FB 1/7th F15 scale build
 

After the long wait finally got my plane! Going to do this one in the 911 Scheme. I want to go very scale with this one for competition. Some of my goals are no visible hatch latches, Movable inlets, All lights, and all hidden linkages. Also plan on filling the gap where the fuse joins together.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120297http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120298http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120299

unboxing the plane very happy with it. Starting first on the inlets. Its going to be a huge pain but should be worth it in the end. I also noticed the bottom of the inlet is not even close to scale. So going to hack off the bottom of it and then try and redo some of the intake ducting. This is looking like its going to take allot of time to make right. Also happened to see the gun only has 4 gun barrels. The F15 has 6 so thats going to get removed and will make a new one from scratch. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120300http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120301http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120302http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120303http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120304

The work on this one will be kinda slow at first because I have another plane to finish building for Barry then I will be 100% onto this plane. Plan is to have it done and dialed in by FLjets.

Some have asked me why bother with the inlets. The main reason is if I enter this for scale this model has them partially down. This will never happen on the ground so you cant match your pics with the model and that's points off in scale competition. On the F15 when the engines are off they default to the full open position. After engines are running they go to full down. For the most part they are down going slow and move up with airspeed. I will simulate this the best I can and more importantly it will be full open when engines are off to match scale documents.

What are your thoughts about the landing gear design? Happy with it?

Gear looks great D. I will get going on getting the gear working this next week. I have herd of the gear retract problems on this plane but I don't see any reason for it not to work. Will keep you updated.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120853
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2120854

These gear are pretty close to the gear in the one I had they are perfect electric conversion and then it's super easy to do the scale gear setup.

Still working on the scale inlets..... Way more work then I thought but I'm making progress. Had to make the intakes bigger since they where to small. They also had to be able to move a little. Here was my solution.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121844
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121845
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121846

Also trimmed the bottom of the inlet to be more scale. It was out of shape pretty bad.
Here is original
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121847
And trimmed
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121848

not sure why they always make the base of the inlet so thick, mine was the same way.

Gunradd

I have one and the gear have been a big pain. The biggest problem is the rotating pin that the strut plugs into breaks and is not up to the challenge. I even had one break on taxi. The original one was a one piece machined part. The new one is two pieces laser welded and completely not up to challenge. After several pics and proof Feibao finally has admitted there was a change and is making new batch and sending me new parts. I also had to work on retract mechanism and modify to get to work.(Worked fine on ground but not in air do to air pressure) Giant issue is elevator mechanism was hand tight and will fail. I had to cut open back of plane to reach parts remove locktite and tighten. Good news is the plane flys great once you get issues worked out. Another issue are the wings clamps, they get loose as well. You need to build and bracket them so wing stays in place.
God luck with your project

It really sucks to fix.

More progress on other things while I figure out how to hinge the inlet. Used some fuel vent fittings from dream works hysoled onto the tanks. Sealed the stock vent tube with hysol.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121948http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2121949

Kevin thanks for the info!! Jose from Global had the same problem with the elevator mechanism and showed me where he cut into the skin to gain access. Thanks for the heads up.

For the gear pins I hope mine is the one piece since I just got it but with my luck its not. Guess I will need to dig into that more. I am planning on adding a second gear valve on the upside on the mains so they have 2 supplies of air and adding a 3rd large air tank for the gear. I hope that will get the job done.

Sent me a pic of the pin it comes out with the set screw on top of gear and I can tell you

Just curious, how did you install the jamnuts on the vent fittings? How did you reach all the way back there?

I'm wanting to replace those black rubber stoppers on one of my tanks, wondering of the large metallic inserts from Chief would be large enough. The BVM ones are too small.

David

David I didnt use any jam nuts. Just roughed up the surface and hysoled them in. I did the same on my raptor and it worked great. I hear ya on the stoppers. Would love to use the BVM type with the single nipple

tell you what, I'm gonna bite the bullet and order the "large" ones from Chief and report back on the dimensions. They offer a set of 3 sets for $25 or soooo.

More progress. Inlets have really slowed me down but I think I got a handle on them now.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122071
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122072

Kevin looks like mine are machined :)removed mains and nose to flat spot axles and tighten all the loose stuff and locktite.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122102
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122103

Gunradd. It looks like you have laser welded. That circle at top of big piece transition to little piece is the weld. The one piece has no seem there. Send me your cell and I will text you a pic of good and bad one and you can see

Also I used red Loctite between strut and socket. It can be removed with a little heat or big pliers. MIne moved during runway rolls before the red locktite

Kevin sent you my #. Thanks!!

Got the wheels painted today and locktite everything also flat spotted the axels.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122234

http://www.bigplanes.nl/contents/en-...-airplane.html

Icame across this hydraulic kit for rc kit looks nice but havent heard about them. I dont know why i want to go hydraulic. But i am thinking about it. I have the same kit just fej befor honeycomb

David

Looks nice with the wheels painted! Any issues with the disassembly/reassembly of them?

Have any of you got a lot of slop in the nose gear turning mechanism? If so any ideas for fixing? I have not had mine apart yet...

Also, heard from a few guys who have flown them that it needs a stiffer nose gear spring to keep the AoA from going negative on takeoff roll .. I've been there/done that with other planes .. Kevin .. did you have that experience? Also, can you briefly describe the mod you had to make regarding air resistance on the gear?

Many thanks,

Dave

Dave I would also like to hear what others did to make the gear more reliable in the air. My plan is to install an extra gear valve hooked to its own large airtank on the main gear up lines with its own valve. The gear came apart easy no problems. Some stuff was loose so glad I did. The gear axles need flat spots ground into them and that was about it.

My nose gear trunion has allot of slop and I assume that's the part your talking about. This part is only for scale looks and does not do anything for the nose nose gear. So its ok to have slop. I also see the trunion slides on the top when the gear is retracted to make sure you dont tighten that securing screw to much.

Just wanted to let you know I received and installed the the metal fittings on my tanks. Correction its not 3 per pack, its one set per pack for $25.

They are super nice. Very large = requires a 1" DIA hole in the tank for the metallic sleeve, to be hysoled permanently in place. They come with three nipples, two are straight and other one is a 90 deg elbow. The fitting requires two nipples, one facing into the tank for the fuel pick up line, and one facing outside for the fuel "supply" line.....you can either use the 90 deg or the straight nipple for this, then the remaining one is used for tank venting.

I think its a good solution for tanks wiith oversized rubber stops like yours. I'm only using it on my "main" tank.

David

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2122691