF, we are building it from Kit. This kit is not very well integrated. Many parts don't fit well, so it really needs an extensive make over to make it look and fly right.

Our idea is to turn this plane into a real scale trainer.

Here are the improvement we are in the process of making

1. Gear doors - make them fit. If they don't fit, you must acquit. We are going to use a new set of fiberglass gear doors so they can wrap around the L/G

2. Beefing up bulkheads - add carbon around fuselage to increase it's strength and rigidity so it can take hard landings.

3. T tail - Increse strength and lessen flutter possibility by adding metal mounting rails.

4. Polish off gel coat, filled air bubbles, sanding offer rough edges.

5. Modify the wings to allow space for gear door air cylinders. The original one has no space designed for the cylinders.

Well, I will post these pictures as we progress further down.

Let me know what improvements you would like to see us done on this Snowbird.

Mike
www.globaljetclub.com

Helijet

Several builders have commented that the aircraft sits slightly negative and tends to leap off the ground on takeoff. Lengthening the nose wheel assembly by adding a shim block to provide a 0 or +1 degree wing incidence would be a good idea. The tank supplied by Jet Legend is too small. Looks like 1.5 litres. You really need at least 2 litres. I am planning on adding at least an extra 24 oz tank infront of the main tank.

Dean W.

NickNitro

Hi Folks

Family and work got in the way and I had to shelve the Snowbird assembly for a few months. I walk past it every day and just look at it.

Anyway, just to let you know that I have not gone away, the only thing is that this project will now be a Fall\Winter one

But as an update on what has happened over the last few months

With respect to the the mismatched gear mounting rails, Jet Legend sent me another set of brackets for the retracts, drilled out to match the existing rails. I guess a good work around. I can keep the original brackets aside and use the modified ones with existing wings.

With respect to the gear doors, I saw mentioned on the forum, I also will be looking at making new fiberglass doors.

I would be interested in looking at any ideas for mounting the cyclinders for the gear doors, everyone is correct it is not an easy fit.

If anyone has already completed this model and would like to share thire trials and tribulations. Please share!!

Nick

BHB3

My Feedback: (6)

hi ct-114 builders, i just finished my ct-114 and it had some challanges . the first thing i did was to make the horizontal stab more secure by taking some large head blindnuts and cutting the barbs off of them and inverting them in the three holes in the stab with hysol so they rest against the shims that are there and i used flat head screws to fit in the taper of the blindnut.i then installed two 16oz. du-bro tanks between the main bulkhead and the aft bulkhead.
the landing gear holes did not match the mounts in the wing so i took a dremmel and alongated the two outboard holes in the retracts (about 3/16th of an inch and this worked verry well.
the airplane sits with a nose down incidence and i did not correct this as i had already installed the nose doors. i have an extra set of wings and i will probably buy some robart struts for the mains and shorten them as apposed to lengthning the nose strut.

i hope this helps.
benny

BobS

My Feedback: (3)

I have built and am flying the CT-114. My flying buddy, Dave Elsinger, and I built the plane in 2 & 1/2 days and flew it on the 3rd day. W had everything ready for the build, and when the plane arrived we jumped on it. I did not have a gear problem. We did have to cut away some of the ducting on top to get the plpe installed.
The plane flies absolutely beautiful with a P-70 installed. We did add two Dubro 16 oz. tanks on each side of the fuse. There is lots room for this. As for the low nose stance of the plane, we add 1/2 flaps on takeoff. The plane flys out beautifully. I worried about the stab mounting, but after 15 flights there doesn't seem to be a problem. The stab does shimmy while the plane taxis, but smooths out immediately in the air.
We have experienced one problem I've never had before in a jet. The fuse from the front of the turbine to
about half way to the tail got very hot. We had to install BVM's cloth insulation all around the inside of the fuse with silicone. We even wrapped the pipe. Now there is no problem.
I have not added any gear doors, but maybe this winter. I don't see any need for them and feel they are cosmetic anyway.
I really like the little plane because it does fly and looks great!
One final thought. Don't STALL the plane near the ground. It will snap and spin one turn, but pulls out with power and control added. Luckily we tried this at about 500 ft.

PS The scale cockpit is fantastic and really adds to the planes looks on the ground.

Helijet

Hi Bob

Thanks for the info. Could you describe your P70 location.

Did you place the front of the engine in the intake opening or aft a little? Did you use the pipe supplied by Jet Legend?

Did you use the CG as indicated in the plans.

When the Tutor snapped were you using any flaps? Any warning signs?

Thanks again!
Dean W.

Sparhawk

A couple of pics of the internals would be nice too!

Mine goes on the bench in ..... 70 days, [:'(] (work always gets in the way it seems...)

Dan

Tom Antlfinger

My Feedback: (24)

Hi Dean:

I will try to get Bob to bring the jet to our club meeting tomorrow night and snap some pictures to post on this thread.

Tom

Helijet

Thanks Tom

I also forgot to ask if Bob was using a FOD screen on the P70. I noticed that the inlets of the JL Tutor are quite small compared to other models I have built. The junction is much smaller in diameter too. Sometimes the use of a FOD screen in a small inlet area will choke airflow around the engine and through the pipe causing the mid section and extreme aft of the airframe to get hot. Saw this in a BVM T33 ( P70 power / FOD screen ) and an old Aviation Design Rafale.

I have 2 of these kits ( one JL, the other a GobalJets RC custom build ) and really look forward to seeing them fly. I've been a Snowbird nut since a kid!

Dean W.