RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

The gray looks much nicer. They must have had some green paint they needed to get rid of, don't see any other reason why they would have chose it. BTW, I wet sanded the green off of mine (red, white & blue scheme), couldn't stand to look at it. :)

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Just another note for anyone thinking about flying with the supplied nylon boom bolts; I used mine to initially fit the tail booms with no intentions of flying with them. A couple of days later when I took them out one of the bolt heads had completely separated from the rest of the bolt while it was just sitting there. The blind nuts are poorly lined up with the wing holes and this causes the nylon bolt to bend as it is screwed in tight. I had to cut out one of the rear boom mounts and re-construct it because it was so crooked from the factory. Reinforcing the boom mounts is a must. Re-drill the wing holes if you have to so the metal bolts line up with the blind nuts. Harden the wing holes with a good dose of thin CA. I used 4mm flat washers on the front bolts and large flat washers punched out from thin Lexan on the rear bolts.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Gotta agree with Stickjammer here . Throw away the nylon screws, Use cap screws and support the heads .. I used a 1/16 carbon fibre
Plate under all cap screw heads.

Also the tail plane lines up better if you do the same there

Radar gun speed is 106 MPH max so It Is not a fast machine at all , just sounds fast with propeller noise etc
getteing up to more than 40 flights so far , just grooves around the sky


Cheers G

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Metel screws is the way to go.......Fender washers with a nylon washer between works great...I posted pics further back in thread.... You will need to strengthen the blind nut mounts with some epoxy or they will give....Don't forget the thread lock (loctite)!!! Mark

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Thanks Stickdammer, AGR413 and every one else who provided input. I appreciate your opinions.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (Roger)

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Oooops, sorry for the typo. It is Stick jammer not Stickdammer.

Heli-NuBee (Roger)

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Well the temperature got up to 55 degrees with sunshine today and I finally got a chance to at least take my Bobcat out in the yard and break-in the new O.S. 55AX. I love this engine already. 2 1/2 turns out on the high speed needle and it fired right up the instant I hit the starter. Ran it for one minute at WOT at the very rich setting and then turned it from lean to rich every ten seconds or so for the first tank. Running on 15% CoolPower with an APC 11x7p this engine cranks. I have the stock muffler on it but for whatever reason, it has to be the loudest most ear piercing powerplant I own. It's the only time I actually had to use ear plugs when tuning an R/C engine. I tweaked the needles on the second tank, got the top RPM to slightly over 13,000 and richened it up to about 12,400. About a quarter turn in on the low speed screw and it was good to go. Nice steady idle at around 3000 with excellent transition to WOT. I have the stock fuel tank with the stopper facing forward and normal two line plumbing. It ran great on the ground from full to empty with no signs of leaning out and absolutely nowhere near overheating. I constantly checked the head temperature when it was at full throttle and it never got above 225 @ 12,400 RPM. It may act a little different once I get in the air but I'm definitely not worried about overheating. Range check was perfect with the stock antenna concealed in the wing, 50 paces away, collapsed Tx antenna, engine at WOT. I must say, I'm impressed with the power of this .55AX. Using 15% CoolPower at 12,400 rpm with the APC 11x7 it's got some serious push and it ain't really broke in yet. :D

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Original: AGR413

That is odd. Maybe the flat bottom airfoil of the stab is doing strange things when the power is cut. Possibly lifting the tail when there is no prop blast. If the plane is tail heavy the initial reaction should be for tail to drop when the power is cut. Maybe this initial reaction is instantaneous and when the tail slightly drops, the bottom of the stab catches a lot of air and forces the plane to nose down. Was the elevator super sensitive in flight when the CG was pushed beyond 10.5"? My CG is right at 10.5" and I have not flown it yet. Wondering if I should add a little nose weight for the maiden. :eek:

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Well its Nearly midday, 74f or 24c and a light ne breeze here in Aus. Time to pack my bobcat and go to the field.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

well the bobcat is now just waiting for her maiden flight

it is booked in for next saturday, where i will be taking the maiden flight alongside my friend and instructor paul heckles

cant wait

steve

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Top arvo,very happy with my bobcat

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

WHERE CAN I FIND THE KEE CAT OR BABY CAT...THE BIGGER VERSION TO THE NITRO PUSHER...I HAD ONE FOR THREE DAYS THEN SOLD IT....NOW I AM MISSING HER AND WOULD LIKE TO TRY THE BIGGER ONE.....ANYONE?

