So after finally finishing up the final few items on my Rafale, I headed out to the Princeton Jet rally to test fly it this past weekend. The engine ran great, and the night before test flight day I went through the entire jet. The air system would hold air for a few hours, no leaks, all was good, so I was ready for the first flight.
However.........
After sitting in the sun for a few hours, I pumped up the air to get ready....
leaks......
more leaks......
more leaks...........

The valves (all 3, gear, doors, and brakes) began leaking, all 3 of the door cylinders began leaking, the nose gear and one main gear began leaking. The nose oleo strut also went from being so stiff you almost couldn't push it down, to so soft it wouldn't hold the weight of the nose up.

I also noticed after sitting in the sun, that both wing panels began to bubble. I assume this is the paint and not in the fiberglass itself but it's bubbling none-the-less.

The paint bubbling I can live with, but the air valves, door cylinders, retracts, and the nose oleo strut I'm very dissappointed with.

I don't want to have to replace all the items that are leaking so I've emailed Fly Eagle, and based on my past experience I'm sure they will replace all faulty parts, however, have you guys with the more recent kits been getting good cylinders and valves or will replacements just have the same problems? I don't want to end up changing parts out only to have the same issues. The way everything is plumbed in the jet I have to remove most of the radio gear and the engine just to replace a bunch of the stuff. So.....
just wondering if the new parts have been good or if the same issues arise.
Thanks in advance!

That's annoying in that very few things ruin a flying session more than unreliable landing gear, both in time spent fooling with them and the resulting scrapes and dings when they won't come down.

Unfortunately landing gear components/cylinders seem to be a weak link in many current generation jet products. I had to have all my clyinders replaced and the gear upgraded stateside to have a reliable system with a recent project.

I hate to pay "big bucks" for landing gear but in the long run, I would rather pay more and get a reliable system.

Craig

Hi Craig,
Well, as I figured they would, Fly Eagle is sending me replacement cylinders and valves and O rings for the gear. Certainly can't fault them for their service.
I don't really see any real reason that these parts can't be made more accurately for low cost, they are 99% made by CNC machines and leaks are simply the result of incorrect tolerances and/or the wrong seals/o rings. It doesn't take anymore time to program a CNC machine for correct fit than incorrect. Either way, they are stepping up which is great. The only downside is the amount of time required to change everything out but that's part of this hobby, the tinker time involved. Fortunately everything showed up on the ground, not while I was flying around and then finding that the gear won't come down, at least there's no damage this way!

That's too bad Jeremy. I saw her kneel down on the runway just before I pulled out of there....

well wayne, that part was partly my fault. The leaks had happened before I started to taxi out but would hold pressure for about 25 minutes, plenty long to get one flight with gear down and locked. Unfortunately, the air lines that FEJ had routed from the main's ran directly under the bellmouth of the pipe. I had taxi'd it around at my shop in the parking lot and not had any problems, but for some reason the air line melted this time. With no air pressure, the vibration of rolling around caused the mechanical lock to let go and it collapsed. Fortunately that happened before take off and caused no damage. For any fly eagle Rafale owners, check that clear air line on the back of the cylinders for the mains to make sure it's not running under the pipe, they melted in my jet.

I have not gotten to my Fly Eagle Rafale, but I've had very similar problems with the Fly Eagle F-15 we have. So far, I've replaced the door cylinders with new ones from Tam and the wheels and brakes also with Tam's. I'm in the process of replacing the nose strut with a Robart one because the Fly Eagle one has way too much slop to work effectively. I trashed the Fly Eagle retract and door valves early in the build and the door hinges have now all been replaced as they broke one-by-one...

In addition, all of the structure inside the wings of the F-15 has broken, but its almost impossible to get in there to fix it. I haven't figured out how to do that yet.

I'm determined to get the F-15 going, but its going to take replacing the parts that don't work correctly because frankly, I'm tired of messing with them at the field. With the Rafale, I'll likely replace the valves, door cylinders, and hinges before I start and anything else that looks marginal as I go along...

The FEJ F-18 looks interesting, but I really wonder how sturdy a big bird like that will be if it follows the same quality as the F-15 and Rafale...

Bob

Bob

This is all very dissapointing, I have a Fly Eagle F16 on order (should be here this week) and I am now anticipating similiar problems to yours. I am going to bite the bullet and replace all of the air components with tried and tested items, l am not going to risk wasting time or damage to the model having to strip it if the air install fails.

I also agree with you that to provide reliable air components would cost very little more at the manufacturing stage. BTW I have never had a Chinese gear valve that held air, they all leak as soon as you apply a side load.

John

Jeremy

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.

When I got mine I had factory installed rams and doors. The airlines were very hard and the first thing I did was to replce the tubing with Robart tubing. At the same time I tested the various components and the all 3 and 4 way connectors one at a time outside the plane. I failed to get reliable operation of the rams and replaced them with UP rams which were the same length. The retracts all worked fine and are still working fine. When I replumbed the installation I routed all the pipes to the wing roots and joined them up under the first equipment plate, so I had nothing under the engine. I made a decision some time ago to use only electronic valves so did not use the ones supplied. I did take them apart to look at the O rings and as expecetd found that some of the O rings in the valves had nibbles out of them. They seeemed too soft and spongy. I added a centering spring to the nose leg.

The Jet A1 valves I bought worked well enough until the wires worked loose from the pcb. I have resoldered them and put wire restrainers on so all is now OK again. We have had absolutely no issues with the airframe paint or retracts and have had quite a few flights and have been very pleased with it.

I still think this represents great value, though the factory are selling at a higher price than when I bought but are adding more detail like cockpits and missiles. John, no need to be too gloomy! Just check all the Retract components one at a time in water for leaks before going ahead with the build.

John

John

Who is not "gloomy" after the summer we have had! I am going to use the new Airpower 5 way valve that Fly Eagle Jets are offering. This will replace the gear / door valves, the brake valve and two / three servos / sequencer depending on what system you use. It will also save a lot of space in the equipment tray. I got fed up with leaking Chinese gear valves and switched to Jetronic for my last two models and have had no problems since.

Enjoy Jetpower, my wife is dragging me off to Tuscany for some sunshine and Chianti[]

Best regards

John

John

You are not wrong about the weather, I think in Scotland it has been better than in the South. It sure is depressing to have yet another day with no sun all day and cold/wet. Interested how you get on with the 5 way valve. If it is reliable it certainly makes sense for a complex model. Looking forward to JetPower.

John