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

ak-models.com

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Here is the direct link: http://ak-models.com/mm5/merchant.mv...Model_GasPower

I don't know if you flew the first one that you had but you will absolutely love the keecat once you get it all worked out. Let me know when you buy one and I can recommend some minor fixes that will make the model a lot better to deal with.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

For sanity sake I would tape some of those stick on weights to the front of your plane for the maiden to achieve somewhere between 10-10.3 inches. After you have sucessfully maidened and gotten to know the aircraft a littel try the 10.5. I was really scratching my head when this happened I am wondering if what I experienced was not a violent stall and the way this plane is built is stalls nose down instead of dropping a wing, sounds a little weird but so was the way it acted and scary. Once I put weights back in to bring the CG to 10.25 it went back to being a glide machine on landing. This plane glides very nice.

When I had the CG so far back the plane flew awesome under power I did not know what was comming until I tried to land. It is possible that I trimmed the plane nose down when I took off (I am finding that I trim my planes without even thinking anymore) and when I cut the power it increased the effects of the nose down trim.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Thanks for the info...i flew the plane all three days bak to back....it was (the bobcat) the easiest hassle free plane to set up at the feild...another flyer saw is and baught it off me...sold it cause i thaught i would be too busy for it with the f18e but now i miss the simplicity.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Original: AGR413

Yeah, I already added some lead in the nose to get the balance point at 10.25 inches. It only took 1 ounce to do it so wasn't a big deal. I glued a piece of sheet lead to a chunk of balsa and then epoxied the balsa inside the fuse right at the nose former. If I have to get it out all I need to do is reach in with a long screwdriver and crack the balsa apart. Thanks for the info. ;)

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Some people...........

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Do you really expect someone to buy a Bobcat from you for $170.00 when they can buy one direct from Nitro Models for $129.00?....sheesh.....get real

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

I was thinkin same thing!!! Nice try though Barnum & Bailey said it first!!! ;)

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

I finally finished getting the main retracts in. The plates are glued in and all the cutting is done. Now I need to re-cover the bottom and she is completed. Since I had to cut into the fuse for the wheels to retract in, I was able to put a 4-40 bolt with a blind nut into the wing behind the wing tube to secure it to the fuse. So I have 1/4 - 20 bolts in front of the retaining rod and 4-40's behind the wing tube. I doubt it will be going anywhere.

Now onto the nose gear. I bought the Spring-Air 305's which have the flat mount nose gear. I think I should have gotten to 301's which have the firewall mount. Some guys have built frames in the fuse to mount their flat mount nose gears. I think I found a way to convert my flat mount to a firewall mount without building anything. I will mount my nose gear on a motor mount and then bolt the motor mount to a plywood plate that will go on the bulkhead for the nose gear. The wheel will retract towards the rear of the plane into the center of the fuse unless I cut a big enough hole in the nose of the fuse to mount it to the front of the bulkhead and retract forward.

I had a Hayes mount for a .15 engine in my basket of motor mounts and it has the right clearance between the beams to mount the retract. I drilled the holes in the mount for the gear and I had to couuntersink the holes for the two bottom screws that bolt to the firewall so the gear would fit flush up against the mount. I also had to shave down one of the beams to allow for clearance of the steering arm.

For additional support I will probably use a 1/4 inch piece of ply to mount the motor mount onto and then glue the plywood plate to the bulkhead. Everything has gone smoothly so far except it looks like my bulkhead for the nose gear is not mounted 90 degrees. The bulk head is on a slight angle with the top of the bulk a little forward of the bottom. I am going to have to figure out a way to make a wedge of some kind as a spacer so I can make the bulkhead 90 degrees. Unless I can somehow contol the nose gear to stop so it ends up at 90 degrees. I attached a couple of pictures showing the nose gear on the motor mount.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

If you have a good belt sander, just sand the mount to the angle you need to square it up. Shouldn't take much.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Just use a couple of flat washers when you bolt the motor mount onto the plywood plate to make the correct angle. If you use aircraft ply the washers won't dig in.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Randy M and Stick Jammer
Thanks for your input. After reading your suggestions I went back and measured to see how far off it is. There is a 3/4 of an inch difference between the top and bottom. I measured from the back of the bulkhead for the nose gear to the rear end of the bulkhead where the servos mount. The bottom was 8 1/2 inches while the top was 9 1/4 inches. So it is worse than I thought unless I am missing something.

RE: Nitro models pusher Bobcat?
 

Max,

These are the best pictures I could get of my nose gear mount - I should have taken some before I glued it in. This is the way to do it though - 2 formers, one for the front, one for the back, with a horizontal mount plate between them. You can mount the gear and the steering servo on it and get it all setup before you glue it in...

The work of the gear install will be worth it though - the plane looks a million times better with the gear up - jets look silly with fixed gear :D

Bob